QCA.news - Quad Cities news and view from both sides of the river

Thursday, September 17th, 2026
	Judy's Family Cafe opening in Aledo on Friday Judy already has two Galesburg locations that have garnered national attention on social media.
	State of Illinois to offer incentives in hunt for new operator of former Tyson Foods plant in Joslin Officials with the governor's office said resources from the Invest in Illinois Fund will be offered to help incentivize a new buyer.
	Recall Roundup: Fire truck toys, dairy free ice cream, heated blankets Check your receipts for any of these items being recalled from retailers around the country.
	State of Illinois to help search for new operator of former Tyson Foods plant in Joslin Officials with the governor's office said resources from the Invest in Illinois Fund will be offered to help incentivize a new buyer.
	Train stopped in west end of Davenport Several blocks to the west of Gaines Street are blocked off while police respond to the situation.
	Here's why Moline Police are suspending the department's Flock Safety contract Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati says there needs to be a balance between legislation, public sentiment and technology.
	Clinton Symphony will open season with Beethoven's 'Eroica' Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the “Eroica” is the featured work on Clinton Symphony Orchestra’s 73rd season opener. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, in the Durgin Performing Arts Center at Clinton High School. Silas Nathaniel Huff will conduct the orchestra of 50 area musicians. Huff was recently named a finalist in the [...]
	Head Start proposal draws concern from local advocates Local advocates raise concerns over a federal proposal to expand Head Start without added funding, warning of cuts to bilingual programs and health screenings.
	Taco Throwdown Festival will blend food, music, wrestling in Rock Falls Rock Falls Tourism will bring together an evening of food, entertainment and family fun at the Taco Throwdown Festival on Friday, Sept. 25, at the RB&W District. The Taco Throwdown Festival will be 4-10 p.m. at the RB&W District, 201 E. 2nd St., Rock Falls. The event celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month and will feature [...]
	Quad Cities early education leaders speak out against potential changes to Head Start Proposed federal changes to Head Start could affect language instruction, class sizes and local control, prompting concerns from Quad Cities advocates.
	Bicyclist airlifted to Iowa City for treatment after Rock Island crash Officers responded to a crash involving a bicyclist and a vehicle in the 3500 block of Fifth Avenue on Thursday afternoon, police say.
	Hispanic Heritage Month: Moline restaurant serves authentic family recipes rooted in Mexican heritage Meet a local family who overcame hurdles to share a piece of their heritage with the Quad Cities.
	Quad Cities Heart Walk brings people together around CPR, survivors & heart health This year's Heart Walk will be on Saturday, Sept. 19 in Bettendorf and emceed by James Zahara. Here's how your attendance will help save lives.
	State of Illinois provides help to attract buyers for former Tyson plant in Joslin Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) on Thursday announced that the State of Illinois is making resources available through the Invest in Illinois Fund to help attract potential buyers for the former Tyson Foods beef facility in Joslin, according to a news release from the Illinois Department of [...]
	Quad Cities International Airport receives over $200k in federal funding The funding comes from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Grant Program.
	Former Mulkey's becoming a sushi and hibachi restaurant A banner on the building has made the announcement, but no further details were provided.
	Iowa audit: Governor’s office salaries up 35% while other departments shrank Salaries for the Iowa Governor’s office and Secretary of State’s office have gone up while many other state departments saw budget cuts, according to a new report from the Iowa State Auditor.
	The unique farm buildings of Iowa are on display at this weekend's All-State Barn Tour Richard Tyler doesn’t know why he decided to purchase the Secrest Octagonal Barn in 1992; he just knew it was something he wanted to do.
	Section of Muscatine County road will close to traffic for paving project Beginning Tuesday, September 22, 230th Street (G28) between Iowa Highway 70 and the intersection of Atwood Avenue will be closed to traffic for a PCC paving project, according to the Muscatine County Road Department. Construction is anticipated to be suspended late this fall and resume in the spring of 2027. The project is tentatively scheduled [...]
	T'storm chances hang around for the weekend We've had at least a chance for rain several days in a row, and that stretch doesn't end soon enough for some people! Storm chances are here Friday morning, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And it's a big weekend for some - it's homecoming! The weather will be dry for most games Friday evening. But, there's [...]
	WIU to highlight new emergency operations center with ribbon cutting Western Illinois University in Macomb is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new state-of-the-art emergency operations center.
	Crime Stoppers: Man wanted by Iowa Department of Corrections for escape Jones, 33, is 5-foot-8, 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
	Crime Stoppers: Moline police searching for woman who rented vehicle under false name, never returned it Police said the woman gave a false name that was later reported in an identity theft report.
	Crime Stoppers: Man wanted in Rock Island County for failure to appear in court on burglary, drugs and other charges Lawrence Dean is wanted by the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear for burglary, domestic abuse, manufacturing ecstasy pills and failure to register as a sex offender.
	Join the annual Quad Cities Heart walk this weekend! WQAD is proud to sponsor the Heart Walk, and our own James Zahara will be emceeing the event!
	Knox-Galesburg Symphony opens for its 75th season on Saturday The symphony will perform "A Little Night Music" at the Orpheum Theatre.
	Comments open for proposed Head Start changes Area Head Start programs are speaking out about potential changes to the program and asking government officials to pull back the proposed rules. The changes include implementing English-only instructions. Locally, 66 percent of Head Start's student demographic is bilingual. Another proposal would remove any restrictions on student-to-teacher ratio. Supporters of Head Start say health services [...]
	Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, a GOP ‘giant’ and ‘workhorse’ who shaped water policy, dies at 84 Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, a longtime Republican lawmaker from Arizona who shaped landmark water policies in the U.S. West and guided the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, has died.
	Riverssance Festival of Fine Art returns with 75 artists, live music, tasty food and drinks The Riverssance Festival of Fine Art returns to Lindsay Park Sept. 19–20 with more than 75 artists, live music, food, family activities and the presentation of the 2026 Harley Award.
	Students learn to share the road with farm equipment ahead of harvest Nearly 175 students in Henry County participated in the program.
	Former Moline High School director starts scholarship fund, plans variety show Sue Wignall directed plays and musicals at Moline High School for 20 years before she retired.
	City of Morrison provides update on U. S. Route 30 reconstruction project The City of Morison has provided an update about the Illinois Department of Transportation's ongoing U. S. Route 30 reconstruction project through Morrison: "IDOT has indicated that comments submitted through this email address will be reviewed and considered as part of the project decision-making process," the update says. Additional information, including background on the project [...]
	Trump withdraws Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, as his nominee to lead ICE The White House says it is withdrawing its nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead ICE, ensuring that an agency at the forefront of President Trump's domestic agenda will remain without a Senate-confirmed leader for at least a while longer.
	1 airlifted to Iowa City after bicycle/vehicle crash in Rock Island One person was airlifted to Iowa City after a crash between a vehicle and a bicyclist in Rock Island this afternoon. An email from the Rock Island Police Department said officers responded to the 3500 block of 5th Avenue on September 17 at about 1 p.m. for a report of a single vehicle vs. bicyclist [...]
	QC Head Start leaders work to oppose federal program changes Leaders of Illinois Quad Cities Head Start programs are opposing proposed federal regulations that would roll back standards on teacher qualifications, staff support, curricula and health screenings.
	Iowa’s unemployment rate remains at 3.2% in August Iowa’s unemployment rate remained steady at 3.2% for the month of August, according to Iowa Workforce Development.
	ICE agent appears in Minnesota court to face charges in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant Christian Castro, a federal immigration officer, made his first court appearance in Minnesota since he was booked Wednesday into a local jail. Castro faces multiple state and federal charges in connection with a shooting during the immigration surge in Minnesota.
	Former Iowa Kid Captain Nile Kron dies at 9 years old Former University of Iowa Kid Captain, Nile Kron, died on September 15 at 9 years old.
	We want to see your Halloween displays Show us your spooky season displays by submitting a picture or video here!
	Second arrest made in connection to 18-month-old THC overdose Another arrest was made on Wednesday afternoon in connection to an 18-month-old child overdosing on THC wax in June.
	Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley hosts cleanup day Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley brought volunteers to Sylvan Island for some cleanup work. High school students and families, Big Brothers Big Sisters and City of Moline employees worked together to clean up the park. Mayor pro tem Alan Silas presented a proclamation declaring September National Big Brothers Big Sisters Month. Organizers [...]
	Body found in Grand Canyon was missing Wyoming man, wife says GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.— Human remains found in the Grand Canyon this week were those of the last remaining person missing after the deadly flash flooding in late August, the victim’s wife said Thursday. The discovery of Timothy Allen Smith brought the death toll to three from flooding that devastated the Phantom Ranch area at the canyon bottom and damaged the water pipeline serving the South Rim. Smith, 53, was a pilot from western Wyoming’s Star Valley. His remains were found Monday near Crystal Rapids on the Colorado River that runs through the canyon. The remains of Smith’s two backcountry companions, Brent Rosenkranz, 42, and John Giusti, 46, both of Granbury, Texas, were found earlier. Dave Black, an incident commander at Grand Canyon National Park, provides updates on deadly flash flooding from the canyon’s South Rim in northern Arizona on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) Smith grew up in Granbury and lived with his wife in Star Valley Ranch, about 50 miles southwest of Jackson. He, Rosenkranz and Giusti were on a multiday hiking, fishing and camping trip when flooding swept through the Grand Canyon. During the two-day deluge, searchers used night vision and other equipment to find people in need of rescue. They relied on the Grand Canyon National Park’s permit system and checked vehicle license plates to track those still missing. More than 80 people were rescued. Soon, only Smith was missing. In a Facebook video at the time, his wife, Carrie, and their children thanked people for their support and prayers. On Tuesday morning, Carrie Smith posted on Facebook that the family was aware a body had been found a day earlier and asked others to pray with them. Smith confirmed in a Facebook post on Thursday that the remains had been identified as her husband’s. “My family has done a lot of waiting over the last three weeks … waiting and hoping Tim (Daddy) would come home, waiting and wondering if the remains found were Tim (Daddy),” she wrote. “We no longer have to wait, Tim was found two days ago by the Rangers at Grand Canyon National Park. Not in the way we had hoped, but we know that he was doing something he loved with John and Brent.” She added, “We know that these three men loved the Lord and were a shining light for Him. The impact their lives had on others is still being shown to our families daily.” The Coconino County medical examiner confirmed Smith’s identity, the National Park Service said in a statement Thursday that thanked the searchers and extended condolences to relatives and friends of the three men. This photo provided by the National Park Service shows people being evacuated by helicopter due to flash flooding in Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Katherine Hensel/National Park Service via AP) The flooding began Aug. 29 during the summer monsoon, or rainy, season when clear skies can quickly give way to thunderstorms and heavy rain. A desert landscape can funnel water from a deluge into sudden torrents that rage down previously dry gullies and canyons. The rain fell on part of a North Rim burn area left after a lightning-caused wildfire in July 2025. The fire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, cabins and other structures. Burn areas can worsen flash flooding because there’s less vegetation to absorb runoff. The flooding damaged a pipeline that supplies water to millions of tourists and residents. Insufficient water caused all overnight lodging to be halted until the pipeline could be restored. National Park Service officials said recently that they expected to restore a reliable water supply in the canyon in weeks — not months — after determining most of a near-complete pipeline project was not damaged during the flash flood. Many hiking trails and lodging areas remain closed, and water has been shut off in the inner canyon, prompting advisories that hikers bring their own water or water filtration devices. Another flash flood hit the canyon along Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River during a storm Wednesday, park officials said. No injuries were reported. Authorities said efforts to minimize personnel in the canyon before the storm, as well as flash flood warnings, enabled crews to reach safety. Damage assessments were underway. The post Body found in Grand Canyon was missing Wyoming man, wife says appeared first on WyoFile . Courtesy of WyoFile
	Beating breast cancer through “Gather for the Cure” Funds raised at the event go toward breast cancer screening for those who can’t afford it or don’t have health insurance.
	Can an AI chatbot save lives by answering texts about pregnancy? Many questions come up during pregnancy. Is swelling normal? Are avocados safe to eat? For folks in Kenya who don't have a search engine at their fingertips, a chatbot is offering a lifeline.
