- [Narrator] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory have been serving Quad City families and veterans since 1889.

Wheelan-Pressly funeral homes are located in Rock Island, Milan, and Reynolds and are proud supporters of WQPT.

- [Narrator] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are, and always will be, our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health, and we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.

- [Narrator] Alternatives is a proud supporter of WQPT and has been serving our community for 40 years.

Alternatives provides professional guidance to maintain independence and quality life for older adults and adults with disabilities.

- The Illinois legislature passes a new state budget.

Well, some in the legislature did.

And an active empowerment and mentorship that starts with a party.

And why there may be more than you think to your cup of coffee in The Cities.

(bright music) We'll look at a new documentary you'll see on WQPT that's eye opening when it comes to that coffee that you drink.

Plus, the effort to uplift the city's underrepresented population.

But first, the $46 billion plan.

That's the price tag to the new Illinois state budget that Democrats say has tax cuts and freezes, pays down state debts, and reinvests in state programs.

Republicans say it's window dressing in a political year, and real change was put on the shelf once again.

We talked with state Senator Win Stoller of Peoria, who represents Mercer, Bureau, Knox, and seven other area counties about just what was accomplished and what wasn't this season.

The Republicans are really pointing out that all of the tax breaks, all the tax freezes, really are kind of because of election year, almost like buying votes.

- Yeah, you know, you're right.

And I'm always in favor of reductions in taxes, but we have to be real honest about what this is.

These are election year gimmicks and election year games.

These tax increases somehow magically expire right after the election.

And, you know, that's just them trying to buy some votes is what I believe.

And the way this budget was passed was really kind of despicable.

We got the final language of this budget just after midnight, and we had less than 90 minutes to go through 3,467 pages of a budget that spent $46.5 billion.

Less than 90 minutes to go through that and vote at 1:30 in the morning.

I would suggest to you that is not the right way for government to behave.

- Well, and I would suggest to you, of course, is that's the way it's always done.

I mean, every state, it seems to be an 11th hour budget agreement.

That's the way legislatures work; I understand that.

- You know, but it's not the way it should be done.

- I appreciate that -- - We should have the opportunity to understand what we're voting on, to understand all the provisions in there.

Like, for example, there was an increase in the legislators' pay.

Now, we do not deserve an increase when we're...

The citizens of Illinois are struggling with inflation.

And yeah, we gave them $50 checks while we gave ourselves $2,800.

That's why I was a no vote on that.

- Well, let's talk about one of the areas... 'Cause priorities are always gonna be different between Republicans and Democrats.

There's things that I'm sure you agree with in the budget.

I know that you would've favored the higher education spending.

A lot more money to towards the MAP grants has been a good thing.

Prioritizing mental health.

Also, the healthcare system.

All of those things are things that people agree with.

To the extent can be argued, but what Republicans are really nailing at right now is the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund that you think that, as long as we had the money, we being the state of Illinois... As long as the state of Illinois had the money, that should be paid down right now.

- Yeah, that's right.

And the tragedy of this is the governor and the legislative Democrats abandoned the negotiations that were going on.

And I was actually a part of those negotiations, and they severely shortchanged the amount of money we put in to our unemployment fund.

This is the fund, the pot of money, that is used to pay unemployment claims.

And when doing so, they left a $2 billion hole in our...

It's a loan that we have to the federal government, a $2 billion hole in this fund, our unemployment fund, and the likely result now is potentially the largest increase on employers in our state history and a cut to benefits that people that lose their job and go on unemployment in their time of need... Now, their benefits are gonna be cut, and that... And you touched on it in your comment there.

We had all the money that we needed to solve this problem.

We were given $8.1 billion in ARPA funds.

Those are the federal bailout money.

And we were given all the money we needed, but instead of spending it to solve this problem, the Democrats and the governor spent it on all types of pork projects in Democrat districts, capital projects, things that were completely unrelated to COVID.

And this ARPA money, this bailout money, was intended for impacts by COVID, just like the unemployment fund is and the hole that we have in there, but instead they spent it on all kinds of other things, and now we're in a severely shortchanged fund.

