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

Thursday, April 30th, 2026
	Congress ends record shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security Thursday's vote in the House provides funding for DHS after a more than two-month shutdown, but does not include dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
	Elementary school closing in Salem, IA The decision follows pushback from parents and community members in March who have opposed the closure.
	Myanmar junta says Suu Kyi moved to house arrest, doubts linger The secrecy surrounding Suu Kyi's new location has alarmed her son, Kim Aris, who says he has received no authoritative confirmation of her wellbeing.
	Elementary school closing in Mount Pleasant The decision follows pushback from parents and community members in March who have opposed the closure.
	Coya’s targets mid-May opening for Avenue of the Cities relocation Coya’s says its new Avenue of the Cities location is expected to open in mid-May following a nearly yearlong renovation project.
	Woman charged with intentionally setting fire at gas station pleads guilty A woman charged with setting a fire near a propane tank at a gas station has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
	Firefighters respond to trucking facility A KWQC crew could see emergency crews outside the business at about 10 a.m. in the 13200 block of US 150.
	'Baby Reindeer' creator Richard Gadd on his new show 'Half Man' and toxic masculinity Baby Reindeer was an unexpected hit on Netflix in 2024. Now its creator and star is back, with a series about two boys who become brothers after their mothers fall in love in 1980s Scotland.
	Eastern Iowa Community Colleges unveil first districtwide mascot Eastern Iowa Community Colleges unveiled the River Otters as its first districtwide mascot April 30, uniting its three campuses under one identity.
	Breasia Terrell's killer charged with 2003 assault of 5-year-old in Clinton County Henry Dinkins is accused of enticing a 5-year-old from her Clinton home and assaulting her in a cornfield near Grand Mound in 2003.
	3 spring novels star trad wives, grown-up boy band fans, and a pregnant septuagenarian Looking for a read that's complicated, gutsy and entertaining? Maureen Corrigan recommends Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke; American Fantasy, by Emma Straub; and Enormous Wings, by Laurie Frankel.
	Craig Venter, pioneering human genome decoder, dies at 79 Pioneering scientist J. Craig Venter has died at 79. His "whole genome shotgun method" helped genome sequencing become faster and cheaper.
	German American Heritage Center plans Volkswagen show The German American Heritage Center & Museum, 712 W. 2nd St., Davenport, will present its Volkswagen show from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Admission is free. On display will be air-cooled and water-cooled Volkswagen models and an exhibit of German-American culture. The show will be presented by the Bi-State VW Club, with Beetles Westfalia [...]
	Energy-efficient homes available for first-time home buyers in Muscatine A new opportunity for home-ownership is now available in Muscatine, as six newly constructed, energy-efficient homes are being offered for sale through a partnership led by the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, Muscatine Center for Social Action, and local collaborators, according to a news release. Designed for comfort, durability, lower entry purchase price, and long-term [...]
	Derby Day at the Mansion Rivermont Collegiate invites the community to celebrate Kentucky Derby Day. Drew Boster and Jesses Davis tell us how they're celebrating the race.
	Henry Dinkins arrested in connection with 2003 kidnapping, sexual assault in Clinton County The man convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell in July 2020 has been charged in a 2003 kidnapping and sexual assault in Clinton. The criminal complaint filed in Clinton County Court said on Tuesday, September 9, 2003 at or about 6:30 p.m., a 5-year-old [...]
	U.K. calls antisemitism an emergency after arson and stabbing attacks on Jewish people The British government pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing. But members of the community lashed out at the government.
	Henry Dinkins charged in connection with 2003 child sexual abuse cold case Henry Dinkins, who is serving life in prison in the death of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell, is facing a new charge in connection with a 2003 cold case.
	Muscatine Fire Department offers free Stop the Bleed course to help residents save lives Because a person can die from blood loss in as little as five minutes, the Muscatine Fire Department is empowering local residents to step in and save lives through a series of free Stop the Bleed training courses. The next session is scheduled from 8-10 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at Muscatine Fire Station #2. The [...]
	Weekend Rundown with WLLR \| April 30, 2026 There are many family-friendly events going on this weekend, and we've brought in Dani Howe from WLLR to break it down.
	Pay It Forward l Rock Island County woman rescues wildlife animals in need Shelly Sides has been a licensed wildlife rehabber for the last five years in Illinois City, Ill.
	Muscatine offering 6 energy-efficient homes for sale Muscatine officials hope they'll be able to get buyers into higher-quality homes for a lower entry price.
	Pay It Forward \| Rock Island woman fighting for all animals Shelly Sides works with local wildlife to rehabilitate creatures and release them back into the wild. Her work earned her the Pay It Forward award.
	Iowa man serving life for Breasia Terrell murder charged in 2003 sexual abuse cold case An Iowa man already serving life in prison for the murder of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell is now facing a new sexual abuse charge tied to a 2003 cold case involving a five-year-old girl.
	Woman who set fire at Davenport Kwik Star enters plea, sentenced to probation She entered a guilty plea to the lesser included offenses of third-degree arson, an aggravated misdemeanor, and interference with official acts, a simple misdemeanor.
	Traffic disruptions planned for repairs to Weinberg Arcade, Galesburg South Prairie Street in Galesburg is closed to all through traffic between East Main and East Simmons streets to facilitate private façade repairs to the Weinberg Arcade building at the corner of Prairie and Simmons, a news release says. The area of the closure is limited to the frontage of the Weinberg Arcade building. South [...]
	Man who hit Rock Island County deputy with stolen vehicle sentenced to prison, probation He pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and aggravated fleeing.
	Regional leaders gather to discuss reducing QC homelessness Regional leaders from across the Quad Cities met in Davenport on Wednesday, April 29 for a first-of-its-kind, bi-state working session focused on boosting progress to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
	Geneseo Municipal Electric commended by national association for low average outage time Geneseo has an average power outage time of 49.3 minutes per year compared to the average annual outage time of 169 minutes per year among all U.S. electric utilities.
	Frosty nights ahead in the Quad Cities Temperatures across the Quad Cities area started out in the 30s Thursday morning. A couple more chilly, frosty mornings are expected before we start to warm up later in the weekend. A few showers are possible later today and better rain chances move in by Sunday. Here's your complete 7-day forecast.
	Month of May brings action to Davenport Speedway May has traditionally been a month for great racing events. From the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of May, to the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, adrenaline-pumping events fill the calendar page. SR Promotions and Davenport Speedway are keeping with this tradition. Six big events are designed to have all motorsports fans fueled up [...]
	Davenport School Board approves Davenport North High School renovations and additions New career and technology education renovations will be coming to Davenport North High this summer.
	Quad-Cities officials lobbied in D.C. earlier this month. What did they say? Funding for the Rock Island Arsenal and local economic development projects were among the topics Quad-Cities leaders discussed with members of Congress and federal government staff this month.
	Train Food This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.On April the first, in 1980, a federal judge ordered the liquidation of the great Rock Island Lines. Local citizens who…
	To catch colorectal cancer early, advocates push to make 'poop talk' OK It's a very treatable form of cancer if caught early, yet younger adults rarely get screened. Patient advocates want more people to talk to their doctors about risk factors and number 2.
	These fans are boycotting the World Cup. Will they make it a bust? Some fans in the U.S. and around the world are unhappy with World Cup ticket prices — and U.S. immigration policies. So they're deciding not to come, raising concerns across the travel industry.
	Supreme Court paves the way for largest-ever drop in Black representation in Congress By weakening Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting, the Supreme Court has paved the way for the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress.
	After lackluster tour turnout, Turning Point wraps things up with excited crowd in Idaho The final stop on Turning Point USA's college campus tour at the University of Idaho seemed more like the organization's previous events, with audience member debates and an energetic, young crowd.
	The Iraq vet redefining mindfulness, one bourbon at a time Like many vets, it took Fred Minnick time to find the best way to cope with what he would learn was PTSD. For Minnick, sense and peace came with bourbon — and "taste mindfulness."
	Mirroring Gaza, Israel is destroying towns and villages in southern Lebanon In southern Lebanon, towns near the border with Israel have been largely destroyed by Israeli demolitions and strikes. Israel says it has been attacking Hezbollah infrastructure, but civilian infrastructure has also been significantly affected.
	Activists say Israel has intercepted their Gaza aid flotilla near Crete Activists sailing on dozens of boats attempting to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver aid say Israeli forces intercepted them, detaining the crews while the flotilla was sailing near the Greek island of Crete.
	How rising jet fuel prices are driving up the cost of fighting wildfires The Iran war has nearly doubled jet fuel prices in the United States. That means the bill for firefighting aircraft operations this summer will likely rise by tens of millions of dollars.
	Why gas prices rocketed up in Illinois and Iowa, other states Drivers in a handful of states may have noticed pump prices rapidly increase this week. It could impact more states soon.
	How a father and daughter duped NYC's art world with fake Warhols and Banksys A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings
	Trump says he is weighing reducing American troop presence in Germany after Iran feud President Trump suggested he could soon reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany as he continues to feud with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S-Israel war against Iran.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026
	Ben McCollum joins Joey Donia for interview after historic run to Elite Eight After leading Iowa the men’s basketball program to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987, momentum is quickly building for Ben McCollum’s Hawkeyes.
	‘Not a 12th chance’: Republicans demand bail law changes after police shooting The push came after two Chicago police officers were shot by a felon who was on pretrial release.
