The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) this spring paid $1.9 million to acquire 3.8 acres of Bettendorf riverfront property – owned by the Goldstein family's Green Bridge Company – needed for the new Interstate 74 Bridge.

The land was part of the property once hyped as the future site of a Mark Twain-themed amusement park by gambling proponents setting off to lobby the Iowa legislature in the early 1990's.

Lee Enterprises, Inc. – owner of the Quad City Times and 46 other daily newspapers – reported Thursday (5/5) morning second quarter earnings of $19.5 million, or 36 cents per share, thanks largely to a one-time insurance gain of $30.6 million.

Without the insurance proceeds, the company would have reported a 1 cent per share loss for the 3-month period ended March 27, compared with a 3 cents per share gain for the same quarter a year ago.

Much of Bettendorf's proposed new stormwater management ordinance is based on similar regulations put in place by Davenport two years ago.

But despite the wholesale borrowing of Davenport's stormwater ordinance language, one key section – requiring developers to amend new residential lots to absorb rainfall and provide homeowners with healthy organic topsoil – never made it into the two initial drafts circulated by Bettendorf city staff to city council members.

Why the soil infiltration standards for new residential developments went "missing" from the Davenport ordinance to the Bettendorf stormwater draft rules isn't clear.

The endangered tigers and lemurs held at the troubled Cricket Hollow Zoo should be in a new home yet this summer.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles April 29 denied the zoo's petition to stay his court order requiring removal of the animals from the rural Manchester, Iowa roadside zoo.

Bettendorf is in the midst of revising its stormwater management ordinances, but if the initial draft is any indication there won't be any requirement for developers to retain a specific amount of topsoil on each new home site.

The draft ordinance – scheduled for discussion at next week's (April 19) committee-of-the-whole meeting – lists many suggested "water quality practices" intended to capture and treat rainfall events of up to 1.25 inches (90 percent of all eastern Iowa rain events) on-site.

The owners of the troubled Cricket Hollow Zoo have appealed the federal court ruling issued Feb. 11 which ordered removal of the zoo's lemurs and tigers because of inadequate veterinary care and sanitation for the endangered animals.

Owners Tom and Pamela Sellner, of Manchester, filed the notice of appeal with the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis March 9. The appeal seeks to reverse the lower court decision, halt the removal of endangered animals from the zoo and lift the court's order prohibiting the Sellners from adding endangered animals to their roadside zoo.

A recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling is expected to toughen the state's open meetings law, finding a county administrator should be counted the same as an elected official in determining whether a majority of board members were present at private meetings since she was acting as an "agent" for other board members not in attendance.

Many public bodies – including the Bettendorf and Davenport City Councils – have in the past intentionally held less-than-majority meetings to circumvent the state's open meeting law and avoid 24-hour public notice and public inclusion in the sessions.

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. posted higher earnings for its third quarter ended January 24 despite a 2.5 percent drop in overall revenues.

The gambling firm, owner of the Bettendorf Isle of Capri casino riverboat, reported third quarter earnings of $6.6 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $5.4 million, or 13 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

Urban sprawl may have a negative connotation among the general public, but it is easy to understand why Bettendorf city officials love the spreading residential subdivisions filling up former cornfields north of 53rd Avenue.

The steady growth of new homes in north Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley – plus the escalating value of existing residential property in the city – generate healthy annual increases for city coffers to fund the ever-increasing cost of additional employees, higher salaries, health and retirement benefits and debt service.