And I would like to add that 32 states, other states, used their ARPA funds to completely solve their deficit in their unemployment trust fund.

In fact, only... We are one of only nine states left with a loan to the federal government, and it's just tragic that this is continuing, and it could end up in a major tax increase on employers and a benefit cut to unemployed workers.

- Well, of course, one of the areas of tax cuts that are popular, of course, would be the fact that you have the temporary tax relief on groceries and on gasoline as well.

Republicans are saying that they would like to see an 18 cent per gallon tax cap on fuel taxes and make it permanent rather than short term.

My concern, though, is how does that impact infrastructure spending?

'Cause you know so well the bridges and the highways that are under the jurisdiction of the state of Illinois...

The infrastructure is so important and has been left crumbling for a while.

Is capping the gas tax gonna hurt Illinois's ability to rebuild its infrastructure?

- You know, actually, the road builders were neutral on this, and this is the reason why.

The cap that we are proposing is related to the sales tax on gas.

And as the price of gas goes up, so does that sales tax.

And so when this price spikes, like it has, we get an extra windfall of additional revenue we were not expecting into our road fund.

And actually, the sales tax is split between general revenue and the road fund.

And because of that, because the road fund would be getting all of the money they were expecting and then some, that's the reason I was happy to co-sponsor that legislation that would've given significantly greater relief at the gas pump than the 2.2 cents delay in the increase that the governor is expected to sign into law.

And I'll also add to that, that you can tell it's an election year because they're requiring gas stations to post a sticker on every gas pump that is touting the delay of the increase of this 2 cent increase in the gas price.

And if they do not comply, it's a $500 fine per day on these gas stations.

If that's not the definition of an election year gimmick, I don't know what is.

- The session is now complete; it's in your rear view mirror.

What do you think was accomplished?

What are you proudest of, as far as a lawmaker, of what came out of Springfield?

- Yeah, in a large bill like the budget, there's always some things that I'm frustrated or disagree with, which is why I was a no.

There are some good things.

And one of the things I was pleased to see is the additional funding for our higher education.

I sit on the Higher Education Committee, and Western Illinois University, for example, received a 5% increase in their operational funds, which is one of the largest increases they've seen in years.

And also there's $122 million additional dollars being put towards MAP grants.

These are the grants for students to be able to attend college.

Now, that means these awards are gonna be larger, and there'll be more of them making college more affordable and more accessible for our students in our state.

- And also, I mean, if we're talking about education, not only higher education, but K-12 education, there was some significant changes that the legislature did there as well when you're talking about helping with the mental health of teachers, even, all the way to making it a little bit easier for districts to get teachers or teachers' aids into the classrooms.

- Yeah, and a big part of that is we were able to fully fund the 350 million of the Evidence-Based Funding formula, which is good.

And you know, one thing I'll touch on with K-12 education is, you know, the funding side is one thing, but the other side is what we're teaching our kids.

And I'm getting increasingly concerned, and I hear from dozens and dozens of parents throughout the district that are concerned about the politics that are infiltrating our classrooms.

And they're concerned that we're indoctrinating our kids with, you know, liberal ideology, but really there shouldn't be any ideology in our classrooms.

It should be, "Let's teach 'em to be the best at math, best at science, reading, and writing."

Those are the things we should be focusing on in our classrooms.

- Illinois state Senator Win Stoller.

It's spring break time for some of you, and Laura Adams has some great ideas when you go out and about.

- [Laura] This is Out and About for April 22nd through 28th.

Check out Taste of East Moline at the Rust Belt April 28th, starting at 5:30.

Circa 21 is serving up two productions, Just Desserts, a musical bake-off, and Grace for President for the kids.

Or be in the audience for the Jenny Lind and Augustana concert chorale the 23rd at 3:00.

MallaPalooza features four pop, punk, alternative rock, and metal bands at the Muscatine Mall the 23rd, starting at 7:00.

The Beatelles, four powerhouse female vocalists, followed by Rosie and the Rivets perform at Rhythm City Casino while Halley Neal performs at Bishop Hill Creative Commons the 23rd, at 7:00.

