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

Sunday, August 30th, 2026
	MARK-TO-MARKET: AI breakthroughs on display at the World Humanoid Robot Games Infused and super-charged with the most advanced AI technology, they are definitely not your grandfather’s robots.
	New R&B entertainment venue, Mexican restaurant ribbon cutting, women's boutique opens, and more Quad-Cities business news Women's boutique shop opens, new entertainment and event venue, Mexican restaurant ribbon cutting, new wellness center, and more Quad-Cities business news.
	WATCH LIVE: NASA's newest space telescope launches today The tour-bus-sized telescope aims to unravel cosmic mysteries and identify more than 100,000 planets beyond our solar system.
	WATCH LIVE: NASA successfully launches its newest space telescope The tour-bus-sized telescope aims to unravel cosmic mysteries and identify more than 100,000 planets beyond our solar system.
	NASA has successfully launched its newest space telescope The tour-bus-sized telescope aims to unravel cosmic mysteries and identify more than 100,000 planets beyond our solar system.
	Sunday Crusade This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.In the early twentieth century, the towns of Davenport and Rock Island facing each other across the Mississippi seemed…
	From Appalachia to Africa: Why Dolly Parton was beloved across the continent Dolly Parton's songs traveled far beyond Nashville. Across Africa, musicians embraced her stories of hardship, heartbreak and humble beginnings — and made them their own.
	How a comic book store got swept into the tariff storm Tariffs continue to rile all kinds of American businesses more than a year after Trump unveiled his first set of tariffs — including a comic book store owner in Ohio.
	No injuries reported after Sterling barn blaze No people or animals were injured in a barn fire near Freeport/Penrose Road in Sterling on Saturday night, according to a news release. A 911 call shortly after 9:30 p.m. reported a barn fire, with heavy flames showing. This initiated a structure fire response for Sterling Fire Department, with automatic aid from Rock Falls Fire [...]
Saturday, August 29th, 2026
	Keokuk school bus crash victims in stable condition; counseling services available Four students and one staff member injured in a Keokuk school bus rollover are in stable condition. Extra counseling services will be available Monday.
	Pleasant Valley seniors team up for pickleball fundraiser honoring grandpas with dementia Two Pleasant Valley seniors teamed up for a pickleball fundraiser supporting the Alzheimer’s Association and honoring their grandfathers living with dementia.
	River Bandits beat the Sky Carp 7-2 The Quad Cities River Bandits beat the Beloit Sky Carp 7-2 in game 5 of the series.
	Pritzker: Illinois is going to ‘fight like hell’ to find buyer for Joslin plant Pritzker gives new update on what could be next for Tyson plant in Joslin, Illinois
	Gov. Pritzker: Reopen Tyson plant Governor JB Pritzker made a campaign stop in the QCA and said he wants the recently-closed Tyson Food plant in Joslin to be reopened. Pritzker stopped at Local Union 25 in Rock Island and was joined by Sen. Mike Halpin and Rep. Gregg Johnson. Pritzker says he wants to reopen the Tyson plant that put [...]
	Illinois governor signs law setting new age and licensing rules for e-bike riders Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a bill into law that classifies electric bicycles into categories based on speed and imposes age and licensing rules on riders.
	Icelanders vote on whether they want to join the EU The final vote is expected to be extremely close, with ballot counting continuing through the night.
	Icelanders vote 'no' to talks aimed at joining the EU in close referendum The vote against the EU led by 52.8 percent with nearly all votes counted, according to RÚV, Iceland's broadcaster.
	Republican leaders warn Iowa supporters turnout will decide midterms While Republican supporters enjoyed a barbecue Saturday, they heard a warning from party leaders about how competitive Iowa’s congressional races are this year.
	LIVE: Quad Cities River Bandits vs. Beloit Sky Carp Quad Cities River Bandits vs. Beloit Sky Carp Saturday, Aug. 28
	Hot Weather returning next week After a perfect week over the last few days with temperatures in the low to mid 80s things are going to heat up here soon. Right at the end of the month looking into September temperatures are going to be rising into the upper 80s and low 90s. Along with these temperatures, dew points are [...]
	Quad Cities Street Rod Nationals returns to Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds Custom and classic cars roll into the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds for the third Quad Cities Street Rod Nationals.
	Mixed emotions at Sherrard High School's last varsity football game of the season The school ended the varsity season early, citing low numbers of varsity-ready players and multiple injuries.
	Our QC Crime Watch: The threat of AI - what it means to people and business: Episode 78 Watch crime reporters Linda Cook and Sharon Wren talk about crime and courts in our area with the latest episode of the Our Quad Cities Crime Watch Podcast. In this episode Linda and Sharon talk with the founder of Polygraf to find out more about how AI can be a useful tool or a threat. [...]
	Clinton data center ordinance to be discussed at Tuesday meeting The long road to consideration of a controversial Clinton ordinance regarding data centers will continue with a Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m.
	River Action’s 20th Annual Taming of the Slough happening Sept. 12 River Action’s 20th annual Taming of the Slough Adventure Triathlon returns Sept. 12 with a paddle‑bike‑run course through downtown Moline, welcoming athletes of all experience levels.
	Death Notice: Kevin Lane A memorial visitation for Kevin Lee Lane, 63, of DeWitt, will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Chambers Funeral Home, Eldridge. A private family graveside service will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, in St. Ann's Catholic Cemetery, Long Grove. Mr. Lane died Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at his home. Memorials may be made to the Brent Ohl Pancreatic Cancer Foundation or the DeWitt Volunteer Fire Department. Online condolences may be made at www.McGinnis-Chambers.com. A full obituary will appear in the Sept. 2 edition of The NSP.
	Modern Woodmen names Shea Doyle as next president and CEO "Selecting the organization’s next president and CEO is among the most important responsibilities entrusted to the board," said Sandra L. Stosz.
	Russian strike near Kyiv kills 37, in one of the year's deadliest attacks The deadly strike comes amid 72 hours of near constant drone strikes across Ukraine, severely disrupting daily life.
	Red Cross sets QCA blood-donation dates, provides Hello Kitty toys for donors The American Red Cross urges people to celebrate the power of kindness by making an appointment to give lifesaving blood or platelets. Every donation is critical to helping prevent the next blood shortage, according to a news release. The Red Cross and Hello Kitty and Friends are partnering in September to remind donors that comfort [...]
	LivWell Seniors, CASI help older adults learn what it means to stay active LivWell Seniors and CASI will help older adults understand what it means to stay active and how to get enough physical activity to experience proven health benefits at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at CASI, 1035 W. Kimberly Road, Davenport. Staying active can provide significant immediate and long-term health benefits, including improved sleep, reduced anxiety, [...]
	Photos: See the aftermath of deadly flash floods in Nepal Nepal officials say the death toll has continues to rise in Wednesday's floods that washed away communities in Nepal and Tibet, which is held by China. About 2,500 people are missing in both areas.
	Village of East Davenport to host annual Farm Days weekend Farm Days returns to the Village of East Davenport Aug. 29–30 with free family activities, farm demonstrations, kids events and daily tractor parades.
	Riverside Horseshoe Club will host Illinois horseshoe tournament in Moline The Riverside Horseshoe Club will host the 2026 Illinois State Horseshoe Tournament for the third time at Riverside Park in Moline over Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 4-6, a news release says. Horseshoe pitchers from across Illinois will compete for state championships in the Cadet, Junior, Elder Men, Elder Women, Women, and Men divisions, with classes [...]
	YWCA Clinton Street Fest will bring family fun to downtown area The YWCA Clinton Street Fest will bring live music, local food, and family fun to downtown Clinton from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, a news release says. The event will take place in the 200 block of 5th Avenue South and serves as the official kickoff to Clinton Half Marathon weekend. The evening will feature [...]
	Commemorative service in Clinton will honor those who lost their lives in 9/11 attacks The public is invited to the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, with a commemorative service on Friday, Sept. 11, at 9 a.m. at the Freedom Trees Site at Millcreek Parkway and Main Avenue in Clinton. Hosted by Clinton Trees Forever, The Lighthouse Schools, Clinton Police Department, Clinton Fire Department, Camanche Fire Department, Clinton County [...]
	Messiah Lutheran to host free community dinner Sept. 13 The event will feature a taco bar, drinks and dessert, along with live music from four local bands and more.
	Where is your favorite place to get wings at in the Quad-Cities? Take our poll. In the Quad-Cities, there are multiple places on both sides of the river to eat wings. Where is yours?
	Memories of Muscatine: A Home-O-Nize warehouse This week for Memories of Muscatine: a 1963 Bamford photo of a Home-O-Nize warehouse.
	Captain Smith Harris This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Before you decide to become a celebrity, hear out the story of Daniel Smith Harris, a man who tried too hard to live up…
	1.9 million grill brushes recalled More than 3 million wire brushes have now been recalled over concerns the bristles can detach and end up in food.
Friday, August 28th, 2026
	Mixed emotions as Sherrard High School varsity football season comes to an early end The school ended the varsity season early, citing low numbers of varsity-ready players and multiple injuries.
	Ground breaking held for Charger Center at Sandburg, Galesburg While Theo Salim’s time as a student and men’s soccer player at Sandburg will be over when the Charger Center is complete, it didn’t stop the college’s student trustee from showing off his excitement at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new athletic and conference facility. “Today,” Salim said, “is a great day to be a [...]
	Man stabbed outside Sterling Walmart Two men involved in a fight were hospitalized for their injuries, Sterling police said.
	Illinois to receive up to $768M in Meta settlement over teen social media addiction Illinois will receive up to $768 million from a landmark $17 billion Meta settlement to fund youth mental health and enforce teen social media limits.
