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

Tuesday, August 11th, 2026
	A year in, thousands of armed troops have quietly become a fixture of D.C. life The deployment is expected to cost in the billions after it was quietly extended until Inauguration Day of 2029.
	In Minnesota and Wisconsin, competitive primaries will again test power of progressive candidates A week after the Michigan primary, tests of progressive power will play out in the Midwest, raising questions of whether far left candidates can win come November or if the GOP can pick up moderates.
	Readers tell us how they became Deadheads We asked people to share the story of how they became a Deadhead and received hundreds of responses. Their stories are tender, comical and sometimes spiritual.
	The school year begins in LA with one big change: limited screen time As educators in the nation's second-largest district prepare for the new limits on classroom screen time, some teachers say it will be a difficult adjustment.
	Turkey's parliament approves a pardon-like bill for thousands of PKK militants Turkey's parliament approved legislation that would introduce a conditional pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants in a bid to advance the government's peace initiative with their insurgent group.
	Trump pivots back to sanctions for Iran as other strategies to end his war fizzle The shift comes as U.S. stockpiles of key weapons have dwindled and as stop-start talks seem again to have stalled. But Trump insists the pressure can lead to a breakthrough.
Monday, August 10th, 2026
	Magnitude 7.4 quake rocks western Colombia, killing at least 111 people Search teams and civilians picked through the remains of destroyed buildings in the country's third-largest city, Cali, passing large pieces of concrete and rubble down a long line of volunteers.
	College students present their summer research on Nahant Marsh The projects focused on topics such as wildlife, habitat restoration and water quality.
	Rock Island approves regulations on small off-road vehicles driving on city streets Since March 1, Rock Island Police have received about 75 complaints involving dirt bikes, mini-bikes and ATVs driving recklessly.
	Rock Island approves ordinance regulating small off-road vehicles driving on city streets Since March 1, Rock Island Police have received about 75 complaints involving dirt bikes, mini-bikes and ATVs driving recklessly.
	Self Help in Sterling recovering after last week's fire The organization's cardboard recycling center caught fire Friday, Aug. 7. The center supports its programs for people with disabilities.
	Over 100 employers, organizations expected at Eastern Iowa Success Fair The free event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the NorthPark Mall and is open to the public.
	Operation Tiger brings year-round support to Sherrard students and families Operation Tiger unites Sherrard School District resources to offer continuous support for families, providing essentials and hosting community events year round.
	Quad City Arts names Ben Gougeon as executive director He brings more than 30 years of experience working in the arts, both as a theater and film artist and in leadership and administrative roles with nonprofit organizations.
	Rock Island passes ordinance on safe use of minibikes, dirt bikes, ATVs By a vote of 6-1 Rock Island City Council passed an ordinance regulating the safe operation of minibikes, dirtbikes, ATVs and similar vehicles on city streets.
	Davenport Schools sells Iron + Grain location to the business The property where Iron + Grain Coffee House’s Davenport location is would have been included in a district construction project, but the district instead is selling it to the coffee shop.
	Gov. Reynolds reviewing President Trump’s child vaccination executive order Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds' office said that she is reviewing President Donald Trump's executive order on childhood vaccination recommendations.
	Former Bettendorf resident, Pleasant Valley graduate killed in firefighting mission crash A Pleasant Valley graduate who was an aerial firefighting pilot was killed Friday during a firefighting mission in a crash in central Utah. U. S. Army veteran Christopher V. Andersen, 64, was a veteran Army aviator and an accomplished civilian helicopter pilot whose 40-year career carried him from the NATO frontier to oil fields in [...]
	‘Dogust’ campaign connects ImpactLife blood donation to support for local animal shelters ImpactLife’s Dogust campaign invites blood donors throughout August to direct their donor rewards to participating animal shelters and humane societies across the region, supporting rescue pets while helping maintain the community blood supply.
	Muscatine firefighters test precision in 'cone challenge' On Friday at Muscatine Fire Station One, members of the Muscatine Fire Department turned aerial ladder training into a full‑blown game of skill. The goal: Practice precise control of Truck 310’s aerial ladder — but with a twist. To make the drill both fun and competitive, firefighters were tasked with placing an orange cone attached [...]
	Davenport Country Club hopes to open doors for aspiring youth caddies Summer break offers many high schoolers the time to work longer hours and gives many their first taste of joining the work force. For some that means becoming a waiter at a local restaurant, a barista at their favorite coffee shop, serving up delicious ice cream or even becoming a youth caddie at the Davenport [...]
	Red Cross issues blood crisis; blood drives scheduled for Illinois QCA The American Red Cross continues to experience a national blood crisis and donors of all blood types are needed. While many have rolled up a sleeve to give, demand for blood from hospitals is still outpacing donations, according to a news release. Blood drives have been scheduled for: Bureau County Henry Knox County Lee County [...]
	Bettendorf native remembered after Utah wildfire helicopter crash Two men lost their lives fighting wildfires in Utah over the weekend. One of them has ties to the Quad Cities.
	New Culver's restaurant opens in LeClaire The new location is locally owned and will provide 100 jobs to the community.
	Firefighting helicopter crashes in Utah, 2 people on board Two people were on board the aircraft but there's been no update on their condition so far.
	Davenport dueling-piano spot closes, according to social media post A new Davenport night spot that featured dueling pianos is closed for good, according to a Facebook post. "After such a short but exciting beginning, we are heartbroken to announce that Collette’s will not be reopening," the post begins. "We opened Collette’s because we wanted to bring something truly different to the Quad Cities—a place [...]
	Rideshare unionization, drug-pricing oversight, plastic pellet and light pollution bills become law Rideshare drivers can unionize in Illinois, a new law seeks to regulate and classify plastic pellets as a pollutant, and the state will exercise greater oversight of a federal prescription drug discount program.
	MAP: How many Flock cameras are in your neighborhood? Flock Safety, a surveillance equipment company, says it partners with more than 5,000 law enforcement agency partners across 6,000 communities. Is your city one of them?
	Speaker Welch’s “Informal Investigation” of Rep Benton a Nonfiction Novel of Congressional Procedure Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch sat down for interviews with selected reporters last week. He told most of them that his office had conducted an “informal investigation” into sexual harassment allegations against former Representative Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, in 2023.
	Traum-Com: “One Night Only,” “I Want Your Sex,” and “Ice Cream Man” There's nothing much wrong with director Will Gluck's romantic comedy One Night Only that couldn't have been fixed by ditching its leading man, leaning into its premise about 10 times harder, and turning it into a musical. Granted, we're talking about it being a different movie altogether. But I'd certainly have been on-board with those changes, because the movie we're stuck with largely sucks.
	Federal dollars aim to boost Des Moines River recreation, tourism Outdoor recreation already brings nearly $6 billion a year to Iowa’s economy, and the state’s capital city accounts for about 25 percent of all tourism, according to Catch Des Moines. New federal dollars are now aimed at pushing those numbers even higher.
	17th annual Floatzilla coming up The largest paddle event on the Mississippi River will take place on Saturday, Aug. 15.
	Grace City Church remains closed after apparent storm damage Grace City Church in Rock Island remains closed after apparent storm damage caused part of its spire to collapse. A structural assessment is pending.
	DeWitt woman turns recovery journey into mission to help mothers Six years after getting sober, a DeWitt woman is using her experience with addiction to help other women find a path toward recovery.
	Jury trial date set for former Carroll County sheriff's deputy charged in death of Jackson Kradle Matthew Herpstreith's trial is set to start on Nov. 16.
	How much of the $905 million Powerball jackpot you'd take home: Map The Powerball jackpot is growing closer to the $1 billion mark, but taxes would send a winner home with far less.
	Princeton, Iowa, man charged in Clinton Kwik Star shooting A Princeton, Iowa, man has been charged after shooting into a SUV in a Kwik Star parking lot, police say.
	2026 Floatzilla sets sail on Saturday The largest paddle event on the Mississippi River will take place on Saturday, Aug. 15.
	Sherrard launches year-round support program for students, families Operation Tiger combines Operation Santa and the Tiger Closet to provide students and families with year-round access to food, clothing, school supplies and more.
	Alternating Currents returns to the Quad Cities Aug. 13-16 The four-day celebration of creativity features over 230 events and more than 600 artists, with events taking place in Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island.
	What's ahead at Alternating Currents? Get out and enjoy more than 200 performances across over 40 venues with music, comedy, film and visual arts at Alternating Currents! Kyle Carter joined Our Quad Cities News with a look at what to expect at Alternating Currents. For more information, click here.
	Alternating Currents events taking place throughout the Quad Cities Aug. 13-16 The four-day celebration of creativity features over 230 events and more than 600 artists, with events taking place in Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island.
	Man charged in assault case now facing new gun charge A judge set his bond at $10,000 cash-only on Monday.
	3 brief tornadoes confirmed during Sunday night storms in Henry County, Illinois None of the tornadoes caused any damage, resulting in an EF-Unknown rating for all of them.
	After his Reflecting Pool vandalism case is dismissed, David Hearn looks for closure The ex-Olympian accused of damaging the reflecting pool tells NPR the experience has been "Orwellian" and "Kafkaesque." And it's not over yet: His lawyers are fighting to close the case permanently.
	Doggy Splash back at the Bettendorf YMCA Water Park at the Landing on Labor Day Area dogs can get their splash on at the YMCA Water Park at the Landing on Labor Day.
	Trump and RFK Jr. try again to upend vaccines for kids President Trump expected to sign executive order that once again tries to upend the vaccines children receive to protect them against measles, mumps, tetanus, whooping cough and other dangerous diseases.
	NWS confirms 3 Sunday night tornadoes Meteorologists with the National Weather Service have confirmed there were at least 3 tornadoes late Sunday evening East of the Quad Cities. Without much damage to survey, they relied on storm spotter reports and video, along with radar data. All 3 tornadoes were given EF-U ratings, which stands for "unknown" as the lack of damage [...]
	Woman wanted in Scott County marijuana conspiracy, eight of nine alleged conspirators arrested Davenport police are looking for the ninth conspirator in a Scott County marijuana conspiracy case.
	Parents putting screens in front of their kids is more about their own stress than other factors It is 6 p.m. after a full workday. A tired parent is trying to prepare dinner and clean up the kitchen before their children’s evening routine implodes. A minor disagreement between the children quickly escalates into shouting and shoving. The parent also suddenly remembers an email from their supervisor about an upcoming deadline. Quiet and a sense of control is an arm’s reach away. All the parent has to do is place a tablet in each child’s hands, knowing it will quickly stop their fighting. I am a doctoral student of child and adolescent clinical psychology. My new research suggests that whether a parent reaches for the tablet during stressful moments depends less on the child’s behavior and more on the adult’s ability to cope with the stress of a particular situation. Parenting stress and screen time Screens have become an almost integral part of childhood and parenting. Nearly all U.S. children use or view screens every day, and 42% of children ages 2 to 4 have their own tablets. The American Pediatric Association offers different screentime recommendations for children depending on their age. The organization recommends that parents not allow children ages 18 months to 2 years to use media by themselves and that they limit media use among children 2 to 5 to less than one hour per day. Most young children do not meet these recommendations. It is no surprise, then, that managing children’s screen use can be very stressful for parents. Parenting a child comes with unique stressors, from small daily hassles like getting kids out the door on time for school to the bigger assignment of raising a functioning, happy and healthy human. These particular stressors that come with the job are what researchers call parenting stress. Nearly 70% of parents in a 2020 national survey said that managing their child’s technology and social media use is a primary source of their parenting stress. While research on children’s screen use is growing, most of it has focused on how a child’s behavior and temperament influence how much time they spend on screens. Yet far less attention has gone to parents’ role in children’s media use. In 2024, the U.S. surgeon general identified parenting stress as a public health concern. Researchers, clinicians and policymakers were called to action to better understand parents’ needs, with the goal of supporting them in raising children and maintaining a healthy family. Parents’ level of stress weighs more heavily than their children’s actual behavior when it comes to setting screen time limits. Sigrid Olsson/PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections via Getty Images via The Conversation The study’s focus Every day, caregivers make big and small decisions about their child’s media and screen use. Researchers call these screen media parenting strategies. For example, caregivers may decide that kids can use a smartphone or tablet to speak with other family members or while they are traveling. Caregivers also often place time limits on how long their child can spend on screens each day or week. My 2025 research set out to test parents’ stress in relation to their screen media parenting strategies. In an online nationwide survey of 822 parents of children ages 4 to 8, the adults rated their levels of parenting stress, their child’s behavior problems and how they managed their child’s screen use. This includes how consistently they set limits around screen time and how often they used screens to help manage their child’s behavior. We looked at three distinct types of parenting stress: the stress parents feel of their own accord; the stress parents feel because of their relationship with their child; and the stress parents experience because their child’s behavior is difficult to manage. Our findings suggest that parents who experienced high levels of stress because of their own personal struggles and experiences in life set fewer limits for their child’s screen use, regardless of their child’s behavior. Parents who experienced stress because of their child’s temperament or challenging behavior were also more likely to hand over a screen to manage or avoid their child’s behavior. Finally, parents who felt stress because of their parent-child relationship were not more likely to give their child a screen. Our findings held true even after we accounted for the child’s actual behavior in our analysis. In other words, it wasn’t just how the child was acting, but how hard the caregiver felt it was to deal with the child’s behavior at a particular time. Transition into the new school year Most families will likely experience some stress as they launch into the busy routines of a new school year. Some caregivers might find it helpful to create an action plan to support their well-being and their family’s screen media routines. Specifically, they can create a family media plan, deciding whether to implement screen-free zones or times each day, for example. Or they can set other limits, like no screens at the dinner table or before bed. Parents can also limit what online apps and programs their children can use. Where possible, children can be involved in helping to develop the family media plan. Together, these strategies can support the next 6 p.m. moment when dinner isn’t ready and the noise won’t stop. Instead of scrambling to make a decision in the moment, a decision made proactively, at a calmer time, can support the entire family. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Enid A. Moreira, Florida International University; Daniel M. Bagner, Florida International University, and Shayl Griffith, Florida International University Read more: Kids spending too much time staring at screens? Focus on positive goals to get them moving and reading and talking Kids and their computers: Several hours a day of screen time is OK, study suggests Rethinking screen time: A better understanding of what people do on their devices is key to digital well‑being Daniel M. Bagner receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. Enid A. Moreira and Shayl Griffith do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
	Learn to manage stress with Sauk Valley Area Chamber Professional Women's Network The Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce’s Professional Women’s Network (PWN) is hosting a presentation on “How to Tame Your Stress” by Natalie Moeller, LCSW, on Wednesday, September 30 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Mexicali Rose, 1409 8th Avenue in Rock Falls. Traditional gender roles, societal expectations and the mental load of balancing [...]