	California quiere prohibir el matrimonio infantil. ¿Por qué estos grupos de derechos civiles intentan impedirlo? This article is also available in English. Read it here. Fue en marzo cuando un grupo de legisladores de California decidió abordar un tema delicado: el matrimonio infantil. Durante los próximos tres meses, los demócratas idearían un plan para persuadir a sus colegas reticentes de que finalmente prohibieran esta práctica y se enfrentarían a los grupos de interés especiales que pudieran trabajar en su contra. Para sorpresa de muchos, en California es legal que cualquier persona menor de 18 años se case, siempre y cuando un padre y un juez lo aprueben. Quizás aún más sorprendente sea que dos grupos influyentes en la política demócrata —la Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles y Planned Parenthood— han apoyado firmemente esta ley históricamente. La ACLU argumenta que los niños tienen derecho a casarse, y privarlos de ese derecho les arrebataría el camino hacia su emancipación y la posibilidad de tomar decisiones independientes sobre su salud. Para Planned Parenthood, la libertad de los niños para casarse implica permitir que las personas elijan su propio cuerpo y tengan autonomía sobre su salud. Solo otros dos estados —Nuevo México y Misisipi— no tienen edad mínima para casarse. Y aunque en California los menores pueden contraer matrimonio a cualquier edad, los defensores de los derechos civiles afirman que es difícil contratar a un abogado de divorcio antes de los 18 años. Según la organización sin fines de lucro Unchained at Last , cada año se casan alrededor de 9000 menores en California, la gran mayoría niñas que contraen matrimonio con hombres adultos. Dado que la edad de consentimiento para la actividad sexual es de 18 años, los defensores afirman que los matrimonios entre menores de 18 años y adultos legalizan implícitamente una relación sexual que, de otro modo, se consideraría violación estatutaria según la ley estatal. Durante la última década, la organización ha trabajado para impulsar prohibiciones en Nueva York, Oklahoma, Washington y una docena de otros estados. Pero sus esfuerzos han fracasado repetidamente en California, donde Planned Parenthood y la ACLU han presionado fuertemente en contra de la restricción del matrimonio infantil, aunque esos grupos se han mantenido en gran medida en silencio sobre el tema en otros estados controlados por los demócratas. Esto se explica en parte por su enorme influencia en la política californiana. Planned Parenthood aboga por algunas de las causas liberales más importantes y ha donado al menos 2.7 millones de dólares a legisladores demócratas desde 2002, según la base de datos de Democracia Digital de CalMatters. Este año, los demócratas se enfrentaron a circunstancias diferentes con la organización, lo que llevó a los legisladores demócratas a presentar en junio el Proyecto de Ley 1267 de la Asamblea para prohibir finalmente el matrimonio infantil. La asambleísta Gail Pellerin redactó el proyecto de ley mediante un procedimiento conocido como “modificación radical”, en el que los legisladores eliminan el texto de un proyecto de ley no relacionado para acelerar la aprobación de uno nuevo una vez vencido el plazo para presentar proyectos de ley por la vía habitual. Según los defensores de la causa, los demócratas no cumplieron con el plazo porque querían asegurarse de que Planned Parenthood no interfiriera. Si bien la ACLU se opuso nuevamente a la legislación este año, no se encontró a ningún lobista abogando por el derecho de los menores a contraer matrimonio en las audiencias del comité este verano, y Planned Parenthood se mantuvo “neutral” respecto al proyecto de ley, negándose a tomar una postura. Y aunque algunos demócratas expresaron dudas sobre la conveniencia de no permitir que dos adolescentes enamorados contrajeran matrimonio, la prohibición fue aprobada por la Legislatura con un apoyo casi unánime en agosto. “Debemos dejar claro que las niñas, a pesar de su aparente madurez, son niñas”, dijo Pellerin en una entrevista. “Las niñas no tienen una libertad sin protección”. Tras casi una década de intentos fallidos por prohibir el matrimonio infantil, el proyecto de ley ahora espera la firma o el veto del gobernador Gavin Newsom. Tiene hasta el 30 de septiembre para hacerlo. La portavoz de la ACLU, Carmen King, se negó a responder preguntas sobre por qué el grupo se opone al proyecto de ley y no puso a nadie a disposición de CalMatters para una entrevista para este artículo. En una carta de oposición de junio, la organización escribió: “Prohibir que los menores se casen en todos los casos supone una desviación del compromiso de larga data de California de respetar la capacidad de los menores para tomar decisiones personales importantes por sí mismos, particularmente en el ámbito de la autonomía reproductiva”. Planned Parenthood no hizo ninguna declaración oficial sobre el proyecto de ley y la portavoz Shelby McMichael se negó a que nadie concediera una entrevista a CalMatters. En un comunicado enviado por correo electrónico, McMichael afirmó que el grupo “adopta posturas proyecto de ley por proyecto de ley en cada sesión. Dado el recorte de fondos a los centros de salud de Planned Parenthood el año pasado, decidimos priorizar los temas relacionados con la administración Trump y los constantes ataques de los republicanos del Congreso contra la atención médica”. “La voz de Planned Parenthood importa” Sus servicios de atención al aborto en más de 100 clínicas en todo el estado han convertido a Planned Parenthood en un símbolo de libertad reproductiva en California durante décadas, aunque la organización señala que los servicios de aborto representan solo una fracción de sus servicios. Su estrecha relación con la política demócrata se acentuó durante las administraciones de Trump, ya que los líderes del partido trabajaron arduamente para evitar los intentos de recorte de fondos federales. En febrero, los legisladores de California aprobaron 140 millones de dólares en fondos de emergencia para la organización con el fin de compensar los recortes federales. Además, en su sitio web, Planned Parenthood lleva un registro de la frecuencia con la que los legisladores votan a favor de su postura. En su informe de 2025, todos los demócratas, excepto uno, obtuvieron una puntuación del 100%. Hace dos años, la asambleísta de Irvine, Cottie Petrie-Norris , demócrata, presentó el proyecto de ley 2924 de la Asamblea para prohibir el matrimonio de menores de edad. El asambleísta Ash Kalra les dijo a los defensores que Planned Parenthood tenía que retirar su oposición antes de que los legisladores pudieran considerar votar sobre la legislación. El demócrata de San José, presidente del Comité Judicial de la Asamblea, afirmó que prohibir el matrimonio a menores de edad pondría en peligro su derecho al aborto, derecho que, según él, California aún no ha consagrado en la ley. Los votantes consagraron el derecho al aborto en 2022, dos años antes de que se presentara el proyecto de ley de 2024. Algunos legisladores también se mostraron escépticos sobre la exactitud de los datos relativos a los matrimonios infantiles, dijo Kalra. Nunca sometió el proyecto de ley a debate. “Creo que ese fue sin duda uno de los factores”, dijo Kalra refiriéndose a la oposición de Planned Parenthood y a su decisión de rechazar la legislación. “La opinión de Planned Parenthood importa en este caso, y en otros asuntos que se nos presentan en el Capitolio”. Este razonamiento recordaba intentos anteriores fallidos, incluido el de 2017, cuando los demócratas rechazaron otro proyecto de ley para modificar las leyes estatales sobre el matrimonio infantil por razones similares. El entonces senador Jerry Hill dijo que buscó una prohibición total de esta práctica después de enterarse de que una niña de 13 años de su distrito estaba comprometida con un hombre de 38 años de otro país. «Pensé: “¿Quién podría oponerse a eso? ¿Quién podría decir que está mal?”», dijo Hill sobre el proyecto de ley que presentó para prohibir el matrimonio infantil. Pero le desconcertó que lo que él consideraba una propuesta política de sentido común se convirtiera en un debate más amplio sobre las diferencias culturales, la libertad de la infancia y la autonomía corporal. En algunas culturas es aceptable que las niñas se casen con hombres mayores o que sean obligadas a contraer matrimonios concertados, según un informe de las Naciones Unidas. En los últimos años, los legisladores han propuesto medidas para reprimir los matrimonios forzados, que ya son un delito. Kalra es una de ellas; este año, presentó el Proyecto de Ley 2534 de la Asamblea, que permitiría a las víctimas solicitar una orden de alejamiento contra cualquier persona que las obligue a contraer matrimonio. Kalra y las organizaciones de derechos de las mujeres afirman que, de aprobarse, sería la primera ley de este tipo en el país. Planned Parenthood la apoya. En relación con la legislación sobre el matrimonio infantil de 2017, la ACLU y Planned Parenthood se opusieron firmemente, y la entonces asambleísta Lorena González , una líder sindical demócrata que presidía el Comité de Asignaciones de la Asamblea en ese momento, le dijo a Hill que no permitiría que la prohibición siguiera adelante a menos que se enmendara para reducir la edad mínima a 16 o 17 años en lugar de 18. Ese proyecto de ley acabó suavizándose hasta convertirse en la ley actual: cualquier joven puede casarse si uno de sus padres y los tribunales dan su consentimiento. Hill afirmó que su intento y otros fueron frustrados por grupos de interés. “Estos grupos de interés en Sacramento son muy poderosos. Tienen mucha influencia sobre lo que se aprueba en la Legislatura”, dijo Hill, quien representó a Silicon Valley durante 12 años. “La política se impone a las políticas públicas en aproximadamente el 80% de los casos”. González lo recordaba de otra manera. Si bien es cierto que se negó a que se aprobara una prohibición total, dijo, no recuerda que Planned Parenthood se opusiera al proyecto de ley ni que lo tuviera en cuenta en su proceso de toma de decisiones. Según contó, cuando las chicas adolescentes mayores de su distrito quedaban embarazadas, era común que algunas familias latinas las animaran a casarse con el padre si este tenía la misma edad o una edad similar. “Tuve chicas que me decían que esta era la mejor opción”, declaró González a CalMatters. Añadió que la diferencia de edad entre los cónyuges parecía importar más que el matrimonio en sí. “En aquel entonces, me parecía muy clasista” imponer una prohibición absoluta, afirmó. ‘Al menos estamos aquí ahora’ La iniciativa del presidente Donald Trump para recortar la financiación de las clínicas de Planned Parenthood ejerció una presión política mayor de lo habitual sobre la organización en los últimos años e hizo que esta dependiera más de la financiación estatal. La situación empeoró el pasado mes de noviembre, cuando un artículo de opinión del New York Times criticó a la ACLU y a Planned Parenthood por su papel en el bloqueo de la legislación contra el matrimonio infantil, mientras que estados controlados por los republicanos, como Arkansas y Luisiana, imponían restricciones más estrictas. Para Sara Tasneem, superviviente y activista, la inacción de California durante varias décadas permitió que su padre la obligara a casarse a los 15 años con un hombre de 28. Según ella, su padre formaba parte de una secta sufí del norte de California que orquestó el matrimonio. Cuando su padre se enteró de que Tasneem salía con un compañero de instituto, le buscó a alguien con quien casarse. «Me entregaron a un completo desconocido al que acababa de conocer», dijo. Abandonó la escuela y fue violada repetidamente, sintiéndose atrapada e incapaz de irse antes de cumplir los 18 años porque, al ser menor de edad, no podía contratar un abogado. Tasneem contó que tuvo dos hijos con su violador, a quien dejó en 2003, a los 23 años, llevándose consigo a sus hijos. Al reflexionar sobre su pasado y darse cuenta de que “no creció con mucho poder”, Tasneem se dedicó al activismo más de una década después. La mayoría de los defensores confían en que Newsom firme el proyecto de ley. “¿Debería haber ocurrido una década antes? Sí, debería haber ocurrido”, dijo Fraidy Reiss, directora ejecutiva de Unchained at Last, quien a los 19 años se vio obligada a casarse con un hombre mayor en su comunidad judía ortodoxa de Nueva York. “Pero al menos estamos aquí ahora”. Courtesy of Cal Matters
	Former Thomson prison employee sentenced for sexually abusing 2 inmates Danny Spyker, 42, will spend more than three years behind bars.
	Davenport Community School District sells vacant land they have held for decades The vacant land was acquired for potential future expansion several decades ago but found to be no longer needed after a reassessment.
	Davenport Community School District sells vacant land they have held for decades The vacant land was acquired for potential future expansion several decades ago but found to be no longer needed after a reassessment.
	Pay It Forward: Quad Cities woman helps find homes for dozens of cats Amanda Casterton helps cats find homes and gives hope to people in need, with a $300 Pay It Forward gift helping support her work with Animal Aid.
	Another arrest made after child overdoses on THC in Davenport A woman was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the 18-month-old child who overdosed on THC in June.
	Davenport officials cheer business as 'big win' for west end Davenport city officials cheered the announcement of Infiltrator Water Technologies investing in an unused building in the west end of Davenport.
	Rockridge Junior/Senior High evacuated after gas line hit Students at Rockridge Junior High/High School ended their school week early after a gas line was accidentally hit at the building. A post on the Rockridge CUSD #300 Facebook page said a gas line was accidentally hit and the area has been evacuated. There have been no reports of injuries. Students who did not drive [...]
	The week in hip-hip: the game theory of Lil Durk's acquittal A murder trial, a meme and the unending search for meaning. Plus: Colin Kaepernick fires back at Jay-Z and Macklemore walks the talk.
	How license plate readers helped Iowa police catch a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run Des Moines Police are crediting their license plate readers in helping them find the vehicle involved in a deadly hit-and-run within hours.
	Davenport century-old homes renovated for refugee families Two large, century-old homes in Davenport that once faced demolition now have a new chapter and a new purpose after an 18-month effort by the Foundation of First Presbyterian Church and Tapestry Farms. An event on Monday, Sept. 21 at 9 a.m. will celebrate the preservation of homes that will soon provide safe, affordable and [...]
	Pay It Forward \| Quad Cities woman supporting feline friends After experiencing a chaotic home with multiple cats and kittens, Lori Oetzel found Amanda Casterton, who's working to give cats their best chance at life.
	Gas leak prompts evacuation of Rockridge High School on Thursday morning The district said Rockridge High School and Junior High were evacuated Thursday morning after a gas line was accidentally hit.
	A year ago, President Trump pledged to lower Medicaid drug prices. Has that happened? The Trump administration's efforts to lower drug prices included promised changes to Medicaid. But it's still unclear which drugs will be affected. And each state has to opt in.
	What “Super El Niño” means for winter in eastern Iowa and western Illinois Record-breaking ocean temperatures could mean milder winters and lower heating bills ahead
	Rockridge High School evacuated after gas line hit Rockridge High School and Junior High were evacuated Thursday morning after a gas line was hit, the district said.
	Get your copy of the fall 2026 garage sale map! Get your copy of the fall 2026 garage sale map!
	Morrison gives update on U.S. 30 reconstruction project The City of Morrison provided an update on the U.S. 30 reconstruction project this week.
	Apples, German beer, and pickles: Here's Dani's Weekend Rundown for Sept. 17-23 There's a lot happening around the Quad Cities this weekend. Whether you take the family or make it a date night, here's what you shouldn't miss.
	Rockridge Junior High and High School evacuated after gas line hit Rockridge Junior High and High School was evacuated on Thursday morning after a gas line was hit.
	'Team Up to Fill Up' from United Way of West Central Illinois collects food for pantries in 4 area counties United Way of West Central Illinois and local food pantries in Henderson, Knox, Mercer and Warren counties are holding Team Up to Fill Up, the inaugural student-led, regional food drive on Monday, October 5. Invitations to United Way's Team Up to Fill Up regional food drive have been sent to all high school and college [...]