	Grand Marshal Willis will lead Labor Day East Moline parade The Quad City Labor Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 7, in East Moline. A news release says it's the official, labor-organized, Labor Day Parade represented by various union organizations, high-school marching bands, elected official, social service organizations, clubs, entertain and cultural organizations from around the Quad Cities. The City of East [...]
	Trump says U.S. has entered deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves President Trump says his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.
	Pretrial release denied for man facing child sex abuse materials charges A judge denied the pretrial release of a Milan man facing more than 137 additional counts of child sex abuse materials-related charges.
	Clinton Committee of the Whole will consider data-center ordinance A special Clinton Committee of the Whole will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at Eagle Point Park Lodge, 4101 N. 3rd St., Clinton. The meeting will be a work session to consider a data-center ordinance that you can read below: The meeting is open to the public. If you want to participate [...]
	Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart veteran who self-deported, receives pardon His removal order was triggered by two convictions from over 15 years ago, when he struggled with untreated PTSD. New York's governor said Park earned a "second chance through rehabilitation."
	72nd World Series of Drag Racing brings competition, community to Cordova The 72nd World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova Dragway began Friday. For some racers, there's a strong sense of community.
	16-year-old missing out of East Moline Police say 16-year-old Amivi Takpah was last seen Aug. 23 at her East Moline home.
	Sterling Police investigate stabbing incident Sterling Police are investigating a stabbing incident outside a Walmart. According to a release from the Sterling Police Department, officers were dispatched August 28 at approximately 2:15 p.m. to the Walmart on E. Lincolnway for a report of two men fighting outside the business. While en route, officers were notified one of the men had [...]
	Man stabbed, another injured during fight outside Sterling Walmart One man was stabbed, another was injured in a fight outside of the Sterling, Illinois, Walmart on Friday.
	Trump meat processing plan sparks confusion among some Iowa farmers President Donald Trump plans to allow small ranchers and farmers to process their own meat, one of his latest moves as the administration aims to lower beef prices at the grocery store.
	East Moline Police seek help finding missing teen The East Moline Police Department is seeking help finding a missing teen. According to a Facebook post, Amivi Takpah, 16, was last seen on August 23 at her home in East Moline. Takpah is not believed to be in any danger at this time. The East Moline Police Department requests anyone with information regarding her [...]
	Iowa nurses cited for theft, indecent exposure or patient care issues The Iowa Board of Nursing has sanctioned several Iowa nurses accused of a range of violations.
	Augustana College welcomes over 750 new students on move-in day Augustana College in Rock Island welcomed more than 750 new students from 28 states and 36 countries with help from student athletes and faculty.
	Bird's-eye views from across the Quad Cities region during the week of Aug. 28, 2026 Sit back, relax and enjoy these scenes captured by the News 8 drone from across the Quad Cities region this week.
	5 injured, 1 airlifted following school bus crash near Keokuk At the time of the crash, there were four students and an adult driver onboard. All of them were injured.
	Davenport man arrested 13 months after fatal stabbing Ryan McNeiece, 39, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of 54-year-old Joseph Padilla II last July.
	Davenport's stars of the summer return home from Little League World Series When the kids-turned-stars on the Davenport Northwest team returned home from the Little League World Series (LLWS) on Friday, they were met with cheers and hugs from family and friends, some they haven't seen in almost a month while they were on the road. The kids were just happy to be back in Davenport. "It's [...]
	Senator Grassley wraps up 99-county tour, talks tariffs and war in Iran Senator Chuck Grassley said Canada “needs us worse than we need them” as he wrapped up his 99-county statewide tour with stops in Jones and Linn Counties Friday.
	Iowa SNAP hotline faces federal funding cuts, food banks work to cover difference Iowa’s six food banks will have to contribute an extra $170,000 to keep the hotline running.
	Highlight Zone: Week 2 Week 2 of Highlight Zone
	Macomb man convicted of shooting 2 police officers Shaiking Mathis was arrested after a nearly 20-hour standoff with police. He will be sentenced on Nov. 5.
	Man who shot 2 Macomb police officers, started 20-hour standoff in 2024 found guilty Two officers were shot while executing a search warrant on Sept. 4, 2024. The suspect was barricaded inside the home for nearly 20 hours before surrendering.
	A historic preservation grant offers Dubuque's signature park a chance at new life Dubuque has been selected for a $750,000 grant from the Wisconsin-based Jeffris Family Foundation to restore historic structures in Eagle Point Park, a 164-acre preserve overlooking the Mississippi River. First, the city must raise an additional $1.5 million.
	Your high school football forecast The nice weather throughout the week continues on this Friday, just in time for some Friday night high school football. Unlike last week where we saw some showers and thunderstorms this time around, we will be seeing a lot more clear skies with comfortable temperatures in the 70s and falling to the 60s by the [...]
	Sterling police searching for wanted man believed to be in Quad Cities Sterling police are asking for help finding Howard Crusan, wanted on a Whiteside County warrant and in connection with a domestic battery incident.
	Davenport Northwest Little League team celebrated after World Series run Davenport Northwest Little League players and coaches were welcomed home at Northwest Park after making history at the Little League World Series.
	16-year-old reported missing out of East Moline Police say 16-year-old Amivi Takpah was last seen Aug. 23 at her East Moline home.
	MercyOne Genesis unveils advanced spine surgery technology in Davenport Officials said the technology will give patients advanced surgical capabilities from experienced spine specialists without having to travel outside of the region.
	Community job fair to be held at Vibrant Arena More than 75 employers have already signed up to participate. Job seekers can connect with hiring employers for full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions.
	Cisco’s Mexican Bar & Grill in Moline reopens after partial facade collapse, gas leaks Cisco’s Mexican Bar & Grill in downtown Moline has reopened after being closed for a month and a half.
	Johnson County dedicates Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza through story and statue The southeast corner of the Johnson County Administrative Building will become Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, featuring a bronze statue of Johnson alongside plaques celebrating Black Iowans in Iowa City.
	School bus crashes on Argyle Road near Keokuk, district confirms The Keokuk Community School District said Friday afternoon that one of its buses was involved in an accident.
	East Moline police searching for missing 16-year-old The East Moline Police Department is asking for the community’s help in finding Amivi Takpah, 16.
	2 escape fiery rollover crash after car hits tree in rural Wapello Two occupants safely escaped after a car struck a tree, rolled over, and caught fire on Highway 99 near 126th Avenue in rural Wapello on Thursday.
	The biggest IPOs ever. And where Anthropic could land The biggest IPOs ever. And where Anthropic could landThe biggest IPOs in history have raised tens of billions of dollars each, and delivered returns ranging from significant gains to sustained losses.Saudi Aramco raised $25.6 billion in its December 2019 initial public offering, setting the record for the largest in history. SpaceX raised $75 billion on June 12, 2026, offering 555.6 million shares at $135 each, nearly three times the record set by Saudi Aramco. Shares closed their first day of trading up 19% at $160.95, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $2.1 trillion.SpaceX may not hold the record for the biggest IPO for long, however. On June 1, Anthropic confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO and reportedly aims to match or exceed SpaceX's raise, which climbed to $86.2 billion once its overallotment option was exercised, on top of the $75 billion raised at the outset. Separately, investors are reportedly targeting a valuation of $2 trillion or more.At that valuation, Anthropic's IPO would value the company higher than SpaceX's IPO did. And if Anthropic's IPO proceeds match or exceed SpaceX's $86.2 billion total, it would set the record for capital raised as well. Anthropic has not set a share price, count, or confirmed valuation target.The Motley Fool examines how the 10 biggest IPOs currently stack up against each other.Key PointsSpaceX completed its June 2026 IPO, raising $75 billion, nearly triple the previous record.Top IPOs show no strong link between raise size and long-term stock performance.Sector appears to matter more than deal size; financials and tech tend to outperform energy and telecom. The Motley Fool The 10 biggest offerings on record offer a useful frame of reference for investors. Together, they raised more than $180 billion.Their returns tell very different stories. The Motley Fool The Best Long-Run Performers Among the Biggest IPOsThe two best long-run performers in the top 10 had opposite first-year experiences.Visa went public in March 2008 at a split-adjusted offer price of $11, during the global financial crisis. It gained 92% in its first three months and has returned 2,854% from that offer price as of May 2026, according to FactSet data. Visa earns fees on payment processing volume and does not extend credit, which insulated it from the default risk that defined the 2008 crisis. (The research methodology is outlined at the end of this article.)Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) had the worst first three months of any company in the top 10, falling 47% from its May 2012 IPO price of $38. Investors who bought on day one lost roughly a third of their money in the first year. By year five, the stock was up 289%. Total return since the 2012 offer price: +1,572% as of May 2026, according to FactSet data.AIA Group and ICBC, both listed in Hong Kong, delivered steadier compounding with less short-term volatility than the technology companies. AIA returned 318% since its 2010 IPO; ICBC's H-Share returned 116% since 2006. The Motley Fool The Worst-Performing Large IPOs: Where Sector Mattered More Than Deal SizeThree of the 10 largest IPOs were negative at the 5-year mark, and a fourth spent most of its first five years below its offer price. In each case, the company was influenced by sector dynamics.Saudi Aramco is down 13% since its December 2019 offer price, the worst total return in the group, according to investing.com data. The company listed at the end of a decade in which energy's share of global equity indexes declined, and oil prices have not consistently supported the valuation implied at the IPO price.SoftBank Corp, the Japanese telecom subsidiary, not SoftBank Group, fell 15% on its first day of trading in December 2018, according to FactSet data, and spent most of the following five years below its offer price. Total return from the split-adjusted offer price of 150 JPY: +43% as of May 2026, according to FactSet data. A mature telecommunications business with limited growth levers attracted limited long-term capital.NTT DoCoMo gained 47% in its first year after its October 1998 IPO, then fell sharply with the broader telecom sector. By year three, it was down 48% from the IPO price. NTT took the company private in 2020.Enel SpA raised $16.5 billion in its 1999 Italian privatization. Total return in euros from the split-adjusted offer price of 7.31 euros: +31% as of May 2026, according to FactSet data.The five companies with the highest total returns, Visa, Meta, AIA Group, ICBC, and General Motors, are all financials, technology, or consumer companies. The four weakest performers span energy, telecom, and utilities.What the Largest IPOs Returned Over TimeThe performance table in the introduction shows returns over five periods of time from the IPO.In the first three months, five of the 10 biggest IPOs had negative returns. Meta fell 47%. Saudi Aramco fell 23%. NTT DoCoMo and SoftBank Corp both fell roughly 10%, and Enel SpA fell 3%. Of the five that gained, Visa (+92%) and ICBC (+48%) posted the largest jumps. Both are financial companies, not tech stocks, so they weren't exposed to the tech-sector swings that hit Meta.At the one-year mark, the picture is mixed. Five of the 10 were still negative one year in. NTT DoCoMo was the outlier at +47%, benefiting from late-1990s telecom enthusiasm before the sector reversed. Visa and ICBC were positive. Meta and General Motors were both down more than 30%.At the five-year mark, the split between sector winners and losers becomes clear. The financials and technology companies had largely recovered and compounded their gains. The energy, telecom, and utilities names had not. Enel was down 16% at five years; NTT DoCoMo was down 48%; Saudi Aramco was down 11%.Total return since IPO reinforces the sector gap. The difference between the best (Visa, +2,854%) and the worst (Aramco, -13%) is not primarily a reflection of how much each company raised. It is driven by sector, timing, and business model durability over the full period."On average, IPOs, particularly larger ones, disappoint investors during their first year," said Lou Whiteman, contributing Motley Fool stock analyst. "Larger IPOs tend to attract a lot of hype, and as the excitement fades, so too does buying interest."Insider lockup expirations can compound that effect by increasing the supply of shares as the first year progresses. By year five, Whiteman said, those temporary factors fade and the stock trades more on fundamentals, though if the original valuation was stretched, "the fundamentals might not support an elevated stock price."His advice for investors: Stay patient amid initial post-IPO volatility, and make a fresh assessment after the market has adjusted to the company regularly reporting earnings.What History Tells Investors About SpaceX and Anthropic's Mega-IPOsTwo patterns may be relevant for investors evaluating SpaceX months after its record-shattering IPO, and preparing for Anthropic's highly anticipated stock market debut.First, IPO size doesn't meaningfully impact long-term performance. Saudi Aramco, the largest IPO outside of SpaceX, had the worst long-term performance, while the best performing, Visa, raised roughly $8 billion less than Saudi Aramco. Among the 10 biggest IPOs, the five with the best long-term performance had deal sizes between $14 billion and $17.9 billion.Second, sector has some bearing on performance. IPOs in financials, technology, and consumer discretionary have had strong long-term performances, while energy, telecom, and utilities have posted weaker returns. SpaceX spans multiple categories, which makes it difficult for investors to judge based on history. That's not the only surprise it's shown since its debut, and some early, new lessons could apply to Anthropic's expected IPO later this year."Anthropic’s size makes it unique in history, but we do have one prominent recent example to compare it to: SpaceX," Whiteman said. "The interesting thing about SpaceX’s trading so far is that all of the things we thought would move the stock — adding it to the indexes, lockup releases — have not moved the stock as expected."He attributed that to how widely anticipated those events were, allowing traders to price them in. "I would suspect Anthropic would follow a similar trajectory, which makes stock movements hard to predict."That points back to Whiteman's original advice for investors: Stay patient, even amid the hype of mega-IPOs."IPOs are exciting, and the companies behind the offerings can be great long-term investments," Whiteman said. "But waiting out the initial volatility and allowing some of the dust to settle from lockup expirations and the company adjusting to the regular reporting cadence of being public allows for a more sober assessment of the business and a price that better reflects its strengths and limitations."FAQsWhat is the biggest IPO in history?SpaceX holds the record for the largest IPO. The company raised $75 billion on June 12, 2026, offering 555.6 million shares at $135 each, nearly three times the previous record of $25.6 billion set by Saudi Aramco in December 2019.What is the largest IPO on a U.S. stock exchange?SpaceX listed on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12, 2026, and raised a record $75 billion. The previous U.S. record was held by Meta (then Facebook), which raised $16 billion on Nasdaq in May 2012.MethodologyReturns are calculated from each company's split-adjusted offer price to the closing price at each milestone date (three months, six months, one year, three years, and five years post-IPO) and to the closing price on May 29, 2026. Where a milestone date fell on a non-trading day, the next available trading day was used.Returns are shown in each company's local currency. Saudi Aramco trades in Saudi riyals (SAR), which have been pegged to the U.S. dollar at 3.75 since 1986; riyal returns are equivalent to U.S. dollar returns. AIA Group and ICBC trade in Hong Kong dollars (HKD), maintained within a narrow band against the U.S. dollar; the difference from USD returns is less than 1% over the periods shown. SoftBank Corp returns are in Japanese yen (JPY). Enel SpA returns are in euros (EUR). Currency movements between the yen or euro and the U.S. dollar are not reflected in the return figures.Deal sizes are sourced from Renaissance Capital and represent the primary offer size in U.S. dollars at the time of issuance.Performance data for Saudi Aramco is sourced from investing.com. Performance data for all other companies is sourced from FactSet via WSJ. SoftBank Corp (TSE: 9434) data reflects the 10:1 split effective September 26, 2024; the split-adjusted offer price is 150 JPY. Enel SpA data reflects a 1.7:1 share allocation in 2001; the split-adjusted offer price is €7.31.NTT DoCoMo was taken private in 2020. Total return is not shown; performance data through the 5-year mark uses the IPO date as base.SpaceX figures are projected targets as of the date of publication. The final offer price, deal size, and valuation have not been set. No post-IPO performance data is available.This story was produced by The Motley Fool and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Several mailboxes in Burlington vandalized The Burlington Police Department is investigating after several mailboxes were vandalized along West Avenue.
	Fibermaxxing? Your microbes (and your health) say thanks. Fibermaxxing? Your microbes (and your health) say thanks.In the world of dietary trends, proteinmaxxing is taking a back seat to the new obsession: ramping up on fiber, Knowable Magazine reports. Since the summer of 2025, Instagram has racked up more than 10,000 posts captioned with #Fibermaxxing and other fiber-forward hashtags — and the flood doesn’t appear to be dissipating.The trend is a nod to our species’ history — and to how much our diet has changed. With the dawn of agriculture about 12,000 years ago, and the advent of modern food processing some 200 years ago, many people have abandoned historic levels of fiber consumption. That’s especially the case in developed countries (studies suggest that 95% of Americans don’t get enough), though it’s happening around the world. And that change has disrupted the microbiome — those myriad microbes that dwell in the digestive system — with concerning consequences for health.“We disrupt our microbiome and chronic diseases go up,” says Jens Walter, a microbiome scientist at University College Cork in Ireland.Walter is part of a community of microbiologists, nutritionists and other researchers who are exploring fiber’s biological effects on bacteria in the gut and amassing growing evidence that fiber, and the microbes it feeds, protects us against diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and diabetes. This, these experts say, does more than underscore the importance of fiber. It may also lead to novel solutions — perhaps one day even personalized fiber prescriptions. Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics // Shutterstock More types of fiberDietary fiber molecules are types of carbohydrates derived from plant foods — but unlike starch and sugars, they can’t be digested by the body. They pull their weight in other ways.Until recently, nutrition scientists mainly classified fiber as insoluble (such as wheat bran) or soluble (such as pectin in fruit), based on its ability to dissolve in water. Categorization today is more sophisticated, considering properties such as bulking capacity (how well fiber holds on to water, increases feces size and regulates bowel movements); fermentability (how well it is broken down by microbes in the gut); and viscosity (how much it thickens into a gel in the digestive system). Examples of foods high in fiber of various types include beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables and grains.The study of the relationship between fiber and health dates back to at least the 19th century, when a handful of surgeons, physicians and medical researchers took an interest in diet as a determinant of disease. While many weren’t focused on fiber as a factor, they observed patterns of disease among populations partaking of diets low in “residue” or “roughage.” In 1949, two scientists found that rats put on a low-roughage diet began to develop diverticula, pouches in the colon that can become inflamed and infected, and that the introduction of roughage, through psyllium seed husks, prevented this.In the following decades, researchers closed in on the theory that people, too, were being sickened by the growing absence of fiber in their meals as they shifted to diets richer in refined grains and processed foods, especially in the wake of the industrial revolution. Two surgeons from the United Kingdom, Neil Painter and Denis Burkitt, published a paper in 1971 labeling diverticular disease of the colon a “deficiency disease of Western civilization” after finding low rates of the condition in parts of Africa where people maintained a high-fiber diet.Burkitt, Painter and a colleague went on to publish a study comparing stool sizes and how long stool took to pass through the intestines of subjects in the U.K., South Africa, Uganda and India. They found that people in rural parts of Uganda and South Africa — who had the least-processed, highest-fiber diets — passed heavier, softer feces more rapidly than their urban and European counterparts. And their examination of records from more than 200 hospitals in more than 20 countries revealed that appendicitis, colon cancer and diverticular disease were uncommon in developing, non-Western countries, whereas the rates had been growing in places like England since the 1870s. Burkitt, who later became known as “the fiber man,” hypothesized that impeded bowel movements were to blame: The fiber hypothesis was born.Burkitt and his contemporaries had speculated about the impact of fiber on flora in the gut. In 1977, researchers from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg published a survey of several bacteria species in the colon that broke down dietary fibers by fermenting them, a process that supplied the bacteria with the carbon and energy to live. Researchers also found that this digestion of fiber produces molecules called short-chain fatty acids that go on to enter the bloodstream. So even though people don’t digest fiber ourselves, they get something from it, courtesy of the microbes.Today, researchers know a great deal more about the relationship of fiber and health. They know that fiber provides bulk to stool, helping it to pass through the digestive system and making people feel more satisfied after eating. The viscous kind, especially, binds bile acids, lowering cholesterol, slows absorption of nutrients, and improves the blood levels of sugar and lipids.And then there are fiber’s effects on gut microbes, which digest that fiber for food. Fiber “is actually one of the ingredients in our diet which has perhaps the biggest impact on the microbiota,” says Mahesh Desai, a microbiologist at the Luxembourg Institute of Health.Research, in turn, has started to explain how those gut microbes influence our health. A key effect is what those microbes do to affect inflammation, which is a known contributor to diseases such as colon cancer, heart disease and diabetes.Clues in the microbiomeOne approach in such studies is to take records of people’s diets and analyze their microbiomes and health parameters. In a 2021 study, for example, epidemiologist Wenjie Ma of Massachusetts General Hospital and her colleagues collected stool samples from more than 300 men whose diet had been tracked long-term.The team analyzed the DNA in these samples, which told them what microbes were present, as well as the RNA those microbes were making, which told them what metabolic activity was going on. They also looked at subjects’ blood levels of a substance called C-reactive protein, which is closely associated with chronic inflammation.The researchers found that more fiber, especially fruit fiber, seemed to ramp up fiber-digestion capabilities of the gut microbiome and changed its composition to species associated with anti-inflammatory effects. Fiber consumption, for many, was also associated with lower blood levels of C-reactive protein.However, fiber’s beneficial effects on C-reactive protein were absent in subjects whose guts contained one particular microbe, for unclear reasons. That example, says Ma, suggests that not all guts react the same way and that nutrition advice could one day be fine-tuned for individuals.If microbes interact with fiber to reduce inflammation, how do they do it? Part of the effect seems to be through the short-chain fatty acids — such as acetate, butyrate and propionate — that result from fiber digestion. These short-chain fatty acids attach to immune cells in our gut; they reduce the production of inflammation-promoting molecules and facilitate the production of others that alleviate it. A 2020 study in mice, for example, found that butyrate fosters the production of a protein made by immune cells, called IL-22, that combats inflammation in the intestines.In line with this relationship, numerous studies have found low counts of the key short-chain fatty acids produced by the microbiome in people with septic shock, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and colorectal cancer, all conditions that involve inflammation.A lot of the effects of these fatty acids seem to have to do with protecting the lining of the gut — a robust mucosal barrier that shields the intestinal walls from abrasion and prevents disease-causing microbial intruders from breaking through.Desai saw the effects of fiber on this barrier in an experiment he designed with groups of mice. The animals’ guts were replaced with lab-concocted human microbiomes and the mice were fed fiber-rich or fiber-deficient diets. With their primary source of energy limited, the fiber-deficient bacteria resorted to feasting on the mucus lining the colon, weakening the organ’s resistance to invaders.The scientists then infected these mice with a rodent bacterial pathogen. “It created a lot of issues for the host,” he says — the animals developed serious and sometimes lethal cases of colitis, a highly inflamed colon. In other experiments, Desai found that fiber-deficient mice were more susceptible to inflammatory bowel disease and food allergies than those fed sufficient fiber.Effects on weight and healthNathalie Delzenne, a pharmaceutical scientist at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, is interested in yet another potential effect of fiber intake: maintaining a healthy weight. There’s strong evidence that some gut microbiome compositions are linked to metabolic problems such as obesity and prediabetes, possibly because they result in lower production of butyrate. Certain fibers, such as inulin, which is found in foods like asparagus, bananas, chicory root, wheat, garlic and onions, appear to increase the levels of gut bacteria that make butyrate and, in both rodents and people, produce an “Ozempic-like” effect when eaten; they cause increased production of the satiety hormone GLP-1, lowering hunger and aiding weight loss, Delzenne says.In other beneficial effects of inulin, a 2025 study found that mice fed both high-fructose corn syrup and an inulin-rich diet had higher concentrations of gut bacteria that break down fructose. And when mice fed corn syrup were later fed inulin, the fructose was cleared from their digestive systems and reversed the fatty liver disease the mice had developed from their syrupy diet.Despite the growing evidence of relationships between fiber, the microbiome and health, Ma says it would still be “too absolute” to say yet that fiber’s effects on the microbiome are causal in protecting against disease. That type of certainty, she says, requires multidecade human studies. Still, nutrition scientists agree that people around the world are not getting enough fiber. The standing guidance is that women should be eating about 25 grams and men should be eating as much as 38 grams of plant fiber every day. (Here are some tips.)But the source of fiber matters, says Walter, who coauthored an article in the 2026 Annual Review of Food Science and Technology on ways to optimize fiber intake. The review compared fiber sources from whole and minimally processed foods, processed plant foods, processed foods with added plant ingredients (such as a sweet treat baked with almond flour), fiber-fortified foods, and fiber supplements such as those available as powders and pills. Knowable Magazine Fiber supplements like cellulose, which contain fiber molecules extracted from plant sources, tend to have less significant effects on microbiome activity, Walter says. When you isolate the cellulose from the full cellular structure of a whole food, such as a piece of apple flesh, you’re detaching it from its original cellular context and interaction with surrounding chemicals, which may reduce the beneficial impact it can have on the gut.Supplements are better than nothing, Walter says, but “the first thing is to think about, How can I do this with whole foods?”Down the road, researchers hope for more sophisticated and targeted approaches. A large study exploring diet and microbiomes in more than 1,000 U.K. individuals made clear, among other things, how diverse microbial populations are from one person to the next — based more on their habitual diet than on genes. And some of these differences seem to affect people’s responses to meals they were given, for example, changes in blood levels of chemicals linked with inflammation and fats linked to cardiovascular disease.Perhaps, some scientists think, such personal differences might lead to pairing a person’s individual microbiome with the right type of fiber. Research has found that the production of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate in response to diet varies from person to person, for example.And researchers observed in a 10-week study comparing diets high in fiber or fermented foods that people with diverse microbiomes at the start of the study responded to the high-fiber diet with reduced inflammation. Those with low-diversity microbiomes did not.More recently, Walter coauthored a 2025 study, still unpublished, that found, among other things, that specific fibers had different effects based on a person’s microbiome and its metabolic activity. For example, some people in the six-week trial experienced regulated blood pressure when they ate the fiber acacia gum — but only if the makeup of the microbiome enabled them to digest that specific fiber. Importantly, machine learning models could predict various effects observed in the study.Wide-scale deployment of fiber strategies based on people’s microbiomes will take much more research, however. “This is still, I would say, very far away from reality,” Walter says. “But there is some rationality.”This story was produced by Knowable Magazine and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	MercyOne Genesis first in Iowa to bring robotic spine surgeries to patients The robot is completely controlled by the surgeon in the room, but allows for a much smaller incision than normal.
