Work continues on the 12-story Isle of Capri hotel overlooking the Mississippi River along the Bettendorf riverfront. The hotel will have more than 250 rooms and be connected to a special events center to be built by the city. The Isle and the city are hoping the new hotel and events center will attract more visitors to the Isle's casino riverboat, increasing revenues for both the riverboat casino and the city. The Isle is facing additional competition from the new Riverside Casino near Iowa City which opened this month. On the Illinois side of the river, the Casino Rock Island has broken ground on a new gambling facility located just off Interstate 280 in southwest Rock Island.

Student enrollment in the Bettendorf School System is up 40 students compared to last year, according to Superintendent Marty Lucas. But Lucas told the school board at its Sept. 18 meeting the enrollment numbers could change before the official date for reporting student enrollment to the state on Oct. 2.

The number of students is the basis for calculating the amount of state aid the district receives each year. If the preliminary enrollment figures remain unchanged, it would mark the second consecutive year in which district enrollment has increased.

Click on the Read More link below for the full school board minutes of the Sept. 18 meeting.

Devils Glen Road between Tanglefoot Lane and Middle Road has become a jungle of construction signs and equipment as crews widen the heavily used street to accommodate new turn lanes onto Belmont and Middle Roads. The project was described by city Public Works Director Wally Mook as "building a ship in a bottle" because of the limited space for equipment and the need to keep the road open during construction. The construction of the new Hy-Vee Food Store and revamping of the store parking lot adds to the construction confusion for motorists in the area.

Maplecrest Road will be closed to through traffic from 29th Street to Devils Glen Road beginning Wednesday morning September 27, according to the public works department. It is expected the road will remain closed until November 1 for completion of roadway improvements at the intersection of Maplecrest Road and Devils Glen Road. Detours will route traffic on Maplecrest Road onto 29th Street to Tanglefoot Lane to the north and Middle Road to the south.

For more photos, click on "Read More" link.

Workers smooth the concrete paving at the rear of the new Hy-Vee Food Store under construction in Bettendorf. The new store is just north of the existing Glenroads Hy-Vee and just south of the Luther Heights Senior Highrise along Devils Glen Road. For additional photos click on the "Read More" link below.

The Iowa Values Fund, a taxpayer financed venture capital program to retain and create jobs, provided the state legislature and citizens with a status report on its activities in June. The report is available by CLICKING HERE to download. In addition to the usual claims about the number of jobs created and retained, the report also lists those firms which are "on schedule," "behind schedule," and those "referred to collections." The report includes Values Fund awards, as well as all business development grants by the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).

Betsy Justis and Scott Tinsman will be sworn in and assume their duties as new members of the Bettendorf School Board tonight (Sept. 18).

Justis and Tinsman won election to the board in last week's school board contest, defeating incumbents Tom Luton and Paul Castro. Tinsman received 744 votes, Justis 691, Castro 659 and Luton 599. Luton and Castro, both retired teachers in the school district, were seeking their third 3-year term on the board.

Tinsman is a business owner and lifelong resident of Bettendorf. Justis works for Heartland JA and has lived in the community 15 years. Tinsman and his wife, Beth, have three boys, one attending elementary school, one at Middle School and one in high school. Justis and her husband Randy, have two girls, one in elementary and one in Middle School.

In Pleasant Valley, Joanne Messman, Heather Witters and Daniel Schurr were elected to three-year terms on the board in uncontested races.

The Iowa and Illinois Departments of Transporation have selected a "basket handle true arch" design for a proposed new Interstate 74 Bridge between Bettendorf and Moline. The public comments on four designs favored a cable-stayed bridge, but transportation officials said the twin basket handle bridge would allow for more efficient deck replacement and more flexibility for traffic and construction staging. The bridge replacement and revamping of the I-74 corridor through Bettendorf and Moline is expected to cost more $670 million. The animation above provides four views of the proposed basket handle bridge design along with a photo (taken last January) of the current twin suspension bridge across the Mississippi River. The new bridge would have three lanes, versus the current two, in each direction, along with additional width for shoulders and a bike/pedestrian crossing.

Bettendorf's defense shutout the Assumption Knights 22-0 in a showdown of unbeaten and top-ranked teams Thursday (Sept. 13) at Brady Street Stadium.

After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs scored early in the third quarter when receiver Colin Sandeman caught a 51-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the third, an errant punt snap over the head of the Assumption punter resulted in a safety.

The Bulldog running game wore down the Assumption defense in the second half, and halfback Jake Eikenberry scored twice on runs of 7 and 10 yards to ice the victory.

Bettendorf, ranked first in the state 4A poll, has not yet given up a point this season, moving to 3-0 in the MAC. Assumption was third in last week's state 4A football rankings.

After a lopsided 61-0 win against Davenport North last week (above), Bettendorf takes its 2-0 record and number one state 4A ranking on the road against Davenport Assumption Thursday (Sept. 14) at Brady Street Stadium. Assumption also is undefeated and is ranked third in the state football poll.

A border of wildflowers provides a colorful border between the parking lot and the Crow Creek Park baseball complex.