	36 vs. 84 month auto loans: What are the trade-offs? How long you finance a car makes a big difference in not just how much you pay every month, but also how much it costs you over the life of the loan. Longer loan terms have become increasingly common as drivers try to keep monthly payments manageable.Caribou explains how to weigh the trade-offs when comparing loan terms, whether you’re buying a car or refinancing your current auto loan.Why drivers are taking out longer loansDrivers have steadily stretched their auto loans over the past several years. Nearly 1 in 4 new auto loans in Q2 2026 were for 84 months or longer, a record high, according to Edmunds. Two trends are driving that shift.The first is price. New vehicle prices currently hover around $50,000, based on estimates from Kelley Blue Book. As a result, buyers are faced with larger loan balances and are extending terms to keep payments manageable.Vehicles have also gotten more reliable, so drivers are keeping their cars longer. The average car on the road today is 12.8 years old, according to S&P Global. Bigger loan balances plus longer ownership timelines add up to longer loan terms.Shorter vs. longer auto loan termsThere is no perfect loan term. The right choice depends on your budget, interest rate, car value and how long you plan to keep the vehicle.Let’s assume you have a $35,000 auto loan at 7% APR. Choosing an 84-month term over a 36-month loan lowers the monthly payment by about $552. But it also increases the total interest paid by more than $5,400. Caribou A longer loan term gives you more room in your monthly budget now, but a higher total cost over time. The right choice is the one that works best based on your current financial situation.Shorter loan termsA shorter term may make sense if you can comfortably afford the payment and want to reduce your total cost. You would be able to pay off the loan faster and pay less interest overall. A shorter loan term can also help you build equity in your car sooner and therefore reduce the risk of being upside down on your loan.The downside is that your monthly payment will usually be higher, so a shorter term may not be the right choice if it would constrain your monthly budget.Longer loan termsA longer loan term spreads your balance across more months and may make sense if your primary goal is to lower your monthly payment to avoid falling behind—or if you need to free up monthly cash flow for other necessary expenses.If your car payment is putting pressure on your budget, refinancing into a longer term with a lower APR may help. The key is to check whether the lower APR helps offset the added time.For example, New York driver Matthew Carl extended his loan to 72 months when he refinanced his Toyota RAV4 to create breathing room in his budget as his family prepared for a new baby. "The savings are going toward diapers and baby food," he says.A longer term may also make sense if you plan to make extra payments when you can. This approach provides more flexibility—you can lower your required monthly payment but make extra payments to pay down the loan faster when you are able. Just make sure your lender does not charge a prepayment penalty before making extra payments.What to consider with a longer loanA longer term is not automatically bad. Sometimes, lowering your monthly payment is the move that helps you better manage your budget. But it can create risk if the lower payment is the only thing you look at. With a longer loan term, you may:Pay more interest over the life of the loan.Owe money on the car for longer.Build equity more slowly.Still have payments when the car is older or needs repairs.Have a harder time selling or trading in the car if you owe more than it is worth.This matters because negative equity can make your next car loan more expensive. Edmunds reported that, in Q2 2026, buyers who rolled negative equity into a new loan had an average monthly payment of $944, compared with the overall industry average of $777.How to choose the right auto loan termAuto loans typically come in terms of 36, 48, 60, 72, or 84 months, and sometimes longer. The right loan term should balance affordability today with total cost over time. Before choosing a term, ask yourself these questions.Can I afford the monthly payment?A shorter term can save money, but it only works if the payment fits in your budget. If the payment is too high, you may be more likely to miss payments or take on more debt to cover other expenses.How much interest will I pay?Look at the total interest, not just the monthly payment. A longer term may look better month to month but cost more by the end of the loan.How long do I plan to keep the car?If you plan to trade in or sell the car soon, a longer term could make it harder to build equity before your next purchase.Is the car likely to need repairs before the loan is paid off?The longer you keep a loan, the more likely you are to still have payments when the car is older. That can be tough if repair costs start rising at the same time.Am I already upside down on my auto loan?If you owe more than your car is worth, extending your term may lower your payment but keep you in negative equity longer.How to change your loan term by refinancingRefinancing can help your car payment fit your budget better. Think of it like switching phone plans, but for your car. You replace your current loan with a new one, ideally with a lower interest rate, a lower monthly payment, a different term, or a combination of the three.Refinancing into a longer term can raise your total cost, even if the payment is lower. Before refinancing, look past the monthly payment and consider these factors:Your current loan balance.Your current APR.Your new APR.Your current payoff timeline.Your new loan term.Your estimated total interest.An auto refinance calculator can help you compare how much you’ll pay based on the loan term.If your credit score has improved or rates have shifted since you bought the car, refinancing can lower your payment and let you reset your term to something that fits your finances now.For example, Cameron Worthington, a driver from Georgia, shortened his term from 48 months to 36 months when he refinanced his Dodge Dart. His payment rose by about $14 a month, but he saved more than $1,000 in interest over the life of the loan. "My refinancing goal was to figure out how I can pay my car off faster," he says.The best loan term is the one that works with your budgetLoan terms affect the cost of credit by changing both your monthly payment and the amount of interest you pay over time. A longer auto loan term can make your payment more affordable, but it usually increases the total cost of borrowing. A shorter term can save money overall, but the payment may be harder to manage.Before choosing a loan term, compare the monthly payment, APR, total interest and total amount repaid. The best loan is not always the one with the lowest payment. It’s the one that fits your budget without costing more than necessary.This story was produced by Caribou and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How a contested statistical model fueled doubts about the 2024 election In April 2025, the Election Truth Alliance was a three-month-old Nevada nonprofit with a growing audience in anti-Trump online spaces and a claim that something about the 2024 presidential election did not add up.The group had released an analysis of the results in Pennsylvania and sent letters to officials there and in Wisconsin asking them to hand-check the results of multiple elections. Now, it wanted to work with Walter Mebane Jr., a tenured University of Michigan political scientist and one of the few academics who had spent decades trying to detect the statistical fingerprints of election fraud.Mebane was skeptical.“The name of the group didn’t really inspire confidence,” he told Votebeat. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, truthers.’” But Mebane thought the data would be useful for his students and a book he was working on, and by early May, he had produced a working paper analyzing Pennsylvania’s 2024 presidential results. In a note, he credited the ETA for providing the data.His findings estimated the number of potentially fraudulent votes exceeded President Donald Trump’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania. In the working paper, Mebane noted his findings could also be attributed to factors other than intentional fraud.The ETA has described Mebane’s work as a “collaboration” that confirmed its conclusions. Mebane described it differently: He said he had no interest in the group’s advocacy and engaged because he believed it had unique data on Pennsylvania. He told Votebeat he did not know the same data was available from the state.“He is kind of the go-to guy for election forensics in the U.S. He’s the leading expert,” ETA co-founder Nathan Taylor said in a video posted in May 2025 announcing the findings validated their Pennsylvania concerns. Toward the end of the video, a QR code to the group’s donation page flashed on screen. The ETA urged supporters to contact Pennsylvania officials and advocate for hand-count audits, and they heeded the call, sending state and local officials emails that cited Mebane’s work to allege the results were flawed.In a June 2025 press release, the ETA said Mebane’s findings corroborated its own. “BREAKING,” the group wrote. “Election Forensics Expert Finds Vote Manipulation Concerns in Pennsylvania.In November, the ETA filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and three counties questioning the 2024 count and asking the district court to require the counties to “hand count physical ballots.” The group cited its own analysis but relied on Mebane’s findings to suggest abnormalities in Allegheny County.The ETA’s leaders acknowledge that statistical analysis alone can’t prove fraud. But they say the anomalies they raise warrant independent validation of the election results.The Pennsylvania paper Mebane gave the ETA did not fully explain the statistical model he used to identify potentially fraudulent votes, which he calls “eforensics.” Mebane later told Votebeat he had “decided not to write it in a way that would make it self contained” and instead referred the ETA to his past work for details on his methodology.The ETA’s promotion of Mebane’s original working paper and his credentials caught the attention of a network of statisticians and political scientists accustomed to dense models, technical assumptions, and arguments over what statistical analysis of election data can really show.Justin Grimmer, a Stanford political scientist whose 2021 peer-reviewed paper debunked statistical fraud claims about the 2020 election, said Mebane’s work has been used by the ETA in ways that give unusual weight to its claims about elections, which could otherwise be more easily dismissed as fringe. The result, he added, is a “perfect storm” — a motivated interest group armed with a professor’s academic credentials.He said giving the original analysis to the ETA was like “handing someone a stick of dynamite and being surprised when you walk away and it detonates.”As the ETA’s profile rose and its supporters trumpeted Mebane’s findings, Votebeat consulted 10 election and statistics experts about his original Pennsylvania working paper and the statistical model Mebane terms “eforensics.” All said they doubt the model can accurately detect fraud in U.S. elections.A different kind of election denialClaims of election fraud and statistical anomalies are now a regular feature of American elections — often blending data, analysis by citizen researchers, and the raw emotions of voters who do not want to believe their candidate truly lost. After 2020, when Trump and his allies waged an unprecedented effort to overturn the results, such efforts became closely associated with the political right.The ETA, which was formed as a nonpartisan nonprofit, has tried to distinguish itself from those movements. “This is not election denial. This is election integrity and auditing,” the ETA’s Taylor told David Pakman, host of the progressive online program “The David Pakman Show,” which has more than 3.6 million YouTube subscribers. Pakman described the 2025 segment as “one of the most requested interviews” in months.Mebane’s work has fueled public questions about elections before: In South Korea, politicians and activists cited his analysis to allege possible election fraud in 2020. Political scientists later found such claims were flawed and damaged voter confidence.Now, the ETA is using his work to raise questions about election results in the U.S. In addition to Pennsylvania, the group posted a summary of an unpublished analysis by Mebane of 2024 results in North Carolina, and it has asserted that the fact that his analysis corroborated its findings in Pennsylvania validates its analyses of other states.“In collaboration with ETA, Dr. Walter Mebane analyzed Pennsylvania vote data for the 2024 November Election and found evidence of potential election fraud, confirming ETA’s analysis of the same Pennsylvania vote data,” an attorney for the ETA wrote in an analysis sent to California election officials, threatening litigation if the state refused to act.“Consistent with techniques used to analyze Pennsylvania’s vote data,” the ETA said it had identified “evidence consistent with vote manipulation, including ballot-stuffing, deleting votes, and using algorithms to alter tabulator vote counts” in some California counties.ETA leaders later told Votebeat the group’s lawyer’s use of “confirming” in the letter was “less nuanced” than their own statements, but that they stood by their use of “corroborates,” since, they said, both analyses reached similar conclusions.The ETA has also sent letters to officials in at least six states, including Minnesota, Michigan and Kentucky, suggesting it has found abnormalities in the 2024 election results or in subsequent ones.The letters urge election officials to take steps, such as investigating technology used in the elections and conducting hand counts, to verify the results. As of Sept. 2, Pennsylvania is so far the only state where the ETA has sued. A judge recently dismissed the case but left the door open for it to be refiled. When the group resubmitted its complaint in August, it made no mention of Mebane or his analysis. In an interview with Votebeat in April, Taylor said the ETA planned to file suit in Florida next.The nonprofit is run by three people who came together on Reddit after the 2024 election, none of whom have an apparent background in U.S. elections. Taylor, 27, has a background in information technology; his two co-founders are a U.K.-trained financial professional now living in Arizona and a Canadian policy analyst with experience coordinating resources for British Columbia’s election authority.The group raises money to support its work, including through donations and selling merchandise such as a “The Math Ain’t Math’n” T-shirt and a women’s sleep shirt reading “Vote Once, Count Twice, Sleep Tight.” Public records show it reported raising more than $422,000 in 2025.While Mebane said he worked with the group, he told Votebeat that he hasn’t spoken with its founders in months. He told Votebeat that he saw “many, many things” in the ETA’s explanations that he “didn’t think were sound interpretations” of his work. But he said he didn’t want to get into a public debate with them, nor would he detail his specific concerns to Votebeat. He said fact-checking online claims is a distraction from his primary professional focus, a long-gestating book on his eforensics work.Mebane stands by his model as valid but also said he does not see it as his responsibility to ensure the public understands his work. He stressed that his work has been done transparently and in public through working papers that can be revised.At the same time, he dismisses the criticism from other academics, saying the experts consulted by Votebeat lack key components he has “deliberately not shown.” Grimmer and University of Pennsylvania political scientist Marc Meredith produced written reviews of Mebane’s 2024 Pennsylvania working paper at Votebeat’s request. Mebane described Grimmer’s critique as “just wrong” because “these views that you’ve solicited here are not based on the whole case that I’m making.” In response to questions, he frequently cited his planned book, saying the answers will ultimately be found there.From butterfly ballots to eforensicsMebane described his childhood as that of an inquisitive Black boy coming of age in the Civil Rights Era South, in a household where his parents, both Tuskegee graduates, emphasized the importance of social justice.“That’s why I cared about elections,” Mebane, 67, said in an April interview on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. It seemed to him to be “the one way that wasn’t violent” that could “change who has control of some levers of how decisions get made.”When he spoke with Votebeat, he sat in a sparsely furnished office at the university’s Institute for Social Research — a space he uses for meetings. He described his primary workspace as “grimy” and packed with books. He wore a faded T-shirt featuring a tarot-style image labeled “The Wanderer,” a symbol of a lone traveler.Mebane said he has always been drawn to questions about human behavior. At 8, while grocery shopping with his mother, he remembers searching the cereal aisle for hidden cameras, convinced companies must be tracking what people bought to measure the effectiveness of advertisements.Mebane, who earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard and his doctorate at Yale, was teaching government at Cornell and studying elections in 2000 when the presidential race became too close to call, plunging the country into uncertainty.He traveled to Florida as part of a team of academic experts working pro bono on a lawsuit challenging Palm Beach County’s butterfly ballot, a confusing two-page design that led some voters to accidentally select the wrong presidential candidate. His team published their findings in the American Political Science Review.That work was straightforward: Mebane and his colleagues started with a known irregularity — the butterfly ballots — and worked outward, estimating how many votes it may have affected. There was a specific, identifiable problem. His job was to measure it.His approach to Pennsylvania’s 2024 election works differently.In the eforensics framework, Mebane starts not with a known problem but with the election results themselves. He compares total votes, votes for the leading candidate, and the number of eligible voters or registrants. Using those inputs, the model looks for patterns Mebane says could be produced by fraud.Elections are shaped by a wide range of forces, from socioeconomic conditions and demographic differences to weather, campaign spending, and the quirks of individual races. Mebane’s Pennsylvania model does not directly account for those factors, though it does adjust for broad differences in turnout and voting patterns across counties. Instead, using precinct-level vote returns, it classifies precincts as having no fraud, incremental fraud, or extreme fraud — terms Mebane says are not meant to imply intentional wrongdoing.Critics say that is where the trouble begins. The model flags innocent variations — caused by anything from strong canvassing efforts to hurricanes — as readily as deliberate manipulation.Mebane recognizes that the model can be affected by other factors. He says his model is unable to account for “lost votes” — votes that were never cast because voters stayed home, for example. The model also sometimes flags strategic behavior — such as a voter intentionally casting their ballot for a party they don’t typically vote for — in the same way as fraud. Critics say such phenomena are commonplace in American elections, making the model a bad fit for the U.S.