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

Sunday, September 27th, 2026
	Fatal crash in rural Scott County leaves two dead Two men were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in northern rural Scott County.
	Visit Quad Cities will hold Destination QC! event at Rhythm City Casino Visit Quad Cities will host its annual Destination QC! event on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Rhythm City Casino Resort, bringing together stakeholders, partners, and residents to advance tourism development, elevate destination marketing, create exceptional visitor experiences, and strengthen advocacy for the Quad Cities, a news release says. Tourism is one of the strongest economic drivers [...]
	Fall is here: Expert tips for picking mature pumpkins Fall arrived this week, and as the leaves start to change, you also may be starting to think about pumpkins and pumpkin picking.
	South Africa reels from spate of mass shootings that killed 38 people in a week On Saturday night, there were separate mass shootings near South Africa's two largest cities.
	Bridge barriers save lives. Why hasn’t Oregon built more? A sign offers a lifeline on the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland. Lines for Life, a nonprofit devoted to suicide prevention, operates the crisis line in Oregon. (Photo by Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian) Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, help is available. Call or text 988 for 24-hour, confidential support, or visit 988lifeline.org. He saw it on her face. She wanted to live. Scott Hughes still remembers holding the young woman’s hands, reminding her she wasn’t alone, asking if she had any pets. That was when he saw her mind click as she thought about her cat, alone in her apartment. She loved her cat. Her cat needed her. Then he helped her back over the bridge railing. That was two years ago. In the 20 years Hughes has worked at nearby Portland Fire & Rescue Station 22, he estimates he’s talked to dozens of people in crisis on the 95-year-old St. Johns Bridge, a hazard hidden in plain sight in a state where suicide is the eighth leading cause of death. Every other day last year, on average, someone called about a person potentially in crisis on the St. Johns Bridge. Emergency response data from recent years show that an average of three to four similar 911 calls came in per day on one of Portland’s 13 river bridges. As many as 13 people are believed to have died by suicide last year at a Portland river bridge, and 11 the year before. Those numbers may be higher. Officials declined to release a complete count of confirmed or suspected suicides at area bridges. Some authorities are hesitant to call attention to the suicides publicly for fear of prompting more, a well-documented phenomenon known as contagion effect. Enduring stigma, too, tamps down on discussion. In dozens of other cities, states and countries, officials have done more than discuss the issue. They’ve installed physical barriers, like nets and fences, which research shows do save lives. The Oregon Department of Transportation, which maintains the St. Johns, Fremont and Marquam bridges, has studied suicide prevention efforts but says they are too expensive to implement. The Vista Bridge in Portland, where city officials erected fences in 2013 and curbed suicides, shows what’s possible. Despite community skepticism they wouldn’t work, the fences give people in crisis a moment to pause, reflect and reconsider. “There’s another path, and it’s a beautiful path,” said Debbie Dedrickson, who has worked at Portland crisis call center Lines for Life for 18 years. “When we can get through that moment of crisis, it’s actually amazing how things can bloom and blossom.” Years of loss Last year in Portland, after eight bodies were pulled from the Willamette and Columbia rivers between April 1 and May 5, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office took the rare step of acknowledging the deaths. “The number is not unusual, though it is tragic,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a press release. Half, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner determined, had died by suicide. One died in an accident, and the manner of the other three deaths — whether suicide, homicide, accident or natural — couldn’t be determined. The sheriff’s office spoke up because some had filled in the blanks, prompting rumors a serial killer was on the loose. The speculation dismissed a more prosaic, more straightforward but perhaps more difficult conclusion. Death by suicide is more than twice as common as homicide in Oregon. Between 2015 and 2025, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office recovered 165 bodies from the Willamette and Columbia rivers — between seven and 24 each year. By early September this year, deputies had already recovered 20. The county medical examiner keeps the most accurate figures on deaths connected to the rivers but declined to release its tally of deaths ruled suicides to The Oregonian/OregonLive, citing privacy concerns. The Oregonian/OregonLive appealed the public records denial, arguing the public would benefit from a clearer understanding of these deaths. The office of Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez partially granted the appeal, requiring the medical examiner to release information on the bodies recovered during the period the sheriff’s office wrote about in its press release. The limited data available and accounts from first responders suggest that the St. Johns Bridge appears to be among the most concerning for suicide. The people found dead in the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the past five years — whatever their manner of death, if it’s even known — cut across categories of age, race and gender, just as they do in cases of suicide. Their ages span from 16 to 93. Most were from Portland, but others were from Vancouver, Tigard, Gresham and Canby. Some were unhoused. Most were men. Among those who died by suicide was the 44-year-old brother of Lori Madden. “If this is such a norm,” she said, “can there be something that stops it?’” ‘What I needed … was time’ Suicide prevention research for decades has shown that physical barriers are a highly effective way to