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	Expert answers to your home backup power questions (BPT) - Power outages are no longer the kind of rare inconvenience homeowners can afford to shrug off. From heat waves to overloaded grids, it's no longer a matter of if the power will go out. Instead, homeowners should consider what will be at risk when it does: the refrigerator, Wi-Fi, work devices, lights and the ability to stay comfortable when temperatures swing, especially during the summer.This is where home battery backup changes the conversation."Compared with the cost and disruption of a multiday outage, a backup system can be a relatively small investment," said Beau, Jackery's in-house former licensed electrician and product expert. "Ask anyone who has had to throw away a refrigerator or freezer full of food because of an outage. Backup power can pay for itself the first time it keeps a home running when the grid does not."Throughout his career, Beau has fielded dozens of questions about the necessity, cost and complexity of home backup power. Below are his answers to some of the most frequent questions he's fielded as an electrician.What would you say to someone who thinks home battery backup is too complicated or too expensive to consider?With advancements in battery and solar technology, indoor-safe home backup is accessible to virtually all homeowners and renters. Home backup used to be limited to those with the space to run a gas generator, but power stations have made it possible to have compact, powerful and renewable energy sources in any home — from apartments to RVs to townhomes.More importantly, you have options. For example, Jackery offers a wide range of power stations that are capable of running high-draw, crucial appliances in the event of an outage, the capacity of which you can tailor to your home's needs and even add onto later in the case of modular units, making it easier than ever before to have reliable home backup.Why is battery backup just as relevant for grid-connected suburban homes as it is for rural or off-grid properties?Storms, heat waves, fire risk and more can cause an outage, leaving you without Wi-Fi, a refrigerator, the means to cook and the ability to do work. The modern home — and modern lives for that matter — are so electrified. Having a home backup, whether living in a suburban area or off grid, is crucial.What are you seeing that makes backup power feel more urgent right now?Climbing grid demands are really driving urgency for backup power. Heat waves, for example, are pushing utilities to their limits, and rolling outages are becoming a normal part of summer instead of a rare event.Many people assume backup power is only useful during storm season. Why do you see it as an all-year necessity?The truth is that outages can happen year-round. Being caught in a blackout without home backup can mean an entire fridge and freezer full of spoiled food, a workday lost and exposure to heat or freezing temperatures. Home backup is an investment in consistency. By that, I mean the ability to run what you need no matter what the grid is doing. As a bonus, you'll have a solar-capable energy source that's perfect for outdoor projects requiring power but that are removed from traditional AC outlets.Some homeowners are pitched solar panels without any discussion of storage. Why should battery backup be part of that conversation from the start?I always recommend installing a home solar system with battery storage. Rooftop solar panels are great to have, but without energy storage, you won't have access to that energy during a storm or at night.To get the most out of a rooftop solar system, investing in a home backup battery — even a smaller-capacity unit — means owning that free energy and the freedom to use it whenever. And it's not just during outages that battery storage is helpful. In areas with peak electricity pricing, energy stored in batteries can be used to offset energy costs and save on your electricity bill.How does a transfer switch make backup power more practical for everyday homeowners?A transfer switch is ideal for homeowners who want uninterrupted power backup in multiple rooms and to save money on utilities.For example, let's say you pair Jackery's Solar Generator 5000 Plus and the Smart Transfer Switch (STS). In the event of a blackout, the STS ensures seamless 20-millisecond power switching to keep essential devices running. And with the Jackery app, you'll know exactly what you are using on each circuit and have the ability to control these circuits. Imagine not knowing there was an outage because your home backup automatically took over. Plus, the unit has an 11-plus-year battery lifespan and a five-year warranty, so you can count on it for home backup for over a decade. Jackery also has a Transfer Switch-capable HomePower 3600 Plus that offers sub-10-millisecond uninterrupted power switching, delivering 3600W output and 3,584Wh capacity. It's also expandable up to 21kWh, which allows you to keep large home appliances like a refrigerator powered up to 14 days. And the unit is built to last on a 6,000-cycle battery rated for 16-plus years.Beyond a power outage, a transfer switch also offers options for load management and grid arbitrage, helping lower utility bills in areas where power is more expensive and helping keep the appliances that are most important powered for the longest time.For homes that do not want any electrical installation, what should people know about portable battery backup options that can power appliances right out of the box?Home backup doesn't require installation. The Solar Generator 5000 Plus and HomePower 3600 Plus are solo-functioning portable power stations. Jackery also offers plenty of portable, compact options that are ready to power your high-draw appliances right out of the box.These home backups can also recharge in multiple ways, including via portable Jackery solar panels and traditional AC power. Whether you need to ensure your home office, Wi-Fi and computer are connected so your workday isn't interrupted, or you need to ensure your groceries are safe in the refrigerator, there's a solar-capable power station that's right for you.This summer and beyond, be prepared for heat waves, high-demand grid events, storms and ordinary moments when you don't expect the lights to go out. Backup power provides peace of mind and, more importantly, protects groceries, keeps work online, maintains comfort and preserves access to the essentials.To learn more about backup power options and how buying one now is a practical investment in keeping daily life moving, visit Jackery.com.
	Pedestrian airlifted after Solon hit-and-run A 40-year-old Solon man was walking east in the 4200 block of 180th Street NE when he was hit by a vehicle. The driver left the scene.
	Enjoy Oktoberfest in Clinton Get a taste of German culture as Grow Clinton hosts the inaugural Grow Clinton Oktoberfest on Friday, September 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at The Copper Mill, 2750 S. 27th Street. Antonia Gerks, Grow Clinton’s Director of Marketing & Event Planning, is originally from Germany and wanted to bring the spirit of German Oktoberfest to [...]
	After 6 months of war, Iran's battered regime remains entrenched Instead of collapsing, the Iranian regime has dug in its heels and taken an even harder line.
	The market has calmed. Retail investors still don't believe it. The market has calmed. Retail investors still don't believe it.When the U.S. and Iran stepped back from the brink in June 2026, the markets calmed almost overnight. Retail investors did not. MarketWise surveyed 1,006 U.S. retail investors to see how they were processing the whiplash, and the mood that came back was less relief than suspicion.Most weren’t buying the rebound, at least not yet. The researchers asked how the ceasefire changed the way investors feel, whether they’d moved any money, and what it would take to trust the calm. The answers point to a market that has moved on in price but not in confidence.Key PointsSeventy-nine percent of Americans who invest say they are worried the next geopolitical headline could erase the market’s recent gains, while 72% say positive news feels too fragile to act on.Forty-two percent of Americans who invest say they do not trust the recent market calm following the U.S.-Iran de-escalation, and 25% expect the rally to reverse quickly.Six percent of Americans who invest say they have taken on more risk as U.S.-Iran tensions eased, while 28% have moved toward safer assets or cash.Twenty-five percent of Americans who invest say inflation staying higher than expected is their biggest investing worry, while 14% name another geopolitical headline reversing the rally and 8% the Federal Reserve keeping rates higher for longer.Fifty-three percent of Americans who invest believe the Pentagon timed its Iran strike announcement to limit the market impact, and 43% consider it manipulative.Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z Americans who invest say they would invest more if they believed the calm would last, the most of any generation and well above the 44% of baby boomers who say the same.Fifty-three percent of Americans who invest are holding their positions, and 51% have not moved a single dollar in response to the recent geopolitical headlines in the past 30 days.Thirty-one percent of Americans who invest say nothing right now would make them confident enough to invest more aggressively.Why Retail Investors Still Don’t Trust the CalmWhen the U.S. and Iran stepped back, the market exhaled, but most retail investors are still holding their breath. MarketWise For retail investors, the mood is less about relief than about doubt:Nearly 4 in 5 worry the next geopolitical headline could erase the market’s recent gains (79%).A similar share says positive news feels too fragile to act on (72%).Distrust is widespread, with 42% saying they don’t trust the market calm following the U.S.-Iran de-escalation, and 25% expecting the rally to reverse quickly.Asked how the ceasefire and de-escalation made them feel about the markets, investors split several ways:Forty-one percent were skeptical it would hold.Twenty-four percent felt relieved but cautious.Sixteen percent felt anxious about more volatility.Thirteen percent were indifferent.Seven percent were excited to buy.Their reaction to good news right now is just as guarded:Thirty-four percent want to believe it but don’t fully trust it.Twenty-one percent assume the next geopolitical headline could undo it.Eighteen percent mostly ignore short-term news.Eighteen percent wait for confirmation.Seven percent are unsure.Three percent believe it and act quickly.There’s broad agreement on what’s driving the mood:Seventy-six percent feel the market is driven more by headlines than fundamentals.Fifty-nine percent say it’s swinging too fast for them to react to.Fifty-seven percent would invest more if they believed the calm would last.Investors’ willingness to get back in the market tracked closely with age:Gen Z was the most ready to re-engage, with 67% saying they’d invest more if the calm held, compared with 59% of millennials, 50% of Gen X, and 44% of baby boomers.Skepticism that the de-escalation would hold rose with age, at 33% of Gen Z, 42% of millennials, 42% of Gen X, and 46% of baby boomers.Distrust of the calm was highest among millennials and Gen X, at 45% and 44% saying they don’t trust it yet, compared with 38% of Gen Z and 25% of baby boomers.Expecting the rally to reverse quickly was most common among baby boomers at 38%, versus 23% of Gen Z, 25% of millennials and 24% of Gen X.Why Most Investors Haven’t Moved a DollarFor all the headline whiplash, the most common response among retail investors has been to do nothing at all. MarketWise Most portfolios haven’t budged:More than half are holding their current positions (53%), and 51% haven’t moved a single dollar in the past 30 days.Just 6% have taken on more risk as tensions eased, while 28% have shifted toward safer assets or cash.The back-and-forth between the U.S. and Iran left most investors standing still:Thirty-three percent say it hasn’t changed how they invest.Thirty-two percent are waiting for a clear resolution before acting.Sixteen percent have started tuning out the headlines.Twelve percent feel more cautious than the news justifies.Seven percent have tried to act on buying opportunities.Nearly half of investors moved money over the past 30 days, and the moves were small:Eighteen percent moved 5% to 10% of their assets.Sixteen percent moved less than 5%.Eleven percent moved 11% to 25%.Three percent moved 26% to 50%.Two percent moved more than half.What would actually get them to invest more aggressively varied widely:Twenty-seven percent want clear signs inflation is falling.Fourteen percent want lower energy prices.Eleven percent want a lasting ceasefire.Nine percent want a Federal Reserve signal on rate cuts.Seven percent want a sustained rally.Thirty-one percent say nothing right now would make them confident enough to invest more aggressively.The generational patterns tell the rest of the story:Beyond those moving to safety, 44% are watching closely without changing course, and 22% say their strategy isn’t driven by geopolitics.Entrenchment was highest among baby boomers, with 46% saying nothing would make them more aggressive, compared with 25% of Gen Z, 30% of millennials and 32% of Gen X.Appetite for growth and tech stocks was highest among Gen Z at 46%, versus 41% of millennials, 40% of Gen X, and 39% of baby boomers.Reluctance to move tracked with age, with 46% of Gen Z, 50% of millennials, 54% of Gen X and 55% of baby boomers having moved nothing in the past 30 days.Suspicion About the Strike, Doubts About ReliefMany investors aren’t just cautious about the market; they’re skeptical about the story behind the headlines. MarketWise The survey’s sharpest split was over the strike announcement itself:More than half believe the Pentagon timed its Iran strike announcement to limit the market impact (53%), and 43% consider it manipulative.The full breakdown of views on the report that the Pentagon timed its Iran strike announcement to limit market impact:Thirty-three percent are unsure but wouldn’t be surprised.Ten percent believe it happened and call it smart.Nine percent hadn’t heard the report.Six percent doubt it’s true.Skepticism of that claim was highest among baby boomers, with 14% doubting it, compared with 4% of Gen Z, 5% of millennials and 5% of Gen X.Inflation topped the list of worries:Inflation is the top concern, named by 25% as their biggest investing worry, while 14% point to another geopolitical headline reversing the rally and 8% to the Federal Reserve keeping rates higher for longer.Worry about inflation was lowest among Gen Z at 18%, compared with 26% of millennials, 28% of Gen X and 26% of baby boomers.There’s cautious hope that relief could reach the broader economy:Forty-six percent say falling oil prices will help bring inflation down, and 36% say easing tensions make the second half of the year more investable.Optimism that easing U.S.-Iran tensions would bring relief skewed young:Optimism that easing tensions makes the second half more investable was highest among Gen Z at 49%, versus 33% of millennials, 35% of Gen X, and 32% of baby boomers.Expecting relief to reach their finances eventually was most common among Gen Z, with 32% saying “yes, but not for a while,” compared with 19% of millennials, 23% of Gen X and 25% of baby boomers.MethodologyMarketWise surveyed 1,006 U.S. retail investors about the market calm following the U.S.-Iran de-escalation, what worries them most about investing right now, whether they expect real relief from easing U.S.-Iran tensions and how they have adjusted their positioning in response to the headlines. Respondents represented a mix of generations, income levels and genders. The generational breakdown was 50% millennials, 24% Gen X, 18% Gen Z and 9% baby boomers. Data was collected in June 2026. Percentages may not total to 100% due to rounding.This story was produced by MarketWise and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Augustana College freshmen move-in day brings excitement and community More than 350 families made their way to Augustana College's campus Friday morning to kickstart the 2026-2027 academic year.