RiverChor's spring concert takes place at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton on the 24th at 2:00, while RiverBend Bronze presents their spring concert at St. Luke's United Methodist in Dubuque, the 24th, at 3:00.

The Quad City Environmental Film Series presents Microplastic Madness at the Figge the 24th, at 2:00, and Tomfoolery on Tremont presents the comedy of Geoffrey Asmus the 24th, at 8:00.

Or join music at Butterworth Center featuring LP and the Vinyls the 27th, at 7:00.

The Way Down Wanderers take the stage at the Redstone Room the 27th, at 7:00, while the Bucktown Revue performs at Davenport Jr Theater, featuring the Front Porch Pickers, April 22nd, at 7:00.

And Clock Inc. celebrate their grand opening on the 28th, at 5:30.

For more information, visit wqpt.org.

- Thank you, Laura.

The Twin Torch Foundation in the cities and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity are teaming up next month to host its annual Black and Gold Gala at the Davenport River Center to raise money for local scholarships, mentorships, and service programs for underrepresented citizens in the cities.

We talked with Stewart Carter, president of the Twin Torch Foundation, about the gala and the cause it supports.

Stewart, the Black and Gold Gala is coming up Saturday, May 14th.

This is such an important fundraiser for the work that you guys do.

- Yeah, we're very excited.

With the pandemic that we all just experienced, we think individuals are excited about getting out and having an opportunity to fellowship with each other.

And this is obviously what we believe is a worthy cause, to raise scholarship money for our recipients, and just an... Just a great way of giving back to the community who's done so much for us over the last 20 to 30 years.

So excited.

- And underrepresented members of the community too.

I mean, you're helping kids that might otherwise have no other avenues to help themselves, which is so important.

And you know, we always talk about scholarships and helping people get to technical schools or four year colleges, but you also help fund mentorships, which I think are so important, and service programs, which get people into the community.

I love the fact that you do those two areas as well.

- No, thank you, thank you.

I think scholarships...

I think a lot of times, all too often, people focus in on the scholarships.

So those are for the individuals who've made it through junior high and high school and are going on to college, which is awesome.

But we also start trying to attract and develop kids at an early age through mentorship programs.

We have a wonderful partnership with March for Babies, with Big Brothers Big Sisters, hopefully coming up with the Boys and Girls Club.

And so we know, in order to... For them to have a chance to receive a scholarship, we have to start working with them early.

And it is a group, unfortunately, that's well underrepresented in terms of opportunities and exposure to things, so we try to bridge that gap.

- And that's really a big part of Alpha Phi Alpha as well.

I mean, you've been part of the fraternity for so long, but to have people able to follow in your footsteps to be more successful, I mean, you're really just trying so hard to help the next generation.

- Yeah, Alpha has been around for over 115 years, and it started as a social club for individuals who were going to school at Cornell University who really didn't have a group of individuals that they could spend time with and help articulate through the campus and through university.

And so for over the last a hundred years, our focus been around developing leaders.

It's been around giving back to the communities.

Education is high on our priorities, so our goal is to graduate individuals through the colleges, through the universities.

And we've done that in the Quad Cities since the late 1970s, just echoing what Alpha's all about.

And it's about, first of all, service of all.

And we are an organization that is very service-oriented, whether it be scholarships, hosting STEM events, father-son breakfasts.

We just have tried to do a lot in the community, and we've tried to really flex to the needs.

The needs have changed over the last 30 years, and we try to be that conduit to help young individuals know that they can be successful.

And a lot of that is just allowing them to see individuals who've been successful outside of being professional athlete.

There's a lot of different ways that you can have a wonderful career.

And so we try to expose them to those kind of things.

- You must be proud of some of the people that you have helped, some of the students that have moved on.

Can you tell me about a few that you're particularly proud of?

- Well, I'm gonna be a little bit biased here and tie into recency, but our MC for the program that we're gonna have in May is Terry DeSaul III, who was a scholarship recipient the same year that my son was, and Terry's gone on to do great things.

He went and graduated from the University of Iowa.