	5 unsung films that dramatize America’s rich labor history The U.S. is in the midst of a new upsurge of union organizing. Is a Hollywood drama about angry Starbucks baristas or frustrated Amazon warehouse workers far behind? Hollywood studios and independent producers have long depicted the collective efforts of working people to improve their lives and gain a voice in their workplaces and the larger society. Some of the most well-known labor movies champion the struggle of the everyday worker: “Modern Times,” released in 1936, stars Charlie Chaplin going crazy due to his job on an assembly line. It features the famous image of Chaplin caught in the gears of factory machinery. “The Grapes of Wrath,” a 1940 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel, tells the story of sharecropper Tom Joad’s radicalization after his family and other migrant workers experience destitute conditions in California’s growing fields and overcrowded migrant camps. 1979’s “Norma Rae,” is based on the life of Crystal Lee Sutton, who worked in a J.P. Stevens mill in North Carolina. The textile worker and single mom inspires her fellow workers to overcome their racial animus and work together to vote in a union. “Bread and Roses,” a 2000 film about low-wage janitors in Los Angeles, is based on the Service Employees International Union’s “Justice for Janitors movement. In an iconic scene from ‘Modern Times,’ Charlie Chaplin gets caught in the gears of factory machinery. There is also an anti-labor strain of Hollywood history, particularly during the post-World War II Red Scare, when studios purged left-wing writers, directors and actors through an industrywide blacklist. Red Scare-era releases such as 1952’s "Big Jim McLain” and the 1954 film “On the Waterfront” often depicted unions as corrupt or infiltrated by communist subversives. When I teach labor history, I’ve used films to supplement books and articles. I’ve found that students more easily grasp the human dimensions of workers’ lives and struggles when they are depicted on the screen. Here are five unsung labor movies, all based on real-life events, that, in my view, deserve more attention. 1. ‘Northern Lights’ (1978) This is a fictionalized account of a fascinating but little-known political movement: the Non-Partisan League, which organized farmers in the upper Midwest in the early 1900s. During this period, Midwestern farmers worked long hours to harvest grain that they were then forced to sell for low prices to elevators, while paying high prices to the big railroad companies and banks. Economic insecurity was a part of life, and foreclosures were routine. The film follows Ray Sorenson, a young farmer influenced by socialist ideas who leaves his North Dakota farm to become a Non-Partisan League organizer. In his beat-up Model T, he travels the back roads, talking to farmers in their fields or around the potbellied stoves of country stores. He eventually persuades skeptical farmers that electing NPL candidates could get the government to create cooperative grain elevators, state-chartered banks with farmers as stockholders, and limits on the prices that railroads can charge farmers to haul their wheat. ‘Northern Lights’ is based on an early-20th-century farmer-led political uprising in the Midwest. In 1916, the Non-Partisan League did, in fact, elect farmer Lynn Frazier as governor of North Dakota with 79% of the vote. Two years later, the NPL won control of both houses of the state legislature and created the North Dakota Mill, still the only state-owned flour mill, and the The Bank of North Dakota, which remains the nation’s only government-owned general-service bank. 2. ‘The Devil and Miss Jones’ (1941) In this screwball comedy with a pro-union twist, Charles Coburn plays John P. Merrick, a fictional New York City department store owner. After his employees hang him in effigy, the tycoon goes undercover to ferret out the agitators of a union drive led by a store clerk in the shoe department and a union organizer. As he learns more about their lives, Merrick grows sympathetic to his workers – and even falls in love with one of his employees – none of whom know his true identity. As the workers prepare to go on strike, and even picket his house, Merrick reveals that he owns the store and agrees to their demands over pay and hours – and even marries the employee he has fallen for. The film was likely inspired by the 1937 sit-down strikes by employees of department stores in New York City. 3. ’Salt of the Earth’ (1954) Decades ahead of its time, this story of New Mexico mine workers deals with issues of racism, sexism and class. After a mine accident, the Mexican-American workers decide to strike. They demand better safety standards and equal treatment, since white miners are allowed to work in pairs, while Mexican ones are forced to work alone. The strikers expect the women to stay at home, cook and take care of the children. But when the company gets an injunction to end the men’s protest, the women step up and maintain the picket lines, earning greater respect from the men. Made at the height of the Red Scare, the film’s writer, producer and director had been blacklisted for their leftist sympathies, so the film was sponsored by the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, not a Hollywood studio. Will Geer, a blacklisted actor who later portrayed Grandpa Walton on the TV drama “The Waltons,” played the repressive sheriff. Mexican actress Rosaura Revueltas played the leader of the wives. The other characters were portrayed by real miners and their wives who participated in the strike against the Empire Zinc Company, which served as the inspiration for the film. The film itself was blacklisted, and no major theater chain would show it. 4. ‘10,000 Black Men Named George’ (2002) Andre Braugher stars as A. Philip Randolph, who organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black-run union. Being a porter on a Pullman railroad car was one of the few jobs open to Black men. But wages were low, travel was constant and trains’ white passengers patronized the porters by calling all of them “George,” after George Pullman, the mogul who owned the company. The company hired thugs to intimidate the porters, but Randolph and his top lieutenants persisted. They began their crusade in 1925 but didn’t get the company to sign a contract with the union until 1937, thanks to a New Deal law that gave railroad workers the right to unionize. Randolph became American’s leading civil rights organizer during the 1940s and 1950s and orchestrated the 1963 March on Washington. Members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters display their banner at a 1955 ceremony celebrating the organization’s 30th anniversary. Bettmann/Getty Images via The Conversation 5. ’North Country’ (2005) Charlize Theron portrays Josey Aimes, a desperate single mom who flees her abusive husband, returns to her hometown in northern Minnesota, moves in with her parents and takes a job at an iron mine. There, she is constantly groped, insulted and bullied by the male workers. She complains to the company managers, who don’t take her seriously. The male-dominated union claims there’s nothing they can do. Aimes sues the company, which, after a dramatic courtroom scene, is forced to settle with her and other women. With stellar performances by Theron, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, “North Country” is based on a groundbreaking lawsuit brought by women miners at Minnesota’s Eveleth Mines in 1975 that helped make sexual harassment a violation of workers’ rights. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Peter Dreier, Occidental College Read more: Why police unions are not part of the American labor movement Disney hasn’t found itself in this much trouble since 1941 Amazon, Starbucks and the sparking of a new American union movement Peter Dreier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
	Cyclospora spreads through human waste – so how did it get on food? The nationwide cyclospora outbreak is very likely a result of sewage contamination in the food supply, according to scientific researchers and public health officials. The parasite’s spread can become a self-perpetuating cycle. Cyclospora is found only in humans, where it replicates in the intestinal tract, causing severe diarrhea. The organism reproduces by releasing oocysts, which are excreted in those human feces. In the U.S., feces usually end up in sewage systems. In many states, sewage water is treated – though not always in ways that remove or kill the oocysts – and then released into waterways and can be used to irrigate crops. The oocysts mature in the environment with warm temperatures in about a week. Then a human comes along and eats the irrigated food or drinks the water and gets sick, releasing more oocysts into sewage systems. I am a public health water microbiologist who collects sewage water and tests it for evidence of harmful pathogens, such as cyclospora. The first time I studied cyclospora was in the first outbreak ever documented in the U.S., a small, 45-case outbreak in Florida in 1995. The cause was initially suspected to be strawberries grown in California, but later it was determined it was more likely due to imported contaminated raspberries from Guatemala. That country’s raspberries were also associated with much larger outbreaks in 1996 and 1997. At the time, little was known about this single-celled protozoan pathogen. More than 30 years later, the largest outbreak ever recorded in the U.S. has sickened more than 22,000 people, and contributed to the deaths of two in Michigan, where I live and work. Using treated sewage to irrigate crops is common in many places, especially where groundwater and surface water are in short supply. What’s in wastewater There are two reasons researchers like me collect sewage and monitor what’s in it. The first is to evaluate levels of disease in a community. Measuring viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 in untreated sewage helped paint a picture of the spread of COVID-19 and the emergence of variants as the pandemic continued. The second reason is to determine whether and how sewage treatment removes, inactivates or kills pathogens. It is not easy to measure cyclospora oocysts in sewage, contaminated water or food. Even modern laboratory methods have trouble reliably detecting low levels of oocysts, which can still cause disease. Cyclospora oocysts have been found in sewage around the world. A range of studies across the world shows that they can be detected in up to 25% of sewage samples – but not all studies report how high or low the concentrations of the oocysts were. So it can be hard to say exactly how widespread it is. A person who is infected with cyclospora excretes somewhere between 100 and 10,000 oocysts per gram of feces for as long as 60 days. Based on what is known about other fecal pathogen excretions from patients, related to the concentrations of those pathogens in sewage, I estimate that there could be anywhere from 1 to 100 oocysts per liter in sewage. Our laboratory at Michigan State University is developing a method to more accurately detect this parasite even at lower levels in sewage. This type of wastewater surveillance may help determine when an outbreak is beginning to subside and where larger numbers of people are still affected. In addition, this information could allow sewage treatment plant managers to regularly monitor their discharges. A magnified view of a stool sample, seen through a microscope, reveals Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images via The Conversation What happens during sewage treatment? There isn’t clear data on how well standard sewage treatment processes reduce the numbers of cyclospora oocysts. But there is information on two other similar protozoa that also cause significant diarrhea in humans: Cryptosporidium produces an oocyst about half the size of cyclospora, and giardia produces a cyst that is similar in size to cyclospora. From 2001 to 2003, my laboratory studied the occurrence of those protozoa at six sewage treatment plants – one each in Arizona and California and four in Florida. All had been approved by their respective state regulators for nonpotable reuse, including irrigation of landscapes and, in some cases, crops. In that study, we found these protozoa in all the untreated sewage we tested, indicating there is some portion of the population that is infected and excreting their cysts or oocysts. The five treatment plants whose processes included disinfection with chlorine were able to get rid of a high percentage – but not all – of the protozoa in their discharged wastewater. Some cysts and oocysts remained intact, with the potential to cause disease, even in water that had gone through the entire treatment process, as it is known that wastewater chlorination does not kill these protozoa. From that data, it seems reasonable to assume that at least some small proportion of cyclospora oocysts also survive sewage treatment processes and are released back into the environment, where they can survive for months. Crops are commonly irrigated with reclaimed sewage wastewater. David McNew/Getty Images via The Conversation What about reuse? Across the U.S., 200 billion gallons of treated sewage wastewater are used for irrigation of agricultural lands each year. Some of that wastewater undergoes additional filtration and disinfection for reuse before being spread directly on landscapes or crops. The volumes, however, are not readily known. And other treated sewage, which undergoes only standard secondary treatment, is discharged into rivers, streams and reservoirs that could provide irrigation water. But few states regulate efforts to remove or monitor protozoa such as cyclospora in treated sewage. Filtration can remove protozoa but must be designed and operated correctly. Chlorination is not effective, but ultraviolet light does inactivate cryptosporidium and eimeria, a chicken protozoan highly related to and used as a surrogate in studies testing methods of killing cyclospora by the food safety industry. What is needed for better risk assessment and management? As floods and droughts occur routinely across the U.S. and around the world, sewage may overflow into bodies of water or be used directly on crops. That increases the risk that diseases, including protozoa such as cyclospora, which are transmitted through ingestion of fecal matter, may spread through food and water supplies. And because cyclospora oocysts mature in outdoor heat, it is possible that increasing temperatures, such as heat domes, could speed up their maturation, exposing more people to the infectious form of the parasite. Modern technology and techniques are capable of monitoring water quality, detecting harmful pathogens and eliminating them. Expanding monitoring of wastewater for protozoan diseases and other dangers can help prevent outbreaks and slow the spread of disease from sewage-contaminated water in the future. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Joan Rose, Michigan State University Read more: Should you wash your prewashed lettuce? An infectious disease expert explains how to eat your greens safely during the cyclospora outbreak Cyclosporiasis sickens some people worse – why your diarrhea could be more explosive than others Summertime can be germy: A microbiologist explains how to avoid getting sick at the barbecue, in the pool or on the trail Joan Rose receives funding from Michigan Department of Human Health Services for Wastewater Surveillance. In the past she has been supported by the USEPA and the Water Research Foundation to evaluate microbes in wastwater and water. She is affiliated with International Water Association, Water Environment Federation and American Water Works Association. She is co-chair of the International Joint Commission's Health Professionals Advisory Board.
	REVIEW: Puffs or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic at The Black Box Theatre If you’re a fan of Monty Python and a Harry Potter nerd (and I know you’re out there), you’ll want to hurry to The Black Box Theatre to take in the wacky and quirky Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, a 2015 original comedy by playwright Matt Cox directed by Kailey Ackerman. The play is a parody of the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling, but from the perspective of the "Puffs": that is, members of the Hogwarts house, Hufflepuff.
	REVIEW: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Quad City Music Guild …could I get that in a sentence, please? Um…H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S…hilarious! So describes the Quad Cities Music Guild’s current production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee directed by Quad Cities gem: Mike Turczynski.
	LIST: Dips, salsas sold in Illinois, other states recalled over salmonella concerns The salsa, dips, guacamole, and more were sold at Kroger, Target, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Walmart locations across half the U.S.
	20-year-old woman injured in Rock Island shooting on Saturday A woman was taken to the hospital after sustaining a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg early Saturday in Rock Island.
	REVIEW: Murder by Poe at Playcrafters Barn Theatre This was another marathon theatre weekend with shows opening in three different venues. Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s offering is Murder by Poe by Jeffrey Hatcher and is an adaptation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe stories. Pam Cantrell, a well-known Quad Cities actor, makes her directorial debut with this script and, as a first effort, delivers a show worth watching.
	28-year-old airlifted after crashing ATV in rural Henry County, Iowa The crash happened Monday morning near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 335th Street.
	Boil order in place for parts of Silvis after water main break The City of Silvis issued a boil order for 7th Street from 1st Avenue to 4th Avenue due to a water main break.
	Part of Silvis under boil order due to water main break The boil order is for 7th Street from 1st to 4th avenues, according to a media release.
	2 arrested after shots fired in Clinton Two people have been arrested after the Clinton Police Department responded to reports of shots fired at a Kwik Star.