	It Takes a Lot of “E” to Offset P/E \| 4 Your Money While the stock market remains near record highs, stock valuations have actually been coming down. David Nelson, CEO of NelsonCorp Wealth Management, is here to explain how stocks can be going up and getting cheaper at the same time.
	MercyOne Genesis adding spinal surgery technology QCA residents who need spine surgery can now get their procedures performed locally at MercyOne Genesis. The hospital is bringing the latest robotic spine surgery technology to the Quad Cities area, giving patients advanced surgical capabilities from experienced spine specialists without having to travel. “For a decade, the most difficult spine cases in this part [...]
	Vehicle catches fire after crash in Wapello, Iowa A passenger car left the road, rolled, hit a tree and caught on fire, according to Wapello Fire and Rescue.
	Rock Island High offers resource for student families affected by Tyson closure Rock Island High School is reaching out to those impacted by the closure of Tyson on August 13 in a message sent to students and families. “The Tyson closure has left many families facing an uncertain tomorrow,” the message. “For many in our community, including some of our students' families, their household income disappeared with [...]
	Airplane etiquette survey: Americans say passenger behavior is getting worse Airplane etiquette survey: Americans say passenger behavior is getting worseMany people in the U.S. believe airplane etiquette has gone downhill, and they mostly blame fellow passengers for the drop in civility. It's just one of the fascinating findings from a new survey by YouGov, commissioned by The Points Guy, on everything travel.If you've paid any attention to social media, you know passenger plane etiquette is a hot topic. Debates rage about who should get the armrest, whether you should recline your seat, whether people are allowed to go without shoes on the aircraft, and who controls the window shade.Passenger shaming is a real thing on social media, too. Have you ever seen a photo of someone's bare feet on a bulkhead seat?TPG commissioned a nationally representative survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults from July 29-31 to find out where the public stands on some of the biggest etiquette questions about flying.As it turns out, many people think passenger behavior is getting worse, but most don't blame the airlines — they blame other passengers instead.Here are some of the other most interesting findings:Noise is most annoying: More Americans (27%) say loud conversations or passengers playing music and videos without headphones is the most annoying in-flight behavior.40% of people say airlines should ban phone or video calls during flights, versus 33% who say airlines should not.A majority (51%) say it is acceptable to recline your seat in economy only if you check behind you first.Americans do not agree with the rule that the middle-seat passenger gets the armrests, as only 11% say the middle-seat passenger should get both armrests.Orderly deplaning: Nearly two-thirds (65%) say leaving the aircraft row by row from front to back is the proper way to exit an airplane.42% of people say passenger behavior has gotten worse over the past five years.44% of people say seat-swap requests aren't considered rude.After analyzing the data, one takeaway is that Americans generally don't want more rules; they want more courtesy.What's most annoying on a plane? Noise is public enemy No. 1If you are most annoyed by people talking loudly or blasting videos without headphones, you are not alone. A whopping 27% of Americans said that noise is the most annoying passenger behavior on planes. YouGov, The Points Guy Passengers reclining their seats too far back without warning was a close second, with 21% citing it as the most annoying passenger behavior. Another 8% of those polled said people taking their shoes off or going barefoot on board is the most annoying. Meanwhile, 12% said they don't get annoyed by any passengers' behavior.Though noise was cited as the biggest passenger annoyance, interestingly, there is no strong majority of Americans who think phone or video calls should be banned on planes.Per the survey, 40% think airlines should not ban phone or video calls during flights, while 33% think they should. However, 27% are still undecided on the issue.Still, it's clear that the biggest etiquette offense isn't taking up space — it's taking over the cabin with noise.What about seat recline?The debate over reclining seats never seems to go away.Should you never recline? Always recline? Is it your seat, so you can do whatever you want? TPG’s survey suggests most Americans land somewhere in the middle.The survey found that Americans say you can recline your seat in most instances, just be considerate. Courtesy wins the reclining debate in the economy cabin.A small majority (51%) say it's acceptable to recline in economy only if you check behind you first. Just 21% say it's fine to recline anytime after takeoff, while only 10% say passengers should never recline. YouGov, The Points Guy That's a pretty clear message. Most travelers aren't opposed to reclining, but they are opposed to surprising the person behind them. Common courtesy wins here, too.Who should get the armrests?The survey suggests that most Americans don’t agree that the middle-seat passenger should get both armrests, as only 11% said they should automatically. YouGov, The Points Guy Instead, nearly twice as many (20%) said the middle passenger should get priority, but everyone should share. The largest group (31%) said everyone should simply share the armrests equally.Perhaps the biggest surprise came from the fact that more than a quarter (26%) weren't even sure what the etiquette should be.That suggests one of the travel world's most repeated "rules" may not be nearly as universally accepted as many frequent flyers assume.Seat swappingHave you had a passenger approach you and ask you to trade seats?Americans appear to be relatively open to the request: 44% of respondents said it is not rude to ask another passenger to swap seats after boarding, compared with 34% who said it is rude. Another 22% weren't sure. YouGov, The Points Guy Of course, no matter what the opinions on it are, the best rule of thumb might be that it's OK to ask, but don't expect another passenger to give up their seat.Additionally, some airlines charge a fee to choose a seat, so a passenger may be less inclined to swap if they paid for that specific seat.What's appropriate attire on the plane?People don't seem to mind passengers dressing less than business casual on the plane. Americans definitely don't believe you need to wear a suit to fly, but overwhelmingly prioritize comfort.A combined 72% of people said the most appropriate attire on a flight is either simply wearing whatever is comfortable (38%) or wearing casual athletic and loungewear, such as leggings, sweatpants and T-shirts (34%). YouGov, The Points Guy Just 1% believe pajamas are the most appropriate airplane attire, and another 1% favored revealing clothing.Wait for your turn to deboardIf there was one issue Americans agreed on more than any other, it was waiting your turn to get off the plane. Orderly deplaning has overwhelming support.Nearly two-thirds (65%) believe that passengers should leave row by row, from the front to the back of the aircraft. YouGov, The Points Guy Only 10% said it's proper to move ahead whenever there's an opening, while 9% said cutting ahead is appropriate if you're trying to make a tight connection.Who gets the window shade?Who gets to control the window shade is another debate that seems to divide cabins. The survey found that the window-seat passenger usually wins the shade debate.A slim majority (51%) said the passenger sitting in the window seat should control the shade. YouGov, The Points Guy Still, more than 1 in 4 (28%) think everyone in the row should work it out together.Americans think plane etiquette has gotten worseForty-two percent of Americans said airline passenger etiquette has worsened over the past five years (either a lot or somewhat), while just 10% believe it has improved. YouGov, The Points Guy However, per TPG’s survey, the majority don't blame airlines for the decline in plane etiquette over the last five years.When asked who's most responsible for poor behavior on airplanes, a majority (52%) pointed squarely at passengers themselves. YouGov, The Points Guy Only 8% blamed airlines and their policies, while another 8% blamed social media and influencers.Bottom lineDespite the viral videos you've seen of “bad” passenger behavior, Americans seem to agree more than they disagree on what constitutes appropriate airline behavior.The data suggests that Americans aren't necessarily looking for more rules, but they're looking for common courtesy.Use headphones, check before reclining, don't cut in front of others during deplaning, dress comfortably but not inappropriately and communicate with fellow passengers.Remember, passengers on a plane are all packed together, paying too much for too little, and maybe even a little stressed while flying.Common courtesy can go a long way toward improving the overall flight experience.This story was produced by The Points Guy and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Arrest made in 2025 stabbing death in Davenport 39-year-old, Ryan McNeiece has been arrested in connection with the stabbing death of Joseph Padilla.
	Around the Community: Events being held in area to wrap up summer over the weekend From River Bandits baseball to outdoor concerts and farmers markets, here are some ways to enjoy one of the last weekends of summer.