“My project is a scientific mission to see whether this estimator and this approach can measure election frauds,” Mebane told Votebeat. “I think it measures frauds in a valid way, but it’s imperfect.”Experts dispute findings and raise questions about false positivesMichael Alvarez, a political science professor at the California Institute of Technology, tested Mebane’s model with Grimmer and Meredith using simulated data built to contain no fraud. The model still found fraud at levels similar to Mebane’s Pennsylvania working paper.Grimmer and Meredith said this kind of simulation is a basic way to pressure-test any model. They, along with Alvarez, were surprised Mebane had not done it.In Mebane’s book manuscript, a partial copy of which he provided to Votebeat, he said he has not used simulated data tests because his preferred test is to compare the model’s results with real elections. He points to examples from France and Mexico, where courts or election authorities later annulled results or otherwise identified serious problems, and his model also found anomalies.Had Mebane pressure-tested the model with simulated data, Meredith, Grimmer, and Alvarez said, he would have seen that the model could flag fraud even when none existed.“Mebane’s eforensics model labels precincts as fraudulent when they show just a combination of this disproportionately high turnout and support for the winning candidate,” Meredith said at a recent academic conference. That combination was common across the country in precincts that favored Trump.Mebane responded that such a result was “no surprise,” because an election simulated to contain no intentional fraud may still effectively simulate high mobilization or strategic behavior — forces his model may flag as eforensics frauds.All three criticized Mebane’s use of the word “fraud,” with Meredith calling it “very irresponsible” and “frankly, not defensible.”In his book manuscript, Mebane defines fraud as “malevolent distortions of electors’ intentions that change or potentially can change election outcomes,” even if the distortions aren’t the result of malicious or improper activity. Pressed on his use of the word “fraud,” Mebane defended it.“I have an imperfect measure of fraud.”If the anomalies may not be due to fraud, why use the term at all?“Because it’s eforensics frauds.”Why not call it an anomaly instead?“Because it measures frauds.”Alvarez, who co-edited a foundational academic book on election fraud, took issue with Mebane’s definition. “No one else thinks that’s what the word fraud means,” he said.Mebane’s eforensics model has not been published in a peer-reviewed paper. He submitted an early version of his eforensics work to the American Political Science Review in 2020. It was rejected, and he said he does not recall the specific critique.Nevertheless, in a press release announcing Mebane’s findings, the ETA said the model “has been validated in professional scientific publications.” The group did not specify which publications. Many political scientists, who reviewed the model at Votebeat’s request, told Votebeat that it cannot be used to support the claims the ETA is making.Pennsylvania, a swing state that has long been the subject of voter fraud conspiracy theories, draws intense scrutiny in every election. In 2024, the state had a chief election official appointed by the losing party, bipartisan boards in nearly every county, risk-limiting audits, and smaller spot-check audits.Meredith questions whether thousands of manufactured or stolen votes could really have slipped through all that scrutiny.“I am concerned that the model uses fraud as the mechanism to make the model fit the data better,” Meredith wrote.In Pennsylvania in 2024, Republican registrants turned out at higher rates than Democratic registrants in nearly every county, a pattern Meredith said is more readily explained by partisan enthusiasm than ballot stuffing.Mebane’s working paper acknowledges this possibility, albeit seven pages in. After repeatedly asserting that his findings of fraud may exceed the 2024 margin in Pennsylvania, Mebane writes that the state is a “key battleground into which extensive and intensive campaigning and mobilization efforts were directed,” adding, “maybe most or almost all of the incremental manufactured votes are false positives prompted by electors’ strategic behaviors.”The most conservative version of his model puts the number of estimated illegitimate votes well below Trump’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania.In the version of the working paper provided to the ETA, Mebane described the narrower estimate as “a not negligible proportion” of Trump’s margin. Mebane has since updated that paper for his book and deleted that language, according to a revised version he provided to Votebeat in July.Mebane also provided Votebeat with a written response to the reviews of his model from his academic peers, which highlight this limitation. In that, he says that when both malevolent distortions and strategic behaviors happen in the same election, “nothing about the model per se” can distinguish between the two.Experts were also critical of a number of choices Mebane made in his analysis. The working paper, for example, skips steps typically standard for claims of this magnitude. It does not rigorously engage with alternative explanations, address the fact that Pennsylvania’s election results were audited, or show through simulation that the model can return a no-fraud result in a setting like Pennsylvania’s.The Pennsylvania analysis also relies on data Mebane obtained via the ETA, even though that data was also publicly available from the state. Mebane said he did not check the data with election officials before publishing his findings, something Grimmer characterizes as a basic precaution before drawing conclusions from any model.Grimmer and the other experts said taking that step would have helped Mebane understand and account for obvious data issues that instead distorted his findings. Votebeat separately found additional data interpretation errors in Mebane’s work. After Votebeat raised its discovery with Mebane, he acknowledged it and revised his findings of precincts labeled as “extreme frauds.”Mebane’s updated Pennsylvania analysis also changes which counties he identifies as having significant levels of “malevolent distortions.” His original paper focused on Philadelphia and Huntingdon. The revised version provided to Votebeat instead focuses on Philadelphia and Bradford.The new paper does not explain the change, and the earlier version — accusing Huntingdon of having high levels of fraud — remains on Mebane’s website.‘There is an element of faith’The ETA stressed in an email to Votebeat that its claims do not rely solely on Mebane’s working paper or model, noting that it ran multiple statistical tests “to avoid putting too much weight on any one individual method.” But some of those other tests are variations on the same basic idea as Mebane’s eforensics model.For instance, in Pennsylvania, the group used a method developed by a Russian physicist that treats precincts with both high turnout and high support for the leading candidate as potentially fraudulent — a pattern colloquially known as a “Russian tail.” Grimmer said that kind of approach runs into the same barrier as Mebane’s model: The pattern it flags may be real, but the model cannot say why it exists.A political methodologist and researcher at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Kirill Kalinin, told Votebeat that he spoke with the ETA last year and warned the group its methods could produce false positives.The ETA’s founders also spoke with Votebeat and answered additional questions, but they did not answer a final list of questions about their methods, claims, and organization. They also did not directly respond to Grimmer and Meredith’s written critiques of Mebane’s work.“Our team remains open to transparent, unbiased data analysis, including amending and correcting errors when they are discovered or brought to our attention,” they said in an email. “We welcome and encourage constructive criticism of our methodologies or our characterization of others’ work as we seek to ensure the accuracy and integrity of election results, and to bridge the gap between academia and the general public.”But by both sides’ accounts, the group and the professor are no longer working together, with Mebane voicing doubts about how the group is using his work. The ETA said it repeatedly reached out to Mebane to ask if it had accurately characterized his work or should adjust its framing of it but received no response.The ETA’s founders — Taylor, Emily Barner, and Clive Griffiths — said they are not the full extent of the ETA’s team, describing a wider network that includes members with advanced statistics training and doctorates in relevant fields, but declined to name most of them.Barner, who goes by Lilli McGregor in her work for the ETA — which she told Votebeat is a combination of a nickname and her married name — said the group is trying to protect those members from reprisal and that supporters will ultimately have to take them at their word.“There is an element of faith,” she said.At least one of the founders has expressed strong views about the 2024 election. Griffiths — who goes by the nickname Jive online — said on X before the election that it was “about to be stolen.” The day after the election, he posted that “we are gonna prove” Trump cheated. After Votebeat asked about the posts, the account became private.Mebane confirmed he also analyzed North Carolina data given to him by the group, which published a summary of his findings that claims he found more than 200,000 potentially fraudulent votes. However, Mebane said he asked the ETA not to publish his full paper, leaving that summary the only public account of his findings.Mebane said he raised his objections explicitly in “a couple of Zoom meetings.” The group disputes that, saying it only learned of his concerns secondhand, around the time of an article in The Atlantic reporting that he did not endorse their claims.The group has also contacted other academics, including Kalinin, who was advised by Mebane as a University of Michigan doctoral student. Before graduating in 2017, Kalinin worked with Mebane on election forensics methods. Kalinin said the ETA first contacted him over the summer of 2025 and later scheduled a roughly three-hour call in October.Over the course of the call, Kalinin said, it became clear the group was seeking advice on how to restore its relationship with Mebane following his comments to The Atlantic. He told the ETA members on the call they’d have to reach out to Mebane directly. It was in that conversation, he said, that he cautioned them about false positives.“These are just anomalies, these are not election fraud,” he said he told them, stressing that “you need to prove it.” Without ruling out alternative explanations, he said, such patterns cannot establish wrongdoing, particularly in democratic elections where normal political behavior can produce similar signals.Mebane told Votebeat he doesn’t have time to argue with everyone on the internet, pointing to this meme. But his reluctance to publicly address the use of his work has left a vacuum.For example, in a July 2025 video with more than 650,000 views titled “Yes, There’s Evidence Trump Hacked the 2024 Election,” independent journalist Scott Carney cited the ETA’s interpretation of Mebane’s working paper as evidence the election may have been stolen. He acknowledged he could not fully understand the math and said Mebane didn’t answer his emailed questions.“C’mon, Mebane!” he said. “You can’t just drop a bombshell like that and then walk away like nothing happened.”The accountability gapAs the ETA used Mebane’s working paper for advocacy and fundraising, it reached Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University and a leading authority on statistical methods. It had already baffled another technically sophisticated reader, who sent it to Gelman hoping he could make sense of it.Gelman read both the Pennsylvania working paper and the underlying eforensics methodology but found the work too opaque to fully evaluate. The only reason anyone was engaging with it, he wrote, was Mebane’s reputation. “Without his name attached to them I don’t think we’d be reading them at all.”That combination of technical opacity and academic authority is what makes work like this hard to dislodge once it spreads, said Grimmer. Debunking work like Mebane’s requires readers to follow complex assumptions and unfamiliar methods.Kalinin, who has spent much of his career studying elections in authoritarian countries, defended Mebane’s caveats, calling the original Pennsylvania working paper “balanced.” At the same time, he said, methods like eforensics work “well on autocracies. I’m not so sure about democracies.”Kalinin said that he has come to believe the ETA was pursuing its own political goals and using the work of academics “as the instrument” to achieve them.“No amount of academic caution can entirely prevent a motivated organization from stripping away those caveats to advance a specific agenda,” Kalinin said in an email. “ETA is entirely responsible for its own actions. They are clearly exploiting election forensics research for strategic or political gain -- something that I cautioned them against during our private conversation.”“It does not surprise me that ETA may have mischaracterized my work, because that’s what I initially observed them doing to others’ work,” Mebane said in an email. “I take responsibility for what I say, not for what they or anyone else may say.”Other researchers Votebeat spoke with agreed that the ETA had stripped away important caveats. But they were less willing to separate the ETA’s use of the work from Mebane’s own choices — including the claims he published, the authority his name carried, and his decision to remain largely silent as those claims spread. Academia offers few clear mechanisms for addressing those concerns.Keith Whittington, a Yale Law School professor who studies academic freedom, said universities are reluctant to police what professors research or say because ideas once dismissed can later prove correct. What responsibility any individual scholar has over how their work is used, he said, is “not at all obvious.”Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch — a news organization that reports on academic corrections and retractions — said the issue is not whether preliminary or unconventional work can have value. It can, he said. But scholarship is supposed to be iterative, he said: Researchers should revise work in response to criticism and publicize those revisions. Mebane’s website does not indicate whether or how his Pennsylvania analysis has changed in response to the criticism it has received.Without subjecting your work to that process, Oransky said, “I’m not sure you’re really doing scholarship.”What makes this different from the dozens of other statistical analyses of the 2020 or 2024 elections he’s reviewed and found flawed, Grimmer said, is who it’s coming from. Claims like these usually come from the political fringe. It is far rarer to see them come from a tenured professor at a major university.That distinction carries weight, especially in a political climate already primed for suspicion.“You can see how something like this takes off,” Grimmer said. People tend to put too much stock in credentials when doing so supports their position, and “when they don’t understand, people default to the conclusion they want to reach.”This story was produced by Votebeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Man found dead in rural Aledo identified, Mercer County man charged with murder A Mercer County man is being charged with murder after a man was attacked and stabbed to death inside a rural Aledo home on Sept. 8.
	Judge accepts guilty plea of Clinton man in manslaughter case A judge has accpeted the guilty plea of a Clinton man in the Feb. 17 shooting death of 20-year-old Brady Newsome of Clinton.
