Republican state senate candidate Roby Smith has received more than $15,000 from political action committees (PAC's) since June, including money from the Koch Industries PAC in Washington, D.C. and Mitt Romney's "Free and Strong America" PAC in Massachusetts.

Billionaires David and Charles Koch, who have become synonymous with financing of Tea Party candidates around the country, are primary contributors to the Koch PAC. For details of how the Koch brothers' have organized and funded front groups to further their political agenda, CLICK HERE.

Smith has raised nearly $29,000 since June, with more than half - $15,250 - from PAC's. Romney's PAC organization and the Koch PAC both contributed $500.

Other top PAC contributions to Smith's campaign include: $2,500 from the Iowa Bankers' Association; $1,500 from the Iowa Association of General Contractors; $1,500 from the Deere & Co. PAC; $1,000 from the Master Builders of Iowa; $1,000 from the Iowa Hospital Association; and $1,000 from the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. The Scott County Republican Central Committee has contributed $1,400 to Smith's campaign since June.

The Isle of Capri Casino, Inc. has spent more than $100,000 to convince Scott, Black Hawk and Clayton County voters to renew its "riverboat" gambling franchises in Bettendorf, Davenport, Waterloo and Marquette.

The $103,116 spent by the four Isle lobbying groups as of Oct. 19 includes $19,000 for polling and surveys, $15,000 in miscellaneous "unitemized" expenses, $14,000 for campaign brochures, $3,700 for yard signs and more than $14,000 to pay casino employees for campaign travel/planning, yard sign distribution and campaign calls/presentations.

The four registered campaign committees - Citizens for The Continuation of Gambling in Scott County; Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.; Isle of Capri Bettendorf, L.C.; and Isle of Capri - Davenport, Inc. - are funded entirely by the Isle from donations by its casinos. Not a single individual is listed as having contributed either money or in-kind services to the casino campaigns.

A record $36.5 million was spent in fiscal 2010 for street construction, repairs and maintenance in Bettendorf, but soaring principal and interest payments meant fewer dollars were actually available for upgrading and maintaining city roadways.

According to street financial reports filed with the Iowa Department of Transportation, city spending on streets increased from $28.7 million in fiscal 2009 to $36.5 million for the fiscal year ended June 30.

After the city of LeClaire ignored its objections to the creation of yet another tax increment financing (TIF) district, Pleasant Valley school officials say they plan to seek changes in state law to give schools "a real voice" in the TIF approval process.

A series of pumps stand along Bettendorf's riverfront ready for use when heavy rain seeps into the Davenport and Bettendorf sewer system and creates peak flows the Davenport treatment plant is unable to handle. That's when the equipment begins pumping untreated sewage (diluted with the rain water) into storm water pipes that discharge into the Mississippi River.

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Native prairie grass plantings, a grove of oak trees, a "marketplace court" with sail-covered pavilion, a large open area with small berms, pathways of permeable pavers, a rain garden and themed perennial gardens are planned for the vacant lot adjacent to the city's library and family museum.

A federal program to bring high speed internet service to rural America will likely drive out many local private businesses now serving those very communities.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded millions of dollars to private firms across the country with the aim of boosting the speeds of Internet connections available in rural areas.

Bettendorf city officials want to begin charging for preparing and copying public records requested by citizens.

State law allows cities to charge a "reasonable" fee for complying with public record requests, and City Administrator Decker Ploehn told alderman the proposed ordinance is needed because of an increase in the number of requests for public records.

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. lost nearly $2.7 million during the first quarter, with the poor financial news Tuesday (August 31) prompting a 24 percent drop in the company's stock price.

The Isle operates four casinos in Iowa, including "riverboats" in Bettendorf and Davenport. The quarterly loss would have been even higher, $4.5 million, without a one-time income tax benefit of $1.9 million.

The company's stock was trading at $8.91 per share August 30, and fell to a low of $6.75 after the earnings release August 31. The stock was trading at $6.79 as of Friday (Sept. 3).

Facing added expenses with a new elementary school and declining state aid, the Pleasant Valley School Board has told LeClaire officials it is "fully opposed" to expanding a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) area in the city.

"While the current proposed TIF expansion in LeClaire does not extend a TIF expiration date, it is the district's understanding that it does add approximately $750,000 of valuation to a TIF area," the district wrote in a statement to the city of LeClaire.