MidAmerican Energy abruptly ended its three-year nuclear power plant feasibility study Tuesday (6/4) – four months before a special surcharge on customers' electric bills was set to expire – saying it was premature "to pursue any additional site work on a future generation option, including a nuclear facility."

The utility said it plans to refund $8.8 million of the surcharge to Iowa customers and stop collecting the half-percent charge effective July 1, three months before the $15-million nuclear study fee was slated to expire.

A Bettendorf resident who ran unsuccessfully for alderman on a platform opposing expansion of city recreation trails is seeking a property tax exemption for half of his 10-acre residential lot located next to a new section of the Crow Creek Recreation Trail.

Chad Miller, of 4340 Tangelwood Road, has asked the Scott County Board to designate the land as "forest cover," thus making the property tax exempt under a 1990 Iowa law.

UPDATE: CLICK HERE to view clean-up of 6/14/2013

Nearly a year after the Bettendorf Fire Department burned down a vacant house on Elm Street in a training exercise, the charred foundation and debris remain untouched adjacent to the city's newest riverfront park/overlook and the new section of the Mississippi riverfront recreation trail.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is taking a second shot at getting federal approval for a plan to reduce fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution in Muscatine.

The IDNR's first submission of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) to cut emissions of particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter was found "substantially inadequate to maintain the 2006 24-hour National Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 in Muscatine." That finding in July 2011 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 office required the IDNR to conduct air modeling to determine what facilities in the area were signficantly contributing to exceedances of the air quality standards.

"The Iowa DNR determined that three major sources of air pollution in the Muscatine area significantly contribute to predicted (modeled) PM2.5 exceedances of the standard in the vicinity of the Garfield School monitor," according to the new proposed SIP plant. "These facilities are Grain Processing Corporation (GPC), Muscatine Power & Water, and Union Tank Car Company."

According to the new SIP draft, the IDNR has worked with the three companies on measures "that will result in expeditious attainment of the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS through reductions of ambient air impacts of PM2.5 emissions from each facility."

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