	How does online dermatology compare to in-person care? How does online dermatology compare to in-person care?For many chronic skin conditions, the most important advantage of teledermatology is shortening the distance between a problem, a clinical decision, and the next adjustment.Skin problems rarely respect calendars. A painful acne flare does not wait for a convenient week, nor does eczema pause because a patient has used all their paid time off.The conventional system nevertheless asks patients to call an office, find an appointment, arrange transportation, miss work or school, sit in a waiting room, and eventually spend a few minutes with a clinician.In 2025, the average wait for a nonurgent dermatology appointment in the United States was reported to be 36.5 days, according to an AMN Healthcare report. For many patients, the debate between virtual and in-person care comes down to receiving expert care online this week versus receiving expert care in person next month.Here, Honeydew looks at how online dermatology compares with an office-first system for treating chronic dermatological issues, such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis.Treating acne, eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea usually requires a feedback loop rather than a single encounter. A clinician chooses a treatment for the patient to try. Then, the patient’s skin either improves, stays the same, becomes irritated, or changes in some unexpected way. The clinician then adjusts the dose, changes the formulation, addresses a side effect, adds another medication, or allows the treatment more time.The quality of care depends on how quickly and reliably the next decision can be made, something that is challenging for the traditional in-person model for dermatology.Online care compresses the loop.Patients can submit their history and photographs when symptoms are actively present. Clinicians can review that information asynchronously rather than requiring both parties to be available at the same moment. Follow-up can happen while a treatment question is still relevant, rather than weeks after the patient first noticed it.Done well, online dermatology transforms the smartphone camera into part of a longitudinal medical record. Instead of relying on a patient to describe what a rash looked like three weeks ago, the clinician can examine what it looked like at the time.Equivalent OutcomesThe strongest argument for online dermatology is that, for appropriately selected conditions, it can produce clinical results comparable to office care.In a small 2023 randomized trial of 24 patients receiving follow-up care for mild-to-moderate acne, teledermatology and in-person visits produced similar improvements in acne severity and similarly high levels of patient satisfaction over six months. Patients assigned to teledermatology spent about 30 minutes in total completing their online assessments, compared with nearly one hour and 52 minutes on visit-related procedures in the in-person group, a cumulative savings of approximately one hour and 22 minutes. The time savings were primarily patient-facing, however: physicians spent about eight minutes more in total conducting teledermatology assessments than face-to-face consultations.A 12-month randomized trial conducted from 2015-2017 involving 296 patients with psoriasis similarly found that an asynchronous online model was as effective as in-person management in improving clinical outcomes. More recently, a 2026 randomized trial of 300 adults and children with atopic dermatitis found that asynchronous online care produced improvements equivalent to in-person care across clinician-assessed disease severity, patient-reported symptoms, and global disease assessments.In short, removing the office does not remove the medicine or care.Convenience Becomes a Clinical VariableFor certain chronic diseases, convenience and quality come hand-in-hand.A treatment plan that is difficult to access is a weaker treatment plan. A follow-up process that requires repeated phone calls, transportation, childcare, and time away from work introduces more opportunities for care to stop.Consider a patient starting acne medication. During the first several months, the patient may need help distinguishing normal dryness from excessive irritation, understanding whether an initial flare is expected, deciding when to increase a dose, and determining whether the treatment is working quickly enough.None of those questions necessarily requires an examination room. All of them can influence whether the patient continues treatment correctly.The same is true for eczema. A patient may need a clinician to review a new flare, clarify where and for how long to apply a topical medication, or decide whether the current regimen is sufficient. In psoriasis, regular visual updates can help a clinician assess whether plaques are responding and whether escalation should be considered.The faster these questions enter the clinical feedback loop, the less likely patients are to spend weeks guessing.Online care can also change what a clinician sees. Office visits offer controlled lighting and the ability to examine the skin directly. Digital care offers the ability to document a condition repeatedly, in the patient’s ordinary environment, at the moment it is changing.When To Choose In-Person vs. Online Dermatology?Some dermatology problems should be examined in person.For example, a suspicious mole may require dermoscopy or biopsy. A widespread or rapidly changing eruption may require palpation, laboratory testing, or urgent assessment. Moreover, procedures cannot be performed through a screen, of course.For nonurgent problems and those requiring management over time, however, online dermatology can be better than in-person.Managing conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea can be faster to address through online dermatology platforms than in person. Waiting times are shorter, photographs can be taken to provide updates, and questions may be answered faster.A Better Definition of AccessFor decades, access to dermatology has been measured by whether a patient could eventually obtain an appointment. Online care solves that in many cases and provides additional benefits like faster answers to questions and more frequent tracking, which helps patients find and keep up with treatment that is right for them.The important innovation is the creation of a tighter clinical loop, one in which patients can enter care sooner, communicate more easily, and receive adjustments when those adjustments matter.This story was produced by Honeydew and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Part of Silvis under boil order A section of Silvis is currently under a boil order. A news release from the city said residents on 7th Street from 1st Avenue to 4th Avenue must boil water before use, due to a water main break. The boil order is given as a precaution and pursuant to IEPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act, Boil [...]
	Man faces felony charges after allegedly beating man unconscious in Davenport Augustin Gutierrez of Davenport faces multiple felony charges after allegedly beating a man unconscious downtown.
	Central States Shrine Association holding Ceremonial Session in Davenport Davenport is welcoming the 2026 Central States Shrine Association (CSSA) for its Ceremonial Session on August 19-22. The Ceremonial Session will feature a grand Shrine parade through downtown Davenport, a marketplace at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, a pub crawl, a golf tournament and a full lineup of activities. ”We are thrilled to welcome the Central [...]
	3 of America's most expensive summer weekend destinations for private jets 3 of America's most expensive summer weekend destinations for private jetsHigh-net-worth individuals targeting summer destinations face predictable cost inflation during peak season. Bookings to desirable locations—like the Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard, or Aspen—impose dynamic pricing premiums that compound across landing fees, repositioning costs, and parking surcharges. Peak-season flights to regional airports multiply baseline costs significantly due to structural constraints and demand-driven pricing. Understanding what drives these premiums is critical for budgeting private aviation spend.The problem: These oases of tranquility and fresh air are nowhere near a big-city airport. However, the good news is you can fly privately to the nearest regional airport, then reach your destination by car, speedboat, or yacht.Still, during summer, some of these airports can be expensive even from a wealthy flyer’s perspective. Jettly explored what exactly makes it more expensive to land at smaller airports like East Hampton Town Airport or Martha’s Vineyard Airport.What Makes an Airport Expensive for Private Jets?Let’s make something clear first: It’s not the airports that hike prices. Landing fees are legally fixed and set by the town or county. Also, under Federal Aviation Administration Fair and Reasonable access guidelines (and even under local municipal operations), airports cannot arbitrarily jack up landing fees for any reason.One of the main reasons why popular summer destinations become more expensive to fly to is dynamic pricing. Private charter providers adjust their rates based on demand, aircraft availability, and seasonal travel patterns.As it is natural with this pricing strategy, prices rise during peak hours, holidays, or major events. This is done to offset the inconveniences associated with crowded airports. After all, if everyone is boarding their private jet to go to Aspen, there won’t be enough room for everyone to park at the airport.This is why busy seasons mean asymmetric traffic patterns (empty legs), structural limitations at airports, and aggressive slot/parking restrictions. And this is why prices go sky-high.The Empty Leg FactorOn summer weekends, traffic is highly directional because everyone wants to land at the destination on Thursday or Friday and leave on Sunday or Monday.To make room for everyone to land and move around, charter operators can’t leave their aircraft sitting on the tarmac all weekend, so they are forced to fly the plane back empty to a hub. They’ll fly back when it’s time to pick up their clients.In this case, the charterer is billed for both legs (the live leg and the repositioning empty leg), which can double flight-hour costs.Ramp and Overnight Parking FeesParking fees are usually not something private operators need to worry about, except when they land and park at a structurally constrained airport (like Aspen). Here (and at similar hubs), parking fees are mandatory, nonnegotiable, and strictly weight-based.Because ramp space is at an absolute premium, these airports have quite steep parking fees just to keep the plane on the tarmac. Of course, everything, including extra fuel consumed, will be added to the final bill.Slot Reservation and Peak-Surcharge PricingSecuring a slot at a peak location airport is quite a challenging task, and missing it can put any travel plans in jeopardy. Of course, this comes with additional costs, as the crew and the plane will have to spend more time than expected with a single client.Additionally, peak season means fixed base operators (FBOs) increase handling fees during high-demand windows (e.g., July Fourth weekend, major summer galas).3 of America's Most Expensive Summer Weekend DestinationsNow that you know why flying privately to high-end destinations during the summer will cost more, let’s have a look at the most exclusive vacation spots where the wealthy like to spend their weekends.1. The Hamptons, New YorkWhen New York’s intense summer heat becomes too much, but you don’t want to go too far from Manhattan, a quick flight to the Hamptons is the best solution. Here, you’ll enjoy pristine beaches, elite social galas, luxury estates, and plenty of fun times with or without company.The area is served by two regional airports (East Hampton Town Airport and Francis S. Gabreski Airport).Neither airport grants overnight parking clearance during peak weekends (with some exceptions), so charter quotes factor in repositioning legs to Teterboro (TEB) or Long Island MacArthur (ISP), saving the flyer money.2. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, MassachusettsThese two islands are quite isolated, as the only means of access is by slow ferries. This naturally limits tourist crowds and opens access to private flyers. Both islands offer pristine beaches and highly private, understated luxury where you can truly relax and recharge.However, both Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) and Martha’s Vineyard Airport (MVY) are small, so ramp space is tightly managed. During peak summer weekends, ACK frequently issues ground delay programs and slot restrictions due to volume.Overnight parking fees can skyrocket if you can even secure a slot. If forced to "drop and go," operators must reposition the aircraft to mainland hubs like Providence (PVD) or Boston (BOS), billing the client for the extra flight legs.3. Aspen, ColoradoPeople usually flock to Aspen during winter for skiing, but due to events like the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Aspen Music Festival, it has become a summer destination as well. Plus, the heat dies down in the mountains, and the landscape is gorgeous.But it’s exactly the mountains that pose a problem for private flyers. The thin mountain air reduces engine performance, and the environment forces Aspen/Pitkin County Airport to impose a 95-foot wingspan limit. This means that larger private airliners like the Gulfstream G650 or Global 7500 are out of the question.Due to a lack of available tarmac space, many private jets have to drop passengers off and immediately reposition to Denver International Airport (DEN) or Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT). If we consider multileg repositioning, mountain crew premiums, and high landing fees, a round-trip midsize jet charter from Chicago or Texas can quickly become expensive.Plan Your Summer WeekendsOne of the biggest perks of flying private is the freedom to decide on Thursday evening that you'd rather spend Friday somewhere else, and actually make it happen.Yet, that kind of flexibility comes with an even heftier price tag than usual if you choose a popular destination during peak season. So, if you truly must spend at least one summer weekend in the Hamptons, make sure to plan ahead and let your charter operator know so they can make the necessary preparations. Otherwise, you might pay double or triple the price.This story was produced by Jettly and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Davenport man and woman charged with first-degree theft, third-degree burglary A Davenport man and woman are facing up felony charges after allegedly breaking into a house left abandoned from a fire.
	Celebrate America's 250th birthday at Bishop Hill Chautauqua Bishop Hill is celebrating America’s 250th birthday at this year’s Chautauqua with the theme, Founding Figures: People Who Helped Create Our Nation. This year’s Bishop Hill Chautauqua will be at the gazebo in the town square on Saturday, August 22. A Chautauqua is a free public event where storytellers, historians and musicians perform first-person portrayals [...]
	Woman injured in early morning shooting on 12th Street in Rock Island A 20-year-old woman was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after an early morning shooting in Rock Island
	Monarch Tagging Monarch butterflies are getting ready for their journey south, and a local event is giving people a chance to help researchers track their migration. Michelle Berns from the Muscatine County Conservation Board explains why the tags are important to researchers and how you can get involved. The monarch tagging event is scheduled for September 12.
	10-year-old and school principal killed in Dubuque County crash The Dubuque County Sheriff's Office has released new information about a crash that killed two people Saturday night.
	Despite Mideast wars, 20 million gather in Iraq for Shia pilgrimage Despite wars ranging across the Middle East, more than 20 million Shia pilgrims gather in Iraq shrine city for Arbaeen festival
	National Dog Day is August 26. Here's how to celebrate the real meaning National Dog Day is August 26. Here's how to celebrate the real meaningEvery August 26, the internet does its thing. Coffee chains hand out Pup Cups. Pet stores run promotions. Your feed fills up with golden retrievers wearing party hats. National Dog Day has become one of those holidays that's easy to celebrate without knowing anything about it.Before it was a hashtag, National Dog Day was a rescue campaign. It still is, technically. The freebies and the photos came later. And this year, the mission underneath the holiday lines up with what’s going on in American shelters, something most people scrolling past the party-hat photos haven't heard about.Below, Spot & Tango shares the full context of National Dog Day: where the day came from, why 2026 is a strange and important year for shelter dogs in particular, and some ways to celebrate that go a bit further than a free cup of whipped cream. Though, to be clear, get the whipped cream too. Your dog has earned it.Where National Dog Day Actually Came FromNational Dog Day was founded in 2004 by Colleen Paige, an animal welfare advocate and pet lifestyle expert. She's also behind National Puppy Day and National Cat Day, which makes her arguably the most influential person in the pet holiday industrial complex.The date wasn't random. August 26 marks the day Paige's family adopted her first dog from a shelter when she was 10 years old.The founding purpose had two parts. The first was rescue awareness: using the day to draw attention to the number of dogs sitting in shelters and rescues, waiting. The second was honoring working dogs, the ones who spend their lives doing jobs most people never think about: service dogs guiding their handlers, detection dogs finding drugs and explosives, and search-and-rescue dogs pulling people out of rubble. Dogs put their lives on the line for people with impressive regularity, and one of the day's original goals was simply to notice.Over two decades, the holiday has grown into something bigger and fuzzier, the way successful holidays do. But the rescue mission at the center of it never went anywhere. And in 2026, it's more relevant than it's been in years.The Shelter Story Most People Celebrating Won't Hear AboutHere's what's happening behind the party hats. Roughly 5.8 million dogs and cats entered U.S. shelters and rescues in 2025, according to Shelter Animals Count, and about 2.8 million of them were dogs. That same year, approximately 2 million dogs were adopted, per the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The gap has been stubborn for years.There's genuinely good news in the data too. Euthanasia rates in shelters have dropped from 10% in 2019 to 8% in 2025, and total euthanasia declined nearly 7% for dogs last year alone. The no-kill movement has made real structural progress. Fewer animals are entering shelters than before the pandemic. The system is slowly bending in the right direction.But inside those overall numbers is another problem, and it's the one worth knowing about this National Dog Day: America is leaving its big dogs behind.Shelter Animals Count's midyear data found that adoptions of small dogs rose 6% in the first half of 2025, while adoptions of large dogs fell 9%. The ASPCA reports that dogs, especially large dogs, are staying in shelters longer than at any point in the past five years, which strains a system that was already short on space, staff, and veterinarians.The reasons are mostly economic and mostly understandable. Vet care and pet food costs have climbed, people went back to offices, and plenty of rentals restrict dogs by weight, which disqualifies the big ones. Nobody set out to leave the labs and shepherds behind. It's just what happens when individual constraints point in the same direction.This is exactly the kind of problem a holiday about noticing dogs was invented for.How To Actually CelebrateThe classic National Dog Day moves are all fine. But if you want the day to feel like more than a photo op, here are some ideas, loosely sorted into two categories: things for your own dog, and things for the dogs who don't have their person yet.For your dog1. Upgrade their dinner. Holidays generally involve good food. Your dog's version of that isn't cake but an otherwise special meal, whether that's a freshly cooked recipe or just a homemade topper on their usual bowl (plain cooked chicken and a little pumpkin go a long way). One night of eating like a king is a fitting tribute.2. Let them lead the walk. Most walks run on your schedule and your route. For one day, try what trainers call a "sniffari": Let your dog pick the direction and set the pace, and let them sniff as long as they want. Research has shown that sniffing is genuinely enriching for dogs, lowering pulse rates and giving them the mental workout a fast march never does. It costs nothing, and dogs love it disproportionately.3. Take them somewhere new. A new trail, a new beach, a swim, a friend's fenced yard — novelty is enrichment.4. Do the things you've been putting off. This may be the overdue nail trim, the vet checkup, or the look inside their mouth that many owners never do. None of these photographs well, but it's the most loving item on this list by a wide margin.5. And sure, hit the freebie circuit. Pup cups, pet store events, and dog bakery specials all pop up every year around August 26.For the dogs still waiting6. Give your local shelter something they need. Money is best, but most shelters also post wishlists: old towels and blankets, unopened food, toys, and crates. Ten minutes of gathering stuff from your closet is a real contribution.7. Walk a shelter dog. Many shelters are short on staff and long on dogs, and volunteer dog walkers are one of the most needed and least glamorous roles in rescue. An hour of your Saturday is an hour a kenneled dog gets to be outside being a dog.8. Foster, even briefly. Short-term fostering frees up kennel space, gives shelters critical information about how a dog behaves in a home, and dramatically improves that dog's odds of getting adopted. It's the highest-impact move available short of adopting.And if you've been thinking about adopting anyway: Consider the big ones, those 60-pounders sitting in kennels while the small dogs get scooped up. Large dogs are staying in shelters longer than they have in the past five years, and none of it is their fault. Big dogs tend to be easy to find. Ask any shelter which dogs have been there the longest, and prepare for them to get visibly excited that you asked.About All Those Social Media Photos You’ll SeeEvery August 26, social media turns into a wall of dogs. Party hats, bandanas, gotcha day tributes, blurry action shots of a tennis ball mid-air. It's easy to roll your eyes at, and plenty of people do.Don't. The photos are the point. National Dog Day runs on visibility, and a few hundred million people posting their dogs is the mechanism, not the distraction. The holiday was built to make people notice dogs.If you want your post to do a little more work, though, here's a small trick: Tag your local shelter or rescue instead of just the holiday hashtag. Shelters posting their adoptable dogs are competing in that same flood of dog content. A tag, a share, or a comment on their posts pushes their posts in front of people who would never otherwise see them. It costs you nothing. For one specific dog in one specific kennel, it might be the whole ballgame.And if you happen to post a photo of a big, gray-muzzled shelter alum sprawled across your couch, even better. Nothing markets adopting an adult dog like the evidence.The Best Version Of This HolidayAs for National Dog Day, of course, your dog has no idea it exists. August 26 means nothing to them.What dogs actually want is simple, and it's the same list every day of the year: good food in the bowl, enough exercise, and your attention, ideally undivided.So on the 26th, do the sniffari, upgrade the dinner, post the photo, and tag the shelter. And then let it leak into the rest of the year, because a dog who eats well and moves well and gets their person's full attention on some random Thursday in February is living the dream, whether or not there's a hashtag for it.The underlying job of a pet owner is the same one Colleen Paige had in mind back in 2004: notice the dogs. The one on your couch, and the ones still waiting for a couch of their own.This story was produced by Spot & Tango and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Iowa gas prices fall 9.5 cents in a week, Quad-Cities prices down 6 cents Prices in Iowa are 0.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 83.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
	Who’s driving the bus? QCA schools in need of bus drivers The big yellow school bus that is responsible for getting students to class faces a challenge.
