All this school year, we’re following a new first grade teacher in Davenport. That’s where a district program is helping new teachers adjust to classroom careers. Here’s part three of this Journey to Excellence.

One word at a time, these first graders are learning how to read and write.

Inside the classroom at Davenport’s Monroe Elementary School, first year teacher Alex Lampe really knows her 21 students. That makes the end of the school year a real accomplishment.

“At the beginning of the year, it’s just experimenting,” she said. “It’s so hard to get those routines down. But we got it. We’ve got it by now.”

The Journey to Excellence program pairs the St. Ambrose University graduate with veteran teacher Jolene Whittemore.

“Your kids at the beginning are empty slates,” Whittemore said. “Now you have them all figured out.”

A Davenport man was sentenced to 25-years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 40-year-old Mauriosantana Cowan was charged with conspiracy to distribute 280-grams or more of the drug.

The Department of Justice said from March 2009 through April 2010, he and two others planned to distribute large amounts of the substance. Cowan purchased cocaine base in Chicago and redistributed to people in the Quad Cities.

Cowan was also sentenced to ten-years of supervised release after he is out of prison, officials said.

According to MidAmerican Energy, thousands were without power before 9 p.m. on Sunday, May 19, 2013. By 10:10 p.m. many homes had power restored.

On the Illinois side of the river, about 700 in Coal Valley, less than 300 in Henry County, almost 100 in Moline, and about 250 people in Rock Island County are without power.

On the Iowa side, power outages in Davenport are down to about 45 from 1800 earlier in the evening.