	Weight loss can weaken your bones. Here’s how to keep them strong. Weight loss can improve your health in many ways. But it can also come with some drawbacks, like bone loss. Losing too much bone can make your bones weaker and raise your risk of fractures.The good news is that there are steps you can take to help protect your bones during weight loss. GoodRX, a platform for medication savings, explains why bone loss can happen, how glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications may play a role, and what you can do to keep your bones healthy and strong.Key takeaways:It’s normal to lose some bone when you lose weight, whether through diet, medication, or weight loss surgery.Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications like Wegovy and Zepbound are linked to bone loss. But research suggests that weight loss itself, rather than the medication, causes most of this change.Strength training, regular exercise, and getting enough protein, calcium, and vitamin D can help protect your bones while you lose weight.Is it normal to lose bone mass as you lose weight?Yes, some bone loss is normal when you lose weight. Bone loss happens whether you lose weight through diet and exercise, medication, or weight-loss surgery.But losing some bone density doesn’t mean you’ll definitely develop weak bones or have a fracture. Your risk becomes greater if you lose a lot of bone mass during weight loss.Some people are more likely to lose more bone during weight loss. Your risk may be higher if you:Are an older adultHave gone through menopauseAlready have osteopenia or osteoporosisHave had a fracture caused by weak bonesLose a large amount of weightDon’t get enough calcium, vitamin D, or proteinDon’t get regular exerciseHave another health condition that can weaken your bonesTake a medication that can weaken your bonesThis doesn’t mean that losing weight is bad for your bones. But it does mean that protecting your bones should become part of your weight loss and health plan.Why does bone mass decrease with weight loss?Weight loss affects your bones in several ways at the same time:Your bones carry less weight. Your bones respond to the amount of weight and pressure placed on them. A higher body weight puts more pressure on weight-bearing bones, which signals your body to keep them strong. As you lose weight, your body may respond by building less bone and breaking down more bone.You lose some muscle, too. Weight loss doesn’t only come from body fat. Some of the weight you lose comes from muscle and other tissue. Your muscles pull on your bones when you move, which helps keep bones strong. Losing muscle means your bones get less of this healthy pressure.Your hormone levels change. Fat tissue helps make and control several hormones that affect your bones. Losing body fat can change your hormone levels and may cause your body to break down more bone than it replaces.You may get fewer bone-building nutrients. Eating less food can make it harder to get enough calcium, vitamin D, and protein. Your body needs these nutrients to maintain strong bones and build new bone.Together, these changes can cause your body to break down bone faster than it builds new bone. That’s why protecting muscle and getting enough exercise and nutrients can be an important part of protecting your bones.Do weight loss medications cause bone loss?Yes, some bone loss can happen when you lose weight with medications like semaglutide (Wegovy) or tirzepatide (Zepbound). Research suggests that people who lose more weight with these medications also tend to lose more bone.But the amount of bone loss is similar to what happens with nonsurgical weight loss. This suggests that weight loss, rather than the medication itself, is what’s causing bone loss.So far, there isn’t enough research to know whether one weight loss medication causes more bone loss than another. Researchers are also studying amylin-combination weight-loss medications. Amylin is a peptide that may slow bone breakdown and support new bone growth during weight loss.Can you prevent bone loss as you lose weight?There aren’t specific guidelines for protecting bone health while losing weight with a GLP-1 medication. But experts agree that people taking GLP-1 medications should prioritize exercise and good nutrition. Some people may also need to have their bone health monitored. Talk with your healthcare team about a bone health plan while taking a GLP-1 medication, especially if you:Lose more than 10% of your body weightAre an older adultHave gone through menopauseAlready have osteopenia or osteoporosisHave a history of fracturesHave a history of osteoporosis or osteopeniaHere are some steps you can take to protect your bone health during weight loss.Exercise regularlyExercise may be one of the best ways to protect your bones during weight loss. Weight-bearing exercise puts weight and pressure on your bones, which tells your body that it still needs to keep them strong.Experts recommend combining strength training at least three times a week with at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week.Get enough protein, calcium, and vitamin DEating less during weight loss can make it harder to get all the nutrients your bones need. It’s important to pay attention to:Protein: Experts recommend getting more protein if you’re losing weight. You may need between 80 mg and 120 mg of protein each day.Calcium: Most adults should get about 1,000 mg to 1,300 mg each day.Vitamin D: Most adults need about 600 IU each day.These are general guidelines, and your needs may be different depending on your overall health. Work with your healthcare team to determine how much protein, calcium, or vitamin D you need each day.Monitor your bone healthSome people may need their bone health checked while losing weight. A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan measures bone density and can help find bone loss before you have a fracture. Your healthcare team may recommend a DEXA scan every one to two years if you have a higher risk of osteopenia or osteoporosis. They may also track changes in your muscle mass, since losing muscle and bone can happen together.Start treatment if you need itIf you already have osteoporosis or develop it during weight loss, exercise and nutrition may not be enough to keep your bones strong. Your healthcare team may recommend osteoporosis medication to help strengthen your bones and lower your risk of fractures. The right treatment depends on your bone density, fracture risk, and overall health.Frequently asked questionsHow is bone loss diagnosed?A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan measures your bone density and can show if you’ve lost bone. Your healthcare team will look at your results along with your medical history to understand your bone health. They may also order blood tests to check for low levels of important nutrients or signs that your bones are breaking down faster than normal.Can you reverse bone loss?You may be able to slow or stop bone loss, and even rebuild some bone. Your bone density may not return to the level it was when your bones were at their strongest. But even small improvements can help lower your risk of fractures. Treatment often includes a combination of medication, exercise, and good nutrition. Quitting smoking and limiting alcohol can also help protect your bones.When should you see a doctor about signs of bone loss?Talk with your healthcare team if you’ve had a fracture or are worried about your bone health. You should also ask about your bone health if you have a medical condition or take medication that can weaken your bones. Your healthcare team can order a bone density scan or blood tests to check for bone loss and decide if you need treatment.Which weight loss medications are the worst for bone loss?It’s not clear if one weight loss medication causes more bone loss than another. Researchers are still studying the differences between these medications. For now, the same steps to protect your bone health are recommended no matter which weight loss medication you take.The bottom lineSome bone loss can happen when you lose a lot of weight, but that doesn’t mean weight loss is bad for your bones. These changes can happen whether you lose weight through surgery, lifestyle changes, or medications like Wegovy and Zepbound. Exercise and good nutrition can help protect your bones and muscles as your weight changes. Some people may also need bone density testing, especially if they already have a higher risk of weak bones. Your healthcare team can help you make bone health part of your weight loss plan.This story was produced by GoodRx and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How sleep, stress, and your skin are connected Everyone wants healthier skin, and plenty of people will spend years trying new products to get it, but topical skin care only influences part of what shows up on the face. The rest comes down to what the body is doing each day, starting with the hours spent asleep.Attention to those overnight hours has been building across the beauty industry, where Ogee has pointed to nighttime recovery as one part of healthy skin, noting how much repair happens while the body rests.However, stress arrives from the opposite end of the day, working on those same processes from a different direction, which clinicians see firsthand in their patients.Dr. Ewoma Ukeleghe, a U.K. physician and aesthetic specialist, told Forbes that skin is where stress shows up, and that people really underestimate it. She carries that thinking into her consultations, rarely looking at a patient's skin by itself before asking about their overall health.Her approach reflects a growing medical focus on the internal processes that affect skin before any product is applied. With doctors looking more closely at what happens inside the body, attention naturally turns to the work the skin is already doing every day to repair itself and stay healthy.Your Skin Is Constantly Repairing ItselfSkin is never exactly the same from one month to the next, even if the changes are too small to notice day by day. Scientists estimate that the epidermis renews itself roughly every 40 to 56 days, with new cells forming below the surface and gradually moving upward as older cells are shed.Northwestern stem cell biologist Xiaomin Bao has described this constant renewal as essential to maintaining healthy skin, since fresh cells must continually replace those lost through everyday wear.The pace slows with age, so older cells remain on the surface longer, and skin may begin to look duller or feel different than it did years earlier. Those changes can become especially noticeable around menopause, when many women see differences that seem to arrive surprisingly quickly.The American Academy of Dermatology reports that women lose about 30% of their skin’s collagen during the first five years of menopause, followed by a more gradual decline. During midlife, losing collagen this quickly can make changes in the mirror feel more noticeable, since collagen gives skin much of its firmness, while elastin helps it return to place after it moves.While those proteins help determine how skin looks and feels, the outer surface has another job that is just as basic to healthy skin. Part of that job is holding onto moisture, which researchers track through transepidermal water loss, the amount of water that passes through the skin and evaporates.When that water loss rises, the protective surface is often not working as well, leaving it more prone to dryness and irritation. With so much of this repair happening every day, researchers have also focused on the body’s daily schedule and how it affects when some of this work takes place.Sleep Is One of Your Skin's Most Important Recovery ToolsSleep is perhaps one of the most powerful and underrated tools for healthy skin, partly due to how much of the body's repair work follows a daily clock.Research on skin biology has found that cell division changes throughout the day, while blood flow to the skin rises during nighttime hours, so some repair work becomes more active after dark. Those hours become more important when researchers look at what happens without enough rest.A University Hospitals Case Medical Center study led by dermatologist Dr. Elma Baron found that good sleepers recovered 30% more effectively from a damaged skin barrier than poor sleepers after 72 hours. Poor sleepers also took longer to recover from ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure.Separate research has found that even short periods of sleep restriction reduce skin hydration and elasticity, showing how quickly too little sleep can affect how skin looks and feels. Even with those changes appearing quickly, one bad night does not determine long-term skin health, but losing sleep over and over gives skin less time to recover properly.Still, sleep is only one part of how well skin recovers, since stress can also change how the body carries out that repair.Chronic Stress Changes How Skin FunctionsStress is unavoidable, and short periods of it are part of the body’s normal response to pressure. But problems become more likely when stress continues, keeping cortisol elevated longer than the body needs it. Dermatologists at the University of Utah Health explain that cortisol increases inflammation and oil production, while prolonged stress also slows the skin’s ability to heal.Part of that response comes from the close connection between skin and the nervous system. Researchers call it the skin-brain axis, a two-way communication system that uses hormonal and immune messages to connect emotional stress with changes in the skin.Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Keira Barr says the brain and skin “communicate with each other,” helping explain why ongoing stress can trigger acne or eczema. Similar flare-ups are seen with psoriasis and rosacea, although dermatologists consider stress a contributing factor rather than the sole cause of any of these conditions.Stress can also interfere with sleep, adding another way prolonged pressure can affect how well skin recovers. But sleep and stress are only part of what affects skin each day, with hydration and environmental exposure adding their own influence.Other Everyday Factors That Influence Skin HealthSkin is the body's largest organ, so avoiding everything it encounters from the outside is nearly impossible. Sun exposure remains one of the biggest concerns, with dermatologist Dr. Jennifer Holman attributing 90% of visible changes in skin appearance to sun damage.Air pollution creates similar problems, since UV radiation and pollutants both produce free radicals that contribute to oxidative stress. Those unstable molecules damage skin cells when the body cannot neutralize them quickly enough.However, what happens inside the body affects the skin as well, starting with basic hydration. Research published in the PMFA Journal has linked inadequate water intake with changes associated with skin aging and inflammation, but drinking more does not appear to offer the same benefit once someone is already well hydrated, since the body regulates how much water it keeps and removes what it does not need.Beyond hydration, diet provides the body with some of the materials it needs to maintain healthy skin, with protein supporting skin repair and vitamin C helping with collagen production. But skin responds to these influences over time, so changes tied to daily habits and environmental exposure are more likely to build gradually over time.Healthy Skin Reflects Consistent Daily HabitsAs with anything in life, practice makes perfect, and the same holds for how daily habits influence skin.Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Tony Youn has emphasized consistency when discussing healthier skin, with regular habits giving the body time to respond over weeks and months. Daily sun protection follows the same principle, with dermatologists recommending consistent protection to limit the damage that builds through repeated UV exposure.But getting enough sleep and finding consistent ways to manage stress are two of the most important daily habits for supporting healthy skin, since both affect how well the body carries out the repair work skin depends on.This story was produced by Ogee and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Local head starts to speak on change to free early childhood education program Rock Island head starts are holding a press conference on Thursday to talk about a change to program that provides free early childhood education to low-income families.
	Infiltrator Water Technology plans to invest more than $7M in former cold storage building Infiltrator Water Technology plans to invest more than $7 million and add up to 26 jobs at a former cold storage building in Davenport's West End.
	Why do I sweat more than others in hot weather? Sweating in hot weather can feel like a never-ending battle. You're outside, the sun is blazing, and suddenly, it feels like you're melting faster than an ice cream cone on a summer day. But why does it feel like you sweat more than your mates when the temperature rises? AXE, the deodorant brand for guys, explores the reasons behind this and offers tips to keep you fresh and confident, no matter how hot the weather.The Science Behind SweatingSweating is your body's way of cooling down when things get too heated. But if you find yourself drenched while others seem perfectly dry, there could be a few reasons why. AXE 1. GeneticsJust like your eye color or height, your sweat levels can be influenced by your genes. Some people are simply predisposed to sweat more due to their genetic makeup. If your parents or siblings are heavy sweaters, chances are you might be too.2. EnvironmentWhere you live and how your body adapts to the climate can also impact how much you sweat. If you're used to cooler climates and suddenly find yourself in a tropical paradise, your body might go into overdrive trying to cool itself down.3. Activity levelThe more active you are, the more your body works to regulate its temperature. Whether you're hitting the gym, playing sports, or just running errands, increased physical activity can lead to more sweat.4. Stress and anxietyEver notice how you start sweating when you're nervous or stressed? That's because your body's fight-or-flight response kicks in, causing your sweat glands to work overtime. So, if you're feeling the pressure, it might show up as extra perspiration.5. Hormonal changesHormones can also affect how much you sweat. Puberty, stress and even certain medications can cause fluctuations in your hormone levels, leading to increased sweating.Practical Tips for Managing Excessive SweatingNow that we've covered why you might be sweating more than others, let's talk about how to manage it. Here are some practical tips to help you stay cool and fresh, even on the hottest days.1. Fuel Up with H2ODrink loads of water to help regulate your body temperature and keep you hydrated. Bonus, staying hydrated can help reduce the amount of sweat your body produces.2. Go for breathable gearWear lightweight, breathable fabrics like cotton or moisture-wicking materials. These fabrics allow air to circulate and help keep your skin dry.3. Chill mode: onWhen the temperature rises, find ways to stay cool. Use fans, air conditioning, or take a dip in the pool. Avoid hot, humid environments whenever possible.4. Clean up your gamRegular showers and proper grooming can help keep sweat and odor at bay. Use a gentle soap to cleanse your skin and prevent bacteria buildup.5. Level up with the right deodorantLook for products specifically designed to combat excessive sweating.6. Power your plateCertain foods can trigger sweating, so it's important to eat a balanced diet. Avoid spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol, as they can increase your body temperature and cause you to sweat more.7. Move more, sweat lessRegular exercise can help regulate your body's temperature and reduce stress, which can lead to less sweating over time.8. Keep calm and shake off the stressStress and anxiety can turn up the sweat, so keeping your cool is everything. Try mindfulness, meditation, yoga or calming scents to stay grounded and keep stress in check.Sweating in hot weather doesn’t have to leave you feeling defeated. Understanding why some people sweat more than others can empower you to take control with simple strategies that work. Whether it’s staying hydrated, dressing in breathable fabrics, or finding the right deodorant, there’s a way to tackle even the hottest days with confidence.This story was produced by AXE and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	AccelerateVQC will explore how e-bikes can create connected communities Visit Quad Cities will host its next "AccelerateVQC, Pedaling Forward - How Cycling and E-Bikes Create Connected Communities," on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The event, which will be 3:30-5 p.m. at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center, 2021 State St., Bettendorf, will bring community leaders, tourism partners, sports organizations, and regional stakeholders together to explore the [...]
	Donahue teen tenders plea for judge's consideration in sexual exploitation of a minor case A Donahue teen charged with 30 counts related to the sexual exploitation of a minor has tendered a plea agreement for a Scott County judge to consider.
	Weekend of cultural heritage events underway in Quad Cities \| Dani's Weekend Rundown for Sept. 17, 2026 From gyros and baklava to steins of beer and folk dancing, many in the Quad Cities community can get a taste of different cultures.
