Bettendorf – Last summer, NBC's America's Got Talent introduced the nation to the self-proclaimed "greatest purveyor of chain reaction gadgets in this and the 17 known universes," the Kinetic King. Viewers fell in love with the Minnesota charm ("you betcha" / "whoo hoo") and the impressive chain reactions made from tongue depressors, ping pong balls, plastic cups, and more. View his debut appearance on YouTube. The King will be packing his gadgets and heading to the Quad Cities to build several super-cool kinetic structures at the Family Museum in Bettendorf, Iowa. He will host daily detonations Tuesday, March 20 - Friday, March 23 at 4:00pm. He will conclude his visit with a final detonation on Saturday, March 24 at 11:00am.

The Kinetic King, aka Tim Fort, holds the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Stick Bomb" using 3,864 tongue depressors. It was detonated on June 20, 2010 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Fort creates displays all over the country (some successful and some not). Many of these attempts he posts to his YouTube page (user name LunaTim). The Kinetic King placed 13^th overall in season 6 of America's Got Talent.

"Oh wow!" -Howie Mandel, Season 6 America's Got Talent

"Wow!" -Nick Cannon, Season 6 America's Got Talent

"Do it again!" -Nick Cannon, Season 6 America's Got Talent

"Weird, but interesting." -Sharon Osbourne, Season 6 America's Got Talent

"Whoo hoo!" -The Kinetic King, Season 6 America's Got Talent

Find out what the buzz is about March 20-24 at the Family Museum. "It's way beyond your grandma's domino tumbling!" -The Kinetic King

Davenport, IA  Mar 6, 2012 - Iowa and Illinois comedians will raise money and awareness for the Eastern Iowa Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with a night of standup comedy and competition in this year's Comedy For A Cause 3 - Last QC Comic Standing, April 13 at The Establishment Theatre.  Tickets for finals will cost $10, with all proceeds going to support the Eastern Iowa JDRF.

For the third year, DubStar has called upon area comedians to lend a helping hand to the Eastern Iowa branch of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  Last QC Comic Standing is the area's only LOCALLY produced comedy competition.   This year, the event injects a new level of excitement with thirty-six of the best comedians in the Midwest competing in three preliminary rounds for ten spots in the finals.  Only one can be crowned Last QC Comic Standing and receive the cash and prizes.  The three preliminary rounds begin this week at Rozz-Tox, in Rock Island, March 9 beginning at 8:00pm.  The next two preliminary rounds will follow over the next two weeks, March 15 at The Pub in Davenport, and March 22 at Racer's Edge in East Moline.

The finals will be held Friday, April 13 at The Establishment Theater and will feature the top ten from the three preliminary rounds.  The top ten will perform for local judges Tony Tone from the Red Hot Brian Scott & Tony Tone in the Morning on B100, Entertainment Editor for the the Quad City Times - David Burke, Local headlining comedian - Jim Petersen, and local retailer and JDRF parent - Bob Boyer.  These judges will narrow the field from ten to three, and then name a champion.  Tickets for finals will cost $10, with all proceeds going to support the Eastern Iowa JDRF.

"This year's event was meant to showcase the amazing comedic talent in the Midwest, and specifically the Quad Cities.  Almost half of the comics are from right here in the QC," says DubStar founder Tony Boyer.  "We also wanted to bring the local comedy community together by using venues that have supported comedy after the loss of Penguin's.  The Establishment, Rozz-Tox, Racer's Edge, The Pub, and others have been so helpful in cementing a home for local comedy."

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump.   According to the American Diabetes Association, an estimated 25.8 million people in the United States, 8.3% of the population, have diabetes, with 7 million going undiagnosed.

DubStar is an amateur fundraising group founded in 2008 by Tony Boyer and Chris Starman; both have histories related to helping diabetics. DubStar's mission is to make a positive impact on deserving charities or groups, through fun and unique ways; "Party With A Purpose".  In February, DubStar hosted Minute 2 Win It, a recreation of the popular TV game show that raised funds for the Quad Cities Autism Center.  Additional information can be found at the DubStar website, www.facebook.com/DubStarQC.

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Chad Pregracke's Quad Cities-based environmental group needs volunteers to help in a project to improve the future of area waterways.  Living Lands & Waters, an East Moline, Illinois non-profit organization is planning to distribute 150,000 free oak tree saplings in April as part of LL&W's "MillionTrees Project."  The goal of the project is to improve the health of rivers in the Midwest, by re-establishing hardwoods that have been depleted by over-harvesting, flooding and disease.

Volunteers, including families with children, are invited to take part in tree wrapping events being held throughout March and April. "Wrapping 100,000 trees takes a lot of work" said Chad Pregracke, founder and President of Living Lands & Waters.  Pregracke adds, "It's a great venue to help the community and educate people on why trees are important."

Trees provide shelter and nut-bearing hardwoods are a viable food source for wildlife and migratory birds.  Slow-growing hardwoods like oaks have a harder time re-establishing themselves without help, and are often crowded out by faster growing species, like cottonwoods, willow and silver maples. Re-establishing hardwoods helps increase biodiversity, reduce erosion and run-off and improve water and air quality.

Individual registration is not required, but strongly encouraged.  Groups of 10 or more should pre-register.   Volunteers can stay for an hour or all day.  Hard working volunteers will receive LL&W MillionTrees Project t-shirts. For questions or to register, please contact Ashley Stover at Ashley@livinglandsandwaters.org or at 309.737.5913.

Tree wrapping events will occur at the following places and locations:

QCCA Expo Center, Rock Island:

March 13, 9am-5pm      March 14, 9am-5pm      March 15, 9am-5pm

March 16, 9am-5pm      March 17, 9am-5pm      March 18, 9am-5pm

Volunteers should show up at the North Hall of the QCCA Expo Center, 2621 4th Avenue, Rock Island.

LL&W Headquarters @ (17624 Rte. 84 N, East Moline, IL)

March 5-10, 8am-5pm

March 26-31, 8am-5pm                           April 2-20(excluding Sundays), 8am-5pm

Volunteers will be asked to help with the following:  bundling trees in newspaper, dipping roots in water, placing trees in bags and/or tying. Participating children MUST be supervised.  Volunteers are asked to wear warm and comfortable clothes that can get dirty.

Trees will be distributed in April to individuals, families, schools, businesses and organizations throughout 8 states.  The saplings will also be distributed to the general public during the QCCA Lawn and Garden Show, March 23-25^th on a first come, first serve basis. The goal of the MillionTrees Project is to grow and plant 1 MILLION trees.

Anyone interested in volunteering may contact MillionTrees Project Coordinator, Ashley Stover at Ashley@livinglandsandwaters.org or at 309.737.5913. More information on the MillionTrees Project can be found at http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/milliontrees/default.htm