Events and Wally Parks

 You might get tired of this, but here are some events where you can meet the candidates for various offices.

Jen Olsen is having her Musical Fundraiser today , from 3 to 6 pm at Mojo’s in the RME at the corner of 2nd. and Main Streets in downtown Davenport.

 Dale Gilmour commented on the last post that today , from 1 to 3 pm there’s a meet and greet of all candidates for the 6th. Ward. This will be held at the Turner Hall, 2113 E. 11th. in the Village of East Davenport. It is a free event, and the public is invited.

 Also today, from 2-5 pm, LaMark Combs is having a Taco Dinner Fundraiser at 1920 E. 31st. Street in Davenport. A taco dinner with beans and rice is $5.

On Tuesday, October 2nd. at 6 pm, in Vandeveer park, near the fountain, Doc Davis and Barney Barnhill will hold a question and answer session. Refreshments will be served. Any questions call Doc Davis  at 563-650-5645
 On a sad note, on Friday, September 28th, Wally Parks passed away at the age of 94. I’m sure drag strips around the country will have a moment of silence at their next event. We would not have the NHRA as a santioning body for our dragstrips if it wasn’t for this man.  He was an inspiration to many after founding NHRA in 1951.

A few events

 I’m going to update a few events going on. Today and tomorrow Cordova Dragway Park is holding their Oktoberfest. For more information there’s a link to the strip in the blogroll.

 Tomorrow is the Vintage Rods car show at the college. This is a nice little show and one of the last of the year. If you have a chance, take a look at some neat cars and trucks.

 Tomorrow is Jen Olsen’s Musical Fundraiser at the RME. The press release is in an earlier post.

 Another fundraiser tomorrow is a Taco Dinner Fundraiser for LaMark Combs from 2 to 5 pm at 1920 E. 31st. St. A taco dinner is $5.

  On Tuesday, October 2nd. at 6 pm, in Vandeveer park by the fountain, Doc Davis and Barney Barnhill will hold a question and answer session. Refreshments will be served. Any questions call Doc Davis  at 563-650-5645

Rumors and a Car Show open thread

 Consider this an open thread. Anon posted a comment on an earlier post, and I don’t have an answer, only rumors.  Here’s the post-

Cruiser – I couldn’t find a recent open thread, so I thought this post was close.  Do you know what is going on with EDDC?  I heard today that the ED is resigning and it is likely more than 400K in affordable housing rehab dollars will have to be returned to the State early next year  if they don’t use them…What is going on?

 There are several things that have been happening, the resignation of some of the board members of the AHTF, a conspiracy theory by some that recent buyups of retail and commercial properties are linked to Baltimore. Seems Pierce school in the Village of East Davenport, the Putnam block downtown, and just about anything else that’s been for sale. Some seem think gambling money is involved, others think when the dust settles some of these people won’t make good neighbors. This is a rumor, but it does have some merit.

 The Quad-City’s Vintage Rods 36th Annual Car Show is Sunday, September 30, 2007 at the Black Hawk College Campus, 6600 34th. Ave., Moline. It runs from 9 am, to 2 pm,  for spectators and there is a $2 admission fee that goes towards the clubs scholarship program. If you have any questions, call Mark Schumacher at (309)314-3919.

 There are other events going on also. Jenn Olsen is having her Musical Fundraiser Sunday at Mojo’s in the RME, LaMark Combs is having a taco dinner fundraiser Sunday and much more. I will post about these events sometime Saturday. Your comments on any subject are welcome.

Cyber Safety Day

 Yesterday, September 25, 2007, was declared ‘Cyber Safety Day’ in New York City. A proclamation was signed by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Time Warner Cable and the Cyberangels also launched a $500,000 Public Safety Campaign. This campaign is a multi-media public safety program to help educate parents  how to teach basic online safety at home.

 Curtis Sliwa, the CEO and founder of the Guardian Angels founded the Cyberangels in 1995 in response to the growing number of online threats facing families. The Cyberangels was started to get information out to educate and protect internet users of all ages from identity theft, cyberbullying, pediphiles lurking in chat rooms, porn, and other risks.

 There is an online version of the guide they produced available for download at-Time Warner.

 If you would like more information on the Cyberangels you can go to that site at- Cyberangels.
 With selfess dedication and passionate community service spanning nearly three decades, the Guardian Angels stand today as a leading violence prevention and education organization.

Study

 In today’s QC Times is a story by Deirdre Cox Baker. It opened my eyes about a couple things. It concerns a study with the lengthy name of ‘Quad-Cities Community Vitality Snapshot’. Some things on the study we already knew, some threw me a curve.

 The study states we have “very high” quality levels compared to the rest of the country, but we have gripes.  Leadership, in government and other areas is the biggest. While violent crime and child abuse are big concerns, we have fewer homeless and our smoking rate is down, and more of us have health insurance than the National average. We are also overweight, have a higher rate of STDs, and a higher teenage mother rate.

 This study seems a bit flawed to my way of thinking. On the one hand we have high quality, on the other hand a bunch of gripes. I don’ believe we have fewer homeless than the national average; and are that many of us actually obese? The leadership and crime problems, real or imagined, have been with us for some time. I believe this is in part due to the fact that we are a cynical bunch.

 The solutions are out there, the public perception can be changed, and our leaders have to lead. Either that or we are destined to remain fat, horny, mindless dweebs who deserve what we get.

Uniform Crime Report ’06

 Now that the Uniform Crime Report is out from the FBI, it seems funny that Davenport isn’t listed under Iowa cities. Makes it a little tougher to repute the local report that says although arrests and citations are up, crime is down. However, since the Davenport Police Department released a crime report to local newspapers, I’ll use their figures. These figures are all figured at per 100,000 population. Links to the FBI site, and other sites where I got these figures are listed at the bottom of this post.