	Learn about caregiver support at Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club is hosting a free educational workshop on caregiver support. The workshop is offered in a hybrid format and participants will be able to attend in-person or via Zoom. The workshop will be held on August 24 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Gilda’s Club Davenport, [...]
	What SCOTUS didn’t say about transgender athletes, and what the ruling means for schools and students What SCOTUS didn’t say about transgender athletes, and what the ruling means for schools and studentsThe U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30 decision on transgender sports participation in some ways simply upheld the status quo.States that prohibit transgender athletes from playing on teams that match their gender identity can keep doing so — there’s no constitutional problem, the court’s conservative majority found.But states without such bans can maintain more inclusive policies. Nothing in the ruling requires that states keep transgender athletes out of women’s and girls’ sports.But that’s just one piece of the story. Advocates on both sides expect the fight in states and the courts to continue. And the Supreme Court majority’s reasoning raises new questions about the boundaries of transgender rights and gender protections more broadly.Fight over transgender athletes to continue in statesMore than 20 states still allow transgender athletes to participate on sports teams that match their gender identity, provided they meet certain criteria, and the Supreme Court ruling doesn’t change anything in those states.Bolstered by the Supreme Court ruling, people who don’t believe transgender athletes have a place in girls’ sports hope to change that through the legislative process. Voters in Colorado and Washington will also get to decide whether to adopt bans through ballot measures.Beth Parlato, an attorney with the conservative Independent Women’s Law Center, said she can now reassure lawmakers and the public that any ban they adopt is legal. Parlato said she’s also fielding calls about how the ruling might affect interstate competition when states have different standards.“As litigators, we keep making these arguments until we win,” she told Chalkbeat.LGBTQ advocates, meanwhile, hope they can succeed in the court of public opinion in a way they didn’t with the Supreme Court.“We’ve never been favored by the laws, and we know that the courts are not the be-all, end-all,” said Shawn Meerkamper, managing attorney at the Transgender Law Center. “We’re on to the next fight.”All youth need opportunities to be physically activeSoju Hokari, a transgender athlete who described sports as a vital part of her childhood and her development as a person, said those who care about trans youth must find ways for them to get the benefits of sports, even in states with bans. That might mean creating clubs outside school or officially sanctioned teams.Hokari said everyone involved in sports has “an obligation to make sure we’re making space for trans athletes to thrive.” Sophie Hayssen // Chalkbeat, Source: Movement Advancement Project Writing in the newsletter QueerED, teacher and researcher Benjamin Lebovitz pointed to data from Wisconsin that showed transgender and questioning youth were much less likely to participate in sports or be physically active than their peers. That gap grew as the political debate over transgender athletes heated up, and Lebovitz fears the Supreme Court ruling will only exacerbate that withdrawal.Schools should make sure all students have access to physical education, open gym time, and intramural and club sports, and they should make co-ed teams when dividing students, Lebovitz wrote. Oliver Contreras // AFP via Getty Images The definition of sex remains legally ambiguousTitle IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and athletics while allowing sex-separated sports teams. But it doesn’t define sex. Federal courts have said that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes — the idea that boys should be one way and girls another. Civil rights guidance from Democratic presidents supported this interpretation.Conservatives disagree. They say there’s little doubt lawmakers were thinking of biological sex when they passed Title IX in 1972. (Biological sex feels intuitive to most people in most situations, but it can be a mushy concept scientifically.)Conservatives hoped that the Supreme Court might use the Hecox v. Little and West Virginia v. B.P.J. cases that were the basis for Tuesday’s ruling to find that sex means biological sex. The justices did not go that far.And the ruling doesn’t officially endorse the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX, which the Office for Civil Rights has used to justify investigations into school districts and states with inclusive sports policies.But Justice Brett Kavanaugh did write that sex, especially in the portions of Title IX dealing with sports, “cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex.”Advocates and legal experts said that position could play a role in future lawsuits.Neil Gorsuch’s balancing act confuses both sidesConservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion in the 2019 case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that Title VII’s protections against sex discrimination on the job also protected gay and transgender employees.In a concurrence to the sports decision, Gorsuch tried to explain how he could hold that view and still vote to uphold bans on transgender athletes. Title VII bans discrimination while Title IX allows for separation of men and women in some circumstances, he noted.“It is a mistake to assume that, just because firing someone in part because of his biological sex amounts to unlawful discrimination in violation of Title VII, sponsoring a single-sex sports team limited to biological women or girls must also amount to unlawful discrimination in violation of Title IX,” he wrote.Gorsuch seems to have pleased no one.Parlato of the Independent Women’s Law Center said Gorsuch tried to “thread a needle” but that his logic doesn’t hold up.And Meerkamper of the Transgender Law Center said “there’s no principled way” to support both the Bostock decision and the court’s new sports ruling. What’s changed, he said, is the political environment for trans rights between 2019 and 2026.Still, unlike Justice Clarence Thomas, Gorsuch didn’t call transgender identity a mental illness.SCOTUS remains silent on what protections transgender students haveRace and sex are protected classes, and potentially discriminatory laws must demonstrate some significant public interest to pass legal muster.The conservative majority’s opinion did not find that transgender people have similar protections. But it didn’t find that they did not have such protections either. In short, they evaded the issue.For Deborah Drake, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, that leaves an opportunity to challenge transgender discrimination in the courts — though she has few illusions that the Supreme Court’s current justices will be receptive to those claims.But Anna Kirkland, an attorney and professor of gender studies at the University of Michigan, said it’s deeply concerning that the majority gave so much deference to state laws without requiring more evidence that women and girls are harmed when transgender athletes participate in women’s sports.Under this approach, she said, women might not have been admitted to elite military academies, for example. And it could mean other policies that only affect a small number of people who don’t conform to gender stereotypes are allowed to stand in the future.“This ruling shows how the conservative majority is narrowing what equal protection means for everyone,” she said.This story was produced by Chalkbeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Camanche imports biological sludge to clear wastewater plant odors after capacity overload City leaders said the odors are from the disruption to the Regional Water Reclamation Facility’s treatment process and biological sludge being used to help fix it, according to a media release.
	Special Weather Statement until MON 8:00 PM CDT Heat Indices Approaching 100 This Afternoon
	Odors caused by biological sludge in parts of Camanche, officials say City leaders said the odors are from the disruption to the Regional Water Reclamation Facility’s treatment process and biological sludge being used to help fix it, according to a media release.
	Mississippi Valley Fair wood carving auction showcases artists’ work Visitors at the Mississippi Valley Fair had a chance to bid on unique wood carvings today after artists spent the week demonstrating their skills.
	How community-focused homebuilding is preserving character amid rapid growth How community-focused homebuilding is preserving character amid rapid growthHousing shortages have forced American developers to prioritize volume over design. The U.S. currently faces a deficit of approximately 1.2 million housing units compared to pre-2008 levels, pushing builders toward standardized, cost-efficient models that maximize density.Yet this volume-first approach creates a secondary problem: Neighborhoods increasingly lack character, walkability, and community infrastructure. Triple Crown Homes explored how a growing number of developers are testing community-focused homebuilding that balances affordability with local identity and livability. Triple Crown Homes What is Community-Focused Homebuilding?Community-focused homebuilding is an architectural and urban planning approach that prioritizes public spaces, local architectural history, custom designs, and multigenerational layouts over maximizing the number of identical houses on a grid.There are builders implementing this approach, from building for volume to creating for the well-being of the locals and the environment.They work by building for a specific community, such as retirees, active adults, or growing families. Buyers also have a say in the design, as they can customize certain aspects to make the home feel more like their own and differentiated from standard designs.Beautiful houses, however, are not enough to make a community. Third spaces (parks, gardens, trails, bike lanes, coffee shops, etc.) allow locals to meet and interact freely.The Benefits of Community-Focused DevelopmentStandard tract housing appears efficient theoretically because it’s a system optimized for developer profit margins and rapid assembly. However, efficiency comes at a cost: Neighborhoods can end up feeling interchangeable, with little flexibility and even less connection to the landscape that made the area appealing in the first place.Empowers First-Time BuyersCommunity-focused builders are rethinking the familiar formula of ever-larger detached houses. Instead, they're embracing the "missing middle”: pocket-neighborhood cottages, townhomes, duplexes, and courtyard homes that fit comfortably between a suburban mansion and a high-rise apartment.By making smarter use of land, these homes often come with a lower price tag, offering first-time buyers an entry in the housing market. Homeowners trade a sprawling backyard for a smaller private footprint, but they gain access to shared parks, walking trails, and neighborhood gathering spots.Boosts the Local RegionCommunity-focused developments prioritize local sourcing. Rather than depending exclusively on sprawling national supply chains, these developments choose to source materials from nearby quarries and lumber mills, hire local tradespeople, and bring regional artisans into the mix. As a result, more of a project's investment circulates within the local economy rather than leaving it.These neighborhoods are also designed around resident lifestyles (walkable streets, nearby amenities, and shared gathering spaces).That emphasis on livability helps sustain demand even when the broader economy stumbles, providing local governments with a steadier tax base to support public schools, emergency services, parks, and other community amenities.Homes Built for SustainabilityThis building philosophy favors green spaces, pocket parks, and native landscaping over massive high-maintenance lawns. Also, because these homes are clustered efficiently and built to modern energy standards, they feature lower heating, cooling, and utility overheads.An example of a sustainable community-focused city comes from America’s first solar-powered town, Babcock Ranch. Powered by a nearby utility-scale solar array, the community pairs clean energy with practical design choices, from native landscaping and bioswales to strict energy-efficiency standards.The result is a town built not just to run on renewable energy, but to handle Florida’s increasingly intense weather while keeping its environmental footprint in check.At the center of the city, a communal hub integrates retail, civic meeting spaces, open-air coworking areas, and recreational trails in a single, connected environment. This design prioritizes walkability and reduces resident car dependency, which lowers both transportation costs and carbon emissions for the community.The Future of American NeighborhoodsThere is a need for new homes, but that doesn’t mean every new neighborhood has to look like it was built to standardized designs.Community-focused design shows there’s a middle path, one where affordability doesn’t come at the expense of character, environmental responsibility isn’t an afterthought, and local history isn’t paved over in the name of speed.Done well, growth gives residents more options instead of taking them away through the removal of green spaces.This story was produced by Triple Crown Homes and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	YWCA Clinton Street Fest kicks off half marathon weekend Clinton is kicking off its half marathon weekend with an evening full of family fun. The YWCA Clinton Street Fest will bring live music, local food and fun to the 200 block of 5th Avenue South in downtown Clinton on Saturday, September 12 from 5 – 8 p.m. The evening will offer live music from [...]