	Using credit cards to pay rent: What new survey data shows Housing is typically thought of as a fixed, non-negotiable bill, the one expense that gets paid before anything else. New survey data suggests that for a meaningful share of Americans, it isn’t being paid outright at all. It’s being financed.In a 2026 survey of 2,000 U.S. adults with at least $10,000 in unsecured debt, conducted by Atomik Research for Accredited Debt Relief, 33% said they had used a credit card or borrowed money to cover rent or housing costs in the past year.Housing Joins the List of Bills Going on CreditHousing is one of several essential expenses now being covered with credit. Groceries led at 66%, followed by gas or transportation at 47% and utilities at 45%. At roughly 1 in 3, rent or housing costs sit alongside them.The discretionary spending isn’t what’s going on the card. Asked separately what they’d put on hold because of their debt, respondents named taking a vacation more often than anything else, at 41%, followed by building savings at 40%. The trips are being cancelled. It’s the groceries and the housing payments that are being financed. Accredited Debt Relief Why Charging Housing Is DifferentMost landlords and mortgage servicers don’t accept credit cards directly, so people who pay this way typically go through a third-party platform that charges a processing fee. Others take a cash advance, which usually carries a higher interest rate than regular purchases and starts accruing interest immediately.Either route makes the payment cost more than the number on the lease. And because housing is a large and recurring cost, a balance built this way grows faster than one built from occasional purchases.Debt Payments Are Competing With the BillsAsked what they’d done in the past 12 months in order to make a debt payment, respondents in Accredited Debt Relief’s Debt Impact Survey, conducted by Drive Research, described cutting into essentials: 45% had cut back on groceries or household essentials, 25% had skipped or delayed a utility payment and 16% had skipped or delayed rent or mortgage.That reverses the usual framing. It isn’t only that everyday costs create debt. Existing debt payments are also displacing everyday costs, including the ones people protect most carefully. Nearly half, 49%, said they’re living paycheck to paycheck because of their debt payments, and 31% are making minimum payments without seeing the balance move.What It Means When Housing Goes on CreditThere’s a long-standing principle in household budgeting that rent eats first. Housing is fixed, it’s essential, and the consequences of missing it are severe, so it gets paid before groceries, before savings, before anything discretionary.That principle hasn’t gone anywhere. What’s changed is where the money comes from. When a household covers housing with credit, rent is still eating first, but it’s eating money the household doesn’t have yet.Individual circumstances vary, and a survey can’t account for all of them. But housing is the expense people protect most carefully, so reaching for credit to cover it suggests income alone isn’t stretching far enough to meet basic costs for an increasing number of people.This story was produced by Accredited Debt Relief and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Is your tap water safe? What regulations do and don’t tell you Many people pay close attention to what they eat, how they sleep and how often they exercise as part of a more intentional approach to wellness. The quality of the water they drink, however, often escapes the same consideration. In a recent survey of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Culligan, 76% said they were more intentional about their health than ever, yet 35% had not thought about their tap water quality during the previous year.That gap may be partly rooted in an oversimplified assumption: If tap water meets current regulations, there is nothing else to consider in terms of its safety. Yet while regulations provide important public health protections, they do not cover every substance or concern, including some contaminants that are still being studied or are not federally regulated.For consumers trying to make sense of this sometimes-confusing landscape, it helps to know what regulations cover—and where their scope ends.What water regulations coverThe survey found that 20% of respondents believed water that meets government regulations contains no contaminants. However, not every substance that can impact drinking water has an enforceable standard.In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates more than 90 contaminants in public water systems, while its Contaminant Candidate List identifies unregulated substances that may warrant further research and possible regulation. However, inclusion on the list does not create a standard, nor does it establish that every detected level poses a risk.When creating standards, the EPA first establishes a nonenforceable public health goal. It then sets an enforceable standard as close to that goal as feasible, taking into account factors such as treatment technology, measurement capabilities and cost.Implementing new requirements also takes time and funding. Under the EPA’s lead rule, for example, most systems have 10 years to replace lead service lines. Overall, the agency estimates that U.S. systems need $625 billion over 20 years for drinking-water infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.Canada follows a different model. Health Canada develops national guidelines with the provinces and territories, but each jurisdiction decides how to establish its own requirements. Municipalities usually manage treatment and distribution, so no single federal code applies identically nationwide.Why appearance, taste and smell are not enoughOne likely contributor to misconceptions about water quality is that people tend to trust their senses. In the survey, half of respondents said they believed water that tasted fine was safe to drink. However, many contaminants that may be present in water, including lead, PFAS and others, can’t be seen, tasted or smelled. Targeted laboratory testing is often the only way to identify them.Still, other survey responses showed that consumers do recognize water quality as a potential unseen concern. When asked to rank their top “invisible risks” (concerns not easily judged through the senses), respondents ranked contaminants in water first at 45%, followed by air pollution at 43% and food additives at 42%.Three common tap water mythsCommon misunderstandings extend beyond regulations and the limits of our senses. The survey also surfaced three common myths that can shape how people respond to water-quality concerns.Myth 1: Boiling water removes every contaminant.Boiling is useful when a water utility or public-health authority issues a boil-water advisory because it can inactivate disease-causing microorganisms. However, the limitations of boiling are less widely understood. While 36% of survey respondents believed boiling removes all contaminants, that isn’t the case. Boiling does not make water safe when chemical or radiological contamination is suspected and may concentrate certain substances as water evaporates.Myth 2: Single-use bottled water follows stricter rules.Perhaps because a sealed bottle feels more controlled, 30% of those surveyed believed bottled water was more strictly regulated than tap water. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water, while the EPA regulates public systems. When the EPA sets a standard, the FDA adopts a corresponding bottled-water standard or determines that one is unnecessary. Some limits differ, so single-use bottled water is not uniformly subject to stricter rules. In fact, it’s common for single-use bottled water to be sourced from tap water.Recent findings also show why bottled water is not necessarily a better choice from a water-quality standpoint. For example, FDA testing detected PFAS in 10 of 197 bottled-water samples from 2023 and 2024 (although none exceeded comparable EPA limits); a 2024 study detected microplastics and nanoplastics in samples from three brands. (Note that these findings apply only to the samples tested and do not represent every bottled-water product.)Myth 3: Every filtration method works the same way.Water filtration was another source of confusion: 57% of respondents believed all water filters provide the same level of filtration. In reality, filtration methods and their capabilities vary significantly.Understanding water filter certification can help dispel this myth. Certification does not mean a system reduces every possible contaminant. Consumers concerned about specific contaminants should check whether the filtration system they’re considering is specifically certified (proven) to reduce them.Start with testingTesting is the most direct way to understand water quality at a particular home, yet 51% of survey respondents have not tested theirs in the previous year. For U.S. households served by a community water system, annual Consumer Confidence Reports are required to provide information about local drinking water quality. These provide useful background, including the water source, regulated contaminants detected and compliance information. Canadian households can request local information from their utility or municipality.Because these reports describe the public water supply, they may not fully reflect conditions at an individual tap. Lead or copper, for example, can leach into water from service lines, household plumbing or fixtures.The right type of testing depends on the water source, local conditions, household plumbing and the concerns being investigated. Free or low-cost screenings can cover basic characteristics such as hardness, chlorine and pH. Potential health-related contaminants, such as lead, arsenic, nitrate or PFAS, generally require analysis by an appropriately certified or accredited laboratory.Once testing clarifies the concern, treatment can be matched to it. Advanced reverse osmosis drinking water filtration systems, for example, can often address a comprehensive range of drinking-water concerns, while whole-house filtration systems typically are designed to address more specific issues throughout the home. In either case, consumers should look for system certification specific to their concerns.Like reading a food label or tracking sleep, paying attention to water quality starts by seeking reliable information. That means understanding what’s coming from your tap and taking the right steps to help you feel confident about its quality.Survey methodologyTalker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans who have access to the internet; the survey was commissioned by Culligan International and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between May 13 and May 18, 2026.This story was produced by Culligan and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Making a 'big dill' about the Pickle Bash \| Dani's Weekend Rundown - Sept. 17, 2026 This week, News 8's Dani Howe welcomes Shawn Lotter from the Mississippi Valley Fair to break down a tasty event coming to the fairgrounds.
	Grocery stores are a free-market success story Food prices are a political flashpoint. In America’s most recent presidential election, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris promised to ban “price gouging” on groceries, while Republican nominee Donald Trump said he would reduce prices by fixing supply chain issues. More recently, as food prices have risen 3% in the past year, Trump has promised to address higher consumer costs for beef by waiving tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef.But amid talk of price gouging and lack of affordability, what’s often overlooked is that profit margins for American grocery stores are actually slim: between 1% and 3% as of 2026. The reason for this is simple—the average American has access to multiple grocery stores and is always on the lookout for better deals. In 2024, consumers shopped at an average of two different grocery stores per week. This year, 42% said they planned to switch to a less expensive store.“Food is something we have to buy every week,” said Mike von Massow, a professor of food, agricultural, and resource economics at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College. “It’s an expenditure we’re going to make no matter what, so we’re more sensitive about it. The other thing that is a factor here is that we have a stronger understanding of what we expect to pay for food because we buy it every week.”Massow explained that the economics term for what a consumer expects to pay for something is the “reference price.” Shoppers develop a strong reference price for food items because they shop at grocery stores so regularly. They’re more likely to notice a price increase on a grocery item than they would on something they purchase less often, like an iPhone or a pair of sneakers, and the most-discussed price hikes are usually on groceries people purchase the most. Politicians often talk about the price of eggs, milk, or beef; they talk less frequently about the price of artisanal hand-roasted peanut butter or gluten-free bagels.Grocery stores can operate in this highly price-competitive world because they’re volume businesses. A 1%-3% profit margin still translates to billions of dollars when the company is as large as Walmart, and the fact that the profit is spread over millions of daily transactions decreases the risks associated with low profit margins. (This means that a local grocery store is an especially tough business to operate; most have even lower profit margins than the large chains, and survive by becoming members of buying cooperatives and developing strong relationships with their communities.)Grocery stores use two major pricing strategies. One, called high-low pricing, involves attracting consumers with promoted sales on items priced lower than competitors and then hoping to make a profit from the non-discounted items consumers purchase while they’re there. The goods that bring consumers into the store are called “loss leaders,” and they’re often staple items in high demand. (The textbook example of a loss leader is the Thanksgiving turkey, which is usually sold near wholesale cost to attract shoppers who will then purchase other ingredients for their holiday meals.)High-low pricing was once the dominant business model for grocery stores, but with inflation making consumers even more sensitive to price increases, another business model is steadily gaining market share, especially with younger consumers: everyday low pricing. Everyday low pricing models, like those used by stores such as Walmart and Aldi, focus on having consistently low prices for every item in the store. Such stores make money in different ways: Walmart, for example, keeps prices low through its massive scale—nearly 1 in every 4 dollars spent on groceries in the U.S. is spent at a Walmart—while Aldi limits its selection, offering roughly 3% of the products a traditional grocery store has on its shelves.But under either pricing model, what influences prices are the costs of food manufacturing and distribution. Though food prices rose steeply at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in fact outpaced general inflation during the initial lockdown, economists say the price increases resulted from the unique strain the pandemic put on grocery stores’ supply chains.For example, meatpacking plants were early hot spots for the spread of COVID-19 due to their low temperatures and cramped working conditions, and many plants implemented social distancing, which slowed production. Illness and risk of exposure decreased labor supply for both grocery stores and food manufacturers, further increasing the cost of getting groceries on store shelves. Increased demand was also part of the picture; shuttered restaurants meant that people cooked more food at home, and therefore grocery stores gained some market power. But overall, the picture the evidence paints is far from one in which grocery stores took advantage of a crisis to hike prices.Likewise, the spike in egg prices that became one of Trump’s talking points on the 2024 campaign trail wasn’t a result of grocery store price gouging. It was the result of an avian influenza outbreak that began in 2022 and killed millions of chickens, severely reducing the supply of eggs. (An alleged price-fixing scheme by several egg producers may have also played a role, although the companies settled a federal lawsuit without any admission of guilt.)The grocery business is a “very competitive business,” Jayson Lusk, editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Food Consumption and Policy, told The Dispatch. “I’m not saying [grocery stores] don’t have any control or power, but largely they’re scrambling around trying to figure out whatever they can do to respond to the latest consumer fad and trend.”One example of this is the rise of private-label brands. In the past, consumers valued brands with established reputations, and grocery store brands, also known as “generic brands,” were considered lower quality. But modern consumers care more about price than brand reputation, and private-label brands, unhampered by advertising costs, tend to be cheaper and offer grocery stores slightly higher profit margins. Research also suggests modern grocery stores have as much brand reputation as food manufacturers themselves.“Take Costco: They have their Kirkland brand and they’ve cultivated a quality image that is ‘good value for the dollar,’” Lusk said. “Over time, what we’ve seen is some transference of that brand trust and reputation to the grocery store itself.”Another consumer preference story—albeit a more complicated one—affecting prices has to do with grocery stores’ continued use of human cashiers at checkout, even though self-checkout technology has existed for 40 years. One might assume that autonomous technology would have easily replaced human workers who require salaries, benefits, and breaks, but in fact, the opposite has happened. Large retailers like Walmart have begun to scale back self-checkout machines and replace them with humans. Amazon Go was the first completely automated grocery store, featuring a system of cameras, shelf sensors, and artificial intelligence that tracked when consumers picked up items and charged them when they walked out the door. But technology issues dogged the project, and Amazon pulled the plug on both Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh, another grocery venture that relied solely on self-checkout, earlier this year.Rates of shoplifting have also increased in every grocery store with a fully automated checkout model. But another part of the story is simply that people value interacting with other people.“People like other people,” Phil Lempert, founder and CEO of Supermarket Guru, a food and health news website, told The Dispatch. “And when you check out—especially now when you’re ringing up $150, $200, $250 when you go to the grocery store—people like a cashier that says, ‘Thank you.’ … People don’t necessarily like self-checkout.”The continued use of checkout workers increases labor costs for grocery stores, but it’s unclear whether those costs are passed on to the consumer or offset by reduced shoplifting and increased customer demand.In many ways, grocery stores are a free-market success story: competitive, low-profit, and extremely sensitive to changes in what consumers want. But that hasn’t stopped politicians like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani from attempting to improve upon the existing business model. In July, Mamdani announced a plan to open five city-backed grocery stores across New York City’s five boroughs. City officials say the stores, which will operate on city-owned property and be run by third-party entities, will sell “essential staples” at prices 30% lower than private-sector stores. Last month, hundreds of small grocery store and bodega operators sued the mayor over the plan, alleging that the city-owned stores would threaten their livelihood.While Mamdani’s grocery stores may provide real savings to the New Yorkers who live near them, they will be costly for taxpayers. Without established supply chains and economies of scale, they will likely have higher acquisition costs than private-sector grocery stores. The city government has promised to cover rent, property taxes, and construction; it’s unclear whether it will provide further support once the stores open. But experts like von Massow are skeptical that the stores will be able to operate without significant and continual infusions of taxpayer money.“Even if [the store] made zero profit and bought just as efficiently,” von Massow said, “you could lower prices by 4%. If you want to lower prices by 30% … you’re going to have to directly subsidize that, and I would argue that, in that circumstance, you’re subsidizing an inefficient system.”A better use of that money, von Massow argues, would be to subsidize purchases for low-income New Yorkers at already-established grocery stores. That way, eligible residents would pay less for groceries while also benefiting from the flexibility and scale of private stores, which aren’t exactly reaping huge profits. “There’s a reason those grocers are big, and it is about efficiency,” he said.This story was produced by The Dispatch and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	3 costly mistakes sellers make when their home isn’t selling Home sellers across the country are facing more price-sensitive buyers.Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler recently said that about 42% of homes on the market were taking a price cut. And in June, homes sold below asking price in 38 of the 50 largest U.S. housing markets, CNBC reported.If your home isn’t attracting offers, you may be tempted to host another open house or wait for market conditions to improve. But 86% of real estate agents in HomeLight’s latest Top Agent Insights survey pointed to one of three closely related pricing mistakes after a home sits without an offer.“Sellers need to earn the buyer’s attention. The market doesn’t have to become bad for sellers to become less forgiving of them,” says Derek Bauer, a Michigan real estate agent with nearly 25 years of experience.He adds, “If comparable homes are getting offers while yours is sitting, that silence is feedback.”Below, HomeLight reveals three costly mistakes agents say sellers should avoid when the offers aren’t coming.1. Waiting too long to reduce the priceIn HomeLight’s survey of 715 of the nation's top-rated real estate agents, nearly half, 44%, said the biggest mistake sellers make after a home sits without an offer is waiting too long to lower the asking price.But agents also cautioned that, before dropping your price, you need to figure out what the lack of an offer is actually telling you. One place to start is with your home's showing activity.If few or no buyers are scheduling tours, it’s possible your home doesn’t look competitive enough to get them to the door. While price is often still the culprit, other factors can also turn away buyers. This can include poor online photos, a lack of marketing, or competing listings.If buyers are touring the property and you’re still not getting offers, this is a clearer signal that your home may be overpriced. It can mean they were originally interested in what they saw online, but what they found may not justify the asking price compared with their other choices.