When residents along Valley Drive, Bettendorf, voiced concerns about zoning changes for a cement batch plant along Highway 67, the owners promised an enclosure would be built around the facility to limit any dust from the operations.

Vacancies on elected city boards and councils should not be delayed until the next municipal election, but can be placed on the next general election ballot, according to today's (4/13) ruling by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

The court decision reversed a Scott County District Court ruling which upheld the City of Bettendorf's practice to wait until the next municipal election to fill vacancies on the park board and city council.

Muscatine's largest environmental polluter -- Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) -- may finally face legal action for alleged air quality and wastewater violations, some dating back seven years.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is recommending the nine-member Environmental Protection Commission refer the violations to the Attorney General's Office "for appropriate legal action."

Commission members, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate for four-year terms, will consider the recommended legal action at its April 19 meeting in Des Moines.

Bettendorf -- like 13 other Iowa cities -- ponied up $25,000 last fall to challenge U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations concerning the discharge of untreated sewage into rivers when heavy rains overtax municipal sewage treatment facilities.

The lawsuit filed by the Iowa League of Cities, however, was tossed before any arguments on the merits of the case were heard because the league's law firm failed to file a response to the EPA's motion to dismiss.

MidAmerican Energy's chairman and heir apparent to Warren Buffett resigned Thursday amid questions about his stock purchases in a company later acquired by Berkshire Hathaway.

In an interview on CNBC, MidAmerican Energy Holding Company Chairman David Sokol said he was leaving the company to start his own "mini-Berkshire." The Berkshire news release quotes Buffett on the timing of Sokol's purchase of stock in a company, Lubrizol, which was later acquired by Berkshire. CLICK HERE for the Berkshire news release.

For a guy who proclaims the wonders of our free enterprise system and is viewed as the wisest of investors, Warren Buffett apparently is feeling a bit clammy when it comes to his MidAmerican Energy Company idea to build a nuclear power plant in Iowa.

First, MidAmerican last year convinced the legislature to have customers cough up $15 million for a 3-year study of the idea of building a nuclear plant in the state.

The Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. -- owner of the Bettendorf and Davenport gambling "boats" -- lost $2.6 million, 8 cents per share, in the third quarter ended January 23.

The loss came despite an increase in revenues for the 3-month period from $227 million in the third quarter of 2010 to $232 million for the third quarter of 2011. The revenue increase was more than offset by higher interest costs totaling more than $21.5 million during the quarter.

McDonald's hopes to build a third restaurant in Bettendorf, this one along the 53rd Avenue corridor west of 18th Street.

A special use permit to allow a drive-up window for the fast-food outlet is scheduled for a public hearing Thursday (3/10) before the city's Board of Adjustment.

In the past five years, the City of Bettendorf's debt has nearly doubled, increasing from $57 million in fiscal 2006 to $105 million at of the end of June 2010.

An additional $17.3 million in general obligation bonds are due to be issued in the coming fiscal year beginning July 1.

Bettendorf residential property taxes would go up an average of 3.65 percent next year under the 2011/12 budget recommendation being considered by the city council.

While the city administration is recommending keeping the municipal tax rate the same as last year, increased residential property assessments are projected to boost most homeowner tax bills between 3 to 4 percent.