	Women are building online communities to get answers about whether they’re in perimenopause Women are building online communities to get answers about whether they’re in perimenopause More than 34% of women don’t know what reproductive stage they’re in, according to a new study published in The Menopause Society’s journal Menopause.That confusion peaks in a key group: 42% of women ages 40 to 44 said they are not sure if they are in perimenopause. The study found that women who’d benefit most from clear answers are also the hardest to diagnose.Now, some women are taking their most personal questions to AI chatbots instead of a doctor, lvim Health reports.What Is Perimenopause?Perimenopause marks the hormonal phase before menopause.Approximately 2 million women in the U.S. begin this transition every year, according to the National Institutes of Health, yet there is a massive gap in the clinical understanding of perimenopause.“In this group, it’s easy to miss. Most of these women are still getting regular periods, so they assume nothing hormonal is happening yet, and their doctors often assume the same,” said Dr. Jessica Duncan, an obesity medicine physician and chief medical officer at the telehealth practice Ivim Health. “But hormones often start declining well before periods stop. The early symptoms are subtle. Trouble sleeping, weight settling around the middle, brain fog, a mood that’s a little off. Any one of those is easy to write off. And a single blood test won’t settle it, because a woman’s hormones aren’t a snapshot, they’re a movie. Levels shift across the cycle, so one lab draw can look completely normal on the day you feel your worst.”There are no tests on the market that can definitively determine perimenopause. Symptoms vary widely among patients and often overlap with other conditions. There’s also inconsistent timing for the transition’s onset.For Clara Watkins, a design engineer and mother in Boston, it wasn’t until she spoke to other women that she began to connect her collection of symptoms.“I think a lot of the symptoms that I experience, and I know that many other women experience as well, are so normalized. Things like having trouble sleeping, being maybe a little bit more moody than usual. Those things, they do tend to go under the radar,” said Watkins. “The reason that I started talking about it online is because without that, I don’t know if I necessarily would have recognized that as perimenopause.”In the Menopause Society’s study, nearly a fifth of the women in that key demographic said navigating the healthcare system was the biggest barrier when trying to get answers about perimenopause.Watkins described leaving her first appointment demoralized after being dismissed because she was in her late 30s. Her first doctor said her symptoms were likely stress-related since she had just moved to the U.S. from Europe.“As a woman, I’ve been experiencing stress, anxiety, mood swings, my entire life, you know, as we all have,” said Watkins. “You know when something isn’t right, you know when something is different.” When she told her friends, they all said to get a second opinion, reporting similar experiences despite all living in different countries.“One of the only things that’s universal appears to be the dismissal of women’s medical problems,” said Watkins.Where Are Women Getting Perimenopause Information?Internal data from Reddit shows that the subreddit r/perimenopause nearly quadrupled from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, according to a new report from Weber Shandwick.A brief scroll through the page reveals common themes: confusion over symptoms, frustration with healthcare providers, relief after successful treatments, advice on how to speak with doctors to access hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and excitement over new research. One phrase echoes throughout posts and comments, highlighting the camaraderie in this corner of the internet:“Sharing in the hopes that someone else will be helped by this.”Watkins started sharing her perimenopause experience online and said she was amazed at the response.“The amount of views that those videos are getting when I’m talking about perimenopause and the amount of messages, comments, saves on the videos when I’m making recommendations or I’m talking about my symptoms. It’s absolutely crazy,” said Watkins, pointing out that the numbers are disproportionate to her few dozen followers.“That just tells me that there is an enormous cohort of women who are desperately seeking out information and they’re desperately seeking out a community of people who feel like them and are struggling like them,” Walkins said.More than half of the women in that report said they rely on Reddit forums to determine which symptoms are normal and which are serious concerns. Then they’re bringing that community knowledge to the doctor’s office.The Weber Shandwick report, citing U.S. data from an April 2026 Reddit Custom Survey titled “Women’s Reproductive Health,” found 70% of women felt more prepared for healthcare conversations after using Reddit.“The internet helped me be armed when I went to my doctor with my symptoms and what I wanted,” one anonymous Redditor wrote. “The best thing that came from the internet is we could start sharing info with each other.”What Happens When AI Replaces the Doctor?“I’m glad women are reading and comparing notes. A patient who comes in able to describe her symptoms clearly and ask specific questions is easier to help, not harder,” said Dr. Duncan. “What I tell people is that what you find online is a starting point, not a diagnosis. A forum can tell you you’re not imagining it and that other women feel the same way. It can’t take your history or weigh your individual risk. So bring what you’ve read into the room. Just don’t let it be the last word.”New research from Pew conducted in June found 55% of women in their 30s and 40s said they get health information from influencers, and 41% of American women told Pew in October 2025 that they get health information from AI chatbots, even if only on a rare occasion. Within online forums, women are encouraging each other to check their doctor’s recommendations against artificial intelligence.“With all the AI and communication technology available we should be able to put our symptoms in a computer and have the best results for you individually rolled out,” wrote one r/perimenopause member.“I think one of the things that the AI told me to do was to start tracking my symptoms, so that’s what I did,” said Watkins. “That was a big breakthrough when it came to my next doctor’s appointment.”As an engineer, Watkins studies AI prompt generation and said she uses AI with caution.“I’m aware of the fact that it is predicting what I want to hear,” said Watkins. “I was very selective in what I was taking and how much importance I was putting on [the AI’s response].”“Hormone therapy is a good option for a lot of women, but it isn’t risk-free. No medication is,” Dr. Duncan warned. “The right dose and the right form depend on your symptoms, your history, and your own risk factors, and that’s a real conversation, not a checkbox. If a provider recommends something, ask why it’s the right choice for you specifically, and ask what the alternatives are. Do all the research you want and bring questions. But once you’re ready to start hormones, this is the point where you need a clinician in it with you.”Can Telehealth Close the Perimenopause Care Gap?“So many of us have the same story,” one Redditor said. “Online providers were the only way I got listened to.”“The problem usually isn’t the doctor, it’s the fifteen minutes. In a standard annual visit, you’re covering blood pressure, blood sugar, whatever’s new that year, and hormones slide to the bottom of the list. They don’t always get covered,” said Dr. Duncan. “What a woman with these symptoms actually needs is time, and someone who’ll take the whole picture seriously and work through the options with her. Telehealth done right builds the visit around that instead of squeezing it into what’s left. That’s the part the current system makes hard, and it’s fixable.”Historically, if women wanted more access to doctors, longer visits, day-of appointments and 24/7 chat, they would have to use a concierge healthcare service. These typically cost in the range of $10,000 a year.Even if someone can afford this luxury, they are not widely available.The online world is addressing a clear need in healthcare. Women want doctors who will take the time to hear their concerns, consider the whole picture and then be willing to work through various options together.This story was produced by Ivim Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	What skip tracing reveals about distressed properties and how investors use it What skip tracing reveals about distressed properties and how investors use itEvery neighborhood has at least one house with an overgrown lawn, boarded-up windows that give you the heebie jeebies, or a stack of clutter piling up on the porch. To the average passerby, it’s simply an eyesore. But to a real estate investor it can be an opportunity for an off-market, distressed property waiting to be revamped.Finding one of these mysterious properties isn’t the challenge these days—it’s finding the person who actually owns it. Often, they are people who walked away due to financial or personal hardships, inherited it through a complicated probate process, or are dodging local tax liens. Reaching out to them will mostly yield bounced mail or silence at the door.Professional investors gain their edge by leveraging something called skip tracing. They pierce through corporate shell companies, outdated public records, and dead ends to find actionable contact data. If you’re an investor looking to get in on these kinds of real estate, using a property data search tool can help source off-market inventory, PropertyReach reports.What is Skip Tracing in Real Estate, Exactly?Historically speaking, the term “skip tracing” belonged to the worlds of debt collectors and bounty hunters. It describes the process of tracking down someone who “skipped town”. In today’s real estate game, this tool has been repurposed into a sophisticated lead-generation strategy.Skip tracing is the process of inputting a property address (or the name of the owner) into a specialized data platform to retrieve deep historical records, current contact info, and hidden financial indicators associated with the owner.Thus, when an investor is looking into a distressed property, skip tracing goes beyond the basic phone book lookup. Instead, it cross-references hundreds of public, private, and proprietary databases to aggregate a comprehensive profile of the owner or legal entity holding the deed. This report can include utility logs, credit bureau headers, or corporate registry entries. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages for investors.The Hidden Data: What Skip Tracing UncoversUsing a search tool specifically for property data reveals context, not just basic information about the owners. The records that feed the skip tracing process tell a story about why the property is neglected and how motivated the seller might actually be.Finding the Human Behind the LLCMany distressed or institutional properties are held under generic corporate names like “XYZ Holdings LLC.” If you don’t find a viable source online quickly, chances are, calling or emailing the corporate address is a lost cause. With skip tracing, you can track down original corporate filings to identify specific managing members, registered agents, or individuals behind the company–giving you, the investor, a direct contact.Mapping Financial VulnerabilityProperty records also reveal whether the owner is facing structural financial distress. In a recent U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, filings have continued an annual upward climb, with over 14% year-over-year as homeowners grapple with elevated mortgages. Here are a couple of red flags:Tax liens: Is the county preparing to foreclose on the home due to unpaid property taxes?Mechanic’s Liens: Did a contractor file a claim for unpaid renovation or structural work?Pre-foreclosure Filings: Has a lender issued a Notice of Default (NOD) or a Lis Pendens?If this is the case, tied to a physically neglected property, it signals a highly motivated seller who may be eager to accept an off-market cash offer to protect what’s left of their equity.Tracking Relocated OwnersPeople changing phone numbers or moving out of state is the number one reason real estate direct mail doesn’t work. Advanced skip tracing skips the guesswork by returning layered and verified contact vectors:Multiple active and historical mobile and landline numbers.Primary personal and professional email addresses.Current mailing addresses, if the owner has relocated or is renting out of state.Relatives or next-of-kin contact information, which is critical for properties stuck in probate.How Investors Translate Skip Tracing Insights into DealsData is only as valuable as the execution behind it. High-volume investors, apartment building owners, and growing real estate brokers use skip tracing to build predictable acquisition pipelines.Finding “Zombie” and Vacant PropertiesAccording to recent housing analytics, nearly 1.4 million properties across the U.S. sit vacant. A small but significant portion of these are referred to as “zombie foreclosures”—properties that owners have abandoned midway through foreclosure proceedings.Skip tracing allows for cross-referencing property utilities and postal service data to confirm a property is legally vacant. Investors can track down the owner and make an offer long before the bank repossesses the asset.Driving for DollarsMany independent flippers and local wholesalers practice this strategy. “Driving for Dollars” is the process of physically driving or hiring scouts to navigate targeted ZIP codes, looking for roofs in despair or overgrown yards. Once logged into an investor’s CRM, these addresses are then skip-traced.This allows the investor to call the owner while still in view of the property, creating a higher-touch, relevant pitch.Navigating the Probate MarketWhen a property owner passes away, the home often sits neglected while heirs figure out what to do with it. Frequently, this beneficiary doesn’t live in the same city as the inherited house. With skip tracing, investors can find the executor of the property or legal heirs and offer them a fast exit cash on a property that may be a financial burden.Safe and Compliant Real Estate Skip TracingBecause skip tracing deals with aggregating personal data, successful proptech platforms and investment firms must operate within strict legal boundaries. In the U.S., outreach strategies stemming from skip tracing must comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).Professional investors must scrub their retrieved phone lists against the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry and utilize clean, compliant outbound dialing systems. The goal of skip tracing is not to harass, but to identify a mutually beneficial transaction where an investor can solve a property owner’s real estate problem.Final Thoughts: Why the Best Real Estate Deals are Researched, Not FoundIn this highly competitive real estate landscape, relying solely on public listings may result in a slow ROI. The real value is often found in off-market transactions: properties that require a bit of data detective work to unearth.Skip tracing transforms raw, unstructured public property records for lead generation. By understanding what the data reveals, investors can start building direct relationships with motivated sellers.Using a detailed property data search tool lets you uncover ownership history, hidden liens, and direct contact to make successful off-market acquisitions.This story was produced by PropertyReach and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Reckless homicide charge should be dismissed in Jackson Kradle death, says former Carroll Co. deputy Matthew Herpstreith, a former Carroll County deputy charged in Jackson Kradle's death, wants a judge to dismiss the reckless homicide charge.
	Does spending money make you feel bad? Read this comic If spending — or not spending — money makes you feel shame or regret, you might be grappling with financial guilt. Financial planner Lauryn Williams breaks down three types and how to deal.
	Scott County Health Department hosting community baby shower The Scott County Health Department’s Healthy Pregnancy Coalition is hosting a community baby shower on Saturday, August 15 from 1 – 3 p.m. at the TMBC Lincoln Center, 318 E. 7th Street in Davenport. The baby shower is free for new and expecting families. Families can learn more about local programs and services in the [...]