Now, he's finishing up his master's degree at the University of Indiana next month.

He's already secured a job, excited about that.

He also became an Alpha throughout his college life, so we're excited to see that, that he can pay back and pay forward, I guess, so to speak.

So we're excited about what he's done.

He's gonna MC our program that's coming up in May.

And just when you see that, you see that it's come full circle.

There's some other individuals that were in the same scholarship group as Terry.

My son, CJ, now is starting his master's at Iowa State University.

Another young man, Dejour Nichols Lester, also graduated from Grandview and is starting to work on his master's at Drake University.

So when you see those kind of things, you feel like, yeah, any way I can help those individuals, through scholarships, through mentorships, is really what we're all about.

And it's exciting to see those young men mature and matriculate into being gainfully employed young men, so excited about what those individuals have done and continue to do.

- And I love the fact about the pay it forward.

I mean, you always have to think that you're gonna have to help the generation behind you, and hopefully they're just as successful as you are, in particular.

Black and Gold Gala is coming up Saturday, May 14th.

Tickets are still available, of course.

- Yeah, we had a committee meeting yesterday, and we... Our goal is to sell 200 tickets.

We're trying to be conscious of COVID restrictions and things like that, and so we're gonna limit our ticket sales to 200.

And I would say we're probably at about 80% of that number already with a month ago.

So we're excited for that.

It's an opportunity to showcase the scholarship recipients.

We have four scholarship recipients that will be there that evening, along with their parents.

We're also giving out community impact awards to the organization that we he think has done a great job in the Quad Cities.

Many great organizations to choose from, as well as the individual, who's really gone above and beyond to do all the things that we think our foundation stands for, as well as the fraternity.

And so we just wanna use that as an event to showcase and recognize those individuals as well as to raise scholarship funds and money, also, for other programs that we launched throughout the year.

- Stewart Carter, president of the Twin Torch Foundation.

Tickets to the May 14th Black and Gold Gala are on sale.

You can head to twintorch.com for details.

Rebecca Casad and Alan Morrison are a ukulele duo who take an interesting twist on five decades of popular music.

Now, this duo joined us at the River Music Experience to perform one of their original works.

So here's Casad and Morrison with "Every Day of the Year."

(bright gentle music) ♪ Every dream, every place ♪ ♪ All I do is look in your eyes ♪ ♪ I never walked in a land where you would be mine ♪ ♪ But despite all the poking and prodding ♪ ♪ And pretending the other ain't there ♪ ♪ I find myself next to you ♪ ♪ Everyday of the year ♪ ♪ I watch the light as it comes through my window ♪ ♪ And watch it sparkle across your hair ♪ ♪ I know you must be one in a million ♪ ♪ But discovering someone brand new ♪ ♪ And teaching myself how to care ♪ ♪ I find myself next to you every day of the year ♪ ♪ And even though we fight sometimes ♪ ♪ I know we'll make it through ♪ ♪ My strength to wake up every day ♪ ♪ Seems to always come from you ♪ ♪ I find myself next to you ♪ ♪ Though the darkness seems to fight us ♪ ♪ We have the strength to carry on ♪ ♪ We must be so much more than this moment ♪ ♪ So despite all the fears and the trials ♪ ♪ I know somehow we'll make it there ♪ ♪ And I'll find myself next to you every day of the year ♪ ♪ Yes I find myself next to you ♪ ♪ Every day of the year ♪ - Casad and Morrison with "Every Day of the Year."

An Illinois native who spent a few teenage years in the Quad Cities has now traveled to Central and South America to better tell the story of a cup of coffee that is changing a community and the lives of people often marginalized.

Brooke Bierhaus is that person, and what she found is in her documentary called "Coffee: The Connected Cup," which you can see on WQPT Sunday night, April 24th.

We talked with Brooke about her work.

I love the fact that you say that coffee can be transformative.

I mean, it's in your bloodstream, and it can really be...

It can change so many different lives.

- Yes, absolutely.

You know, coffee being transformative.

I mean, I really feel like coffee is a global language.

And when it's done with intention and you create these, you know, spaces full of connection, intention, and engagement, I think it can really be transformative for individuals and for communities.

