The Bettendorf-based LED light assembly company planning to bring its operations from China has been approved to receive $130,000 in job training reimbursement through Eastern Iowa Community College (EICC).

The funds would pay for development of a customized training program for 15 employees of LED-O Holding, LLC who would have "an average wage of $17 per hour and benefits of health, life, dental, vacation, holiday pay initially," according to the LED-O agreement with EICC. The firm, now located at 6125 Valley Drive, "is planning to move its operations from China and eventually will locate in a 13,000-square-feet building that can be expanded to as much as 75,000 square feet over time," the agreement states.

The agreement between EICC and LED-O Holding was approved at the community college's April meeting.

LED-O Holdings is owned by the the same group of businessmen who obtained a 10-year Tax Increment Financing (TIF) incentive (valued at $537,000) from the city of Bettendorf for the development of the Interstate 74 Technology Park. The site is just east of I-74 and north of Tanglefoot Lane. LED-O Holding's' current location on Valley Drive is in a building also occupied by a lawn equipment distributor.

Two months after the U.S. Treasury sold out its preferred stock position in National Bancshares, Inc. at a $3.2-million loss to taxpayers, the Bettendorf-based banking firm announced it had been sold to a Texas financial holding company.

National Bancshares, Inc. – operator of The National Bank and 10 other branches in the Quad Cities – received $24.7 million under the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in February 2009.

In return, the Treasury received preferred stock and warrants in the bank and was to be paid a 5 percent annual dividend. The bank paid a total of $2.3 million in dividends during 2009 and 2010. The bank had not repaid any of the initial loan amount and its last dividend payment to the Treasury was in November 2010.

Visit ProPublica, a public journalism web site, for a full listing of TARP program bank loans and repayments.

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times and 46 other daily newspapers – reported a loss of $6 million, or 12 cents per share, for its second quarter which ended March 31.

The results were an improvement from a year ago, when the firm reported a loss of $26.6 million, 54 cents per share. The narrower loss and improved revenue trends reported by the company helped push up the stock nearly 10 percent in trading Tuesday to $1.39 per share.

Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) in Muscatine has agreed to pay a $129,000 fine for violations of the federal Clean Water Act that occurred in 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today (4/16).

"GPC failed to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) monitoring requirements by taking unrepresentative flow measurements and not conducting settleability tests; failed to maintain all facilities and control systems in good working order; and exceeded the effluent limitations for biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, temperature, and pH," according to the EPA news release. "GPC came into compliance with Clean Water Act regulations after EPA Region 7 issued an order to the company on July 29, 2011, requiring it to correct the violations."

The effluent violations negatively impacted the Mississippi River, according to the EPA. The operations and maintenance violations, which included malfunctioning equipment and failure to comply with monitoring requirements, led to wastewater pollutants being released into the river which are not accurately known or documented.

Muscatine's sulfur dioxide pollution woes continued in the first three months of 2013 with eight exceedances of national air quality standards recorded as of March 12.

Three of the National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) exceedances were recorded at the Musser Park monitor and five others at the East High (Garfield) monitor operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The 14-acre Davenport estate once presided over by bank baron V.O. Figge is on the real estate block for $3.5 million.

Even if you can't afford the French Country villa, you can get a glimpse into the life of the rich back in the 1950's by clicking through the online gallery of photos taken back in 1954. The link is: http://www.hawthornacres.com

If the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has its way, only the city of Muscatine and not the entire county of Muscatine would be designated as in non-attainment for sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA has proposed designating the entire county in non-attainment, which would bring tougher regulations on new and existing businesses to lower SO2 emissions in Muscatine County. The IDNR and the governor had tried unsuccessfully to avoid any non-attainment designation two years ago, suggesting to the EPA the county be designated as "unclassifiable."

Under the non-attainment designation proposed by the EPA, existing SO2 pollution sources in the county could be required to reduce their emissions, and new sources that emit sulfur dioxide above certain levels would be required to be built with air pollution controls having the lowest sulfur dioxide emissions technically possible.

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Iowa League of Cities a sweeping victory Monday (3/25), vacating U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on sewage bypass and mixing zones saying the agency failed to follow federal notice and procedures for setting those regulations.

The league had challenged the EPA rules based on two letters from the federal agency which were sent in response to letters from U.S. Senator Charles Grassley.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is expected to argue only a small portion of Muscatine County – not the entire county – needs to be designated as in non-attainment for sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution, a significant change from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recommended plan.

The IDNR will hold two public meetings – 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., Thursday, March 28 – at the Muscatine County Conservation Board’s Environmental Learning Center, 3300 Cedar Street, Muscatine, to provide information on the proposed non-attainment designation and seek input from the public, businesses and other affected stakeholders.

At those meetings, IDNR officials also are expected to present an analysis of air monitoring in support of a much smaller designated area of non-attainment.

The Loop – a riverfront circulator bus service connecting Quad Cities downtowns Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and Sundays – will be scaled back to just two days under a plan expected to be approved by the Bettendorf City Council Tuesday (3/19).

Bettendorf received a federal transit grant to purchase the four retro-looking Loop buses in 2009, and the service has been running significant deficits every since. The revenue from the Loop is expected to total just $30,000 for the current fiscal year, while operating expenses are projected at nearly $303,000 (excluding depreciation).