	How parents can help college students manage money and avoid mistakes How parents can help college students manage money and avoid mistakesSending your child off to college is a big milestone, and for many parents, it’s the first time their teen will be managing money on their own.Talking about money is important in Louann Millar’s family. Millar, who is leader of youth and student banking at Wells Fargo, has two teenagers who, as in many families, are very different in how they think about and approach money. “One of my kids is very eager to earn money and save up for what they want to purchase,” she said. “My other one lives very much in the moment and has a hard time thinking about purchases and things they might want tomorrow.”Like a lot of other topics, it’s just important that your kids know they can come to you to talk about money and other things. “It’s important for our family to have these conversations together so that our kids understand how we prioritize money,” Millar said. “They might take some of that learning and use it in their own lives as they become independent.”Not a money expert? That’s ok.The 2025 Wells Fargo Family Banking and Allowance Study found that 85% of parents feel they should have more conversations with their kids about money, but almost a third of parents feel uncomfortable doing so.“Money can be a tricky topic, especially if you don’t feel confident in your own financial skills,” Millar said. “Many parents worry they’re not equipped to teach smart money habits, but the truth is, you don’t need to be a financial expert to have meaningful conversations with your teen.”Managing money is no different than any other life skill. “As adults, we’ve learned from hiccups we’ve had in our financial lives before,” said Millar. “So just like anything else, we can use this as a teaching moment.” Sharing what you wish you’d known at their age or pointing out opportunities to make better decisions can help your child avoid common pitfalls and build a stronger foundation for managing their own finances.Encourage your child to ask questions, make their own decisions, and learn from both successes and setbacks. By modeling openness and a growth mindset, you’re helping them become money smart, even if you’re still learning yourself.How to choose the right student bank accountMillar tells parents to shop around for a student bank account just as you would for dorm essentials or school supplies — with both their own needs and their students’ in mind. She recommends comparing options to find one that offers the right mix of transparency, control, and convenience. Here are four things to look for:Choose a student account with transparency and guardrails.Look for a student account with clear terms, practical tools, and built-in safeguards. Once the account is set up, encourage your teen to load their debit card to their digital wallet so they can pay for everyday things with their phone. You can feel cool by showing them how to use the banking app.Now consider what kind of oversight you’d like to have, such as visibility into spending and balances. It’s important to find a balance, allowing your kids to learn from their mistakes while still providing the necessary support and guidance. With joint ownership or authorization, you can monitor your teen’s bank account for fraudulent or suspicious transactions, or coach them to do so. This includes checking if their information has been stolen, spotting unauthorized charges, or identifying scams where they might be tricked into sending someone money. Consider joint ownership or authorization so you can monitor for fraud or spot unauthorized charges. Set up alerts to track deposits and low balances.Explain how to set up automatic payments for loans or rent.Make it a habit to check your bank account balance and transactions at least once a week. Set up alerts so you know when your paycheck comes in or if your account balance dips below the amount you specify.If your student will have a job, talk about using Direct Deposit as convenient, safe, and faster way to have their recurring paycheck automatically deposited into their account, so they won’t have to worry about checks getting lost, delayed, or stolen, or making a trip to the bank to deposit.These kinds of guardrails can help students build smart habits while giving parents peace of mind.Check access and availability of branches and ATMs.While digital banking is convenient, don’t overlook the value of physical access. Make sure the bank has ATMs and branches near campus. There may be times when they need in-person help to resolve an issue or ask questions, like they would with professors’ office hours. Show them how to make an appointment to meet with a banker, and explain why walking into a branch can still be a smart move.Introduce savings opportunities.If your student doesn’t already have both a checking and savings account, this could be a good time to start. While a checking account supports everyday spending, a savings account encourages discipline and goal-setting.Confirm the ability to send, receive, and request money.Finally, consider how your student will send and receive money. The fastest way to send money to your kids in college would be to transfer between your accounts. Look for accounts that support payment tools like Zelle, which also allows quick transfers between friends and family. This is especially helpful when your child needs funds fast or wants to split expenses with roommates. Teach your student to hold others accountable, especially if they’re lending money to friends or family.How much money should you give your college student?Figuring out how much money, if any, to send your college student can feel like a guessing game. But with a few thoughtful questions, you can land on an approach that works for both of you.Start by considering your student’s financial situation: Will they be working during the school year? Are they relying on money earned over summer or holiday breaks? Are they living on campus with a meal plan or off campus where they’ll be buying groceries and cooking for themselves? Next, think about the cost of living in their college town. Is it a high-cost area where even basics like transportation and food are more expensive?Clarify what you’re willing to cover: just essentials like books and groceries, or also extras like takeout, rideshares, concerts, or ski trips? Having this conversation early helps set expectations and avoid surprises.If you do decide to provide financial support, consider how and when you’ll send it. Will you transfer funds at the start of the semester, on a monthly schedule, or only as needed? Talk about how they plan to manage their money.Common money mistakes to avoid in collegeFirst-time money managers are bound to hit a few bumps in the road, so it’s a good thing they’ve got a parent like you to look out for them. To help them build smart money habits and prepare to steer clear of these financial missteps, Millar suggest looking out for these potential pitfalls:Mistake #1: OverspendingIt’s easy for college freshmen to overspend. They may not fully understand how much they have day-to-day or how quickly it can disappear. Encourage your student to regularly check their accounts in the app. This simple habit can help them stay on top of their money and avoid overdrawing their account or being short when the rent is due. For those who are apt to forget, set up alerts to track balances and spending in real time.Mistake #2: Failure to planMany students get tripped up by unexpected expenses like lab fees, transportation, or social events. Instead of diving into a full budget, help your student create a basic spending plan that adds a cushion for emergencies. Talk through everyday costs and brainstorm what to do in case of a surprise. Planning ahead builds confidence and gives them tools to problem-solve before money trouble hits.Mistake #3: Responding to scamsBack-to-school season is also prime time for scammers, and students are especially vulnerable. They’re online shopping, applying for jobs, and searching for housing — all common channels that scammers exploit. Top scams targeting college kids right now include:Textbook scams: You buy a book that never arrives.Fake job postings: That job sounded too good to be true because it was.Rental fraud: False listings for apartments or rooms that don’t exist.Scholarship scams: “Guaranteed” scholarships that require upfront or application fees or personal information.“My biggest tip for parents and students: Anyone pressuring you to act immediately, such as by sending money or sharing personal details, is a red flag,” said Millar.Encourage your student — and those around you — to be cautious of unsolicited texts, emails, social media messages, and phone calls, particularly those that ask for personal information or payment upfront. Help them recognize the signs of a scam and remind them to pause, verify, and ask questions before responding. A little skepticism can go a long way in protecting their finances and personal information.How parents can teach financial responsibility without micromanagingWhen your child heads off to college or starts living away from home, it can be tricky to strike the right balance between giving them financial freedom and helping them avoid costly mistakes. You want to support their independence while keeping a watchful eye on their accounts.Start by encouraging your student to regularly check their account balances and transactions. Like every few days. Set up alerts so both of you can monitor spending and spot anything unusual. If you have joint account access or authorization, you can help them track their finances and identify suspicious activity.Most importantly, instill confidence in your child. Let them know you trust they’re ready for this responsibility — and that you’re always there when they have questions or need guidance. It’s not about control; it’s about support, accountability, and learning together.Debit vs. credit: What every college student should knowFirst, make sure they understand the difference between debit spending and credit card spending. You can explain it like this:Think of a debit card like using the cash you already have, because the money comes directly out of your checking account. If there’s not enough in your account, the transaction might be declined, so it’s important to keep track of your balance by checking your app and getting alerts.A credit card lets you borrow money from the bank to make purchases, with the expectation that you’ll pay it back later. If you don’t pay the full amount each month, you’ll be charged interest, which can get expensive fast. Credit cards can help you build a credit history, which will be important for renting an apartment or getting a lower rate on a car loan. But they also come with responsibility. Spending more than you can afford to repay can lead to debt and hurt your credit score. Think of it as a tool — not free money — and use it wisely.Every family is different, but both a debit card and a credit card can be useful tools for college students, as long as expectations are clear. A good rule of thumb is to use a debit card for everyday purchases like food, supplies, or transportation, and reserve the credit card for emergencies or larger, unexpected expenses.Setting these guidelines early can help your student build confidence and make thoughtful choices as they learn to manage their own money.FAQHow can college students effectively budget their money?College students can manage their money by tracking spending with online budgeting tools, creating a realistic budget based on income and expenses, and using student-friendly accounts to avoid overdraft fees. Building an emergency fund and taking advantage of student discounts also help stretch their budget.What is a good monthly budget for a college student?Start with tracking income sources like financial aid, part-time jobs, and allowances, then allocating expenses across categories such as housing, food, transportation, and entertainment.What is the best bank account for a college student?Look for a student account with clear terms, practical tools, and built-in safeguards such asno overdraft fees, no monthly service fee for primary account owners, and features like mobile deposit and bill pay.Should a college student have a credit card?Every family is different, but both a debit card and a credit card can be useful tools for college students, as long as expectations are clear. A good rule of thumb is to use a debit card for everyday purchases like food, supplies, or transportation, and reserve the credit card for emergencies or larger, unexpected expenses.How involved should parents be in a college student's finances?Parents can be actively involved by helping set up student-friendly accounts, discussing budgeting habits, and monitoring transactions together using budgeting apps. You can support smart money habits by guiding your child through common financial pitfalls and reinforcing weekly check-ins on account balances and spending. This way you’re fostering financial independence while providing a safety net for first-time money managers.How can college students avoid online scams?College students can avoid online scams by being skeptical of unsolicited messages, avoiding pressure to act immediately, and never sharing personal information or payment details without verifying the source. Common scams targeting students include fake job postings, textbook fraud, rental scams, and scholarship offers that require upfront fees. Protect them and yourself by setting up account alerts, regularly checking balances, and pausing to verify before responding to any suspicious communication.What should a college student do if they experience a scam or fraud?Students should monitor their account activity, set up alerts, and close compromised accounts to prevent further loss. In addition, students can report scams to their campus police.This story was produced by Wells Fargo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How to manage the accounts receivable process step by step How to manage the accounts receivable process step by stepThe accounts receivable (AR) process is the step-by-step workflow you use to invoice customers, track payments, and collect the money owed for goods or services sold on credit. When your AR process runs well, cash comes in on schedule and your business can cover payroll, pay suppliers, and reinvest in growth without scrambling for funds.What is the accounts receivable process?Accounts receivable is a current asset on your balance sheet representing money customers owe you for goods or services already delivered. You don't fully realize revenue until you collect it, and the AR process covers everything from credit approval through final reconciliation, Ramp reports.The accounts receivable cycle includes:Invoicing: Generating and sending accurate invoices with clear payment termsPayment tracking: Monitoring outstanding balances and payment statuses in real timeFollow-ups: Sending reminders and escalating collections on overdue accountsDispute resolution: Handling billing disagreements quickly to prevent payment delaysReconciliation: Matching incoming payments to invoices and updating your financial recordsWhen your accounts receivable workflow runs smoothly, cash flows in as expected, and customer relationships strengthen because clear billing communication builds trust and encourages repeat business.Why accounts receivable matters for cash flowA strong AR process keeps your cash flow steady so you can pay employees, cover expenses, and invest in growth. Late or unpaid invoices tie up funds, so it's harder to cover payroll, pay suppliers, or reinvest in the business.For example, if a company tightens its AR process, such as by using AR automation or offering early payment incentives, it can shorten payment cycles and maintain a steady cash flow. Without an efficient AR strategy, even a profitable business can struggle to stay afloat.Shorter payment cycles improve working capital efficiency. When you collect faster, you free up capital that would otherwise sit locked in outstanding invoices. That cash can go toward new hires, inventory, or expansion instead of covering gaps.A structured follow-up process strengthens customer relationships. Automated reminders and clear escalation paths prevent the awkward "just checking in" emails that strain partnerships. Your customers know what to expect, and your team doesn't have to chase payments manually.Tracking AR metrics gives you real-time visibility into your financial health. Metrics like days sales outstanding (DSO) and collection effectiveness index (CEI) reveal how efficiently you're collecting, where bottlenecks form, and which customers consistently pay late. That data helps you make smarter decisions about accounts receivable management before small problems become cash flow crises.How the accounts receivable process works step by stepThe full cycle accounts receivable process follows a predictable path from credit assessment through reconciliation. Each step mirrors the standard AR lifecycle.1. Assess creditworthiness and set credit termsBefore you extend credit to a new customer, you need to evaluate their ability to pay. Skipping this step is how businesses end up chasing invoices that were never going to get paid.The standard framework is the 5 Cs of credit management:Character: The customer's payment history and reputation. Have they paid other vendors on time?Capacity: Their ability to pay based on current cash flow and existing debt obligationsCapital: Overall financial strength, including assets, equity, and reservesCollateral: Assets that could secure the debt if the customer defaultsConditions: External factors like economic climate, industry trends, and market conditions that could affect their ability to payThis step applies mainly to new customers. For existing accounts, periodic re-evaluation (annually or when order volumes change significantly) is usually sufficient. The credit terms you set here—net 30, net 60, early payment discounts—shape the rest of your accounts receivable procedures.2. Generate and send the invoiceOnce a sale is made or a service is provided, the first step is to create and send an invoice. The invoice should include clear details, including:The amount duePayment due dateHow to payLate invoice fee ratesA well-structured invoice minimizes discrepancies and speeds up payment.3. Deliver the invoice to the customerAn invoice can't do its job if it never reaches the customer. Electronic invoices must be sent promptly through the customer's preferred channel, whether email, online portals, or automation software. Delays in sending invoices often lead to late payments.4. Track and monitor paymentsAfter sending an invoice, it's essential to monitor its status. You can use ERP systems or receivable automation tools to keep an eye on outstanding payments, identify overdue invoices, and follow up when necessary.Aging reports are one of the most useful tracking tools. These reports categorize outstanding invoices by how long they've been due (e.g., 0-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 90+ days), making it easy to spot which accounts need immediate attention.Tracking metrics like days sales outstanding (DSO) is crucial in assessing how efficiently you collect payments. A lower DSO indicates a more effective AR process.5. Send payment reminders and follow upIf a payment is nearing its due date or is past due, send reminders via email, phone, or automated systems. This escalating communication, known as dunning, typically starts with a friendly reminder before the due date and becomes more urgent as the invoice ages. Offering incentives like early payment discounts can encourage timely payments.6. Handle disputes and adjustmentsSometimes, customers dispute charges or request adjustments. A structured process for resolving invoice disputes quickly, whether through discounts, revised invoices, or additional documentation, prevents prolonged payment delays. When businesses establish clear credit policies upfront, it's easier to reduce the frequency of disputes.7. Collect late paymentsWhen a payment is overdue, it's time to escalate. A series of follow-ups, final notices, or even a collection agency (as a last resort) can help recover what's owed. A clear late fee policy also works as a deterrent for habitual late payers. Additionally, assessing creditworthiness before extending credit terms can prevent payment issues.8. Apply cash and reconcile recordsCash application means matching each incoming payment to a specific invoice. When a customer sends a payment, you need to identify which invoice (or invoices) it covers, especially when dealing with partial payments, bundled payments, or missing reference numbers.Once you apply the payment, record it in your accounting system and reconcile it with bank statements. Accurate financial records help you maintain a clear picture of cash flow and outstanding balances.9. Review and optimize the processThe best AR processes aren't set in stone—they evolve. Regularly analyzing KPIs like days sales outstanding (DSO) helps you refine your strategy. Automating invoicing, using receivable automation, and offering flexible payment options can improve collection efficiency.Beyond DSO, track your collection effectiveness index (CEI) to measure what percentage of receivables you're actually collecting in a given period. Review your aging bucket distribution to spot patterns: are certain customer segments consistently landing in the 60+ day buckets?This review can also inform whether you need to tighten credit terms for consistently late-paying customers, bringing the process full circle.Key accounts receivable metrics to trackThese four metrics give you a clear picture of collection performance and help you catch problems early. Tracking them regularly turns your AR process from reactive to proactive.Days sales outstanding (DSO)The average number of days it takes you to collect payment after a sale. Calculate it as:DSO = Accounts receivable / Total credit sales * Number of daysA lower DSO means faster collections. Most industries benchmark healthy DSO at 30-45 days, though this varies by sector and payment terms.Collection effectiveness index (CEI)The percentage of receivables you successfully collect within a given period. Unlike DSO, CEI accounts for new receivables added during the measurement window, giving you a more accurate read on actual collection performance. A CEI above 80% is generally strong.Aging report bucketsCategorize outstanding invoices by days overdue: 0-30, 31-60, 61-90, and 90+ days. Flag anything over 60 days for escalated follow-up. If your 90+ bucket is growing, it signals a systemic problem in your collection process or credit policies.Bad debt ratioThe percentage of receivables written off as uncollectible. Track this over time to identify trends. A rising bad debt ratio may mean your credit assessment