“If the marketing is on point and the home isn’t getting showings, it’s usually a price issue,” says Wisconsin agent Duane Murphy. “If it’s getting showings but no offers, buyers aren’t seeing enough value for the current price.”How long should a seller wait before making a change?Surveyed agents were also asked how long a seller of a no-offer home in their market should wait before making a significant change.Forty-seven % said three to four weeksThirty-six percent said one to two weeksEight percent said five weeks or longerTwo percent said more than six weeksTogether, 83% selected a window of one to four weeks. However, in the Midwest region — states like Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana — agents recommend a faster timeline, with 56% saying one to two weeks.With or without showings, Murphy says sellers need to consider options that may or may not include a price cut. A significant change can also include getting more professional listing photos, staging, broadening marketing efforts, or making more repairs or upgrades.“The key is to listen to the market and make a meaningful adjustment — not simply wait and hope,” he explains. “If you wait too long, the market will leave you behind.”The longer you wait, the harder it can be to regain momentumBecause you’re so deeply invested in your home, you may want to hold firm, hoping a buyer will eventually come in with an offer at the price you’re looking for. But in HomeLight's survey, agents repeatedly warned that waiting can create another problem: The listing itself begins to age.“Waiting too long to make a price adjustment after a home has been sitting is a mistake. Buyers have already seen it, passed on it, and moved on,” says Texas agent Luis Carlos Perez. “If the market is telling you the price isn’t working, you have to be willing to adjust and give the property a reason to get attention again.”Rather than reducing the price simply because a certain number of days have passed, you and your agent can review what has happened since the listing went live.Sellers and their agents can ask:Have comparable properties gone under contract?Have new competitors come on the market?Is the same feedback surfacing after multiple showings?How does the home compare with what buyers can purchase for the same money?If that evidence points to price, acting earlier can give you a chance to reposition your home before more market time accumulates.2. Refusing to reset price expectationsThe second-most common mistake agents identified in HomeLight’s survey is a seller flat-out refusing to adjust their expectations — even after the market has made it clear it won’t support their asking price.It’s a reality you may not want to face. Perhaps you’re thinking about what your neighbor sold their house for, or what an online estimate says your home should be worth. Or you may be adding up how much money you’ve spent on renovations or how much in proceeds you need to walk away with after the sale.You may also be comparing today’s market with one that no longer exists.Agents repeatedly said sellers are still adjusting to buyers having more choices and being more selective about what they will pay."Buyers have choices again, and they're using them,” says Barbara Zorn, a Florida agent with nearly 40 years of experience. “Sellers who price for yesterday's market may spend tomorrow chasing it down with price reductions."As a seller, looking backward can blind you because today’s buyers aren’t evaluating a home based on your perspective.“Buyers aren’t comparing your house to what you paid for it or what you hoped it would bring,” says California agent Chase Whitney. “They’re comparing it to every other active listing in that price range.”For sellers, that means recent comparable sales are only part of the picture. It can also help to look at the homes currently competing for the same buyers and, especially, which ones have gone under contract since your listing went live.Another tip surveyed agents suggested is to physically tour competing properties — similar homes in your market that are receiving offers. Compare your home with these houses and review any feedback you’ve received from buyers who decided against making an offer on your house."Once you see what they're seeing, the feedback stops feeling personal and starts being useful. And don't get offended by buyer feedback. It's free market research most sellers never get," advises Whitney. “And stay realistic."Price for the market you’re in nowSurveyed agents said too many sellers are hung up on what they saw in the pandemic-era market, when tight inventory and extremely intense competition gave homeowners more room to test higher asking prices.Today, buyers in most markets are more price-sensitive. They have more options. Regardless of how much you think your home is worth or your target price goal, if a price feels high, buyers will simply move on rather than negotiate.“Some sellers make the mistake of pricing their home based on what they ‘need’ to sell it for rather than what the current market supports,” says California agent Todd Riccio.After doing your research, you may confirm that your home is priced appropriately, and it simply needs more time and exposure. But if nearby comparable properties are attracting offers while yours continues to sit, holding onto your original price expectations can make it much harder to respond to the signals buyers are sending your way.“Let the data guide the decision. Ultimately, the market determines a home's value," Riccio says.3. Making too small a price reductionEventually, after waiting and reconsidering your expectations, you may agree that the price needs to change. That creates another opportunity to get the strategy wrong.Sixteen percent of agents report that the biggest mistake sellers make is reducing the price, but not by enough to change the home’s position in the market.“Waiting too long to reduce the price, and then reducing it too little, is a mistake,” says Wisconsin agent CJ Lewandowski.Ohio agent Abigail Miller cautions that a minor or token adjustment can leave your home competing against the same properties as before — and reaching essentially the same pool of shoppers.“You want to reposition the home so it appears new and competitive again, ideally putting it into a new buyer search bracket.” She adds, “A strategic price adjustment can be much more effective than a series of small reductions.”Multiple, less significant reductions can leave you chasing the market and attach a stale-listing stigma to a property, leading buyers to wonder if something is wrong with the house.“The goal isn't to chase the market. It's to get back in step with it,” says Bauer.A price cut should change somethingTo make certain your price cut is meaningful, it needs to get buyers’ attention. Which means the new asking price must alter your home's competitive position.This might mean re-pricing your home to a new online search range to expose it to new buyers. If your original list price was $510,000, lowering it to $499,000 can shift it into the "$450,000 to $500,000" search bracket.Depending on what you’ve learned from buyers, you and your agent might decide to combine a price reduction with all-new photos, improved staging, a better listing description, or additional repairs.In HomeLight’s survey, agents repeatedly pointed to some combination of price, condition, presentation, and marketing when diagnosing a listing that isn’t selling. But many also emphasized that once the home is well presented and marketed, the price becomes difficult to ignore.The goal of a price reduction, then, isn’t simply to show buyers that you are willing to negotiate. It is to position your home so buyers see enough value to act.If you decide a reduction is needed, South Carolina agent Leslie Laith Henke says to make the cut count: "Adjust the price once, and make it significant."Respond to the market, not the calendarYour home may not be overpriced. Many factors combined can all be part of the equation.But HomeLight’s survey suggests that when the evidence does point to price, the costliest response may be to delay. Acting sooner can give you a better chance to reposition your home rather than chase the market later."The market will help you sell if you're willing to listen. Refusing to do so can lead to longer days on market and, ultimately, larger price reductions,” says Tennessee agent Jo Reimer.With a well-calibrated pricing strategy, Mississippi agent Barry Monday assures, "The right buyer may be the next person who comes through the door.”This story was produced by HomeLight and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Registration opens for QC Corporate Games Registration is now open for the seventh annual Quad Cities Corporate Games (QCCG), a project of the Iowa Sports Foundation in partnership with Visit Quad Cities and the Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island Parks and Recreation Departments, a news release says. The event will be held May 31-July 31, 2027, offering companies the chance [...]
	Sen. Grassley responds after Iowa colleagues vote to limit President Trump’s war powers Sen. Chuck Grassley is not supporting a war powers resolution that some of his Iowa Republican colleagues in the U.S. House approved this week.
	Former salaried employees suing John Deere over severance payments Two former employees are accusing Deere of intentionally changing how performance reviews work to avoid paying the amount of severance they earned.
	How money matters can affect your relationship There aren’t many taboos left in modern society, but here’s a big one: The delicate relationship between love and money.Mixing romance with financial considerations can seem cynical or crass to some but new research reveals money can very much shape your partnership prospects – in the opinion of younger generations, especially.Among Gen Z, for instance, an eye-popping 78% say that one’s salary determines whether true love is in the cards, according to a new survey commissioned by Current, a consumer fintech banking platform, and conducted by Talker Research.Data like that raises the question: Can getting one’s financial house in order — more resources, less debt, a cleaner credit record, a higher credit score — actually improve one’s romantic prospects? In people’s opinions, the answer seems to be yes.In the same vein, wanting to know about a partner’s finances isn’t necessarily superficial. It’s one piece in a larger puzzle of understanding what someone is all about and how they handle the complexities of life.“A credit score is a behavior report, and behavior is exactly what you should care about in a partner,” says Doug Boneparth, a financial planner and author (with wife Heather) of the new book “Money Together.”“It shows whether someone pays what they owe, how much they've borrowed, and whether they’ve had to dig out of a hole before. None of that is automatically disqualifying, but it’s definitely worth understanding.”Especially since money can often be the source of eventual breakups. In the survey, 15% of respondents said that money issues — including constant borrowing, and general irresponsibility — led directly to a breakup. Among Gen Z, that figure rose to 25%.The obvious solution here is to make sure your money behavior is a plus, rather than a minus. Whatever you or your partner happen to own, or earn, here are a few ways to approach this touchy issue:Consider credit history, not just salary. Annual income doesn’t tell you much about responsibility and reliability. Someone could have a million-dollar salary and still be in massive debt, while another person might make $40,000 but live well within their means.Credit, however, always tells an interesting story. “It is much easier to ask someone their credit score than to ask them their salary or net worth,” says Thomas Balcom, a financial planner in Lighthouse Point, Fla. “A credit score provides a quick snapshot into someone’s financial life without being too intrusive.“If the relationship is progressing, it’s good to know that you are not about to step on a figurative land mine. My wife still teases me to this day about having a much higher credit score when we began dating, so I have firsthand knowledge about this topic.”Don’t require a certain number. In the traditional FICO credit scoring system, 850 is the gold standard, the perfect number that everyone is striving for. Meanwhile 740 or above is seen as “very good,” a level that typically grants you access to very favorable lending rates.It certainly couldn’t hurt your prospects to boost your own number. If yours could use some improvement, consider a secured charge card, which can help you boost your credit score while minimizing risks of debt.But whatever a partner’s score is, use that information to understand their story and where they’re headed, and not as an excuse to eliminate them unnecessarily. “It’s important to remember that you're not shopping for a perfect number,” says Boneparth. “You’re ultimately looking for someone who can talk about their money without getting defensive.“A 620 with an honest explanation and a plan beats a 780 who won't discuss it. The score tells you a little, but the conversation can tell you everything.”Merge your money lives, thoughtfully. Different couples have different approaches to combining financial accounts, which is perfectly fine. Some may choose to merge everything, some may keep assets individually, and some may arrange a blend of both.But when making big purchases together — applying for a home mortgage, for instance — credit histories are going to be required. If that information is going to come to light anyway, better to have those conversations beforehand, rather than encountering any surprises in a mortgage broker’s office.“Many couples who live together are already co-signing lease agreements, splitting bills, and planning for their future,” says Easton Price, a financial planner in Irvine, Calif. “To plan effectively, you have to know where you're at as a starting point, and whether there are any potential stumbling blocks.”Get the timing right. Since love and money is such an emotional and explosive issue, consider adopting a Goldilocks approach: Not too early, not too late, but just right.A first-date grilling on money behavior would obviously be weird and off-putting. But eventually, before the relationship train is too far down the tracks, you want to have an open and honest conversation about how you both think about finances.“Timing is a big part of it,” says Boneparth. “Before you merge lives by moving in, getting married, or buying something significant together, you both need the full financial picture, credit included. The point isn’t to audit each other. It’s to build the habit of talking about money before it becomes a problem.”This story was produced by Current and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	US population trends by state: Winners and losers in 2026 The U.S. population continues to grow, but that growth has slowed dramatically, with the year-over-year increase now below 1%. Some areas feel this shift more acutely than others, and a few states are experiencing population declines. A growing population can increase labor availability and expand the consumer base, supporting economic growth. At the same time, negative population growth may reduce pressure on housing and infrastructure, potentially improving affordability for current residents.SmartAsset analyzed Census Bureau estimates of year-over-year population changes in each of the 50 states to identify where growth is strongest and where resident counts are declining. The study also examines which states have the oldest and youngest populations. Together, the results show how growth rates and age distribution are reshaping the nation’s demographic profile.Key FindingsFive states lost residents. Among the five states with negative population growth, Vermont had the largest decline, losing about 0.3% of its population. Hawai‘i followed at 0.2%.California is declining while Texas is rising. With 39.4 million residents, California remains the nation’s most populous state. However, its population declined by 0.02% year over year. Meanwhile, Texas, the second most populous state with 31.7 million residents, grew by 1.3%.Growth is heating up in the Carolinas. South Carolina and North Carolina were among the nation’s biggest population gainers, ranking No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, for year-over-year population growth.Utah has the nation’s youngest population. The Beehive State has a median resident age of just 33 years, the lowest in the nation. It also has the highest share of residents younger than age 5, at 6.5%, and the lowest percentage of residents 65 and older, at 13%.New England is graying. By multiple measures, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont have the nation’s oldest populations. Maine has the nation’s highest median age, at 45 years, as well as the largest share of residents 65 and older. New Hampshire and Vermont closely follow, each with a median age of 44 years and large shares of residents 65 and older. SmartAsset SmartAsset State Population TrendsAlabama2025 population: 5,193,0882024 population: 5,163,055Year-over-year change: 0.58%Alaska2025 population: 737,2702024 population: 736,537Year-over-year change: 0.1%Arizona2025 population: 7,623,8182024 population: 7,556,424Year-over-year change: 0.89%Arkansas2025 population: 3,114,7912024 population: 3,096,080Year-over-year change: 0.6%California2025 population: 39,355,3092024 population: 39,364,774Year-over-year change: -0.02%Colorado2025 population: 6,012,5612024 population: 5,988,502Year-over-year change: 0.4%Connecticut2025 population: 3,688,4962024 population: 3,674,449Year-over-year change: 0.38%Delaware2025 population: 1,059,9522024 population: 1,050,123Year-over-year change: 0.94%Florida2025 population: 23,462,5182024 population: 23,265,838Year-over-year change: 0.85%Georgia2025 population: 11,302,7482024 population: 11,204,208Year-over-year change: 0.88%Hawai‘i2025 population: 1,432,8202024 population: 1,434,952Year-over-year change: -0.15%Idaho2025 population: 2,029,7332024 population: 2,000,872Year-over-year change: 1.44%Illinois2025 population: 12,719,1412024 population: 12,703,033Year-over-year change: 0.13%Indiana2025 population: 6,973,3332024 population: 6,934,754Year-over-year change: 0.56%Iowa2025 population: 3,238,3872024 population: 3,230,454Year-over-year change: 0.25%Kansas2025 population: 2,977,2202024 population: 2,965,252Year-over-year change: 0.4%Kentucky2025 population: 4,606,8642024 population: 4,584,046Year-over-year change: 0.5%Louisiana2025 population: 4,618,1892024 population: 4,614,878Year-over-year change: 0.07%Maine2025 population: 1,414,8742024 population: 1,408,438Year-over-year change: 0.46%Maryland2025 population: 6,265,3472024 population: 6,245,314Year-over-year change: 0.32%Massachusetts2025 population: 7,154,0842024 population: 7,138,560Year-over-year change: 0.22%Michigan2025 population: 10,127,8842024 population: 10,099,962Year-over-year change: 0.28%Minnesota2025 population: 5,830,4052024 population: 5,797,405Year-over-year change: 0.57%Mississippi2025 population: 2,954,1602024 population: 2,950,172Year-over-year change: 0.14%Missouri2025 population: 6,270,5412024 population: 6,243,544Year-over-year change: 0.43%Montana2025 population: 1,144,6942024 population: 1,137,557Year-over-year change: 0.63%Nebraska2025 population: 2,018,0062024 population: 2,005,591Year-over-year change: 0.62%Nevada2025 population: 3,282,1882024 population: 3,253,543Year-over-year change: 0.88%New Hampshire2025 population: 1,415,3422024 population: 1,408,518Year-over-year change: 0.48%New Jersey2025 population: 9,548,2152024 population: 9,506,354Year-over-year change: 0.44%New Mexico2025 population: 2,125,4982024 population: 2,126,774Year-over-year change: -0.06%New York2025 population: 20,002,4272024 population: 20,001,419Year-over-year change: 0.01%North Carolina2025 population: 11,197,9682024 population: 11,052,061Year-over-year change: 1.32%North Dakota2025 population: 799,3582024 population: 793,387Year-over-year change: 0.75%Ohio2025 population: 11,900,5102024 population: 11,860,621Year-over-year change: 0.34%Oklahoma2025 population: 4,123,2882024 population: 4,097,758Year-over-year change: 0.62%Oregon2025 population: 4,273,5862024 population: 4,265,324Year-over-year change: 0.19%Pennsylvania2025 population: 13,059,4322024 population: 13,045,848Year-over-year change: 0.1%Rhode Island2025 population: 1,114,5212024 population: 1,110,415Year-over-year change: 0.37%South Carolina2025 population: 5,570,2742024 population: 5,490,316Year-over-year change: 1.46%South Dakota2025 population: 935,0942024 population: 927,110Year-over-year change: 0.86%Tennessee2025 population: 7,315,0762024 population: 7,251,291Year-over-year change: 0.88%Texas2025 population: 31,709,8212024 population: 31,318,578Year-over-year change: 1.25%Utah2025 population: 3,538,9042024 population: 3,502,983Year-over-year change: 1.03%Vermont2025 population: 644,6632024 population: 646,521Year-over-year change: -0.29%Virginia2025 population: 8,880,1072024 population: 8,819,642Year-over-year change: 0.69%Washington2025 population: 8,001,0202024 population: 7,927,958Year-over-year change: 0.92%West Virginia2025 population: 1,766,1472024 population: 1,767,402Year-over-year change: -0.07%Wisconsin2025 population: 5,972,7872024 population: 5,957,168Year-over-year change: 0.26%Wyoming2025 population: 588,7532024 population: 586,722Year-over-year change: 0.35%MethodologyPopulation estimates for each state — including total population, median age and age-group counts — reflect Census Bureau estimates as of July 1, 2025. Year-over-year changes compare July 1, 2025, estimates with July 1, 2024, estimates, the most recent periods available. Cohort percentages were calculated as a share of each state’s total 2025 population. Source data providers are not affiliated with, and do not endorse or sponsor, this study or its findings.This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	U.N.-backed experts cite possible U.S. war crimes in Iran, including a school attack Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N. say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes in Iran, including a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab.