	Secretive push to build new Florida slaughterhouse endangers Lake O America has had a long love affair with cowboys. We picture them riding, roping, and ranching and just swoon. But we don’t like thinking about what happens to the cattle they’re tending, and how these critters wind up as the millions of burgers sold by McDonalds. To go from cows on the hoof to burgers on the bun, you need a slaughterhouse. A new one has been proposed for the edge of Lake Okeechobee, and it’s creating a lot of waves. “A proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County will bring more pollution and further generate toxic algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee,” the Treasure Coast newspapers reported last week. “Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms.” Oh, what a lovely stew! I’m surprised Campbell’s doesn’t sell that flavor. Seriously, though, dumping all that offal is an awful thing to do to Florida’s largest lake, which has already been named the most polluted lake in America. Fortunately, Martin County officials are right on top of this and — wait, what? They can’t do anything to stop it? Says who? Wilton Simpson via Florida Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services Says Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, that’s who. According to Simpson, local governments are preempted from regulating farm and farm-related operations such as this one by the state’s “Right to Farm Act.” Only his agency can say yes or no to this. Despite the shared last name, Simpson is no relation to the famous cartoon doofus Homer. But when I read that he believes Martin County can’t stop this project, I blurted out Homer’s catchphrase: “D’oh!” “I’m more opposed to the idea that you can’t even ask about this than I am to the proposal itself,” said Jim Howe of Audubon of Martin County. Hidden ranch I don’t know if you herd (sorry!) but Florida is where cattle ranching got its start in America. No matter what Hollywood has told you, the original American cowboys didn’t look, walk, or sound like John Wayne. They were Spanish-speaking vaqueros tending cows near St. Augustine in the 1500s. Over the centuries, Florida cattle ranchers have played a major role in making Florida the state that it became. In fact, the most beloved novel about Florida is a ranching story, “A Land Remembered” by Patrick Smith. It recounts the history of the pioneer MacIvey family as they become cattle ranchers who try to work with nature, then (tragically) switch to land development that involves destroying nature. Nowadays there aren’t as many ranchers as there used to be, thanks in part to all the developers converting pastures to pavement. The ones that remain often find a way to make money from more than just cattle. Take, for instance, the 2,300-acre Chancey Bay Ranch in Indiantown. While it maintains the traditional herd of cattle, it’s trying other methods for turning a profit. Mangos, for instance. On its somewhat wonky website, Chancey Bay brags that it’s trying to turn 750 acres into “one of the most significant domestic mango supply operations in the United States.” That’s in addition to its existing citrus groves and a nine-home subdivision. Greg Braun via subject The ranch owner, Tuny Mizrachi, is nothing like the pioneering MacIveys. Records show she’s 62 and owns a condo in Sunny Isles Beach, which is about as far from the rural ranching life as you can get. And her Chancey Bay Ranch has been working since 2020 toward building a 56,000-square foot slaughterhouse — roughly the size of your average grocery store – to turn a lot of bovines into all-beef patties. Mizrachi first notified Martin County she’d be seeking a permit to use 26 acres to build what the application calls a “high-end, grass-fed, Kosher and conventional animal processing facility.” In 2022, the South Florida Water Management District issued a water-use permit at that site to a Mizrachi-run company called CBR Investors LLC. The permit allows the company to suck 6.8 million gallons of water a year out of the ground. The water district quietly approved the permit despite the fact, Braun said, that Martin County is in a water cautionary area. The slaughterhouse plan progressed as if the cows were tiptoeing up wearing slippers. Most people in Martin County had no idea it was being considered. The first newspaper story on it ran last June. Greg Braun, executive director of the environmental group Guardians of Martin County, said he and his group didn’t know about the slaughterhouse until last year, when a Martin County commissioner called him to ask if they had taken a position on the project. You’ve heard of Hidden Valley Ranch? This is just “Hidden Ranch,” period. “They’re trying everything they can to keep this out of the public eye,” Braun told me. Furor over both the project and the secrecy boiled over during a February meeting of the Martin County Commission. Jim Moir via screengrab Mark Perry via Florida Oceanographic Institute Mark Perry, longtime executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, called the slaughterhouse “a terrible thing to happen to our community … . The pollution that will come from this is incredibly massive to our waterways.” “This is an industrial site that we do not have the wastewater treatment capacity for,” warned Jim Moir, executive director of the Indian Riverkeeper organization. “Nobody in the region has the capacity for the wastewater treatment that this facility would require. …This is going to be devastating for Lake Okeechobee.” The liquid heart Although it’s known as “the liquid heart of Florida,” most of Florida’s 23 million residents have never seen so much as an inch of 730-square-mile Lake Okeechobee. They know it only as that blue hole in the map of South Florida. They’re aware that it’s big and full of water, that’s all. They probably don’t know that Zora Neale Hurston once called it a “monstropolous beast” for the way it rose up during a 1928 hurricane and drowned the little towns around its southern rim. Many of them also don’t know that it was once considered a perfect place for catching bass. Now the waters are so messed up that if you want fresh fish, you’d do better to stop by the nearest Publix than drop a line in Lake O. The pollution in Lake Okeechobee isn’t confined to that massive body of water, either. When the lake level gets too high, its managers in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers open the gates on either side of the lake and let the tainted water flow out to estuaries on both coasts — the St. Lucie to the east and the Caloosahatchee to the west. Over the past 20 years, pollution-fueled toxic algae blooms in the lake have repeatedly been spread to those regions too, ruining their tourism-based economies. All those toxic blue-green blooms killing the fish chased away all the visitors with their spending green. The algae blooms tend to be really stinky, too. I once interviewed a lady from Jensen Beach, who said the guacamole-like bloom at the waterfront smelled “like death on a cracker.” You can see why adding even more pollution is a bad idea, right? Leah Kelly via Linkedin “A slaughterhouse will have a huge environmental impact,” Leah Kelly of the Center for Biological Diversity told me. “It’s kind of crazy to put a major cause of pollution by a lake that’s already experiencing problems with that.” Kelly’s organization has compiled an extensive report on the impact of slaughterhouses nationwide. It did so as part of a lawsuit designed to prod the federal government to take more seriously the pollution spewed by factory farms. She cited Environmental Protection Agency data that meat and poultry processing facilities are the second-largest industrial point source of nitrogen pollution flowing into waterways. Nitrogen fuels the toxic algae blooms, which do more than just kill marine life. “Those are threats to public health, too,” she told me. Yet, according to Braun, the state agency that’s supposed to regulate pollution in Florida, the state Department of Environmental Protection, has already ceded all decisions about this Indiantown project to Simpson’s agency. Wave the flag and hide Ranch representatives met several times with Martin County officials to go over the slaughterhouse proposal, according to Peter Walden, the county’s growth management coordinator. The county had a lot of questions about what was planned, he said. But once the ranch owner got that get-out-of-jail-free card from Simpson’s department, the rancher withdrew the county permit application for the slaughterhouse. Jim Howe via Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park Peter Walden via screengrab “It’s just bonkers,” Howe from the Audubon Society said. Because of Simpson’s intervention, he said, the public has been left in the dark about what to expect from the slaughterhouse. “I guess you can just hide what you want to do while you wave the flag and shout, ‘Freedom!’” he told me. Braun called for the commissioners to hire their own expert counsel to review the letter sent by Simpson’s department telling the county to back off. One commissioner made a motion to do just that, arguing that a slaughterhouse sounded more industrial than agricultural. After all, Martin County has a long tradition of being more diligent about protecting its natural resources than a lot of other counties. But other commissioners were hesitant to do anything to offend Simpson. The county gets millions from his department, and they didn’t want to lose that grant money. Adding to their worry was the news that Simpson had recently said no to a $1.9 million grant that the county had expected to receive. The implication was that Simpson said no because the county had raised questions about the slaughterhouse. Thus, instead of doing anything that could possibly upset the thin-skinned agriculture commissioner, they directed a staff member to open negotiations with the ranch and with Simpson’s agency. John Maehl via Linkedin I talked to the county’s designated negotiator, county environmental resource administrator John Maehl. “This has been a friendly engagement,” he told me. “We’re still in the planning part of the operation.” One thing he said that got my attention was that the severity of the problem of the slaughterhouse’s water pollution would depend on the ranch’s ability to meet the agriculture agency’s “best management practices.” A real lulu Braun joked that the slaughterhouse is what growth management experts refer to as a “LULU.” That’s an acronym for “locally unpopular land use” projects. Braun told me that his organization has submitted public records requests to various state and local agencies. What they got from the state was heavily redacted. But one document showed that the ranch is not complying with the state’s list of “best management practices” for farms and ranches. Those are voluntary techniques that minimize or eliminate pollution that would harm Florida’s waterways. The Florida Right to Farm Act says that any farm or ranch that wants to avoid complying with local regulations has to be in compliance with the agency’s best management practices. I tried repeatedly this week to contact Mizrachi about all this, either directly or via her attorney. Neither she nor her attorney ever responded, just as nobody from the ranch showed up for the Martin County Commission meeting. I also asked Simpson’s office how he could legally protect a ranch that’s not in compliance with what the law requires. One of his staffers asked to see the document, even though it was one of the state’s own. I’m still waiting for a comment. Simpson is a millionaire agribusiness executive who got rich running an industrial egg production facility in Pasco County. He’s more of an expert on chickens than cows. When he was in the Legislature, Simpson demonstrated that his only concern about Lake Okeechobee was that Big Sugar could continue using if it were a dentist’s spit bowl. He’s also the rare politician who contends that Florida preserves too much land from developers. In other words, he’s never been someone to prioritize protection of the environment over allowing a supporter to rake in a profit. A quick look through Simpson’s campaign contributions didn’t reveal any direct giving from Mizrachi, but of course, Florida’s once sun-drenched public records aren’t nearly as transparent as they used to be. As Martin County gets led like a lamb to the slaughter on this project, I doubt he will care what the locals think. I just hope that someone will be brave enough to point out this truth: Simpson’s only connection with America’s romantic cowboys is how much he loves to produce bull. Courtesy of Florida Phoenix
	Community members voice concerns about 'History Rocks' tour coming to Davenport elementary school The America 250 Civics Education Coalition, which created the event, is almost entirely comprised of conservative and right-leaning organizations.