stop people from dying by suicide from high places. Time and space — taking away easy access to lethal means — keeps people safe, said Portland State University instructor Monica Parmley-Frutiger, a licensed clinical social worker and director of a program that trains adults on how to talk to youth about suicide. “Moving from more passive suicidal ideation to more active suicidal ideation often comes in waves,” she said. “If somebody in that wave of emotion has access to means, their risk of attempting increases. But if we can put time and distance in between their emotional wave and the actual means, time and distance will save lives.” Kevin Hines didn’t have that distance. Yet he lived. Last November, the Georgia resident, now a 45-year-old advocate for suicide prevention, traveled to Eugene to share his story with the Association of Oregon Counties. Hines has devoted himself to a life of hope that was unimaginable to him as a 19-year-old on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. On Sept. 25, 2000, he stared down at the water. “It was arguably the toughest day of my entire life,” Hines said in a recent interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I didn’t want to die. I believed I had to, and those are two categorically different things.” As he fell, he thought: “‘What have I just done? I don’t want to die. God, please save me.’ And then I hit the water.” Hines, miraculously, did not die. The U.S. Coast Guard quickly rescued him. Then he underwent an extensive recovery. “I desperately wanted someone to stop me,” Hines said. If a net had been in place, he added, “I would have been given what I needed, which was time.” It would be nearly two decades before California officials began installing anti-suicide nets on the Golden Gate Bridge, a project that took six years and cost $224 million. Made of stainless steel, the netting stretches 20 feet below the bridge sidewalks and extends 20 feet over the water. Before, the Golden Gate Bridge averaged about 30 reported suicide deaths per year. Last year, four people died, according to the agency that manages the bridge. Hines now advocates for suicide prevention barriers at high places around the world. Nets, he said, are more than just physical barriers. They help, he tells public officials, “just because you showed people you cared.” The Vista Bridge The concept of bridge barriers is not new to Oregon policymakers. Built in 1926, the Vista Bridge in Portland’s Goose Hollow often drew people in crisis. Until advocates stepped in. Morgan Leets had been working at Lines for Life for a year when she found herself patrolling the Vista Bridge in a fluorescent safety vest more than a decade ago. After The Oregonian/OregonLive wrote about the crisis and the bridge reached a reported five deaths in a single year, then-Commissioner Steve Novick pushed the city in 2013 to install a 9-foot fence. “It was the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Novick, who is now a District 3 city councilor. During the construction, Leets and others took shifts patrolling the bridge to offer crisis support to anyone in need. Leets said she was “unendingly grateful” to the city for deciding to act and described the barrier as “absolutely vital.” “Anytime there is that community-wide effort to show that care and that compassion and that desire to support folks who are struggling can improve the experience for everybody,” Leets said. “It decreases that stigma.” The temporary fences on the 512-foot bridge cost the city $236,000. Plans for replacing them with more aesthetically pleasing barriers never moved forward. An average of two people died by suicide every year before the fence went up. In the 13 years since, police have recorded eight deaths at the bridge. No one died between 2015 and 2019. Novick said policymakers have an obligation when they learn that a place has become a hazard for suicides: “If we can, we should do something about it.” ‘This is doable’ Kimberly Lining’s hands clutched her orange binoculars. Perched on the bow of the boat, she scanned the river before her as frigid rain soaked her high-visibility sweatshirt. Underwater cameras searched, too, though not without difficulty in the murky and choppy conditions. Grief weighed on her. It was Dec. 1, 2024, and she had set out before the sun rose with a boat captain and a volunteer for the nonprofit Oregon’s Vanished. They were looking for a 16-year-old from Vancouver. Family members suspected the teen had died by suicide at Interstate 205’s Glenn Jackson Bridge. Despite the cold and the heartache, Lining, 45, who discovered Oregon’s Vanished through her work as the founder of a group that advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women, felt full of purpose. “This is what we have to do,” she remembered thinking. “Don’t give up. We have to be out here.” The trio returned to shore hours later, just before sunset, exhausted and cold. It would be another five months before the teen’s body was found in the Columbia. Since that day, Lining has been out on seven more river search missions, including on the Willamette. First one person, then another, and another had died at the St. Johns Bridge. Lining saw the pattern. “I remember one day I’m just driving in my car and just thinking about all these things, and all these people that are taking their lives,” Lining said. “I really felt like God put it on my heart: You have the ability to do something about this.” Lining couldn’t shake that feeling, so she created a petition calling for safety nets and call boxes on the St. Johns Bridge. “People really need to understand,” she said, “that this is doable.” Call boxes would connect to 988, the free and anonymous suicide and crisis hotline run by Oregon-based nonprofit Lines for Life. Calls and texts are answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Last spring, Lining and a group including Oregon’s Vanished met with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley to ask for help with the St. Johns Bridge. She said he was interested and seemed receptive, but asked them to come back with data. It wasn’t available. “It’s like this kept secret,” she said. “The excuse is, we don’t want sensationalism or more people to take their lives in that way. I don’t really understand