	5 ways to save money on your weekly grocery trip with Hannaford (BPT) - By Dorene Mills, Hannaford Supermarkets ChefBack-to-school season brings busier calendars, tighter routines and more decisions — all while families are looking for ways to stretch their grocery budgets. Getting fresh, nutritious meals on the table doesn't have to take hours in the kitchen or require going over budget on your weekly shop.As a mom of two, here are a few of my favorite tips to simplify your meal planning, so eating well on busy weeknights is both easy and affordable.1. Stretch one protein across multiple mealsA simple way to stretch your budget and simplify meal planning is to choose a versatile protein that can serve as the foundation for several dinners.For example, proteins such as chicken, turkey, eggs, beans and lentils serve as blank canvases for different flavor profiles. Plus, they can easily adapt to tacos, pasta dishes, sandwiches and meal-prep bowls. Once you've picked your proteins, pair them with affordable vegetables, grains or legumes to create satisfying, delicious meals for the whole family throughout the week.2. Prioritize purchasing store brand productsDid you know that store brand products typically cost 25-30% less than their name brand counterparts? By choosing store brand products, you can save on everyday staples and pantry essentials without compromising on quality. The next time you shop, be sure to keep an eye out for the wide selection of Hannaford brand items throughout the store. They all deliver national brand quality at affordable prices, guaranteed. Focus on small, strategic swaps throughout the cart that can create meaningful savings without changing the overall meal, like pasta, rice, canned goods, dairy products and frozen foods.Savings secret: When you sign up for My Hannaford Rewards, you'll earn rewards on all store brand purchases and get personalized coupons to use on your next shop. It's easy!3. Shop your kitchen first and weekly sales secondHave you ever bought another can of black beans only to find that you already had four cans tucked in the back corner of your pantry? You can avoid unnecessary purchases like this by checking your refrigerator, freezer and pantry before making a grocery list.Once you know what items you really need, look for sales on versatile ingredients and plan how each purchase will be used to cut down on food waste and get more value from every grocery trip.Savings secret: You can make shopping for deals easier by using Hannaford.com or the Hannaford app. From home or the office, you can browse weekly sales and clip digital coupons ahead of your next shop. You can also use Hannaford To Go to build your cart around the best offers and schedule a convenient pickup time that fits into your busy schedule. Using the past purchases feature can also create budget consistency week over week.4. Use time savers and convenience foods strategically Don't overlook ready-made meals and foods! Convenience foods are great budget tools that can help prevent those more expensive last-minute takeout orders. Plus, balancing convenient items like ready-to-heat chicken potpie or a ready-to-cook stir-fry kit with affordable staples already at home can help keep the overall meal cost manageable and save time.5. Plan portions to reduce food wasteFood waste is a sneaky drain on your grocery budget. The good news is that there are some ways you can reduce waste and keep more money in your pocket.First, consider how many people each meal needs to serve before purchasing ingredients or deciding how much to prepare. Knowing the portion size for each meal can keep you from overspending and throwing out uneaten food.Next, freeze extra proteins, produce and prepared foods before they spoil. Make sure to divide them into meal-size portions for future use, so you know exactly how many people you can feed and speed up meal prep.Finally, give leftovers a specific role in the weekly meal plan. Whether they become lunch the next day or are transformed into a different dinner, it's a delicious and simple way to prevent food waste.Get the most value out of every grocery trip Remember, affordability isn't necessarily about buying the cheapest thing, and it doesn't require sacrificing flavor, nutrition or convenience either. By planning ahead, making thoughtful substitutions and choosing ingredients that can work across several meals, families can spend more intentionally and approach busy school nights with greater confidence. For more shopping tips and affordable meal solutions, visit Hannaford.com.
	Pediatric surgery and anesthesia: What parents need to know (BPT) - Key takeaways:Parents and caregivers can help prepare a child for surgery by following fasting and medication instructions and sharing complete information about the child's health.CRNAs, also known as nurse anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists, provide anesthesia and pain management before, during and after procedures, including continuous monitoring during anesthesia.Visit AnesthesiaAnswers.org, a resource from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), for practical information, questions to ask and recovery tips.Facing a child's surgery can bring many questions. To help families find clear, practical information, the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology created AnesthesiaAnswers.org, an online resource about anesthesia, procedures and recovery.AANA represents Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), also known as nurse anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists, who provide anesthesia and pain management before, during and after procedures.To help families prepare, AANA offers the following guidance about what to expect before, during and after anesthesia.What to know before surgeryYou play an essential role in your child's safety because you know them better than anyone else."Parents are an important part of the anesthesia safety team," said Suzanne Wright, PhD, CRNA, FAANA, chair of AANA's Patient Safety Advisory Panel. "Follow your child's preoperative instructions carefully, and never hesitate to ask questions. Knowing when your child last ate, drank, or took medication, for example, can make a meaningful difference in keeping them safe during anesthesia."Parents will receive specific instructions for their child about when to stop eating and drinking. Following these instructions exactly helps reduce the chance that food or liquid in the stomach could enter the lungs under anesthesia, a serious complication called aspiration.What should I know before my child gets anesthesia?Before surgery, a CRNA or other anesthesia professional will review when your child last ate or drank, discuss your child's health and assess their airway. Tell the CRNA about any current or recent respiratory illness — including a cold, flu or COVID-19 — and symptoms such as coughing, congestion, fever or wheezing, even if your child seems to have recovered. Recent respiratory infections can leave a child's airway more sensitive for several weeks and may increase the risk of breathing problems during or after anesthesia. Sharing this information helps the anesthesia team assess your child's individual risk and determine whether any changes to the anesthesia plan or timing of an elective procedure should be considered.The CRNA will:Confirm past experiences: You'll be asked how your child has done with anesthesia before and about family history of rare reactions.Review anesthesia plan: They will explain the plan, introduce the anesthesia professionals caring for your child and review consent forms.Ease anxiety: Children may receive medication to help them relax by mouth, through the nose or through an IV, depending on their age. Child life specialists may be available to help reduce anxiety.The most important thing to do before surgery is to follow all your healthcare provider's instructions.The most important thing to do before surgery is to follow all your healthcare provider's instructions.Throughout the procedure, a CRNA stays with your child, continuously monitoring vital signs, managing anesthesia and responding to changes.What to expect during surgeryParents typically wait in a designated area while children are taken to the operating room. A nurse and a CRNA will help your child move safely onto the operating table. Your child may be comforted by warm blankets, music, a tablet or a child life specialist.While this is a stressful day for your child, it's also important to care for yourself."As nurses first, CRNAs carry a longstanding commitment to patient advocacy into the anesthesia setting. The trust earned through compassionate bedside care is matched by advanced clinical expertise, enabling CRNAs to deliver safe, high-quality anesthesia care," said AANA President Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA.What a CRNA does during surgeryDepending on your child's age and anesthesia plan, an intravenous (IV) line may be placed before anesthesia begins or after your child is asleep. It may be used to:Administer anesthesiaGive fluidsDeliver antibiotics and medications to prevent nausea/vomitingOnce your child is under anesthesia, the CRNA may place a breathing tube or other device to support their breathing.Throughout the procedure, a CRNA stays with your child, continuously monitoring vital signs, managing anesthesia and responding to changes. CRNAs support pediatric patient safety by:Measuring medication amounts based on the child's weightUsing equipment that fits the child's sizeContinuously monitoring breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levelHaving emergency medicines ready if neededHow a child recovers after surgeryAfter the procedure, the CRNA will begin the waking process. The team will take your child to the recovery room, where they will be monitored closely. The nurse and CRNA collaborate to ensure pain is addressed, and medications to treat nausea and pain may be given through the IV.Children wake from anesthesia at different rates. Some wake quickly, while others take longer and may initially be sleepy, confused, restless or tearful. These reactions are often temporary and usually improve as the anesthetic wears off. When it is appropriate for the procedure and your child's recovery, the recovery nurse may offer clear liquids.Going homeYour child's healthcare team will determine when your child has met the appropriate criteria to go home. Children undergoing major surgery or with complex medical histories may require a hospital stay after their procedure.Before going home, you'll receive aftercare instructions. Follow them closely, including giving medications as prescribed and scheduling follow-up appointments.For more information about anesthesia, questions to ask before a procedure and tips for supporting your child's recovery, visit AnesthesiaAnswers.org.Note: Depending on the facility and care setting, your child's anesthesia may be provided by a CRNA or another qualified anesthesia professional.
	A New Chapter Books and Gift Shop to hold grand opening Saturday The first 50 customers will receive a swag bag with lots of goodies on grand opening day.
	Madison Elementary students learn about farms at agriculture program Students learned about corn, swine, cattle and other agricultural staples at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on Wednesday.
	Madison Elementary students learn about farms at agriculture program Students learned about corn, swine, cattle and other agricultural staples at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on Wednesday.
	Why Fisher should be held in contempt of court, according to the prosecution Here is quick summary of why prosecutors allege Jamison Fisher should be found in criminal contempt of court. Fisher is on trial for the 1996 murder of Trudy Appleby.
	MercyOne Genesis breaks ground on $2.1M renovation The renovation will include two new resident rooms, four new exam rooms, a renovated lab space and an updated front desk and reception area.
	Erectile dysfunction: A long-standing problem has new options emerging (BPT) - Sponsored by IBSA USADemanding careers. Evolving family priorities. Staying connected with partners. These are just a few of the pressures men may face in midlife. If these challenges were not enough, midlife can often be accompanied by the unwanted arrival of erectile dysfunction (ED).1A private, isolating struggleToday, ED is becoming more prominent in everyday conversation. Advertisements and other forms of direct-to-consumer marketing are more visible across broadcast media and social channels. However, for some men, ED remains a private condition that can carry emotional and psychological burden.2"The stigma and uncertainty surrounding ED can make men feel isolated at the very moment they need reassurance most," said Dr. Ralph Zagha, a board-certified urologist in Tamarac, FL. "It's a burden that's not limited to older populations, as we are seeing a number of cases of ED in men aged 18-44."3An unsure treatment journeyMany men with ED do not seek or receive care, with U.S. data showing that only a small portion discuss symptoms with a healthcare provider.4 Finding the right treatment is often not a simple, one-step process.Awareness may begin with frustration or confusion, followed by online searches or conversations with partners. Some individuals eventually consult clinicians in person, while others may turn to telehealth for more convenience, greater privacy and improved access to care.5As telehealth expands and cultural attitudes shift, men are increasingly turning to ED treatment options that are convenient and discreet. Evidence suggests that embarrassment and privacy concerns contribute to this shift, with telehealth platforms offering more private and accessible care that may encourage seeking treatment.6,7Modern treatment options, designed for real lifeRecent treatment advances are expanding how ED can be managed, potentially offering flexibility to fit individual needs and lifestyles. These features including simple dosing and no restrictions on food or water timing.8With a range of dosing options and formulations available, care can be tailored based on personal needs and response.9 These innovations may help address common barriers and support men in seeking care.Talk to your doctorED is a medical condition and treatment often begins with a conversation. Men experiencing symptoms or considering new options are encouraged to speak with a healthcare provider to better understand what approaches may be right for them.Dr. Zagha is a paid consultant to IBSA Pharma Inc.Charles, S. (October 2025). Erectile dysfunction and age: What you need to know. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/erectile-dysfunction-and-age-5200761Allen, M. S., Wood, A. M., & Sheffield, D. (2023). The psychology of erectile dysfunction. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32(6), 487–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231192269Mark, K. P., Arenella, K., Girard, A., Herbenick, D., Fu, J., & Coleman, E. (2024). Erectile dysfunction prevalence in the United States: Report from the 2021 National Survey of Sexual Wellbeing. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 21(4), 296–303. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdae008International Society for Sexual Medicine. (n.d.). Prevalence of erectile dysfunction in the United States. ISSM Sexual Health Headlines. https://www.issm.info/sexual-health-headlines/prevalence-of-erectile-dysfunction-in-the-united-statesLi, M. K., Patel, D. P., & Hsieh, T.-C. (2025). Direct-to-consumer erectile dysfunction medications: Is the convenience worth the cost? Current Urology Reports, 26(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11934-025-01302-3Brink, S. M., Iarajuli, T., & Shin, D. (2023). Characteristics of direct-to-consumer platforms offering erectile dysfunction treatment. Sexual Medicine, 11(4), qfad038. https://doi.org/10.1093/sexmed/qfad038Sexual Medicine Society of North America. (May 2024). The intersection of telemedicine and men's health. https://www.smsna.org/patients/news/the-intersection-of-telemedicine-and-mens-healthPham, Q. M., Yannas, D., Sansone, A., Romero-Otero, J., Vendeira, P., Frangione, V., & Jannini, E. A. (2025). Food effect on pharmacokinetic profiles of sildenafil 100 mg oral films in healthy male volunteers: Results from two randomized, single dose, crossover studies. Sexual Medicine, 13(5), qfaf096. https://doi.org/10.1093/sexmed/qfaf096Shen, J., Park, D., Bash, J., & Andino, J. (2026). Advances in erectile dysfunction management: What does work. Trends in Urology & Men's Health. https://doi.org/10.1002/tre.70027
	Night life venue, The Rose, coming to Rock Island early 2027 The former Cabana's location on 4th Avenue is blooming into something big.
	Lighted golf cart, UTV parade will set Rock Falls aglow for Halloween fun The third annual Spooktacular Halloween Lighted Golf Cart & UTV Parade in Rock Falls will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, a news release says. Rock Falls Tourism will bring back this Halloween traditions. Choose a theme, dress up in your favorite Halloween costume, and deck out your golf cart or UTV to be [...]
	Special Weather Statement until THU 8:00 AM CDT Patchy Dense Fog This Morning Affecting Commutes
	Pressure on global chokepoints drives Asia's increased use of Arctic Trade Routes Asian nations began pilot voyages over a decade ago to find routes to Europe and the Middle East that were faster and less vulnerable to chokepoints. The ongoing war has added impetus to those efforts.

Thursday, September 17th, 2026