The newly hired Bettendorf superintendent continues to operate his side consulting business, while the district refuses to say if school board president Paul Castro has authorized the activity.

John Elkin was hired as interim superintendent by the Bettendorf school board last month at a salary of more than $218,000, after the board paid the outgoing superintendent $720,000 to resign.

Even as deputy to the director of the Iowa State School Board, Elkin operated his consulting firm, Premier ED Leader Resources LLC , which provides internal investigative training to school districts in Iowa and other neighboring states. The firm charges school districts $300 per person to attend its training seminars.

by Jacob Orledge and Jeff Beach, Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 31, 2026

Summit Carbon Solutions is abandoning two-thirds of its planned project to store carbon dioxide underground in North Dakota. 

The company, which had been granted permits to store CO2 in three designated areas in central North Dakota, has requested permits for two of the areas to be canceled. 

“Summit #1 and Summit #2 have determined as a matter of business judgment that they will not proceed with development, construction, operation, or implementation of either proposed storage facility,” Summit said in a filing with the North Dakota Supreme Court. 

by Tim Carpenter, Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 25, 2026

Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn eagerly champions the unconventional, hands-on private school he helped launch in Kansas as the best model for reinventing schools.

But Lahn’s campaign narrative about delivering cutting-edge academic leadership at the school called Wonder doesn’t mention its precarious finances. Public records tell a broader story.

by Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 22, 2026

The Democratic candidate for Iowa secretary of agriculture told Iowa State Fair attendees Saturday that “the outrage has finally arrived” for the state of Iowa’s water, and said systemic change rather than incremental fixes is the way to clear up waterways and improve other areas of Iowans’ lives.

Chris Jones criticized “Band-Aid approaches” to fixing Iowa’s environment and rural economy during his Des Moines Register Political Soapbox speech, including President Donald Trump’s decision to import more ground beef and infusions of money by the state into initiatives that haven’t fixed things.

The empty chairs represent the 'no show' Scott County Republicans at last Saturday's public forum sponsored by the Metrocom Branch of the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 19, 2026

A judge has ordered the federal government to immediately release an immigrant held in an Iowa jail, saying it’s “hard to take seriously” the U.S. Department of Justice’s arguments in the case.

It’s one of an increasing number of cases in which federal judges have expressed skepticism or outright disbelief in some of the claims made by U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, particularly in immigration cases.

Lee Enterprises, Inc. Thursday (8/6) reported net income of $5.2 million for the third quarter ended June 28, but overall revenues at the Davenport-based media company continue to fall, off 11 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

The company's print advertising and subscription revenue have been declining steadily for years, and management has touted the success of its "digital-first strategy" to move away from print advertising and print subscriptions to a digital ad and subscription revenue model.

Long-time Lee Enterprises, Inc. board member and former chairman Mary Junck, whose tenure was defined by taking on enormous corporate debt to buy the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2005, has retired.

Lee – the Davenport-based company that owns the QC Times, Daily Dispatch/Argus and some 70 other news outlets – did not issue a news release about her retirement. The change to the board membership, effective July 31, was contained in a required filing July 10 with the Security and Exchange Commission.

Junck was CEO when Lee purchased the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for $1.46 billion and took on the huge debt that the company is still struggling to repay today.

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 31, 2026

Two former directors of the state agency that oversees Medicaid fraud investigations said Friday that Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s newly formed fraud task force is “political theater.”

Dean Lerner and Kevin Techau, who served as directors of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals under Democratic governors Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver, said Bird, a Republican, is “leaving millions of dollars on the table” by not working to fully fund Iowa’s existing Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.