process needs tightening or your collection efforts aren't aggressive enough.Common challenges in the accounts receivable processManaging accounts receivable isn't always straightforward. Inefficiencies, payment delays, and disputes can slow cash flow and create unnecessary administrative work. More than half of B2B invoices in the U.S. are paid late, making effective AR management essential.Here are some common challenges and ways to overcome them:Manual processes slow down collectionsStill relying on spreadsheets and manually tracking invoices? Manual processes lead to human errors, delays, and missed follow-ups. Automating invoicing and payment tracking makes sure invoices go out on time, reduces mistakes, and keeps the collection process moving smoothly.Inconsistent payment methods create confusionCustomers paying through different channels, such as bank transfers, credit cards, or paper checks, can make reconciliation difficult. A structured payment system that integrates multiple methods into a single platform helps streamline processing and ensures faster cash application.You receive a wire transfer from one customer, a check from another, and a credit card payment from a third, all for different invoices. Without a centralized system, reconciling these takes hours. A unified payment platform matches each payment to its corresponding invoice automatically.Matching payments to invoices is time-consumingWhen payments don't clearly match invoices, whether due to partial payments, missing references, or overpayments, it can lead to delays and manual work. Automated payment matching tools can simplify reconciliation and free up finance teams to focus on higher-value tasks.Unclear invoices lead to payment disputesIf an invoice lacks details or doesn't align with a customer's records, payments can face delays while disputes get resolved. Clearly itemizing charges, setting credit terms upfront, and using automation software to generate standardized invoices reduce confusion and ensure faster approvals.Manual vs. automated accounts receivableThe accounts receivable cycle can either be a smooth, automated machine or slow and manual. Traditional AR processes mean lots of spreadsheets, endless payment tracking, and following up. It's inefficient, error-prone, and a time drain.With the right tools, you can leave the manual busywork and let technology automatically generate invoices, send reminders, and reconcile payments. Ramp Best practices for managing accounts receivableA well-optimized accounts receivable process helps you collect faster, reduce financial risk, and improve cash flow.Here are some accounts receivable best practices to keep your business running smoothly:1. Send accurate and timely invoicesErrors or missing details on invoices can cause disputes and payment delays. Use automation to generate clear, detailed invoices with accurate amounts, due dates, and payment instructions. Sending invoices immediately after a sale or service is completed speeds up the payment cycle.2. Offer multiple payment optionsCustomers are more likely to pay on time when they have convenient payment methods. You can reduce friction and encourage faster payments by accepting multiple payment methods including:Credit cardsACH transfersDigital walletsDebit cardsOnline payment portals3. Automate invoice tracking and follow-upsManually tracking outstanding invoices is time-consuming and prone to oversight. As a workaround, automate reminders for due and overdue invoices to maintain consistent follow-ups and reduce the risk of late payments without burdening finance teams.4. Establish clear payment policiesOutlining payment terms, due dates, late fees, and dispute resolution processes upfront helps set clear expectations. Communicating these terms in contracts, invoices, and onboarding materials helps prevent confusion and ensure accountability.5. Monitor AR metrics and adjust strategiesRegularly reviewing key AR metrics like average collection period and outstanding receivables helps you identify trends and potential issues. You can then adjust payment terms, follow-up strategies, or automation tools to optimize cash flow.DSO is the most common metric:DSO = Accounts receivable / Total credit sales * Number of daysBut don't stop there. Your collection effectiveness index (CEI) measures the percentage of receivables you actually collect within a given period, giving you a sharper view of real-world performance than DSO alone.6. Improve customer communicationProactively address customer questions or concerns about invoices to prevent disputes and speed up payments. Providing a self-service portal where customers can view their invoices, payment history, and outstanding balances enhances transparency and reduces back-and-forth emails.A self-service portal can reduce payment-related support inquiries by giving customers 24/7 access to their invoice history and payment status. When customers can find answers on their own, your team spends less time fielding calls and more time on strategic work.This story was produced by Ramp and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Think you need 10,000 steps a day? Science says otherwise Think you need 10,000 steps a day? Science says otherwiseGranted, the 10,000-step goal is often recited as if it is gospel, but whether you're clocking up the miles on your commute to work or walking around in circles in the kitchen last thing at night, the truth of the matter is, you might already be walking enough.For the record, hitting a daily step count is now one of the world's most popular wellness habits, and for good reason, too. As one of the simplest and most inexpensive ways to improve your physical and mental wellbeing, it turns out the story behind the famous 10,000-step target has more to do with an astute 1960s marketing campaign than real-world medical science, Bodog reports.Where Did 10,000 Steps Come From?Remarkably, the now-famous daily step count target actually originated in Japan as part of a marketing campaign for what would become the world’s first wearable fitness device, the Manpo-kei.Designed to capitalize on the popularity of the then-1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Manpo-kei, literally translated to mean ‘10,000-step meter’, was a ploy derived using primitive scientific evidence that suggested daily walking targets had some positive health benefits.The only problem was, nobody really knew just how many steps people needed to complete for it to be an effective target: 10,000 just made for a compelling tag line.In more recent times, fitness trackers like Fitbit, smartwatches, and wellness apps have continued to evolve, but they stuck to the 10,000-step mantra as a default target. Needless to say, what began as a clever advertising campaign soon became the unofficial and universally accepted recommendation, despite researchers never having identified the optimal threshold amount until recently.So, What Does the Research Say About 10,000 Steps?Remarkably, recent studies have actually confirmed that many of the biggest health gains occur well before most people reach the 10,000-step mark. Perhaps the most notable being the 2025 review published in The Lancet Public Health, which analyzed the data metrics of more than 160,000 adults worldwide.Decisively, compared to individuals walking fewer than 2,000 steps a day, the results of the study calculated that 7,000 daily steps were credited with helping to significantly lower risks of:Heart diseaseDementiaCancerDepressionType 2 diabetesFallsPremature deathIt also showed that the benefits generally increased as people became more active, yet many of the health improvements began leveling off once people hit 7,000 per day. In fact, the only exception to this appeared to be dementia, which showcased further improvements the more people walked.Nevertheless, let’s face it, 7,000 steps is no easy feat, particularly when trying to maintain it as a daily routine, but all is not lost.Incredibly, simply elevating your step count from 2,000 to 4,000 steps has been shown to measurably improve cardiovascular health, with experts repeatedly emphasizing that consistency, rather than a one-size-fits-all target, is what can produce the best long-term benefits. Bodog Do Fitness Trackers Actually Change Behavior?You might not think so, but fitness trackers work because they gamify this invisible habit by way of displaying a tangible goal to aim for. While schemes like the U.K.'s NHS-driven "marathon a month" challenge aim to incentivize people to walk 30 minutes a day, a physical step count gives you immediate feedback on your daily steps progression, and more often than not, an actionable psychological incentive to reach your target.Top 5 Wearable Step CountersGarmin Vivoactive 6Apple Watch Series 11Oura Ring 4Fitbit AirWhoop MGIn addition to pedometers, modern wearables are also becoming way more sophisticated, to incorporate your sleep, heart rate, recovery, and stress levels, not to mention the inclusion now of AI-personalized health coaching.Importantly, while these extra features can help build healthier daily routines, experts still insist that these should support manageable healthy habits rather than pressuring people to complete multiple challenges, which is why a standard step count is a fantastic baseline metric.Is Walking the Ultimate Wellness Habit?Undoubtedly, walking remains the one true form of exercise that almost anyone can do, regardless of age or fitness levels. After all, there are no expensive gym memberships or need for specialized equipment, yet it steadily improves your cardiovascular fitness, regulates your blood sugar, supports your joint health, while also strengthening your muscles and bones, and boosting your mood.Regardless, perhaps walking’s biggest selling point is just how easily it naturally fits into everyday life. Whether you’re out walking the dog, heading to the store on foot, or simply enjoying an evening walk with your friends and family, every step forward is basically a step towards a healthier you.Beyond 10,000 Steps: How You Can Augment Your Step Count ChallengeFor those of you who are curious about how step counts fit within the overall wellness puzzle, there are a number of factors to consider.For instance, increasing the intensity or speed of your walks can dramatically elevate your heart rate to optimize the health benefits of achieving your step count. Furthermore, minimizing sedentary behavior, particularly during the working day, can also help, such as making time for a 5-minute walk every hour.Another key factor is the need for recovery, which is why elite athletes tend to be so obsessed with sleep. Essentially, quality sleep aids effective recovery, giving both your body and brain the time needed to repair and recharge for tomorrow’s step challenge.Meanwhile, public health guidelines also recommend adults complete at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, which can include strength training or jogging for a little added boost.Walking works best when combined with:Brisk walking that tends to elevate your heart rate.Partaking in strength training at least twice each week.Breaking up long periods of sitting throughout the day.Sustainable daily routines you can realistically maintain.Consistent, high-quality sleep for recovery.The Bottom Line on 10000 StepsIt’s hard to argue with the science, as while the inflated target of old may have initially been more marketing spiel than based on hardcore facts — the truth of the matter is that walking every day can meaningfully improve your health.So forget the 10,000 steps and try to target 7,000 if you can. While that target may still sound daunting, just know that simply increasing your daily step count might be enough to help you fend off longer-term health problems.10,000 Steps FAQsHow many km is 10,000 steps?For most adults, 10,000 steps is approximately 7 to 8 kilometres (4.3 to 5 miles). The exact distance depends on your stride length, which varies based on height and walking style.As a general guide:Shorter stride: ~7 kmAverage stride: ~7.5 kmLonger stride: ~8 kmIf you know your height or stride length, you can calculate a more accurate distance.How many miles is 10,000 steps?For most adults, 10,000 steps is approximately 4.5 to 5 miles. The exact distance depends on your stride length, which varies based on your height, walking style, and pace.As a general guide:Shorter stride: ~4.3 milesAverage stride: ~4.7 milesLonger stride: ~5 milesIf you know your stride length, you can calculate a more accurate distance by multiplying your average step length by 10,000.How long does it take to walk 10,000 steps?For most people, walking 10,000 steps takes between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours. The exact time depends on your pace: Bodog You don't have to complete all 10,000 steps in one walk. Many people reach the goal through several shorter walks throughout the day.How many calories does walking 10,000 steps burn?Walking 10,000 steps typically burns between 300 and 500 calories. The exact number depends on factors such as your body weight, walking speed, terrain, and fitness level. Typical estimates include:125 lb (57 kg): 250–320 calories155 lb (70 kg): 300–400 calories185 lb (84 kg): 380–500 caloriesWalking uphill, carrying weight, or increasing your pace can burn even more calories than walking the same number of steps on flat ground.This story was produced by Bodog and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Graphing calculator: $100. Laptop: $800. Here's how to cut every big back-to-school expense. Graphing calculator: $100. Laptop: $800. Here's how to cut every big back-to-school expense.A new laptop or tablet can take up a sizable share of your back-to-school budget. Achieve shares some of the best ways to stretch your money.Big-ticket tech has the most savings options.Swap or buy used.Plan to save on small costs year-round by buying in bulk and using a rebate app.1. Laptops/tabletsMake a trade. Trade-in programs let you trade in your old laptop or tablet toward the purchase of a new one. You can get cash or gift cards that you can use to buy a replacement.Sell your old tech. You could also try selling your laptop or tablet yourself if it would mean a bigger payoff than trading it in. Sites like LaptopNuts and Swappa will buy used laptops and tablets for cash, even if they're broken.Shop deals. Laptops and tablets are hot items during back-to-school season and it's fairly easy to find them on sale. If you see a laptop on sale that you want but the store is sold out, ask about a rain check so you can get it at the lower price once it's back in stock. 2. Graphing calculatorsA graphing calculator can cost $100 or more. If your child needs one for math and science classes, you can try these tips to save money.Rent. If you only need a calculator for a single class, it could make more sense to rent instead of buying. For $38 a semester, you can rent one from a site like Graphtor and potentially save $25.Use an app. Kids who don't need a handheld calculator can try free online versions instead. Desmos, for example, offers a free graphing calculator that anyone can use.Buy used. Unless your child's school specifies that they need to have the newest model, a used graphing calculator can work just as well. School Specialty sells used calculators but you can also find them on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.3. ClothingKids grow fast, and you might need to outfit them with new clothes and shoes before school starts. There are lots of ways to save on clothes for the entire school year.Swap. If you're friends with other families, you might put together a clothing swap. Everyone brings the clothes their kids have outgrown and swaps them for items in the size they need.Try thrift and consignment stores. Thrift and consignment stores can be a treasure trove for parents on a budget. You can try a kid-focused thrift store, like Once Upon a Child, or make the rounds of all the shops in your area.Go minimalist. Building a capsule wardrobe for kids that consists of fewer, higher-quality pieces can save money in the long run. A capsule wardrobe consists of a few pieces that you can mix and match to create multiple outfits.4. SuppliesSchool supplies can add up. Your child might need notebooks, folders, binders, pens, pencils, glue sticks—--but it's possible to get it all on a limited personal budget. Here's how.Shop at home. Take a look around the house and chances are you have some unused school supplies already on hand. Any items you can find at home are things you won't have to spend money on.Try the dollar store. Dollar stores frequently offer discounted prices on school supply basics. If you don't have a dollar store nearby, scout out thrift stores for school supplies that are still in good shape.Buy in bulk if it's cheaper. If you have multiple kids to shop for, it could make sense to buy items like folders, notebooks and pencils in bulk. Compare prices at wholesale clubs and discount stores to see which one offers the cheapest option.5. Snacks/lunch suppliesKids need to eat, which means you may need to budget for snacks, school lunches and weeknight dinners. Here's how to save money on food throughout the school year. Meal plan. A weekly meal plan saves time and money since you know what you need to make—and what you need to shop for. You can plan out breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks based on what's on sale at the grocery store each week.Use cash back apps. Cash back apps pay you back a percentage of what you spend at grocery stores and other retailers. Ibotta is one example of an app that you can use to save on grocery purchases.Join loyalty programs. Most grocery stores have a loyalty program that allows you to unlock special coupons or earn rewards on purchases. It's usually free to join and you can pair your coupon savings with cash back offers to maximize money saved.Be the early bird to save the most moneyHere's one more tip for saving on back-to-school expenses: Plan ahead. The sooner you start to think about possible costs, the easier it is to find ways to save.This story was produced by Achieve and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How to start investing: A guide for beginners (BPT) - Investing is a smart way to build wealth. You can start with a small amount and gain confidence as you go. With steady contributions, you can help your money grow even faster. Even if you're starting with $500 or $1,000, making small, consistent contributions can really add up over time.In this guide from Navy Federal Investment Services, you'll learn how to start investing with confidence so you can take your first step toward growing your money in a way that works for your life.Step 1: Set your financial goalsBefore you put a single dollar into an investment account, it helps to know why you're investing. Your goals will guide how much to invest, what to invest in and how much investing risk makes sense for you to take on.Your goal matters because your time horizon depends on whether your goal is short term or long term. Short-term and long-term goals usually require different investing approaches. Goal-based investing can help you shape your strategy and build a plan that fits your goals.Step 2: Decide how much to investWhat matters more than the amount of money you invest is the habit of investing consistently over time, even in small amounts. That's what helps to build real wealth.So how much should a beginner invest? There's no single right answer. Many people aim to invest around 10%-15% of their income. If that's not realistic, start with whatever amount you can afford. Even $25 or $50 a month is a meaningful start. Add investing to your budget and schedule a transfer so you stick with it.Step 3: Understand your risk toleranceGenerally speaking, investments with higher potential returns also come with higher potential losses. Risk tolerance is how comfortable you are with your investments moving up and down. It's an important part of building an investment approach that works for you.Step 4: Choose the right investment account for your goalOnce you know your goals and risk tolerance, it's time to pick the right type of account for your investments. The account you choose can have a big impact on how your money grows, particularly when it comes to taxes.Step 5: Build your investment portfolioNow, you get to decide how to put your money to work. You can make smart investing decisions without being a market expert. Many beginner-friendly investment options make it easy to build a diversified portfolio and start investing with confidence right away.You can choose investments across different asset classes, like stocks, bonds and cash. Many beginners start with funds because they help spread risk across many companies.Step 6: Invest consistently and be patientPicking your investments is a big milestone on your wealth-building journey, but it's not the finish line. Once your portfolio mix is set, focus on steady behavior.One of the simplest ways to stay on track is to automate your investments. Set up recurring transfers to your investment account so money moves automatically on a schedule that works for you. When investing happens in the background, you're more likely to stick with it.Keep in mind that using this method won't guarantee profits or make you immune to losses during downturns. You'll still need to diversify your investing dollars among a variety of companies, industries and sectors to lower your risk and increase the likelihood of earning returns.Find out more about the investment services available to Navy Federal members, including Digital Investor and personalized guidance from their team of financial professionals.This content is intended to provide general information and should not be considered legal, tax or financial advice. It is always a good idea to consult a tax or financial advisor for specific information on how certain laws apply to your situation and about your individual financial situation.Navy Federal Financial Group, LLC (NFFG) is a licensed insurance agency. Non-deposit investments, brokerage, and advisory products are only sold through Navy Federal Investment Services, LLC (NFIS), a member of FINRA/SIPC and an SEC registered investment advisory firm. NFIS is a wholly owned subsidiary of NFFG. Insurance products are offered through NFFG and NFIS. These products are not NCUA/NCUSIF or otherwise federally insured, are not guaranteed or obligations of Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU), are not offered, recommended, sanctioned, or encouraged by the federal government, and may involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal. Deposit products and related services are provided by NFCU. Financial Advisors are employees of NFFG and are employees and registered representatives of NFIS. NFIS and NFFG are affiliated companies under the common control of NFCU. Call 1-877-221-8108 for further information.