	Community members voice concerns about 'History Rocks' tour coming to Davenport elementary school The tour has raised concerns from critics due to the number of conservative organizations supporting the initiative.
	Quad Cities leaders hold work session on homelessness Leaders from 5 cities in the Quad Cities area attended.
	Artist needed for downtown Burlington mural The selected design should reflect themes of nature, prairie grass and the legacy of Aldo Leopold, a well-known conservationist who was from Burlington.
	Iowa Farm Act to strengthen agriculture advances The Iowa Senate passed the state's farm act. The Iowa Farm Act would expand Iowa's agritourism industry and give targeted tax relief to farmers. The bill introduced by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig intends to strengthen rural communities and provide more support to farmers. The Senate unanimously passed the bill with an amendment. It [...]
	Illinois bill would ban cellphone use in schools A bill to ban cell phones in schools is gaining momentum in Illinois. Senate Bill 2427 would ban cellphone use throughout the day in all elementary and middle schools. Cellphones would be restricted during classroom instruction in high schools. The revised version already passed the House and could be on course to pass the Senate. [...]
	Iowa bill would make animal torture a felony Iowa is the only state in the country where animal torture is not a felony on the first offense, butthat could change soon. If passed, the crime could carry up to five years in prison and a fine of over $10,000. Our Quad Cities News Iowa Capitol Bureau correspondent Teodora Mitov has the latest as [...]
	Davenport's Horizon Science Academy students earns top places at STEMCON Horizon Science Academy Davenport, delivered an exceptional performance at Concept Schools’ annual STEMCON event, according to a news release. Competing against more than 1,000 students in grades 4–12 from across the network, HSA Davenport students demonstrated excellence, innovation, and determination—earning top placements across multiple competitions. Two all-girls coding teams from HSA Davenport earned first and second [...]
	Illinois residents can now call 211 for essential community services Illinois residents can now call 211 for help locating and connecting with essential community services. 211 Illinois started with 13 counties in 2009. Coverage across the state started April 29. The hotline can help with things like from basic needs like food, housing, legal support and support for veterans. Users can call 211 or text [...]
	Baltimore tries out new water testing system used during 2024 Paris Olympics Steven Mallette, president of Stelis Environmental Solutions, shows off the ColiMinder bacteria monitoring station placed in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood. The technology, which can provide results in under 15 minutes, was also used during the Paris Olympics in 2024. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)First the Seine, and now the Patapsco. A Baltimore nonprofit is employing the same technology used to monitor the Parisian river for triathletes during the 2024 summer Olympics in order to test Baltimore’s harbor — and, notably, get results in real-time. The group, Baltimore’s Waterfront Partnership, is currently planning its next iteration of Harbor Splash, a public swimming event first held in the harbor in 2024, in Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood. The technology, called ColiMinder, can conduct testing for E. coli bacteria in about 13 minutes, said Steven Mallette, president of Stelis Environmental Solutions, which sells the systems in much of the United States and Canada. E. coli is far from the only possible contaminant that can cause illness during swimming, but is one of the most likely culprits, he said. Ordinarily, getting such results takes — at minimum — 24 hours, said Allison Blood, the senior manager of environmental projects and advocacy at the Waterfront Partnership. That made it impossible to know the exact water quality on the day of a planned swimming event, Blood said. “On a swim day, at 6 a.m., we get the results for the day before, and then we take into consideration: Has it rained anywhere in the watershed last night?” Blood said. “We’ve had to cancel events when we felt like it would be safe to swim, but we didn’t have the information to provide to the public.” The partnership scheduled a swim day in 2025, but had to cancel it due to inclement weather. After rescheduling the event, the nonprofit wound up cancelling a second time, so no event was held last year. Another is planned for this summer, though a date hasn’t been announced yet. Generally, it is considered unsafe to swim in any natural waters in Maryland less than 48 hours after a heavy rain event, because stormwater transports garbage, sewage and other pollutants into bodies of water. In urban environments, the risk is particularly acute. Baltimore had not held a public swim event in decades before 2024’s event, which maxed out at 150 participants, including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D). It came after years of water quality monitoring from the partnership, which has determined that the harbor is generally swimmable as long as there has not been a rainstorm, and as long as no swimmers make contact with the former industrial harbor’s polluted bottom. They hope to one day unveil a permanent swimming area in the harbor. Steven Mallette, president of Stelis Environmental Solutions, displays the small tube that collects water from Baltimore's harbor for testing. The Coliminder bacteria testing, which can provide results in under 15 minutes, was also used during the Paris Olympics in 2024. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)Steven Mallette, president of Stelis Environmental Solutions, shows off the ColiMinder bacteria monitoring station placed in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood. The ColiMinder technology, which can provide results in under 15 minutes, was also used during the Paris Olympics in 2024. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)Allison Blood, senior manager of environmental projects and advocacy at Baltimore's Waterfront Partnership, speaks about the nonprofit's project using the ColiMinder bacteria testing system. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)Steven Mallette, left, president of Stelis Environmental Solutions, and Adam Lindquist, vice president of Baltimore's Waterfront Partnership, speak about the partnership's new water testing program using the company's technology. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)Baltimore's new water testing system, nicknamed Irina, can tabulate E. coli results in under 15 minutes, making swimming events easier to hold. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters) The ColiMinder system, which will supplement the partnership’s existing laboratory testing, is currently perched on a pier in Fells Point — close to the site of Harbor Splash. A thin tube snakes out of a large metal box, which collects harbor water using a specialized pump. Inside the box sit several large containers of different solutions — and a computer-sized object labeled “Irina,” a unique nickname for Baltimore’s water tester. “They just decided, rather than giving everything serial numbers, they give them all names. So each one has its own name,” Mallette said. From there, a reagent solution is added to the sample, causing a quick reaction that reveals the presence of any E. coli bacteria, he said. “There’s a phosphorescent reaction to the microbes in the water, and then there’s an optical sensor inside the machine that then observes that phosphorescence, and then it uses that to determine, with an algorithm, what the content is,” Mallette said. After that, a different solution washes out the equipment, allowing it to take a fresh sample after an approximately 15-minute cleaning cycle. The technology was developed by Austrian inventor Wolfgang Vogl, and can be operated almost entirely remotely, though the reagent and cleaning solutions must be refilled manually. “It does it all automatically,” Mallette said. “All the results are then given digitally, online, so there’s no cause for concern about people mishandling any tests, or there being like a lapse in timing between getting the test from the water and bringing it to the lab.” Mallette’s company is working to popularize the system — and maybe catch the eye of public health regulators including at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has not certified the technology, though it’s in use in cities including Sydney, Seattle and Montreal. The system costs about $100,000, Mallette said, but the Waterfront Partnership is currently renting the equipment as part of a pilot program during the summer swimming season. If all goes well, the partnership hopes to buy the system — and maybe more, said Adam Lindquist, the partnership’s vice president. “We would definitely be interested in pursuing this technology at other locations around the harbor, and using it to support the creation of — ultimately — a permanent swim site somewhere,” Lindquist said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Maryland Matters
	How has spring rain impacted drought conditions? Around six inches of rain fell in the region this April. Illinois State Climatologist Dr. Trent Ford explains if it's helped drought conditions after a dry winter.
	Friends of Vander Veer annual plant sale fundraiser to be held Friday through Sunday The non-profit continues the tradition May 1-3. It's a chance to pick up a gift for Mom and stock up on annual, perennial, and tropical plants. Proceeds benefit beautification and education at the park.
	Former alderman files open-meetings suit against City of Davenport A former alderman and Davenport mayoral candidate has filed suit against the Davenport City Council, accusing the council of violating open-meetings law, according to a petition filed April 22 in Scott County Court. In the suit, plaintiff Judith Lee names the council, Kyle Gripp, Jazmin Newton, Richard Dunn, Tim Dunn John Bunk, Ben Jobgen, Mark [...]
	Freight House outdoor market season to open this weekend The official launch of the 2026 outdoor season is happening May 2 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and May 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
	Red Ginger closing; operations, staff moving to reopened Izumi Steakhouse Bettendorf’s Red Ginger is closing, with its menu and staff moving to Izumi Steakhouse in Davenport, according to a Facebook post Wednesday.
	Traffic Alert: Part of South Prairie Street closed for building facade repairs The road is closed to through traffic between East Main and East Simmons streets so the Weinberg Arcade buildings facade can be fixed, according to a media release.