	How to structure an accounts payable department by company size and stage How to structure an accounts payable department by company size and stageAt 30 employees, one person handling QuickBooks worked fine for the accounts payable department. But at 150, that same setup becomes a month-end bottleneck. Invoices pile up in a shared inbox. Approvals live in Slack threads that nobody can reconstruct. Your auditor asks about the separation of duties, and you’re piecing together an answer on the spot.If you’re a VP of finance at a company that’s growing faster than its finance infrastructure can keep up with, this is the moment AP stops being a background function and starts being a liability.The issue usually isn't the people. It's more so that the AP function was gradually pieced together over time. To get to a function that scales as your organization grows, prioritize your process and controls before adding headcount. This guide from Brex walks you through exactly how to do that. More specifically, this guide covers the following.What AP actually owns and where it breaks first under growth pressureWhat changes at each company size, from 50 to 500 or more employeesHow to structure the team and controls at each stageThe five controls that keep your AP function from breaking under growth pressureKey takeawaysAP functions often break as companies scale because they weren’t deliberately structured, and growth exposes the workarounds that got added along the way.The order in which you build matters just as much as what you build. Focus on standardizing processes and enforcing controls before adding headcount.AP functions generally hit the same growth inflection points. Knowing where you’re at, and what typically breaks next, lets you get ahead of bottlenecks before they affect close.To get the hire-versus-automate decision right, you’ll need to understand whether your bottleneck is due to volume or process friction.What is an accounts payable department?The accounts payable (AP) department is the part of your finance team responsible for managing and paying your company’s outstanding vendor invoices, from receipt through payment clearance. It touches month-end close, cash flow forecasting, and audit readiness all at once. That’s why AP tends to feel growth pressure before the rest of the finance org does, and why a breakdown there rarely stays contained to one area.The 5 core functions of an accounts payable departmentAP generally owns five core functions. Under normal conditions, they run in the background. But under growth pressure, any one of them can become the reason close takes longer than it should, an audit finding surfaces, or a duplicate payment slips through. Knowing which functions are under strain and why tells you whether your next move should be a hire, a process fix, or a better tool.Invoice validation at intakeAP is often the first line of review for billing errors, duplicate invoices, and fraudulent submissions. Every invoice should clear completeness checks, duplicate detection, and matching against purchase orders (POs) or contracts before it reaches a general ledger (GL) account or an approver. When intake is scattered across email, Slack, and paper mail with no central channel, these reviews don't happen consistently. Duplicates slip through and surface at reconciliation, which is the worst possible time for the controller to find them.GL coding in accounts payableGL coding is AP’s direct contribution to close accuracy. Every invoice needs to land on the right GL account, cost center, department, and project before it reaches the controller. When coding is manual and rule-free, the controller often spends the first few days of every close correcting miscoded entries that distort departmental spend reports. Invoice matching catches what coding misses, reconciling invoices against POs and confirming payment covers delivered goods and services. Auditors treat two-way matching as a standard control, so gaps here tend to surface quickly under scrutiny.Approval routingIn many companies, AP owns the workflow from validated invoice to paid. The team routes each invoice to the right approver based on amount, department, and vendor type, collects approval, then executes payment on the right schedule. When that workflow lives in email threads and Slack messages, approval backlogs can extend close by days and the AP team ends up chasing confirmations instead of processing invoices.For companies managing AP across multiple entities or locations, the problem compounds quickly. The same invoice can sit waiting on approvers in three different time zones with no visibility into where it’s stuck. But with vendor payment automation, teams can recover that capacity without adding headcount.Vendor master managementThe vendor master is the record of every vendor your business pays, including supplier names, bank details, tax identifiers, and payment terms. AP owns this, which also means it owns the onboarding of new vendors, updates to bank details, and verification that every payment goes to a legitimate recipient.That last responsibility is where the highest fraud risk in the entire AP process lives. AFP's 2025 Payments Fraud and Control Survey found that vendor imposter fraud, where attackers pose as a legitimate vendor to redirect payments through fraudulent bank-detail changes, was cited by 45% of organizations in 2024, an 11-percentage-point increase from the prior year. For companies managing multiple entities, the exposure multiplies. More vendors mean more bank-detail updates and more opportunities for a change to slip through without a second set of eyes to verify it.AP reporting for closeAt month-end, AP produces the aging report, accruals schedule, and liability-side inputs that treasury and FP&A (financial planning and analysis) depend on. At audit time, it produces invoice documentation, approval trails, and evidence of controls. When that reporting relies on manual data pulls from disconnected systems, the data arrives late and incomplete. The controller ends up reconstructing work that should have been ready on day one of close.Common AP bottlenecks finance teams hit as they scaleMost AP functions hit the same inflection points, driven by invoice volume, vendor count, and organizational complexity. The difference is whether you see them coming or find out after close takes an extra three days, a duplicate payment surfaces at reconciliation, or an auditor flags a control gap you didn’t know you had. The earlier you act on each signal, the cheaper it is to fix. Keep reading for a breakdown of four stages an AP department experiences as a company grows, the signal that tells you you’re there, and the failure mode that follows if you don’t act on it.The one-person dependency point (10 to 50 employees)At this stage, companies typically don’t have a dedicated AP function yet. It’s one responsibility inside a broader role held by the controller, senior accountant, or bookkeeper. When that person is out sick, on vacation, or heads-down on close, payments stop moving. Vendors don’t get paid on time, late fees accumulate, and by the time anyone notices, you’re already behind on close.The approval routing threshold (50 to 150 employees)At this stage, more people need to sign off on invoices. But the workflow for getting that done still relies on email threads and Slack messages that are untracked, undocumented, and invisible to the controller at close.You’ll know you’ve arrived at this point when invoices are waiting on approvers instead of AP. If you don’t address the workflow bottleneck, close will fall behind because your approvers aren’t responding in time. To fix this, focus on creating a better approval workflow instead of adding more people.The external-scrutiny point (150 to 300 employees)By this point, your AP controls are no longer just an internal concern. As the company approaches a financing event or its first external audit, reviewers will start asking whether a single person can enter a new vendor, approve an invoice, and release a payment.When that question comes up, it signals that your informal controls may not survive outside scrutiny. You'll want to have separation of duties in place before someone outside your organization asks you why it isn't.The management-capacity point (300 to 500+ employees)At this scale, the controller still typically serves as the de facto AP manager, overseeing daily operations, handling exceptions, and tracking KPIs (key performance indicators) on top of close, reporting, and compliance. That’s far too many responsibilities for one person to own.You’ll know you’re here when the controller is consistently the bottleneck across multiple functions at once. When that happens, close quality slips, financial reporting falls behind, and exceptions pile up because the one person responsible for it all doesn’t have the bandwidth to keep up.If any of these signals sound familiar, many finance teams look to automated bill pay to help them close the gap. Here’s how to structure your AP function at each stage to stay ahead of them.How to structure an accounts payable department by company stageThe structure that works at 50 employees often fails at 150, while the one that works at 150 likely fails at 400. When yours starts to show signs of failure, identify what's breaking in your AP setup before adding new people or tools. Use the following four principles to help guide how you build at every stage.Separate duties before an audit forces the change.Automate the manual layer before adding headcount.First fix what’s breaking in your current stage, then build for the next one.Size your team for invoice volume and exception rate rather than headcount.How each of these principles plays out in practice depends on your team’s current size and structure. Use the table below as a quick reference, then work through the stage that matches your current size for the full breakdown. Brex Start with the process before a hire (up to 50 employees)At this stage, the controller, senior accountant, or bookkeeper typically owns AP alongside a broader set of responsibilities. Before you make a dedicated AP hire, put three basics in place:Centralize invoice intake.Document a simple approval matrix.Adopt a platform that records approvals.These three guardrails reduce single-person dependency in the payment process, which is a common risk at this stage. Building this foundation before you hire keeps the function from breaking at the next stage. When you’ve done that, make your first dedicated hire when exception volume outpaces what a part-time function can absorb.Hire a dedicated AP specialist, then standardize (50 to 150 employees)When the company gets to this size, AP needs a dedicated owner. You’ll want to hire an AP specialist reporting to the controller and give them ownership of intake, matching, coding, vendor communication, and payment runs. Keep exception handling, vendor master oversight, bank-detail change approvals, and audit liaison with the controller.From day one, separate the person who enters a new vendor from the person who releases the first payment to that vendor. Enforce that separation as a permission setting in the platform, not just a policy they’re expected to remember.Build a team with enforced separation of duties (150 to 300 employees)By this stage, one specialist may no longer cover the volume alone. You’ll need to add more AP specialists and bring in an AP manager to oversee them. Enforce clear boundaries between invoice entry, approval, and payment release across the team. Give the AP manager workflow oversight, KPI tracking, exception escalation, and vendor dispute resolution.Pair the team build with AP automation so the platform enforces the controls you put in place, rather than relying on people to follow a process manually. For companies managing multiple entities or locations, use this stage to define which controls apply across all entities and which need separate configuration by region or legal structure.Create a standalone AP function with its own leadership (300 to 500+ employees)At this scale, the controller can’t effectively oversee AP alongside close, reporting, and compliance. Appoint a dedicated AP manager or AP director who reports to the controller or VP of finance, and organize specialists by entity, region, or vendor category. Before adding headcount, ask whether each role adds exception-handling capacity or process ownership, and whether a better-configured platform would eliminate the work that role absorbs. This is when accounts payable management shifts from transaction processing to coordinating people, systems, and entities.Enterprise resource planning (ERP) also becomes a structural decision at this stage. With specialists organized across entities or regions, your AP tool needs to sync cleanly with your ERP so data doesn’t have to be reconciled manually at close. If it doesn’t, fix that before making any other structural changes.5 AP controls that keep your function audit-ready at every stageThe five controls below separate AP teams that scale cleanly from teams that need to rebuild their function every 18 months. They’re also what you’ll need to have answers for when an auditor, board member, or