 In 2,006 the National violent crime rate was 473.5, Davenport’s rate was 819, Cedar Rapids was 401, and Des Moines was 1,3066.

 In 2,006 the National murder rate was 5.7, Davenport was 4, Cedar Rapids was 6, and Des Moines was 6.

 The National forcible rape rate was 30.9, Davenport was 63, Cedar Rapids was 39, and Des Moines was 62.

 The National robbery rate was 149.4, Davenport was 271, Cedar Rapids was 136, and Des Moines was 374.

 The National aggravated assault rate was 287.5, Davenport was 481, Cedar Rapids was 220, and Des Moines was 864.

 The National property crime rate was 3,334.5, Davenport was 7,397, Cedar Rapids was 5,872, and Des Moines was 13,505.

 The National burglary rate was 729.4, Davenport was 1,440, Cedar Rapids was 1,114, and Des Moines was 2,189.

 The National larceny theft rate was 2,206.8, Davenport was 5,637, Cedar Rapids was 4,460, and Des Moines was 10,331.

 The National motor vehicle theft rate was 398.4, Davenport was 295, Cedar Rapids was 288, and Des Moines was 985.  

 On the number of Police page, Davenport has 205 police.
 Only Cedar Rapids at 223 police personel, and Des Moines at 491 police have more police personel in the state. The populations of the mentioned cities are: Davenport, 98,751; Cedar Rapids, 123,773; and Des Moines, 195,194.

 These are not my figures. I had no influence over the FBI or DPD in the outcome of these reports. But it concerns me that the forcible rape rate is high, the violent crime rate is high, and thefts seem to be growing. By high, I mean above the National average. That’s my take on their figures, yours may vary. 
To see that National crime rates back to 1987 go to this link-
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_01.html

 The crime report released by the Davenport Police Department is
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/09/18/news/local/doc46f052971618e721179704.txt

For the Iowa page of the FBI report go to
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_08_ia.html

To look at the number of Police in each city go to http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_78_ia.html

 To remember where we stood in 2005, go to this link
http://davenport.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Davenport&s1=IA&c2=Cedar+Rapids&s2=IA

Racing news and politics

 John Force was injured in a collision with Kenny Bernstein at the finish line at over 300 mph. The 14 time NHRA champion has had surgery to place pins in his leg and hand. He is expected to make a full recovery, and a press converence is scheduled for noon today. To learn more go to    http://www.nhra.com

 In Nascar news Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be driving No. 88 next year sponsored by Pepsi. Budweiser will be the sponsor of the No. 9 Dodge driven by Kasey Kaine. It should be an interesting racing season next year. To find out more go to http://www.nascar.com

And lastly, an opinion-
We’ve been missing a lot of car-related events lately, and we’ve come to an agreement on something. We can get by without attending every cruise-in, car show, and club meeting that comes down the pike. While we are missing some of the friends we only run into at these events, we haven’t got sick or depressed.

 Talking to one old friend that we bumped into, we also agreed on something that got me thinking about local politics again. We agreed at that most entry judged car shows the outcome is decided by three people. Everybody else just copies their choices from these three.If you ever been a participant in a show judged by entrants, you know what I’m talking about.

 The connection to local government? In our opinion it looks like one member votes yes, and the rest just go along. If the recent passage of the rent-to-own inspection pass isn’t proof of that, we don’t know what is. We were surprised it was unanymously passed. We only hope that on election day people who can think for themselves, work well with others, and not forget the people who voted them into office are elected.

Musical Fundraiser

 It’s no secret that I like people who think outside the box. That usually doesn’t carry over to politics, but there are exceptions. Next Sunday, Jennifer Olsen in holding a Musical Fundraiser at Mojo’s Coffee House at the RME from 3 to 6 pm. The musical guest is ‘Fire Sale’.

 There is no set donation for this event, and it sounds like a fun way to let people know you want to be their Alderman-At-Large. It also isn’t so long that it would turn boring, but long enough to see what the candidate thinks on issues important to you. You can check her website at http://www.jennolsen.com

 I think I’ll go for a while and see what it’s like.

Now what

This three ring circus we call the City Council has gotten crazier than it’s old standards would ever have allowed. In a time when Aldermen are censured and blocked from talking to, or getting information from City staff, comes another salvo. Now City staff can’t talk to anyone (via the blogs). While it is true that such things shouldn’t happen on the City’s time, I don’t like the reasoning behind the ban. I don’t care for the fact that the reason given is because any information giving to City staff is on the blogs in 15 minutes. What are the City Leaders trying to pull that they don’t want us, the people who elected them, to have access to the information?

 The City Leaders have a lot of business that is not getting attention while all this grandstanding is going on. Has anyone heard anything about the lawsuits? Has anybody heard anything about returning the illegal cable tax? Has anyone heard the Adler remodel came in $9 million on the amount voted on? Has anyone heard of a solution to lower the crime rate, or even where the money is going to come from for the much needed sewer rebuilding?

 I can only hope the next bunch that gets elected can learn to play together, get something done, and be just a tad more open about what they’re doing. This is a problem that can’t be fixed with two paramedics and a floor jack, but I think it can be fixed. I believe it’s time for our City Leaders to act like leaders, put their petty differences aside, and start doing what they got elected to do.

A Regatta, Henry Ford, & wine

 The Lake Davenport Sailing Club will be holding their 47th annual Polar Bear Regatta September 29th & 30th. For the times and location you can go to the press release.

 There are many myths and legends about the founding carmakers and their oddities. For one of my favorites about Henry Ford go here.

 And the facts are now out that wine is better for us than water. To read more on how scientists came to this conclusion go to the story.