	Critics decry Nebraska’s ‘rush’ to be first enforcer of new federal Medicaid rules Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen in December announced that Nebraska would be the first state in the country to start implementing new federal work requirements for Medicaid health insurance recipients. The launch is Friday, May 1. Pillen appeared with a virtual Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)LINCOLN — The website of the state agency that oversees public health insurance for low-income Nebraskans will “undergo maintenance” starting Friday night, and brief outages could occur over the weekend. The possible service interruption comes as the state launches new work, volunteer or education requirements for some Medicaid recipients, a shift that watchdog groups fear will cause confusion and coverage loss for potentially tens of thousands of Nebraskans. (Screenshot of DHHS website) During a news conference Wednesday, critics called the timing of the website maintenance for the state Department of Health and Human Services yet another example of what they contend is Nebraska’s ill-planned and “rushed” approach to implementing changes — eight months ahead of the federal deadline. Friday, Nebraska becomes the first state to implement work and community engagement requirements called for in President Donald Trump’s tax and policy changes package Congress passed in 2025. While federal law set a January 2027 deadline for implementation, Gov. Jim Pillen has laid out an accelerated timeline for Nebraska. Organizations including Nebraska Appleseed, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Families USA led the Wednesday news teleconference to reiterate concerns. They said researchers estimate that between 20,000 and 41,000 Nebraskans are expected to lose coverage when the requirements are put into place. Appleseed’s Sarah Maresh believes other Medicaid recipients also will be impacted as DHHS staff takes on the additional work. ‘Red tape, bureaucracy’ The new requirements apply to work-eligible adults, ages 19 to 64, who are enrolled through the Medicaid expansion program. They must show they’re working or performing community service at least 80 hours a month or that they are enrolled in school at least half-time. Exemptions exist for people with serious medical conditions or who are full-time caregivers. Megan Word, Nebraska government relations director for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, said the state’s early implementation and federal “red tape and bureaucracy” barriers put Nebraskans with serious health conditions at risk by “making it harder” to access health care coverage and preventative cancer screenings. “These new requirements will mean Nebraskans will live sicker and die sooner — and that’s not what we stand for,” said Word. In a statement Wednesday, Nebraska DHHS defended the state’s approach. It said the state’s strategy reflects Pillen’s focus on promoting self-sufficiency and “helping Nebraskans live their best lives.” The Nebraska Medicaid team will implement work requirements in a “phased and operationally controlled manner,” the agency said, noting that no one would lose coverage on Day One. Sarah Maresh, director of Nebraska Appleseed’s health care access program. (Courtesy of Nebraska Appleseed) About 72,000 Nebraskans enrolled in Medicaid expansion are subject to the new work requirements and are to be reevaluated. That’s out of a total population receiving Medicaid benefits of 336,000 as of February, DHHS said. Maresh, health care access program director for Nebraska Appleseed, said during the news conference that no new funding or staffing has been appropriated for outreach and that many recipients at risk of losing insurance don’t know the change is coming. “We’re very nervous to see what this lack of investment means for Nebraska,” Maresh said. To that, DHHS said: “We want to be direct: Nebraska has made a substantial and sustained effort to reach every Medicaid expansion member through multiple channels, and that work began months before the May 1 implementation date.” ‘Getting this right’ In December, the agency said it sent individual notices by mail to each Medicaid expansion enrollee, informing them of new requirements. The agency said it also texted or emailed follow-up notices to those listing an electronic communication preference. Recognizing that not all notices are likely received or understood, DHHS said it has had ongoing engagement with community partners and social service agencies who work with Medicaid recipients. DHHS said other safeguards are in place and that it is “committed to getting this right.” “No one loses coverage without an opportunity to demonstrate they meet the requirements,” the statement said. Of DHHS website work scheduled this weekend, officials called it routine software maintenance. “If an outage occurs, it will only last a few minutes,” the statement said. Maresh and other critics say changes require updates to IT systems, streamlining of data sharing across various agencies and coordination with Medicaid managed area plans. They said Nebraska does not have the benefit of “comprehensive guidance” from the Trump administration. DHHS confirmed that no new staff was hired to support the work requirement implementation. Current team members, it said, have “foundational expertise” to absorb the additional work and have received training. U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson celebrates with fellow House Republicans during an enrollment ceremony of H.R. 1, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, at the U.S. Capitol on July 3, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The Medicaid and other safety net changes called for in the package Trump called “big and beautiful” aim to offset the costs of a domestic agenda that includes increased spending on immigration enforcement and tax cuts that primarily benefit high earners. Pillen, in announcing Nebraska’s accelerated timeline in December with Dr. Mehmet Oz, framed the requirements as a way to “prevent generational poverty in Nebraska.” Oz, who appeared virtually, is administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. ‘Hand up and not a hand out’ Pillen said the state’s strategy promoted a “hand up and not a hand out.” “We’re not here to take everybody to the curb … [but] making sure we get every able-bodied Nebraskan to be part of our community,” the governor said then. Schmeeka Simpson, a Nebraska mom of three who works multiple jobs and is a Medicaid recipient, said many people on Medicaid already work. “So this policy is not addressing laziness. It’s actually adding pressure to people who are already stretched thin,” she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Courtesy of Nebraska Examiner
	Fentanyl is behind many Utah overdoses. A DEA agent shows how easy it is to make Miguel Chino, assistant special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain field division, uses a pill press to demonstrate how easily fentanyl pills can be made on April 29, 2026. (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah) A federal drug enforcement official fired up a pill press in Salt Lake City Wednesday, cupping his hand to catch little blue tablets as the machine cranked and spat them out at a rapid pace. The highly unusual scene illustrated how easy it is to make and turn big profits from illicit pills containing the powerful synthetic opioid, said Miguel Chino, assistant special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain field division. “It only costs the cartel about one cent a pill,” Chino told reporters before starting the demonstration. “Here in the state of Utah, you buy a pill for $1 to $5, so the profit margin is extremely big.” Bags of illicit fentanyl are pictured in this undated photo. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) Chino and Melissa Holyoak, the first assistant U.S. attorney for Utah, touted their agencies’ efforts to fight a flood of illicit fentanyl in the state and across the country. They noted the DEA seized a record-high 2 million fentanyl pills in Utah last year and said they’re working toward a goal of eliminating the drug’s presence altogether. Their announcement came on a national day of awareness for the highly addictive drug and the devastation it’s caused families and communities. As Chino poured powder down a chute and into a pill press previously recovered by the DEA, he emphasized it did not contain any of the actual drug, of which even a tiny amount can be fatal. The officials attributed a national drop in drug overdose deaths and a similar downward trend in Utah largely to law enforcement efforts and prosecutions. But they said fentanyl pills, often made to look like less powerful drugs such as oxycodone, Xanax and Percocet, are still making their way to Utah communities from Mexico in large amounts. Just this week, Holyoak said, her office filed charges in a case involving 225,000 pills hidden away in pieces of ready-to-build furniture. “No matter how creative and no matter how much is being flooded into the United States, we will remain vigilant,” Holyoak said. The DEA accuses the Sinaloa and CJNG Cartels of being responsible for the majority of fentanyl entering the United States, which Chino said travels by bus or car. Often the pills are pressed before crossing the border into the U.S., but the drug also comes to Utah in powder form, Chino said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In Utah, fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine as the most common drug in overdoses in 2023, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The following year, the two drugs were about even, with meth involved in 44% of overdose deaths, and fentanyl in 43%. The federal officials said one death is too many and they’re working to prevent overdoses “We have men and women out all hours of the night working to eliminate this, seizing drugs, doing drug buys, doing search warrants, whatever they can do,” Chino said. In December, President Donald Trump designated the drug a “a weapon of mass destruction,” calling it “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic.” Trump has claimed without evidence that Venezuelan boats struck by the U.S. military last year were carrying fentanyl. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, most illicit fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Mexico and is mostly smuggled through official ports of entry by U.S. citizens. This week, the U.S. military said its latest strike on an accused drug-trafficking boat killed two “narco-terrorists.” The operation raised the death toll of the strikes that began in September to at least 170. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Utah News Dispatch
	Bridge washing to begin Friday in Rock Island, Whiteside and Carroll counties in Illinois Workers will begin washing bridges in Rock Island, Whiteside and Carroll counties in Illinois, including the Stanley Talbot Memorial (Centennial) Bridge in Rock Island, on Friday, May 1.
	Soaring diesel prices impacting delivery costs for small businesses A Geneseo, Illinois, business owner weighs in on how long they can avoid passing increased costs to customers.
	Iowa House votes to ban warrant resolution clinics after murder case The program allowed Polk County residents with minor warrants like traffic violations or missed court dates to have them cleared by a judge in exchange for meeting the terms of the punishment, like paying a fine.
	Quad Cities leaders meet to discuss reducing unsheltered homelessness Participants from five different cities in the area called the event a momentum-building opportunity where they were able to talk about working together to find solutions.
	Iowa radon mitigation bill moves forward The Iowa Senate unanimously passed a bill to require passive radon mitigation systems in new homes. Active radon systems use an electric fan to pull radon from the soil and ventilation to disperse it away from the home. A passive system doesn't require a fan or use electricity. House File 1027 was amended to add [...]
	Illinois bills could help fund safety-net hospitals Two bills in Illinois could help keep hospitals afloat and healthcare service workers on the job. There are 32 safety-net hospitals in Illinois that serve patients with little to no income or health insurance, relying heavily on Medicaid. A proposal in the Illinois Legislature would have the state provide stable funding for safety-net hospitals. Another [...]
	15 Davenport North student athletes sign college commitments Wildcats from the class of 2026 will be going on to play baseball, football and more.
	QC International Airport, Moline, starts its biggest terminal remodel ever In 18 months, the historic brick floors of the Quad Cities International Airport will be replaced with newer, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant floors. The clickety-clack of suitcases rolling across the bricks that previewed a memorable trip across the country will now be heard only in memories. "I almost wish we could keep them forever," [...]
