When Sue Gabel's mother got sick two years ago and had a stroke, the doctor told the family that she would need to move from independent living to assisted living. Gabel and other family members scouted various facilities in the Quad Cities and selected one that told her they had a room for their mother.

When she arrived, though, the situation was different. "They put her in an empty room that had absolutely nothing in it but a bed and a table," Gabel said. They further told her that they still needed to evaluate her mother before placing her, and that they had a room in an Alzheimer unit that would cost an additional $1,000 to $1,200 a month.

"I didn't know what to do," Gabel said. "She is going to go absolutely nuts if she's in that [bare] room any longer."

"Help! Help! This stranger is not my father!" was the cry of nearly 40 children at summer camp last month.

The children were safe, but the scene is a normal, almost weekly event for Cindy Richard, an AmeriCorps member at the American Red Cross in Moline. She was teaching children the "Stranger Danger" program so they would know how to protect themselves from people who might be trying to abduct them.

Richard helps teach health and safety to both children and adults in the Quad Cities area, on topics ranging from weather safety to HIV/AIDS to first aid.

She's scheduled to end her service in October. So are 23 other AmeriCorps members in the Iowa Quad Cities.

Mike Creger, at the front counter of M&M Hardware in Rock Island, warned a customer this past Friday: "I need big bucks from you."

The total: $2.73.

On Thursday,  June 15, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the following news release:

"Rhythm City Casino Permit

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; the State Historical Society of Iowa; and the city of Davenport, has issued a permit to relocate the Rhythm City Casino riverboat to an area upstream of their current location on the Mississippi River in Davenport., Iowa.