Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times and 45 other daily newspapers – posted a $3.2-million profit in its fourth quarter ended Sept. 28, and finished its fiscal year in the black for the first time since 2010.

The Davenport-based company posted a $7.7 million profit – 6 cents per share – for the 2014 fiscal year. That compares with a loss of $1.71 per share for fiscal 2013 when the firm recorded a $171-million impairment charge. For fiscal 2012, the company reported a loss of 6 cents per share.

Lee Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Junck noted the company reduced its debt by $10.3 million during the fourth quarter. As of Sept. 28, Lee's debt was $804.7 million, down nearly $43 million from a year ago.

Bettendorf aldermen will begin discussing next year's capital spending plan later this month after closing the books on the past fiscal year with a mountain of debt – $132.2 million to be precise.

It is hard to know where the city will find sufficient funds to pay for a plate full of projects discussed in recent months: rebuilding sections of Middle Road; combining or renovating community recreational facilities; enhancements to the new Forest Grove Park; redevelopment projects in downtown and along the riverfront; extension of sewer and water lines north of I-80; and development of a I-80/Middle Road sports complex.

The $132-million debt is nearly 85 percent of the legal limit set by the state (as of June 30), and substantially above the 73 percent level city officials projected the debt margin would fall to in 2012. Not incidentally, that projection was made during the last mayoral election year when the debt – $111 million at the time – became the focus of political debate.

Riverdale's first Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district – aimed at diverting future property taxes that its largest taxpayer ALCOA would normally pay to Pleasant Valley schools and county government – will be set up before the end of the year to help fund municipal improvements of the 400-resident village.

Riverdale officials have asked the Scott County Auditor to establish a TIF district that will generate $16,700 in "incremental" taxes from the recently established Urban Renewal Area along State Street, which includes the sprawling ALCOA aluminum rolling mill with an assessed value of more than $40 million.

Based on the current tax levy rates, the new TIF will mean Riverdale will receive approximately $7,100 which would otherwise go to the Pleasant Valley School District and about $3,000 which would have been paid Scott County. Riverdale's portion, based on its own tax levy, would be approximately $6,000. Incremental property taxes due the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency and assessor's office also would be paid to the village.

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. today (12/2) reported a $1 million loss for its second quarter as much higher interest costs on its debt offset a 3 percent increase in net revenues for the period.

For the three months ended October 26, the Isle – owner of three gambling operations in Iowa including the Bettendorf Isle of Capri – reported a loss of 3 cents per share, compared with a gain of 20 cents per share for the same period a year ago.

A used car dealer – forced to relocate because of the Interstate 74 bridge project – is seeking $15,000 from the city even though his business has yet to complete any of the promised landscaping of his highly visible new location on the east entrance to downtown Bettendorf.

Premier Picks Auto in 2011 obtained city council approval for its move to 26th Street (where State Street becomes a one-way) despite opposition by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. The planning commission by a 3-1 vote denied the rezoning request to allow the use of the parcel for used car sales saying it felt the car dealership did not fit the downtown redevelopment master plan and its streetscaping plans.

The city council overruled the zoning commission and allowed Premier Picks to relocate to 2540 State Street in 2011. The car dealership has yet to install any landscaping as outlined in its rezoning request to the plan commission and city council.

The number of exceedances of National Ambient Air Quality Standards in Iowa totaled 81 through November 4, nine more than the total number recorded in 2013, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The vast majority of the exceedances so far in 2014 involved high levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution, with 63 of the exceedances recorded at air monitors in Muscatine.

While the primary source of SO2 pollution in Muscatine – Grain Processing Corp. (GPC) – has begun work on plant upgrades aimed at sharply reducing SO2 emissions, the community continues to have the poorest air quality in the state.