	Bill for radon mitigation in new homes sees Iowa Senate approval Legislation requiring radon mitigation systems be placed in new single- or two-family residences received Senate amendment and approval. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)A bill to require radon mitigation in new Iowa homes saw Senate approval Wednesday, a move that advocates for the legislation say is a good first step toward further safety measures in the future. Members of the Iowa Senate unanimously voted to amend and pass House File 2297, which would require all newly constructed single- or two-family residences to have passive radon mitigation installed. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, would require local governments to adopt this new policy as well as the state building code commissioner. Many home builders include radon mitigation in new home construction, Webster said, but adding this requirement in state and local code will ensure equal access to methods of keeping radon, a carcinogenic gas, at safe levels in Iowa homes. “As we know, radon is a cause of lung cancer and (with) the cancer rates in Iowa, I think this is a step forward to help (in) making sure that we’re lowering those rates in Iowa,” Webster said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Cody Smith, director of climate initiatives in the Iowa Environmental Council, said this bill was one of the group’s priorities this session, alongside advocating for reinstated and increased funding for water quality monitoring. Radon was a main focus of Iowans who participated in listening sessions put on by the council and the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, which Smith said contributed to the report on impacts of environmental factors on cancer rates in the state. “The EPA action level for radon is four picocuries per liter of air, and it’s thought that about half of Iowa homes are above that standard,” Smith said. “And that is one of the highest, if not the highest in the country for radon exposure.” Lung, stomach and skin cancers have all been connected with radon exposure, according to the cancer report, and the gas is in second place for the leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. behind smoking. In Iowa, lung cancer is the third-most common cancer and causes a majority of cancer deaths in the state. As the bill was amended, it will head back to the Iowa House for consideration before hitting Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk. Smith said the amendment “strengthened” the bill and anticipates the legislation will pass through the legislative process to become law due to its bipartisan support. However, Smith said there is more the Legislature could and should be doing to mitigate cancer risks, including with radon. Since the legislation only applies to new homes, the Iowa Environmental Council has advocated for legislation creating a refundable $1,500 tax credit for homeowners to use to install their own mitigation system. Other environmental factors studied in the report include forever chemicals, nitrates and other carcinogens, each of which there are practices to address, but Smith said there are “gaps in our regulations and policies” that seek to protect Iowans’ health from pollutants. “We’ll be laser focused on this issue in the future,” Smith said. “We expect to hopefully have a Legislature next year that is even more informed and more ready to act on these things, and we’re going to continue to push them down that path as much and as hard as we can.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Iowa Capital Dispatch
	North Carolina lawmakers, teens reiterate call to raise tobacco age limit to 21 Rep. Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston) holds up a vaping device with a built-in video game, which he said makes the product even more addictive, at a press conference in Raleigh on April 29, 2026. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)More than a dozen teens stood with North Carolina lawmakers Wednesday to call for tighter restrictions on tobacco products. Nearly all said they knew friends or peers who had already started vaping in high school. Advocating alongside Rep. Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston) and Rep. Grant Campbell (R-Cabarrus), the students urged the General Assembly to take up House Bill 430, a proposal to raise the age limit on tobacco products to 21 in line with federal law and require retailers to obtain a tobacco permit to sell them. “I’m just wondering: are the adults paying attention?” asked Pranika Senthil, a Cabarrus County teen on the Tobacco 21 Coalition and Youth Council. “Young people aren’t just making careless choices. We’re being constantly exposed in ways that make these products feel harmless and easy to access, which means we really need adult help.” The bill — also known as Solly’s Law in memory of 15-year-old Solomon Wynn, who died of complications related to vaping in 2021 — stalled in the House Rules committee soon after it was introduced last year, as did its counterpart in the Senate. Teens press NC lawmakers to raise the age for tobacco, vape products to 21 Loftis, one of the bill’s lead sponsors in the House, tied teen vaping and other tobacco use to more dangerous drugs and violent altercations. He cited a fatal stabbing in Winston-Salem last December during a fight between two teenagers over a vape pen. Later that month in Iredell County, two teenagers were shot during an attempted armed robbery of vape pens containing the hallucinogen THC. “We’ve now progressed from just a simple vaping issue among teenagers. This is a deadly game among young people,” Loftis said. “It is way past time for this bill to be moved into the committee process so that North Carolina can feel good about protecting these young teenagers.” Loftis pointed to a North Carolina Department of Revenue report from January that found retailers selling 24,773 vape and other tobacco products that cannot be legally sold in the state because they do not appear on the state’s approved product directory. In addition, he said, North Carolina law enforcement agencies have observed vape shops and tobacco retailers “increasingly serving as distribution hubs for illegal, dangerous drugs,” such as the powerful stimulant known as khat and the opioid tianeptine. “Vape shops are serving as distribution points for substances far more dangerous than generic vaping products,” Loftis said. North Carolina is one of six states that has thus far declined to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales following the new federal age limit of 21 set in December 2019. It is one of eight states that does not require tobacco retailers to be licensed. These policy decisions pose significant hurdles for law enforcement even when stores are carrying illegal products, said North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Director Bryan House. “We don’t have information of where these businesses are, other than making observations or receiving complaints,” House said. “There is no body that has any administrative control or sanctioning authority against these businesses.” Courtesy of NC Newsline
	Single campus could be coming to Central DeWitt Schools The Central DeWitt School District could see some changes to their school after the school board approved its master facilities plan.
	Cooler than normal temps last into the weekend in the Quad Cities After a warm start to April, things are ending on a much different note! It's gone down below normal lately, and that does not look to change until early next week (May starts on Friday.) Here are the highs for the next 7 days: And this is how they compare to normal for this time [...]
	See how much it costs to attend Seattle Mariners games HE Photography // Shutterstock See how much it costs to attend Seattle Mariners games Way compiled a look at the affordability of attending Seattle Mariners games. Ticket rates were aggregated from official primary ticketing partners and major resale marketplaces based on availability as of March 2025. Estimated game day costs reflect one average ticket, one beer, one hot dog, one soda, and one parking spot. Prices are estimates based on publicly available data and do not include taxes or fees.While Major League Baseball remains one of the most accessible major sports leagues in the U.S., prices vary significantly by market. Large coastal teams tend to command higher ticket prices, while smaller markets often offer more budget-friendly experiences.How much it costs to attend Seattle Mariners games- 2026 Stadium: T-Mobile Park- Ticket prices: $32.00 (National rank: #18 most expensive)- Concession total: $15.00 (National rank: #19 most expensive)--- Beer (16oz): $5.00--- Hot Dog: $5.00--- Soda: $5.00- Average parking price: $23.17- Estimated total cost of attending a game: $70.17MLB teams with the highest average ticket prices#1. New York Yankees ($67.75)#2. Houston Astros ($64.29)#3. Chicago Cubs ($55.10)#4. Los Angeles Dodgers ($54.24)#5. Washington Nationals ($46.02)MLB teams with the lowest average ticket prices#1. Miami Marlins ($23.61)#2. Arizona Diamondbacks ($25.15)#3. Chicago White Sox ($25.58)#4. Cincinnati Reds ($25.58)#5. Pittsburgh Pirates ($26.93) This story was produced by Way and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	See how much it costs to attend Arizona Diamondbacks games Arina P Habich // Shutterstock See how much it costs to attend Arizona Diamondbacks games Way compiled a look at the affordability of attending Arizona Diamondbacks games. Ticket rates were aggregated from official primary ticketing partners and major resale marketplaces based on availability as of March 2025. Estimated game day costs reflect one average ticket, one beer, one hot dog, one soda, and one parking spot. Prices are estimates based on publicly available data and do not include taxes or fees.While Major League Baseball remains one of the most accessible major sports leagues in the U.S., prices vary significantly by market. Large coastal teams tend to command higher ticket prices, while smaller markets often offer more budget-friendly experiences.How much it costs to attend Arizona Diamondbacks games- 2026 Stadium: Chase Field- Ticket prices: $25.15 (National rank: #28 most expensive)- Concession total: $12.70 (National rank: #28 most expensive)--- Beer (16oz): $5.13--- Hot Dog: $3.07--- Soda: $4.50- Average parking price: $18.33- Estimated total cost of attending a game: $56.18MLB teams with the highest average ticket prices#1. New York Yankees ($67.75)#2. Houston Astros ($64.29)#3. Chicago Cubs ($55.10)#4. Los Angeles Dodgers ($54.24)#5. Washington Nationals ($46.02)MLB teams with the lowest average ticket prices#1. Miami Marlins ($23.61)#2. Arizona Diamondbacks ($25.15)#3. Chicago White Sox ($25.58)#4. Cincinnati Reds ($25.58)#5. Pittsburgh Pirates ($26.93) This story was produced by Way and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Supreme Court appears to lean toward ending TPS for some migrants The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to the Trump administration's move to end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians in the country.
	Quad Cities airport takes off with $19 million in new improvements The Quad Cities International Airport held a groundbreaking Wednesday, April 29, for the $19-million Phase 2 of its Project GATEWAY, to take a year and a half to complete.
	Body of missing Clinton, Iowa, man found along the Mississippi River in Cordova, Illinois Dermot Bly was reported missing after he was last seen on April 16. The Rock Island County coroner said his preliminary cause of death is presumed to be drowning.
	Second phase of terminal upgrades begins at Quad Cities International Airport Phase Two of Project GATEWAY will total over $19 million. This phase is the largest and most publicly visible part of the years-long terminal renovations.
	The Austrian nuns who fled their care home are now in Rome and visited the Vatican The three octogenarian nuns, who made headlines last year after they broke back into their convent, joined others at St. Peter's Square for a general audience with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday morning.
