The Bettendorf School District plans to increase property taxes 15 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation for the coming year, while Pleasant Valley school board members are looking at a property tax hike from 50 cents to $1 per $1,000 assessed valuation.

Both school boards also are looking at trimming expenses in the coming year as the districts seek to offset cuts in financial aid from the state.

The current property tax levy for Pleasant Valley schools is $13.99 per $1,000 assessed valuation, compared to Bettendorf's $14.85 per $1,000 assessed valuation.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources today (3/10) issued an air quality advisory for Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Counties because of elevated levels of fine particulate pollution.

A 24-hour reading of 35.5 micrograms per cubic meter was recorded Tuesday (3/9) in Davenport, and levels in the high 30's to mid 50's were expected as of noon today in the three counties.

“It’s time to put to rest the notion that economic growth and environmental protection are incompatible," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson said today in a speech before the National Press Club in Washington.

If you've been thinking there have been more air quality alerts in recent months, you would right.

Air quality standards for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers) in Iowa have been exceeded at 35 locations through Febuary 26, already surpassing the 34 exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards recorded during all of 2009.

And, the 35 exceedances don't include readings from last week when the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued air quality alerts for east central Iowa because of high levels of PM 2.5.

High fine particulate pollution in eastern Iowa has prompted the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue an air quality alert for east central Iowa Thursday (3/4) and extending into late today (3/5).

According to NASA, this photo of Earth is the most detailed true-color image of the entire planet to date.

Click on the image for a larger version, or visit NASA's "Visible Earth" site for a larger, more detailed version of this photo and many other images of Earth taken from space.

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc., owners of the Isle of Capri, Bettendorf, lost $11.4 million in the third quarter ended January 24, compared to a $48.3 million profit for the same period in 2009.

Revenues for the third quarter totaled $227 million, down from $302 million in the same 3-month period a year ago.

Thanks to the Internet and the Iowa Attorney General's office, Iowans can read for themselves the charges filed recently against the former director of the Iowa Film Office and two Minnesota film producers in connection with state tax credits.

CLICK HERE to download the complaint filed Feb. 8 against former Iowa Film Office Director Thomas Wheeler.

March arrived like a lamb today with mild temperatures and no wind, rain or snow. Snowfall is more than 20 inches above "normal" this winter. And, with no January or February thaw, the area still has more than a foot of snow on the ground as of March 1. Not surprisingly, flooding along the Mississippi River is predicted this spring.

A new database web site from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a fast and easy-to-use source to obtain detailed information on local air and water emissions and local businesses and industries operating under EPA permits.

The site (http://www.epa.gov/myenvironment) can be searched by industries, types of emissions and EPA programs.