acquirer asks how your AP department runs.Each one connects directly to accounts payable best practices that high-performing teams put in place before they’re forced to. Note that accounting controls, role design, and approval policies depend on your company’s specific facts, audit requirements, and the guidance of qualified accounting or audit professionals.Enforce three-gate separation before the first external auditSet up three distinct roles:One person who enters invoicesA second who approves themA third who releases paymentOn a two-person team, use a compensating control where the controller owns at least one gate, usually payment release, so no single person controls the full cycle. Other common ways small teams can implement compensating controls include requiring a second sign-off on payments above a certain threshold, or having the controller review and approve the vendor master before any new vendor receives a first payment.Ideally, though, you want to enforce these separations with platform permissions rather than a policy people are expected to remember. Building this control during a calm period is far less disruptive than retrofitting it under audit pressure.Put a second reviewer on vendor bank-detail changesChanges to vendor bank details need a second review because they affect the payment destination itself. According to AFP’s 2025 Payments Fraud and Control Survey, business email compromise was cited by 63% of organizations as the top avenue for payments fraud in 2024. Verification should include a callback to a phone number from existing company records, not from contact information included in the change request itself. Build this into your workflow so an approver doesn’t skip this step when they’re moving fast.Encode the approval matrix in the platformAn approval policy that lives in someone's memory usually disappears when that person leaves. Define approval thresholds by invoice amount, department, vendor type, and spend category, then configure them directly in the AP platform so routing happens automatically.Run scheduled payment cyclesAd hoc payment requests interrupt batch processing, create out-of-sequence audit trails, and often bypass approval steps. Move to a fixed weekly or biweekly payment schedule to smooth AP workload and give the controller a more predictable cash outflow rhythm. For exceptions, require explicit escalation with a documented reason. This directly addresses the approval routing problem from the 50 to 150-employee stage, since it gives AP a structured payment processing window and approvers a predictable deadline.Track three AP KPIs each closeThe three KPIs below can give you the clearest picture of how well your AP function performs each close:Cost per invoice reveals whether manual processing inflates your unit costs.Invoice cycle time reveals where approvals or exceptions create delays.Invoice exception rate reveals how much manual work drags down the other two figures.Here’s how best-in-class AP teams compare to everyone else, according to a 2025 report from Ardent Partners: Brex Without these three numbers, the hire-versus-automate decision is often less reliable. Cross-reference your own numbers against accounts payable metrics benchmarks to understand where you fall.When to hire and when to automate your AP functionThe decision to hire another AP specialist or invest in better tooling typically comes down to one question: Where does the bottleneck come from? If the problem is a broken process, another hire won’t fix it. Use the signals below, together with guidance from your appropriate professional advisor, to help inform your decision.Automate if:Your AP specialist spends more time chasing approvals than processing invoices.Your cost-per-invoice hasn’t decreased as invoice volume has grown.Cycle time is driven by approval bottlenecks rather than pure volume.Your exception rate is above 18.4%, the industry average reported by Ardent Partners.Hire if:Invoice volume has outpaced what one specialist can process even with automation in place.Exception volume consistently requires human judgment that tooling can’t handle.Your AP manager spends time on transactional work instead of oversight.If you get mixed answers, automate first. A better-configured platform usually reveals whether you actually need a hire.FAQs about accounts payable departmentsWhat does an accounts payable department do?Accounts payable (AP) manages your company’s outstanding vendor invoices, from receipt through payment clearances. Core functions include:Invoice capture and validationGL codingTwo-way matching against purchase orders and receiptsApproval routingPayment executionVendor master managementAP reporting for close, cash flow forecasting, and audit supportWhat are the roles in an accounts payable department?Typical accounts payable roles break into three tiers. The AP clerk or specialist handles invoice processing, coding, and vendor communication. The AP manager or director is responsible for workflow oversight, KPI tracking, and exception escalation. The controller often retains approval authority, vendor master oversight, and audit liaison as the function gets more complex.How many people should be in an accounts payable department?There’s no fixed number. Team size depends on invoice volume, exception rate, and approval complexity. A single AP specialist can often cover low-volume, low-exception workloads, with additional clerks, a manager, and clearer separation of duties added as volume and control needs grow.When should a company hire a dedicated AP manager?Companies often need a dedicated AP manager when the controller can no longer provide operational AP oversight alongside close and reporting responsibilities. The trigger is often an upcoming financing event, acquisition conversation, or first external audit that raises the bar for workflow oversight and control documentation.When should a company automate AP instead of hiring more staff?Automate first if the bottleneck is process friction rather than volume. Signs of process friction include an AP specialist spending more time chasing approvals than processing invoices, or an exception rate above the industry average.What is the difference between accounts payable and accounts receivable?Accounts payable manages what the business owes to vendors, representing an outbound payment obligation. Accounts receivable manage what customers owe the business, representing an inbound collection asset. Both are current accounts on the balance sheet. AP is a current liability, and AR is a current asset.Disclaimer: This article reflects Brex's perspective at the time of publication and is intended for general informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. Laws, regulations, and guidance may vary based on your specific circumstances, and interpretations or outcomes may differ. Information may also change over time. Before making any decisions, you should consult your own qualified legal, tax, accounting, or financial advisors.This story was produced by Brex and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Fed's Kevin Warsh warns inflation is too high, sparking bets rate hikes are coming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated his commitment to fighting inflation in a major speech — raising expectations that rate hikes may be coming, though he did not clearly spell out a path going forward.
	How to simplify back-to-school meal prep with smart kitchen upgrades (BPT) - As families shift priorities and back-to-school season kicks off, the laid-back vibe of summer gives way to busier schedules and accommodating new plans. During the seasonal shuffle, stress can take a toll, and the most important routines often take a back seat, including mealtimes. Weeknight dinners, quick-fix breakfasts and morning lunch packing often turn into chaotic races against the clock on school days.While meal-planning hacks like weekend batch cooking, repurposing leftovers and pre-prepping ingredients can help calm the dinner rush, many households are still working with standard appliances that weren't built for today's fast-paced family schedules. For homeowners looking to streamline their daily routines and who are considering kitchen upgrades, modern kitchen technologies from leading smart luxury appliance brands like SKS can do the heavy lifting by automating routine tasks, cutting down on active prep time and helping fresh ingredients last longer.To help families during this busy time of year, smart kitchen appliances are designed to reduce some of that chaos. By modernizing your kitchen setup now, you can take the pressure off hectic weeknights and mornings, eliminating mealtime pressures all year long.Here are five smart kitchen strategies to streamline your household routine this fall, as back-to-school season gets under way.1. Streamline weekend meal prep with precision cookingYou already know from experience that starting meal prep over the weekend saves time during the week, but you also know that cooking multiple dishes at once can crowd the stovetop, leading to uneven results.The answer? Tap into precision techniques like sous vide and steam-combi cooking to preserve moisture and flavor so your prepped food will taste fresh when reheated. Appliances like induction pro ranges from SKS include "technicurean" features such as steam-combi, air fry and Auto Cook modes, reshaping your weekend prep into a quick, effortless routine so weekday meals will be ready to go.2. Save time by skipping the preheatWhen after-school activities ramp up and evening schedules get tight, waiting for the oven to heat up can add too much unnecessary time to your dinner prep. Speed-cooking appliances can solve this time crunch, bypassing the preheat cycle entirely and allowing you to cook meals significantly faster.Oven appliances, such as wall ovens or combination ovens, may feature enhanced settings, integrating speed cooking capabilities that require zero preheating. They can make it easier to serve hot meals up to four times faster.3. Relieve daily decision fatigue with AI recipe assistanceAt the end of a long day, the last thing you want to spend mental energy on is figuring out what to make with your available ingredients. To help take the guesswork out of mealtime decision-making, modern smart appliances can offer recipe suggestions, along with step-by-step guidance that adjusts temperatures and cooking cycles automatically based on each recipe.Technologies such as "Gourmet AI" on SKS ovens use real-time food recognition and guided cooking to simplify decisions around cooking mode, temperature and time, bringing greater precision and ease to everyday cooking. Thanks to intelligent meal suggestions and managed heat settings throughout the entire cooking process, you'll be able to achieve consistent results without needing to constantly supervise the stove.4. Keep lunch ingredients fresh longerYou try to keep fresh ingredients on hand that are perfect for filling lunchboxes with nutritious foods all week long, but is everyone opening and closing the refrigerator door repeatedly during the morning and after-school rushes? If so, it's causing temperature drops that can spoil food much faster, such as fresh produce or frozen meats not yet ready to be cooked. With smart cooling systems that learn your family's daily routine and household habits, your fridge and freezer can automatically adjust internal temps before those heavy-use periods. For instance, coming this fall is a new SKS 36-inch Column Refrigerator and Freezer that uses "AI Fresh" and "Smart Ice Plus" technologies to keep food fresh for school lunch prep. The new features also ensure ice is always ready for after-school drinks without any of the guesswork.5. Achieve better control with a smart appManaging your household during the active school year requires multitasking across different rooms, even from outside the home. Connecting your smart appliances to a central mobile app enables remote monitoring, letting you check timer alerts from your home office or even preheat the oven on the drive home from soccer practice. Unifying your kitchen through a platform like the ThinQ app gives you real-time visibility and effortless control over your appliances directly from your smartphone.Smart kitchen technology can help your family set up smoother routines that can make life easier during the entire school year. By simplifying everyday cooking tasks like preheating, temperature control and recipe guidance, you can keep weekday meals simple and stress-free. Doing so means you can spend less time managing dinner and more time on what really matters — your family.Explore intelligent kitchen solutions for your home at SKSAppliances.com.
	Davenport Noon Optimists present Respect for Law Award to Aric Robinson The Davenport Noon Optimist Club presented its 2026 Sergeant Kevin Marxen Respect for Law Award to Detective Aric Robinson on August 21 at the Davenport River Center. Robinson is the club’s 47th annual recipient. Presenters included Davenport Chief of Police Greg Benning, Davenport Alderman At-Large/Mayor Pro Tem Kyle Gripp, Optimist Iowa District Governor Jane Schmidt, [...]

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