	Callais fallout in Alabama: No redistricting now, says Ivey; partisan divides over SCOTUS ruling Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, discusses a Democratic congressional map proposal during a special session on redistricting on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Montgomery, Ala. Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday said she would not call a special session for redistricting following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that will make it significantly harder for plaintiffs to challenge maps on the basis of racial discrimination. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector)Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling significantly limiting majority-minority districts should not have an immediate effect on Alabama’s legislative and congressional districts. But that could change in the future. In a 6-3 decision, in a case called Louisiana v. Callais, Justice Samuel Alito held that a Louisiana congressional map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and ruled that plaintiffs challenging legislative maps for racial discrimination under Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act had to show intent to discriminate by lawmakers. Under prior case law, plaintiffs had to show the effect of maps was discriminatory. “The focus of (Section) 2 must be enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination,” Alito wrote. “When (Section) 2 is properly interpreted in the way we have outlined, it is sufficiently congruent with and proportional to the Amendment’s prohibition. While that interpretation does not demand a finding of intentional discrimination, it imposes liability only when the circumstances give rise to a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred.” SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act limited states from using maps that would dilute the voting power of minority citizens. Justice Elena Kagan, joined by justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the court’s opinion, Kagan cited Allen v. Milligan, the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision which resulted in Alabama drawing a near-majority Black congressional district due in part to polarized racial voting patterns. Plaintiffs in Milligan argued that a congressional map drawn by the state illegally put Black voters into a single district while also breaking up clusters of other Black voters across the state to minimize the vote of marginalized communities. “Given the state’s racially polarized voting, (marginalized residents) cannot hope—in the way the state’s white citizens can—to elect a person whom they think will well represent their interests,” Kagan wrote. “Their votes matter less than others’ do; they translate into less political voice. Or, as this court put it recently, the cracking makes a ‘minority vote unequal to a vote by a nonminority voter.’” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey speaks to college and university students during a meal for Higher Education Day, an annual rally for college and university funding, on Feb. 19, 2026 at the Alabama State Capitol. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The maps drawn in the wake of Milligan will stay in place for now. Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that she supports the Supreme Court’s decision but that the state is “not in position to have a special session at this time” to redraw congressional districts. A federal court last year ordered Alabama to maintain its current maps through 2030. “While I am encouraged by this decision, it does not yet resolve our ongoing redistricting fight over Alabama’s congressional map,” she said. “For too long, federal courts forced states like Alabama into a no-win situation at the hands of activists who want us to draw maps that discriminate against our own citizens based on race.” Alito wrote in his majority opinion Wednesday morning Allen v. Milligan would not be overturned. “(Allen v. Milligan) did not address whether “race-based redistricting” under (Section 2) could ‘extend indefinitely into the future’ despite significant changes in conditions, … nor did it address whether (Section 2) plaintiffs must disentangle race from politics in proving their case,” Alito wrote. Janai Nelson, president and director of counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said her organization doesn’t think Alabama the court will overturn Milligan in the future. “We are still assessing what the implications are in Alabama, but we, based on our reading of the decision, have no reason to believe that there should be any backtracking in Alabama, and we stand ready to challenge any maps that we feel discriminate against Black voters,” she said. Reactions Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall speaks at the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor ceremony in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 2, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Reaction to the court’s decision fell down party lines. Alabama Republicans praised the court’s opinion on Callais. “The Court has shut the door on vote-dilution claims that use racial data to disguise what are really partisan disputes,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a candidate for U.S. Senate, said in a statement. “Alabama has been fighting this battle for many years, and today the Supreme Court confirmed our long-held argument that States must not use race, either to help or to harm particular voters, when drawing voting districts.” U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, who is also running for the Senate, called for the Alabama Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional map following the decision in a post on X Wednesday morning. “I know what it’s like to have my district redrawn to dilute conservative voters’ voices and make way for a Democrat seat,” the post said. “We should be drawing districts based on communities, not race. The Constitution demands it, and the American people deserve it.” Democratic leaders and organizations across the state condemned the decision. “Three years ago, the Supreme Court used [the Voting Rights Act] to require Alabama to draw fairer congressional districts after the Court found the previous maps weren’t giving voters a real choice.” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in a social media post Wednesday. “Today, that same Court walked it back … the bigger damage will be at the local level, where two-thirds of Section 2 cases are actually litigated. City councils. School boards. County commissions. The places where everyday democracy happens.” U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, speaks with a marcher after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge during commemorations of the the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday on March 8, 2026 in Selma, Ala. (Estela Munoz for Alabama Reflector) Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, called the decision a “slap in the face to Black voters in Alabama” in a statement released by the Alabama House Democratic Caucus. “Rest assured that I, and my colleagues in the Alabama House Democratic Caucus, will continue to fight against all forms of gerrymandering. People should have the right to pick the politicians that they want to represent them, not the other way around. As we have said from the beginning, fair elections begin with fair maps,” he said U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said the decision is a “death sentence” to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in a statement posted to social media. “The right-wing Supreme Court has not only turned its back on decades of precedent and ignored the will of the people, but it has weakened the foundational principle safeguarding fair representation for Black and minority voters,” she said. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, whose seat was created as a result of Milligan, said in a statement that while his district will remain until 2030, some states will fight to have their maps redrawn. “Although today’s decision does not make changes to Alabama’s current congressional districts, it has made proving future racial discrimination in redistricting cases significantly tougher,” the statement said. “It will lead to states, primarily in the South, launching immediate efforts to redraw districts in ways that will dilute the impact of Black voters and drastically reduce the number of realistic opportunities to elect Black members to Congress.” Louisiana v. Callais was first argued last year, after a group of non-Black voters in Louisiana challenged a congressional map as being an unconstitutional racial gerrymander when a new district of mostly Black voters was added to the state. Alanah Odoms, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisiana said Wednesday afternoon the court’s decision will be used as a test case. “There is a federal track that is happening to curtail the rights of Black voters, and there is a state track. It is the same playbook, and it is exactly the same goal,” she said. “What I assert to you today is Louisiana is the test case. It always has been what works here will be exported.” Courtesy of Alabama Reflector
	Davenport speed cabinet knocked over, now back up One of Davenport’s new mobile speed cabinets got knocked over.
	WIU launches 'Rolling Rural' podcast about rural transportation John Bannon, host of Rolling Rural, joined The Current to discuss why he wanted to start the podcast and what he hopes viewers learn from it.
	Some Pa. lawmakers want to end daylight saving time, but impacts are uncertain The sun rises Oct. 19, 2024, over the hills of Berks County near Hamburg, Pa. (Photo by Peter Hall/Capital-Star)Changing clocks to spring forward and fall back has its detractors, but is making daylight saving time or standard time permanent a better idea? Traffic safety and sleep science experts testified Wednesday before the state House Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee on a trio of competing bills that would end the twice yearly ritual. Under the federal Uniform Time Act, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, states may opt out of daylight savings but may not make it a permanent change. So, state legislators and Gov. Josh Shapiro could exempt the commonwealth from the federal daylight saving mandate by passing a single bill. But the committee’s chairman, Rep. David Delloso (D-Delaware), said he’s not ready to call a vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The benefits of ditching daylight savings time are clear on paper: They include better sleep and health, and improved academic performance by high school students. Two states, Arizona and Hawaii, have already done it. Dr. Indira Gurubhagavatula, a University of Pennsylvania professor of medicine, said science supports a permanent return to standard time. She said data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows Americans are chronically sleep deprived and losing an hour of sleep each spring is significant, she said. “We all know how this makes us feel the Monday after the switch in April, we are exhausted, we’re unwell, we have headaches, we can’t focus, we’re late for school or work, and we make mistakes. But there are also even more serious problems,” said Gurubhagavatula, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said. There are more heart attacks, strokes, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, injuries, accidents, and exhaustion, she said. “People get depressed. There are more overdoses and even suicides.” Those problems can last for months after a time change because of the way the human body’s internal clock works. Darkness in the evening prompts the body to produce the hormone melatonin, which signals the brain to sleep. Bright light in the morning tells the brain to turn off melatonin secretion, and we wake up, Gurubhagavatula said. “So we need morning light and we need evening darkness for our internal clock to synchronize with the day night cycle.” Changing the clocks disrupts circadian rhythm, she said, and often leads to a condition called social jet lag, when people stay up later after a time change and then try to catch up on sleep on the weekends. For teenagers, this is exacerbated by a hormonal shift to later bedtimes and later wake ups, said Amy Goldman, co-founder of the Regional Adolescent Sleep Needs Coalition, which advocates for later start times in school to allow students to get more sleep. So far, 48 schools or school districts in 23 Pennsylvania counties have adjusted their bell schedules to better align with adolescent sleep needs, she said. “To fully realize these benefits for our adolescent students, we must ensure that our state’s clock supports the same principles,” she said. But committee members noted routines such as agricultural work or youth sports could be thrown off kilter by mornings or evenings that are permanently darker. The edge of a cornfield in Ronks, Lancaster County on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star) “It absolutely begs more discussion because of the impact on families in Pennsylvania,” Delloso said. Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) is the prime sponsor of House Bill 119 to end the use of daylight saving time in the commonwealth. Rep. Milou Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) is the prime sponsor of H.B. 153 to put the commonwealth on daylight saving time permanently if Congress also passes legislation allowing it. The committee is also considering House Resolution 349, introduced by Rep. Joe McAndrew (D-Allegheny), to urge Congress to require all states to permanently observe daylight saving time year-round. Five such bills are also before Congress: House and Senate versions of the Daylight Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent in all states. One Senate bill would set clocks half an hour ahead across the country; two in the House would make year-round daylist saving optional for states. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, lawmakers across the country have introduced around 800 bills dealing with daylight savings time. Nineteen states have passed legislation similar to Mackenzie’s bill. Some, including Pennsylvania’s neighbor Delaware, adopted it with provisions that they would change their clocks only if contiguous states also choose permanent daylight saving time. None of the commonwealth’s other adjacent neighboring states have taken action. If the General Assembly passes legislation to end or embrace daylight savings time, it would be a leader in the northeastern United States. Diamond introduced his bill by noting the original intent of daylight saving time was to save energy. “Saving energy never really materialized. But what did materialize is measurable negative impacts on health, public safety, productivity and academic achievement,” he said. “Changing clocks does not save any daylight either. It merely forces us to adjust our bodies to a government mandate which attempts to subvert geography and the Earth’s natural seasonal changes.” Daylight savings is relevant to road safety because it affects how much daylight there is during peak times for travel – and there’s a clear link between darkness and fatal crashes, according to Chuck Farmer, vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Fewer than a quarter of trips begin at night, but nighttime crashes account for more than half of motor vehicle occupant deaths and 77% of pedestrian fatalities. Farmer noted the United States is in the midst of what he described as a road safety emergency, with highway deaths increasing by a fifth between 2014 and 2024. Farmer said, however, that a study of road deaths around the time changes was inconclusive. Researchers looked at U.S. Department of Transportation data for five weeks before and after time changes between 2010 and 2019. Crashes resulting in the deaths of vehicle occupants fell 7% in the five weeks after the fall time change, when setting clocks back an hour makes mornings brighter, and increased 12% after the spring time change. The opposite was true for pedestrians and bicyclists, with fatal accidents increasing 13% in the fall and decreasing 24% in the spring. “Really the only conclusion that we have from our study is that you don’t want the roads to be dark when people are out there, because there are more fatal crashes in the dark,” Farmer said, adding that improvements in road design, lighting and pedestrian safety are known solutions. Asked whether choosing daylight savings over standard time or vice versa would be more beneficial to public safety, Farmer replied, “Not changing the clock anymore is better than changing the clock twice a year.” Courtesy of Pennsylvania Capital-Star
	Your first weekend of May! With the month of May just around the corner, the weather is looking perfect to get outside and enjoy it. While temperatures are remaining cooler than normal in the upper 50s and low 60s heading into the weekend, we will see those temperatures jump back to near 70s by Sunday and for a nice start [...]