- WQPT is airing "Coffee: The Connected Cup."

That is your documentary.

Tell me what the point is that you're trying to make with it.

I wanna talk about the genesis and how it came about, but what do you hope that the audience comes away with?

- You know, "The Connected Cup" really was spurred from this idea that coffee could allow me to create connections with people as a visitor, as a tourist, as a traveler in so many different countries.

And I hope people...

I hope they receive multiple things from watching this film, but one of them being just a view into how other cultures connect via coffee and how that can transform communities.

But also, I hope it's enlightening, in some aspect, for how you can use coffee in a day to day basis for creating really meaningful moments in your own life, and maybe taking a second and thinking about coffee less as a quick grab and go and more of a sit down and connect with a friend type of way to exist in this world.

- And it's interesting 'cause you really take coffee beyond that.

You take it basically from its roots.

I mean you go to Costa Rica; you're in Colombia, Your partner is Native Root, which is a coffee maker that practices sustainable farming methods as well.

I mean, it's... Tell me about that portion of it, is that where your coffee comes from can really make a difference.

- Absolutely, so I love...

I love this collaboration with Native Root.

They are incredible, and after they watched the film, had reached out and realized we all are... Had either lived at a certain point or are from the Quad Cities, so I love that local aspect, but also their ethos and just views on coffee really were exactly aligned with my own.

And so we created a Connected Cup coffee that you can purchase directly from Native Root Coffee, and 10% of those proceeds will go back to Ethiopia and the Connected Cup non-profit that works for a clean water initiative because, you know, water is the true connected... First connected cup.

You need it for... To create coffee; you need it to sustain life.

So we really wanted that to be a part of a way to give back because, as a filmmaker, I feel like I gained so much from the communities and the people and the cultures involved who just opened their homes and lives up to me, and I wanted to give back in a certain way.

So the non-profit came after the initial premier of the film in 2020.

So very excited about the partnership with Native Root, to be able to progress that, and for people to taste incredible and ethically sourced coffee by Native Root in Colombia.

And so that is something that I would definitely recommend everyone check out is going to Native Root Coffee or theconnectedcup.com to order a bag of the Connected Cup coffee.

And then there's a QR code.

If you can't make the screening on WQID, then you can always watch it at a later date with that QR code.

- Well, let's talk about also the fact... Like you said, you were 16 years old in Bettendorf, you know?

- Yeah.

- You didn't really experience the world very much, and then what you have seen amazes me, and one of the parts of the documentary is the story of the women in a village called Unity.

And it is a women's-only village.

I mean, that had to be incredibly eye opening.

- It really was.

It created an additional aspect to sisterhood that I had never experienced before.

So the women in Samburu, Kenya, are a matriarchal village, women only.

They have experienced hardships, either abuse or the death of a husband, and they really have relied on each other and created a 30... 30 women with their families, so children.

About 65, I think, are how many individuals live in Unity at the moment.

And that is also an aspect, that I wanted to look at coffee as it's created, you know, the sources of coffee, so that being water.

And that was a reason for traveling to Samburu, Kenya.

Kenya is a great producer of coffee, but I was more focused on the water aspect.

So you can see really just the lived experience and the culture of Unity and the women there.

And we speak with the matriarchal head, and she is absolutely incredible.

Incredible Mama Josephette.

Y'all will meet her in the film, and the power and strength just within that community has transformed my own outlook on what it means to be a sister and an ally and a good person.

- Brooke Bierhaus.

Her documentary "Coffee: The Connected Cup" can be seen Sunday night, April 24th, on WQPT, on the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on The Cities.

(bright gentle music) - [Narrator] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory have been serving Quad City families and veterans since 1889.

Wheelan-Pressly funeral homes are located in Rock Island, Milan, and Reynolds and are proud supporters of WQPT.

- [Narrator] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are, and always will be, our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health, and we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.

- [Narrator] Alternatives is a proud supporter of WQPT and has been serving our community for 40 years.

Alternatives provides professional guidance to maintain independence and quality of life for older adults and adults with disabilities.