MOLINE, IL -WQPT, Quad Cities PBS has received a grant from the PBS Warning Alert and Response Network (WARN) program to a fund power backup and hardening project for WQPT studios and transmitters.

WQPT will purchase, install and test back-up equipment required to maintain the station's broadcast of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) to cellular telephone companies for up to 72 hours in the event of a power outage. WQPT will have the system installed by August 31.

"We are pleased to be working with PBS and the Department of Commerce on the WARN program. Not only will it improve uninterrupted service to our viewers in times of emergency or crisis, but it will protect their investment in public television," said WQPT Director Mary Pruess.

On June 1, 2010, the Department of Commerce awarded PBS a grant under the WARN Act of 2005, which allowed PBS to implement a project establishing the PBS WARN program. With this grant, PBS assists stations like WQPT comply with an FCC a mandate to provide a backup pathway for sending WEAs from FEMA to cellular phone companies. One year later, the Department of Commerce authorized an additional round of funding, which allowed PBS to award sub-grants for the purchase and installation of the generators, UPS systems and related power backup and hardening equipment that would ensure continuous dissemination of WEAs.

For more information on Wireless Emergency Alerts and the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) visit http://www.pbs.org/about/WARN.

WQPT signed on the air November 3, 1983. WQPT's signal covers all or part of 10 counties in western Illinois and three in eastern Iowa. The station reaches 309,000 households and estimates 50,000 households view the station on a weekly basis.

WQPT is a public media service of Western Illinois University Quad Cities located in Moline, IL.

There was a time when country living was a significant part of American life. That time and place needed an educational system that would work, and whatwas finally made to work is the subject of a new book by Steve Grineski. We Were Pretty Darn Good, a story of progressive education in rural communities, links President Theodore Roosevelt's Report of the Country Life Commission with the need to educate thousands of children born on farms and homesteads. Author Steve Grineki, with an eye for vivid detail, traces the response to that report.

Focusing on the teacher preparation at the legendary Morehead Normal School in Minnesota and the contributions of its graduates to the transformation of America, Steve Grineski traces the results of the teaching efforts over two generations, With verbal sketches of several "darn good" teachers and the specific results of their teaching efforts, he brings into clear focus, the training and dedication of the rural teachers who brought to their students, the world of analytical thought and inspiration, much of it driving bountiful changes to significant measures of the  American landscape. We Were Darn Good is a fascinating book and is a long overdue chapter, not just in the annals of American education, but in the wider panorama of American history

Steve Grineski PhD serves as liaison between the Minnesota State University-Morehead  Teacher Education and the Moorhead, Minnesota, Alternative Education programs. He has presented and been published widely in diverse areas including cooperative learning and corporate school reform..

We Were Darn Good is available at Barnes and Noble bookstores, Books a Million, BN.com and Amazon and bookstores nationwide.

Rock Island, IL: The Rock Island Public Library will host a screening and discussion by Heritage Documentaries on Thursday, May 23 of "The Rock Island Civil War Prison: Andersonville of the North?" The screening starts at 6:30 pm in the Community Room of the Rock Island Main Library, 401 19^th Street. The event is free and open to the public.

The 30-minute documentary tells the story of the Rock Island Confederate prison camp using dramatic photos and other high-definition images.  It documents the life of prisoners using their own words from diaries and letters and demonstrates that the death rate at Rock Island was much lower than the astonishing death rate at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. The title, "Andersonville of the North," is derived from a passage in Margaret Mitchell's literary classic, Gone with the Wind.

Writers/directors Ed Isenberg and Ezra Sidran will be present to discuss the production and answer questions. The documentary is also available on DVD.

For more news about Rock Island Public Library events, visit www.rockislandlibrary.org, call 309-732-7323 (READ) or follow the Rock Island Library on Facebook and Twitter. A monthly calendar of library events is available online and at Rock Island Library locations.

This is the first novel of its kind because its storyline centers on volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service personnel and not on the paid departments.

Scotrun, PA-- Tom Ward has a new book out, The Volunteer, just released by Cambridge Books whose advanced copies are available on Amazon.com.

In 1983, in war-torn Lebanon, Robert J. Doyle ordered the complete destruction of an unsuspecting village. As he walked through the carnage later, he vowed one day he would somehow pay off the loss of innocent lives.

Later, Doyle decides to become a volunteer firefighting paramedic. He feels that with each life and property he helps to save; he makes a payment on his debt. For years, as Doyle responds to his community's calls for help he ignores his own needs. To counteract flashbacks brought on by burnout, Doyle uses alcohol to keep going. Still, the memories of the destruction and dead villagers compel him to respond.

The Volunteer centers on one man's struggle with to find inner peace. And examines the question of what compels volunteers to respond no matter what time of day or night, to sacrifice their time, financial resources, their talents, and even their lives in the service of their communities.

"I am ecstatic at this time to finally have 'The Volunteer' published after all these years," said Tom Ward. "For the past 20 years this story has always been important to me because it shows one man's reason why he volunteers to serve his community. But his is only one reason out of 800,000 other reasons of those who serve their respective communities.

Hollywood always makes movies and TV series about the Paid Departments and not once ventured to portray the volunteer firefighter or emergency medical service personnel. These men and women willingly place themselves and everything they hold dear into harm's way for their communities and don't expect anything in return not even a thank you.

Hollywood's neglect and that of other authors was and always has been my motivation to get my novel published for it tells of one volunteer's reason why he is willing to risk it all for his community."

Cambridge Books is a small press located in Cambridge, MD.

"We are very proud to have published The Volunteer by Tom Ward," said Arline Chase, publisher. "We are a small company and choose our books carefully. We only publish work from writers we feel are talented and have a lot to offer."

Tom has a trilogy, The Volunteer, Volunteers: A Breed Apart which he is editing and Station 1260-1270 which he hopes to finish.

Tom Ward enjoys meeting fellow volunteers both firefighters and emergency medical service personnel, and may be contacted by e-mail at tmwardjr@gmail.com.