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DWB says ...

I think it is a good idea but wonder if the grade average should be higher. With just a B average I would think that would end up being a lot of kids that would be eligible. What is the dollar amount of scholarship that the other Iowa cities offer? It sounds like a great way to also boost attendance and attract students to our local colleges and universities.

With the cash success of the traffic enforcement cameras, the city could designate a portion of the fines collected to this idea.

Once the amount of students eligible is determined it may require way more money than is available to issue. In that case, a set dollar figure or number of scholarships could be established for each alderman to award to kids in their ward.

Definitely warrants further study and is a terrific idea to build on.
 

Alderman Hamerlinck, have you gone and looked at the ruts along the approach to the Duck Creek bridge just south of Hillandale? The ruts are worse than a month ago. I requested public works for either gravel or pot hole filler, and neither has been done. One rut is getting close to a foot deep. Please inspect this for yourself. {South of hillandale, south of the bridge, but before it becomes 4 lanes wide. you can't miss it.}
 

If you're trying to keep people in Iowa, sending them to college will have the opposite effect. Look at the statistics. The higher the level of education Iowa young people attain, the greater the chance of them moving out of state. They always used to roll out those stats when I was at Scott Community to show that even though the state pays far more per University student, community college students remain in Iowa much more frequently. Even the students that stay in Iowa tend to move to cities like Iowa City or Ames, where they went to school. Right now I'm the only one of my group of friends that has come back to Davenport after college.

I'm not saying Iowa needs to keep its kids out of college, but I don't think sending them there is going to solve our problems. We need "cool" places to live, and well-paying places to work for people who have college degrees. Otherwise people will continue leaving for Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, etc.
 

That's very true QCI. We could end up providing education benefits to build skills for graduates to take to more attractive cities where the jobs are.
 

What is involved in starting a neighborhood watch program? How many neighbors are needed? How big of an area are you responsible for? Who at the PD do you contact?
Is there training of any kind involved?
 

The retaining wall at 6th and Ripley has gang symbols sprayed on it. It's the wall facing 6th, just west of where the steps were just replaced on the hill going up ripley.
 

I will report the gang symbols. If you see any more please report them here. Quad City Images may have a point. As I view the statistics from other Iowa cities who have done this they have seen continued out-flight.
 

United Neighbors has been helping us out with new neighborhood watch programs. You may also call the police department. If you give me a ring at 563-529-4857 I can also help you out in setting one up.
 

1) N/E corner of Division and 40th Street, there is a dead tree that is so rotton that the bark is falling from it. 2) The baracade is still on the south side of kimberly, right by silver creek, and the sink hole has still not been repaired.
 

The cars have started to park again in the front of the duplexes along 34th Street, if you could ask the patrol to check for that again please.
 

Graffiti locations: The retaining wall in the alley behind 907 Locust. The Garage at 729 W. 6th. The railroad overpass at 5th and Division. The garage at 603 W. 14th {it was just covered up recently, and the bangers hit it again.} 1343 W. 13th - the fence facing 13th. There is a vacant commercial with no numbers, but is at west 13th and Filmore. The east side of the house at 1231 W. 7th.
 

The storm drain is plugged at the N/E corner of Filmore and 8th street, and also BOTH stormdrains are plugged at Filmore and 7th, causing 7th street to flood. It's just not trash blocking the grate, but the storm drains themselves appear to be plugged.
 

Dead trees at 4 locations: 619 e. 6th, 1520 w. 15th, 606 w. 14th and 535 w. 14th.
 

I have reported all of the items listed above. Thanks for the list and please, keep them coming.
 

There's several that you see parked there during the daytime, but the most common one you see is either a Ford or Chevy pickup truck that's almost a brand new one. It's commonly parked in the no parking in the 2700 block of 34th.
 

This afternoon the Parking Division issued 2 citations in the 2700 block of 34th.

Thanks for the tip.
 

Dead trees: 5th and Division - 3 dead ones just south of the railroad overpass. 10th and Division, N/E corner of the intersection. 1938 Washington Street - back yard. Also, 1938 needs house numbers. It is impossible to read them from the street.
 

The kids have graffitied a business at the intersection of Strudevant and 2nd street.
 

1527 Marquette has a half dead tree in the front yard, 3310 Tremont has a dead tree in the side yard, and 1106 W. 15th has a dead tree out by the alley.
 

The stop sign has grafitti paint at 12th and Scott. 1430 Gaines, on the south side of the house. The telephone box at 56th and Northwest Blvd. The telephone exchange box on Cheynne COURT has been hit again. First the red paint bangers hit it a month ago, and before it was painted over, now the blue paint bangers came by and really made a mess of things. Cheynne court is just west of Division and Cheynne drive if U.N. is having trouble finding it. Cheynne COURT is only one block long.
 

Behind the Hungry Hobo at Locust and Washington, the electrical box is tagged.
 

Alderman Hamerlinck: are you aware that the gravel area on the south side of the bridge on hillandale has still not been filled in or repaired? Today one car ahead of me got off into that rut and really swerved when there tire came back up onto the pavement. If you haven't gone to see the problem for yourself, please do, as public works is doing nothing about this dangerous condition.
 

To Anonymous 6/15 @ 4:16 P.M.

Alderman Hamerlinck will return from Alaska early next week. I will report your concern to him immediately upon his arrival home.
 

WindingHills, Alderman Hamerlinck is still out of town but I wanted to thank you for the information. This helps and can speed things up.

All others, if you are more comfortable reporting graffiti on Shawn's blog please continue.

Thanks,
Gary
 

Winding Hills - people report tagging here, as United Neighbors is slow to react without a little push from the Alderman. Shawn has got more covered up this year than the last two years combined.
 

At the Walgreens, at Kimberly and Division, the north entrance off 40th street has a huge 4`X 8` entrance sign back by the pharmacy drive-thru. The bangers have ruined the west side of that large sign.
 

There is a good reason NOT to call in complaints about grafitti to united neighbors. They have little bangers working there for community service time. If they would get access to the complaint file, or see a note on one of the paid workers desk with your name address and phone number on the message, you could be targeted. So reporting it here is much safer.
 

The city owns a herbicide sprayer, and I was wondering why they have not used it to spray for weeds in the cracks on all the cement islands along Kimberly where the weeds are growning up thru the cracks about a foot tall in places. A treatment of Roundup would get rid of that mess. Part of the problem is lack of maintence. If those cracks were filled in with tar, the weeds wouldn't grow there in the first place. Davenport also owns the equipment that fills in those small areas with tar, but they just don't use it. Please look into this when you have time. Thank you.
 

Who is "Gary", answering with Hamerlinks sign-in? Could this be the "guy that tells him what to say" at the council meeting?

And again people, Kimberly is a STATE HWY, maintained by the STATE. Commplain to them about a few weeds, or better yet, GO CUT THEM DOWN YOURSELF and get off the computer!!
 

To 5:40 - to stay in the information loop, you should read Shawns blog more often, and more closely. Kimberly is a state highway, but a couple months ago, shawn verified that Davenport gets a check from the state to maintain Kimberly.