	“For the Love of Peter,” May 8 and 9 As part of the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's third-annual Pride Celebration, the Moline venue will host the debut of local actor/playwright Don Faust's comedy For the Love of Peter, an original one-act being presented on May 8 and 9.
	House extends a controversial spy tool, but Senate path is unclear ahead of deadline The House has approved a three year extension of the surveillance program known as FISA Section 702. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces a difficult path to final passage.
	Lena brewery hosts fundraiser after EF-2 tornado damages town The Lena Brewing Company was spared from the storm, but several homes, businesses and even the local school sustained extensive tornado damage. Here's how to help.
	People with disabilities ask NC legislators for funding to support community living Kay McMillan, seated left, looks on as her mother, Sandy McMillan speaks at a news conference about a Medicaid program for people with disabilities on April 29, 2026. (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline)People with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families stressed to North Carolina legislators the importance of helping the thousands of people waiting for assistance through Medicaid. More than 20,000 people were waiting for what’s called a Medicaid Innovations Waiver at the end of last year, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. That’s up from about 18,500 in mid-2024. Speakers emphasized their reliance on the waiver, which pays for the direct care workers who help them live independently. Kay McMillan, 31, graduated from N.C. State University, runs a small nonprofit, and lives in a townhouse with roommates. She uses a wheelchair and made a statement at a Wednesday news conference using a computer program. “Medicaid does not just support my life. It makes my life possible,” she said. “Without it, I do not just lose modest services. I lose my independence, and you would be sentencing me to a nursing home where I could not continue to contribute to my community and continue to reach my potential.” Kay’s mother, Sandy McMillan, said she’d do anything to help her daughter. “But I cannot be her entire system of support,” Sandy McMillan said. “Medicaid cuts would force family members to become full-time care givers. And while our love is infinite, our bodies are not.” People sit on the list for years, and some die waiting to move to the top. Disabled people are moving out of institutions, but the waiting list for services keeps growing Some who make it off the waiting list find it hard to secure the help they need because there’s a shortage of direct support workers. Rep. Zack Hawkins (D-Durham), who helps lead the legislature’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Caucus, said he will reintroduce a bill aimed at cutting the waiting list and increasing pay for direct support workers to between $18 and $22 an hour “to ensure that everyone has access once they get a waiver slot.” Michelle McWilliams has been Kay McMillan’s direct care worker for eight years. McWilliams said she makes $19 an hour. At a forum Wednesday morning, Dr. Kate Westmoreland, medical director of the UNC Down Syndrome Clinic, told legislators of families who are paying thousands of dollars a year out of pocket for special formula or medical supplies, items the Medicaid waiver would cover. “There’s a quiet crisis happening to families who are doing everything, working hard, paying for private insurance, trying to stay afloat,” she said, and they’re still slipping through the cracks as they wait for an Innovations Waiver. Dr. Kate Westmoreland talks to NC legislators on about the need for Medicaid support for children with Down Syndrome on April 29, 2026. (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline) “Waiting looks like a single mother, a school teacher, spending $10,000 every year on medical nutrition just so her 3-year-old can grow,” Westmoreland said. “Waiting looks like a truck driver father whose 2-year-old daughter is learning to walk but who cannot afford the ankle braces to give her the support she needs to take her first steps because they cost $1,500 out of pocket.” Westmoreland asked legislators to end the waiting list for children, or to make them eligible for basic Medicaid once they’ve been approved to receive services through the Innovations Waiver. People who have waivers do not have to meet income requirements for basic Medicaid. The legislature used federal money to add waiver slots during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Talley Wells, executive director of the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities. But that extra money is no longer available. Gov. Josh Stein included funding for 200 additional waiver slots in his proposed 2026-2027 budget, at a cost to the state of about $9.4 million. Meantime, Republican legislators are looking for ways to reduce Medicaid costs. Neither the House nor the Senate included additional waiver slots in their proposed budgets. The legislature did not pass a budget last year. Courtesy of NC Newsline
	Quad Cities to host international team handball competition A large handball competition will be held in the Quad Cities.
	Long a dream, it's now real: a fast and accurate TB test that doesn't need phlegm TB tests use phlegm — not the easiest thing to get or work with. It takes time for results. And there can be false negatives and positives. A new test is more accurate and takes less than half an hour.
	WV opens application period for some Rural Health Transformation funds Patrick Morrisey and West Virginia Health Secretary Dr. Arvin Singh speak during a news conference March 10, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey)The West Virginia Department of Health has started to accept applications for the first $28.5 million in federal Rural Health Transformation program funding, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office said. “We did the work to bring this program to West Virginia, and now these resources are available to the organizations on the ground that can put them to use,” Morrisey said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. “As these resources are deployed, we’ll see more West Virginians back on the job and stronger, healthier communities across the state.” The first tranche of money will be distributed to eligible organizations to support three of the governor’s initiatives: Mountain State Care Force, which aims to recruit, train and retain medical professionals in the state HealthTech Appalachia, which will invest in technology to address chronic disease and addiction and promote personal wellness Connected Care Grid, which aims to increase access to telehealth access at homes and in community facilities like libraries and schools. The funding will support “structured career pathways, hands-on apprenticeship models, high school engagement programs, and expanded clinical training capacity to grow the next generation of healthcare professionals and help more West Virginians enter or return to the workforce,” the governor’s office said. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid awarded West Virginia $199 million through the Rural Health Transformation program for fiscal year 2026. The state plans to announce more funding opportunities for the program over the next few days. Eligible organizations will have two weeks from each grant posting to apply for the funding, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health said. Applications for the first batch of funding are due at 11:59 p.m. May 11. The five-year program aims to “transform the existing rural health care infrastructure and build sustainable healthcare systems that expand access, enhance quality of care, and improve outcomes for patients.” The $50 billion federal program was authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to cut Medicaid funding to West Virginia hospitals by $1 billion per year once it’s fully implemented. “This is a major step forward in our work to improve health outcomes and transform the workforce across West Virginia,” State Secretary of Health Dr. Arvin Singh said in the news release. “By investing in long-term, system-level solutions through initiatives like the Mountain State Care Force, HealthTech Appalachia, and the Connected Care Grid, we are making meaningful, lasting investments in our healthcare workforce and ensuring communities across the state — especially those in rural areas — have access to high-quality care now and for the future.” Organizations can find more details and access the application at the state’s procurement and grants management system at wvOASIS.gov. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of West Virginia Watch
	Pennsylvania community health centers request $5M for ‘crumbling’ safety net backbone Pennsylvania Community Health Center CEO and President Shelley Riser speaks in the Capitol on April 29, 2026. In addition to primary care, community health centers provide a myriad of services, from dental to pharmacies. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)With healthcare access and outcome gaps persistently high, inflated by ever-growing costs, community health centers pitched themselves Wednesday as a way to reduce barriers and provide quality care across the commonwealth. But they need a little help from the state to keep going. Conscious of the competing budget requests straining the $53.2 billion spending plan proposed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, health center staffers asked for $5 million — down from last year’s $50 million request. Pennsylvania is one of four states without any dedicated line item for “this critical safety net,” according to the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC), though various state grants do make up the largest revenue stream. Manal El Harrak, the CEO of Sadler Health Center in Cumberland County, calls community health centers the “backbone” of the primary care system. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star) “Because we are community based and community governed, we do whatever it takes to take care of our communities,” said Manal El Harrak, the CEO of Sadler Health Center, which has three locations in Cumberland County. “We are the backbone of the primary care system here in the commonwealth and nationally. However, the backbone is crumbling.” Organizations under PACHC assist more than 1 million patients — many of whom are low-income — across 450-plus centers each year, according to its annual report. About 16% of patients are uninsured and 44% are on Medicaid or CHIP, the public option for children. El Harrak and others pointed to low Medicaid reimbursement and diminishing returns from federal drug programs as challenges for centers. Previous analysis from Matrix Global Advisors, on behalf of PACHC’s national arm, found that community health centers reduce overall demand for healthcare services and add billions to the commonwealth’s economy. “This $5 million will go a long way for the patients that they care for in community health centers all across Pennsylvania,” said Rep. La’Tasha Mayes (D-Allegheny). “It is a small amount compared to the great work that all these centers do.” State House lawmakers advanced the budget earlier this month on a bipartisan vote, without the $5 million request. Leaders in the Republican-controlled Senate, however, criticized the proposal’s “unsustainable” spending. Health disparities persist, with some positive news The request comes on the heels of new data documenting the gap between health access and outcomes across racial and ethnicity, with Black and Hispanic Pennsylvanians lagging behind their white and Asian American or Pacific Islander counterparts. The New York-based Commonwealth Fund’s 2026 health disparities report concluded that the state’s inequity was less severe than other Mid-Atlantic states, putting Pennsylvania in the middle of the pack across several measured categories. Combating stubbornly high Black maternal mortality with ‘Justice and Joy’ in Pa. But organization President Joseph Betancourt emphasized that such disparities “are not inevitable,” but rather “shaped by policy choices and health system decisions that can be changed.” “States that perform well have taken the pains and the efforts to collect data and to identify and address gaps,” said Betancourt. “When they do, particularly with the focus on those that are the most vulnerable, what we see is an improvement in (overall) health system performance.” Researchers also pointed to community health workers and incentivizing care in underserved communities as ways to shrink the difference. Black Pennsylvanians are more likely to die before the age of 75 from a preventable cause that can be targeted at a public health level, such as kidney disease, diabetes and certain cancers. But gaps for children are much smaller. Roughly two-thirds of Black, Hispanic and white children got age-appropriate preventative care and dental visits in the last year. For vaccines, Black children were more likely than white children to be up to date — but Hispanic children fell far behind both populations. Researchers worried that recent gains in health coverage will be erased by federal action, specifically the expiration of enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act coverage and Medicaid work requirements. Higher uninsured rates would also increase the pressure on community health centers. “These recent changes are likely to make it even harder for people to afford and access care, and risk widening the very disparities this report documents,” said Betancourt. