Last week while riding my bike along the swollen Mississippi, my mind took me back to the architect selection process for the Figge Art Museum. One of the reasons David Chipperfield was chosen was he’d designed several projects alongside rivers, most notably (at that point*) the River and Rowing Museum by the Thames near Henley.

Republican Roby Smith spent more than $37,000 on the hotly contested June party primary, leaving him with an apparent $2,700 debt headed into this fall's general election campaign for the Iowa District 41 Senate seat.

Smith defeated Republican incumbent David Hartsuch 2,487 (52%) to 2,307 (48%) in the June 8 primary.

Before setting up her studio in Hot Springs, wife returned to site of a previous residency in west central Arkansas* to visit with the two horses - Fred and Molly - that lived in the barn below the apartment in which the resident resided.

The situation is remote, hot and dusty. National Park Rangers visit only rarely and the horses thus largely must fend for themselves. Pat them on the neck or rump, flies scatter as dust cloud erupts. When he did appear, rider ranger made a big deal about showing them “who’s boss.”

New LED electronic signs in Bettendorf would face tighter controls on brightness and rate of message display under a revised ordinance approved by the city planning and zoning commission and sent to the city council for consideration.

The intensity of such signs would be limited to 5,000 candelas per square meter during daylight hours and a maximum of 500 candelas per square meter between dusk to dawn under the proposed changes.

The two top executives at MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (MEHC) cashed in stock options worth a total of $123 million last year. The stock options were given the two executives 10 years ago when the utility was acquired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

The newest Mississippi Riverfront park in the Quad Cities – Rock Island's Schweibert Park – opened the first week in July and is a riverfront jewel rivaling the historic LeClaire Park, just across the river along Davenport's riverfront. The new park features a soaring performance stage, large spray feature for children (and adults), covered gazebos with picnic tables, lots of greenspace, and perhaps the best place to view the majestic Mississippi River and river towboats. Click on the link below for more photos of the new park.

Workmen erect the steel framework of the new River Gulf Grain Terminal, south of Depot Street and west of 31st Street, Bettendorf.

Native Americans must have been amazed when they first came across the 143-degree hot springs in what is now south central Arkansas. Should be no surprise that they imputed therapeutic properties thereto. Choctaw introduced French trappers to the area in the 1700's and word spread. After the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson sent the (subsequently unheralded and overshadowed) Dunbar and Hunter expedition to investigate.

The Iowa Attorney General has stepped into the debate over when city council and park board vacancies can be filled, advising auditors statewide they do not have to wait until the next "city" election to place vacancies on the ballot.

Admissions and revenues in fiscal 2010 fell to 10-year lows at the Isle of Capri Casino in Bettendorf, according to Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reports.

Yearly admissions to the riverboat permanently anchored on the Bettendorf riverfront totaled 1.15 million gamblers in fiscal 2010, down 43 percent (nearly 900,000) from fiscal 2000.