	America’s new boomtowns America’s new boomtownsEconomic growth can change a city quickly. An influx of new residents and expanding business activity creates visible momentum, even as rapid change brings new strains. In recent years, some American cities stand out for attracting people, investment and development at a pace that sets them apart. Boomtown status does not mean growth benefits everyone equally, but it does reflect a city’s expanding economic capacity and the new opportunities that come with it.SmartAsset analyzed more than 400 U.S. cities with populations of 65,000 or more to identify places experiencing rapid growth. Each city received a composite score based on five-year changes in three factors: economic output, housing units and labor force size. The 75 highest-scoring cities represent America’s new boomtowns.Key FindingsFlorida is home to the most boomtowns in the country. Florida leads all states with 19 boomtowns, the most in the study. Texas follows closely with 18 boomtowns.Two Texas cities top the list. Georgetown, Texas, ranks No. 1, followed by New Braunfels, Texas, at No. 2. The two Central Texas cities each saw five-year increases of more than 30% in labor force size and housing units, while county-level economic output grew at compound annual rates of 7.7% in Williamson County and 6.8% in Comal County.Lehi, Utah, ranks No. 3. Lehi’s population has nearly doubled since 2010 as major employers, including Adobe, Microsoft and Texas Instruments, have established or expanded facilities in the city.Only one boomtown in the Northeast. Portland, Maine, ranks No. 55 and is the only city in the Northeast to make the list, with investment tied to biotech and artificial intelligence helping it achieve boomtown status. SmartAsset Boomtowns Ranked1. Georgetown, TexasHousing unit increase: 34%Labor force increase: 34%Compound annual real GDP growth: 7.7%2. New Braunfels, TexasHousing unit increase: 40%Labor force increase: 32%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.8%3. Lehi, UtahHousing unit increase: 39%Labor force increase: 67%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.6%4. Leander, TexasHousing unit increase: 48%Labor force increase: 25%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.1%5. Lewisville, TexasHousing unit increase: 24%Labor force increase: 23%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%6. Palm Coast, FloridaHousing unit increase: 27%Labor force increase: 21%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%7. Nampa, IdahoHousing unit increase: 25%Labor force increase: 24%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.2%8. McKinney, TexasHousing unit increase: 20%Labor force increase: 25%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%9. Conroe, TexasHousing unit increase: 37%Labor force increase: 33%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.9%10. Frisco, TexasHousing unit increase: 19%Labor force increase: 25%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%11. Denton, TexasHousing unit increase: 23%Labor force increase: 18%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%12. North Port, FloridaHousing unit increase: 42%Labor force increase: 78%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%13. Buckeye, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 70%Labor force increase: 39%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%14. Palm Bay, FloridaHousing unit increase: 19%Labor force increase: 27%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.7%15. Goodyear, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 65%Labor force increase: 31%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%16. Surprise, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 25%Labor force increase: 44%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%17. Redmond, WashingtonHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%18. Meridian, IdahoHousing unit increase: 33%Labor force increase: 35%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.4%19. Allen, TexasHousing unit increase: 17%Labor force increase: 13%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.7%20. Fort Myers, FloridaHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 42%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%21. Rogers, ArkansasHousing unit increase: 19%Labor force increase: 13%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.2%22. Cape Coral, FloridaHousing unit increase: 30%Labor force increase: 22%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%23. Clarksville, TennesseeHousing unit increase: 18%Labor force increase: 31%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%24. West Palm Beach, FloridaHousing unit increase: 22%Labor force increase: 21%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%25. Murfreesboro, TennesseeHousing unit increase: 20%Labor force increase: 21%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%26. Doral, FloridaHousing unit increase: 51%Labor force increase: 54%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%27. Homestead, FloridaHousing unit increase: 47%Labor force increase: 36%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%28. Cedar Park, TexasHousing unit increase: 19%Labor force increase: 8%Compound annual real GDP growth: 7.7%29. Temple, TexasHousing unit increase: 28%Labor force increase: 33%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%30. Avondale, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 22%Labor force increase: 11%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%31. Lauderhill, FloridaHousing unit increase: 20%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.1%32. Daytona Beach, FloridaHousing unit increase: 30%Labor force increase: 16%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%33. Tampa, FloridaHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 15%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%34. Fayetteville, ArkansasHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%35. Chandler, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 13%Labor force increase: 14%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%36. Mansfield, TexasHousing unit increase: 35%Labor force increase: 34%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.3%37. Austin, TexasHousing unit increase: 17%Labor force increase: 6%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.1%38. Glendale, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 13%Labor force increase: 13%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%39. North Las Vegas, NevadaHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 24%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.5%40. Jacksonville, FloridaHousing unit increase: 14%Labor force increase: 15%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.4%41. Deerfield Beach, FloridaHousing unit increase: 14%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.1%42. Bend, OregonHousing unit increase: 15%Labor force increase: 12%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.6%43. Round Rock, TexasHousing unit increase: 19%Labor force increase: 4%Compound annual real GDP growth: 7.7%44. Bowling Green, KentuckyHousing unit increase: 16%Labor force increase: 6%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.6%45. Peoria, ArizonaHousing unit increase: 9%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.8%46. Baytown, TexasHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 17%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.7%47. Auburn, WashingtonHousing unit increase: 14%Labor force increase: 8%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%48. Huntsville, AlabamaHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.3%49. Lakeland, FloridaHousing unit increase: 10%Labor force increase: 23%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.2%50. Kissimmee, FloridaHousing unit increase: 5%Labor force increase: 21%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.9%51. Springdale, ArkansasHousing unit increase: 16%Labor force increase: 15%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%52. Orlando, FloridaHousing unit increase: 9%Labor force increase: 21%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.3%53. Sparks, NevadaHousing unit increase: 16%Labor force increase: 14%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.8%54. Portland, MaineHousing unit increase: 15%Labor force increase: 15%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.9%55. Noblesville, IndianaHousing unit increase: 16%Labor force increase: 16%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.7%56. Franklin, TennesseeHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 8%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.5%57. Auburn, AlabamaHousing unit increase: 29%Labor force increase: 32%Compound annual real GDP growth: 2.5%58. Tamarac, FloridaHousing unit increase: 9%Labor force increase: 20%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.1%59. Melbourne, FloridaHousing unit increase: 7%Labor force increase: 10%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.7%60. Pflugerville, TexasHousing unit increase: 16%Labor force increase: 2%Compound annual real GDP growth: 6.1%61. Pompano Beach, FloridaHousing unit increase: 15%Labor force increase: 9%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.1%62. South Jordan, UtahHousing unit increase: 23%Labor force increase: 11%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.4%63. Henderson, NevadaHousing unit increase: 13%Labor force increase: 18%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.5%64. Bellevue, WashingtonHousing unit increase: 8%Labor force increase: 9%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%65. Menifee, CaliforniaHousing unit increase: 29%Labor force increase: 45%Compound annual real GDP growth: 2.4%66. Reno, NevadaHousing unit increase: 14%Labor force increase: 11%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.8%67. Seattle, WashingtonHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 6%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%68. Knoxville, TennesseeHousing unit increase: 6%Labor force increase: 18%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.5%69. Conway, ArkansasHousing unit increase: 13%Labor force increase: 18%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.3%70. Rancho Cordova, CaliforniaHousing unit increase: 21%Labor force increase: 17%Compound annual real GDP growth: 2.5%71. Brownsville, TexasHousing unit increase: 14%Labor force increase: 11%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.7%72. Santa Clara, CaliforniaHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 7%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%73. Fort Worth, TexasHousing unit increase: 15%Labor force increase: 13%Compound annual real GDP growth: 3.3%74. Kirkland, WashingtonHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 4%Compound annual real GDP growth: 5.0%75. Sunnyvale, CaliforniaHousing unit increase: 11%Labor force increase: 6%Compound annual real GDP growth: 4.7%MethodologyU.S. cities with populations of more than 65,000, based on 2024 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates, were analyzed. Each city was scored across three growth metrics: five-year labor force change, five-year housing unit change and county-level compound annual real GDP growth. Labor force and housing unit changes were calculated using 2019 and 2024 ACS data. Labor force includes residents ages 16 and older who are employed or actively seeking work. Real GDP growth was calculated using 2019 and 2024 Bureau of Economic Analysis data; county-level real GDP was used as a proxy for city-level economic output. Cities were assigned composite scores based on the three metrics and ranked accordingly. Source data providers are not affiliated with, and do not endorse or sponsor, this study or its findings.This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Banks are financing the fossil fuel industry’s next growth strategy Banks are financing the fossil fuel industry’s next growth strategyFor the past two years, more than a dozen major banks have been not only reneging on their climate commitments, they’ve been actively making the crisis worse, Grist reports.In 2024 and 2025, during the leadup to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, all six of the nation’s largest banks abandoned the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a voluntary climate coalition, precipitating the Alliance’s complete shutdown in October. Since then, others including Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, HSBC, NatWest, Santander, and JPMorgan Chase have either weakened or scrapped their decarbonization targets.Now, new evidence shows banks are ramping up spending on fossil fuels. Beyond helping companies extract more oil and gas, they are bankrolling the industry’s pivot to plastics, fertilizers, and other petrochemical products.Two reports released in June illustrate the trend. An analysis from the Rainforest Action Network, or RAN, and other environmental groups found the world’s top 65 banks contributed $508 billion to companies expanding fossil fuel development in 2025. That’s a 27 percent increase since 2024, and more than any other year since at least 2016, based on the organization’s past analyses.The second report comes from the nonprofit Center for International Environmental Law, or CIEL. It found that, between January 2019 and June 2025, big banks gave the world’s top 15 petrochemical companies at least $591 billion in loans and underwriting. Some of that benefited integrated oil and gas corporations; the amount CIEL could directly attribute to petrochemical activities was $252 billion. (For context, New Zealand’s GDP is about $279 billion.)Together, the reports suggest that large financial institutions are enabling a long-term viability strategy for the fossil fuel industry, one in which declining demand for oil and gas in energy systems and transportation is offset by a boom in petrochemicals. Indeed, in recent years oil majors including Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco have invested heavily in that field by, among other things, acquiring majority stakes in plastics and chemical companies and retrofitting oil refineries to accommodate a shift in production.These investments reflect projections from the International Energy Agency that plastics, agrichemicals, and other petrochemical products will account for more than one-third of the growth in oil demand through 2030, and nearly half of it by 2050 — much more than other sectors like aviation and shipping.“Petrochemicals are not just a general growth area for fossil fuel companies,” said Ximena Banegas, global plastics and petrochemicals campaigner for CIEL and the author of the organization’s report. “They are a deliberate and pivotal strategy to ensure that we continue using fossil fuels.”Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and the Japanese bank Mizuho Financial were among the top banks increasing financing for fossil fuel expansion last year, RAN’s analysis found. All 65 banks it analyzed boosted funding across the board for new oil and gas exploration, transportation, and refining. But the largest growth by far was for transportation — including new pipelines and capital-intensive LNG export terminals, which can create a decades-long commitment to using methane gas.“It’s overall disappointing,” said Allison Fajans-Turner, a senior energy finance campaigner for RAN. “Banks are unfortunately continuing to put profits over responsible societal action.” She noted that fossil fuel financing is becoming more concentrated among a smaller number of large banks, primarily those based in North America and Japan, as several European banks have begun to scale back funding.RAN’s report didn’t look directly at financing for the production of petrochemicals, but some of its findings indicate growing interest in this portion of the industry. A significant increase in loans and underwriting for coal expansion, for example, is at least partially linked to a recent spike in the number of coal-to-chemical plants planned globally — mostly in China and India. Environmental advocates say these investments risk giving coal “a new lease of life.”Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho Financial are also among the top funders of petrochemical activities, according to CIEL’s report. The top 15 recipients of this funding include a mix of oil and gas, agriculture, plastics, and chemical companies, such as Exxon Mobil, Syngenta, LyondellBasell, and Dow.Although CIEL didn’t compare each year between 2019 and 2025, it did notice a significant jump in petrochemical finance in 2024, the last full year examined. As evidence of the industry’s ongoing expansion, Banegas pointed to a recent report estimating that 127 new polyethylene projects will come online between 2025 and 2030.CIEL’s report also notes the petrochemical industry’s outsize contribution to toxic chemical pollution and global warming. As of 2020, petrochemicals’ annual greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 1.9 billion metric tons, more than twice that of aviation and shipping.Fredric Bauer, a senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden, has conducted similar research on petrochemical financing between 2010 and 2020. He said it’s not surprising to see continued interest in big plastics and chemicals projects, although it is perhaps counterintuitive. Despite warnings from industry analysts that the petrochemical industry is in “structural decline” — as shown by a large number of canceled or delayed projects, downgradings from multiple credit rating agencies, and the recent plastics and agrichemicals price shocks due to the war with Iran — companies keep investing because they often “do not respond to conventional market signals,” he said.Rather than say, ‘“Oh, there’s oversupply, we should probably not invest in more supply or production capacity right now,’” their priority is “to ensure long-term markets for oil and gas.”A coalition of advocacy groups including CIEL are calling on big banks to end their support for fossil fuel and petrochemical expansion. They’d like to see policies against financing companies building facilities to produce virgin plastics and fossil fuel-derived fertilizers. They also want banks to require clients to adopt credible transition plans to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), which may include targets to reduce plastics use and phase out some pesticides.Fajans-Turner said the upward swing in fossil fuel financing reveals the weakness of voluntary sustainability commitments and reinforces the need for regulation. She suggested that, in addition to mandating more robust decarbonization plans from financial institutions, governments should require improved incorporation of climate risks when determining a borrower’s creditworthiness. “That would actually have many downstream consequences about who gets funding and who does not,” she said.Joel Tickner, a professor of public health at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and founder of an independent research initiative on sustainable chemicals, said it’s important that governments scale back loans and tax incentives supporting the fossil fuel industry, subsidies that amount to more than $1 trillion annually. Some of this money could help finance the development and commercialization of greener chemistry.Fossil fuel companies “have received decades of subsidies and financial support,” Tickner said. “If we’re serious about sustainable materials, then we need to put our money where we want to go.”This story was produced by Grist and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
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