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Following the federal government’s opposition to many recommended vaccinations — and its endorsement of the false claim connecting vaccines with autism — Pennsylvania has formed its own oversight body with a coalition of northeastern states. But Betancourt and others pointed to possible opportunities to close gaps in care with new technologies like artificial intelligence and telehealth. He pointed to virtual therapy as an option for patients who sought providers who spoke their language but couldn’t find someone in their community. Or for someone without reliable transportation. “There are likely countless examples like that where the deployment of technologies — digital, AI — could really help address very specific challenges that all patients face, certainly, but vulnerable patients and communities of color might face disproportionately,” said Betancourt. Lawmakers have met several times to learn about the use of AI in healthcare, and states are all grappling with how to govern the resource-hungry tool. Courtesy of Pennsylvania Capital-Star
	Rhode Island: Where often is heard a discouraging word on the economy A mostly silhouetted statue of Nathanael Greene stands in front of the Rhode Island State House on Jan. 13, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)“Underperforming” is how Emily Mandel, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, characterized Rhode Island’s economic forecast through the end of the decade. Her words of caution during the biannual Revenue and Caseload Estimating Conference at the State House Wednesday, were underscored by the conclusion of a new report released hours later by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council. The tax policy group’s inaugural economic prosperity scorecard found that Rhode Island is “losing ground” relative to other states. The scorecard measured the Ocean State’s growth across six key indicators from 2014 to 2024, all but one of which has fallen compared with other states and the national average, according to the report. The pair of gloomy conclusions come as state budget analysts and lawmakers race to finalize a fiscal 2027 budget based on the most recent state and federal data about labor market conditions, consumer spending and tax revenues. The long-term picture for Rhode Island was already grim, with state budget officials projecting a $537 million deficit by 2031 due to federal funding cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But they also thought there might be short-term relief, with unspent money from fiscal 2025 contributing to a $65 million surplus for the approaching fiscal year, according to a Feb. 13 report by the state budget office. Fifteen days later, the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, sending energy and oil prices surging. “This has contributed an additional factor to the economy which is just this pervasive uncertainty,” Mandel said of the Iran War. Emily Mandel, senior economist for Moody’s Analytics, responds to a question during the Revenue & Caseload Estimating Conference on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Screenshot/Capitol TV) The influence of geopolitics Surging gas prices have abated slightly, down to $4.09 a gallon on average as of Friday, but Moody’s expects elevated interest rates and oil prices will continue into next year. And that assumes the Strait of Hormez reopens fully to shipping traffic within the next few weeks, a geopolitical uncertainty on which Mandel acknowledged she was unqualified to comment. If the strait responsible for transporting 20% of the world’s oil supply does not reopen soon, an alternative recession scenario emerges, sending prices soaring and plunging GDP. All this as the impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and stringent immigration policies still ripple through the economy, nationally and locally. Like the rest of the country, Rhode Island has seen job growth slow to a standstill, with year-over-year losses in nearly every industry, except healthcare, transportation and hospitality. Meanwhile, housing remains too expensive and too scarce, even relative to Massachusetts. Since 2025, housing in Rhode Island has become just as unaffordable as in Massachusetts based on median household income relative to median sales prices for single-family homes, according to Moody’s Analysis. Both states remain significantly above the national average. New permits for multi-family homes in Rhode Island are expected to ease the crisis slightly in the coming years, but future supply of single-family homes remains elusive. The Iran War’s impact on energy prices will also hike mortgage rates, further contributing to the affordability crisis, Mandel said. A few silver linings: employment and personal income are both expected to grow slightly faster though the end of the decade than previously expected when analysts last met in November. The unemployment rate, previously expected to hit 5.2% in fiscal 2027, is now projected to remain below 5% through fiscal 2030. Even through recent economic pressures, household wealth nationwide has soared, cushioned by investors’ optimism in artificial intelligence. However, the success of stock market investments and retirement accounts is concentrated in the top 20% of households, cementing a K-shaped economy marked by disparate outcomes of different socioeconomic classes, according to Moody’s. Housing affordability in Rhode Island remains a problem, now no better than Massachusetts. (Courtesy of Moody’s Analytics) Comparison is the thief of complacency Hindsight offers little comfort on Rhode Island’s economic growth over the last decade relative to other states. The Ocean State fared poorer than peers nationwide on five out of six economic indicators considered by RIPEC in its analysis. Most alarming to Michael DiBiase, president and CEO of the business-backed group, the state’s 6% GDP growth relative to a 20% national average. “That trajectory is the most surprising, and also the most concerning,” DiBiase said in a briefing with reporters Wednesday. Other measures considered were: Median household income: Rhode Island ranked 17th among states in 2024, up from 18 in 2014. Personal income per capita: Rhode Island ranked 23rd in 2024, down from 21 in 2014. Real personal income per capita (adjusted for inflation and regional price differences): Rhode Island ranked 30th in 2024, down from 24 in 2014. Real disposal personal income per capita (includes all federal, state and local taxes): Rhode Island ranked 36th in 2024, down from 28 in 2014. GDP per capita: Rhode Island ranked 35th in 2024, down from 28 in 2014. Labor force productivity: Rhode Island ranked 25th in 2024, down from 21 in 2014. <a href='https://ripec.org/'><img alt='Economic Prosperity Rank ' src='https://public.tableau.com/static/images/50/50-StateEconomicProsperityRankings/EconomicProsperityRank/1_rss.png' style='margin-bottom: 10px; max-width:100%;' /></a> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1777486181801'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='1000px';vizElement.style.height='827px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='1000px';vizElement.style.height='827px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); The 27-page report does not contain any recommendations, reflecting the need for more information and analysis, DiBiase said. “It’s a chicken and egg thing,” he said. “Are states more prosperous because they have more educated people, or do they have more educated people because they are prosperous?” DiBiase also punted on specific policy measures that lawmakers should consider, or avoid, to bolster Rhode Island’s economy. “Really, to be fair and to really help the state, we should have some more specific economic strategies,” DiBasie said. “That is going to take a much larger effort.” Broadly, he emphasized investments in higher education and large employers in “higher productivity” industries like life sciences and the blue economy as potential, partial answers. “State policies matter, but it’s not about a governor necessarily or the legislature or the municipal leaders,” said DiBiase, who formerly worked as administration director under Gov. Gina Raimondo. Raimondo led the state for over half of the decade encompassed in RIPEC’s lookback. But, DiBiase couldn’t resist a short reprise of the case against a millionaire’s tax, a hot topic on Smith Hill and a provision of Gov. Dan McKee’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget. Proponents say increasing taxes on top earners, paralleling a move made in Massachusetts three years ago, would bring in much-needed state revenue while balancing the scales in favor of lower-income households. RIPEC and other opponents argue higher taxes will suppress economic growth and cause high earners to leave the state. “There’s a strong correlation between states losing population and higher taxes,” said Justine Oliva, RIPEC’s policy and research director. Laura Hart, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, pointed to alternative data points and benchmarks as signs of economic improvement under McKee’s tenure, such as the 10% increase in private sector jobs from 2021 to 2026 and 2.67% increase in labor force in that same time. “It is also worth noting that under the McKee Administration, Rhode Island jumped 10 places in the latest US News & World Report’s Best State Rankings, ranking 24th in the nation in 2025 compared with 34th in 2021,” Hart said in an email Wednesday. “In that same analysis, Rhode Island’s ‘economy’ ranking climbed 12 places, from 28th to 16th. In fact, in the latest Federal Fund Information for States (FFIS) State Policy Report dated April 2026, Rhode Island is ranked the highest of all New England states for economic momentum.” Spokespeople for House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Valarie Lawson also did not immediately return requests for comment. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 6:02 pmUpdated to include a response from Gov. Dan McKee's office. Courtesy of Rhode Island Current
	John Deere scholarship sends Davenport students to Iowa with big dreams Twenty Davenport students are heading to the University of Iowa with 90% tuition covered and big plans for what comes next.

Thursday, April 30th, 2026

Wednesday, April 29th, 2026