that. I get sensationalism, but I think that it’s more important to bring this to the surface.” That conflict is familiar to Lines for Life CEO Dwight Holton. “Part of what’s shocking about it is that it’s happening right in front of us and all around us,” Holton said, “and yet we don’t know much about it.” 3,000 bridges The issue had already been on the mind of Rian Windsheimer, the Portland-region manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, who started looking into suicides from the St. Johns Bridge in 2022 after taking a call from an employee at the nearby University of Portland who was concerned for students. The agency looked to the Golden Gate Bridge to calculate how much it might cost Oregon to build a physical barrier. Comparing the length of the California bridge to the St. Johns, officials estimated netting could cost between $50 million and $80 million. A fence, they estimated, could cost between $15 million and $20 million. There were other challenges. For one, the St. Johns Bridge is a historic landmark, meaning any changes would have to adhere to certain design requirements. This is not insurmountable — the Vista Bridge, too, was a registered landmark. The age of the St. Johns Bridge also raised more practical concerns, Windsheimer said. It was not clear if it would be able to support the additional weight of any barriers. “It’s old,” Windsheimer said. “It’s not designed to hold a lot more than what it can currently do.” And then, Windsheimer said, they discussed the rest of the state. ODOT manages around 3,000 bridges. “Why would I choose St. Johns over the Fremont? Or why would I choose the Fremont over the Astoria-Megler Bridge?” he said. “How would you prioritize that?” And at the time, the agency was forecasting it would run out of cash by 2025, a deficit that’s now grown to a projected $200 million for the next two-year budget cycle. The prioritization issue ended the conversation. Windsheimer said the agency also considered putting call boxes on the St. Johns Bridge, but ruled that out because the agency didn’t believe they would be effective. Eventually, ODOT launched a $2,000 pilot program to install new signage on the St. Johns Bridge directing people in crisis to call 988. Those six signs went up in June. ‘A duty to act’ Parmley-Frutiger, the Portland State expert, said suicide prevention should be viewed as a necessary public health function. “If somebody stopped breathing, we have some responsibility to get them help,” she said. “If somebody was thinking about suicide or they’re in emotional distress, then we also have a responsibility to help them get connected to help.” San Francisco is not the only city where barriers have seen success. Researchers have studied bridge fences and largely dispelled concerns that people with suicidal thoughts will find another place. And most people who survive a suicide attempt don’t attempt again. Seattle, San Diego, New York, Tampa and other cities have all fenced, or are currently fencing, bridges. In Washington, D.C., a retrofit is underway on a bridge that saw 13 deaths in 12 years. One woman’s advocacy in the wake of her partner’s death spurred D.C. to act. In Maine, state Sen. Chip Curry sponsored a bill to build a fence over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in 2023. The state completed the project in 2025. “We do not need to ‘own’ every tragedy that occurs in our state,” the Democrat wrote in testimony for the bill. “But in this case, we do literally own it. We designed the bridge and built it. We constructed the railing for the safety of cars but ignored the risks to people experiencing the temporary and often fleeting thoughts of ending their lives. Now that we know that it has become a suicide hotspot, we have a duty to act.” 135 people For Hughes, the Portland firefighter, anything that could prevent a person from acting on their suicidal thoughts would help, he said. “The more of those ways you can take away, the better,” he said. The deaths stay with him. Every individual suicide may affect up to 135 people, researchers have found. That includes immediate family, but also those who only distantly knew the individual. Of the dozens of people in crisis Hughes has tried to help directly, only one has died. Each person who lives — like the woman with the cat — feels like a win, he said. When he’s focused on saving a life, Hughes blocks out everything but the person in front of him. Sometimes, people ask Hughes why he cares. They assume he’s only there because it’s his job. But Hughes said it’s because if his loved one were standing there on the bridge, he’d want to know that someone did everything they could to help. This story originally appeared in The Oregonian/OregonLive: Bridge barriers save lives. Why hasn’t Oregon built more? Courtesy of Oregon Capital Chronicle
	Vermont’s nuclear watchdog has gone quiet This commentary is by Ann Darling, a member of the Citizens Awareness Network, a New England grassroots environmental organization working to end the use of nuclear power and replace it with sustainable, reliable and affordable energy generation. I could have written this letter any time in the past 10 years. Why now and not then? I suppose I was hoping I wouldn’t need to make my opinions so public, because they are quite critical. But something is happening at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant site that leaves me no choice but to speak out. First, a little background. The Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor stopped operating at the end of 2014, and it is now almost completely decommissioned. The most significant things remaining are 60 concrete-and-steel casks of extremely radioactive waste, along with electric transmission and railroad infrastructure that can be used for other purposes. Its owner, NorthStar, a decommissioning company, has leased the site to a Texas-based energy development company called PowerTransitions, which is apparently considering options including a small modular nuclear reactor, battery storage or a data center. READ MORE Vermont Yankee has an associated Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (NDCAP) chartered by the legislature whose job is to advise the governor and the legislature on decommissioning, and to serve as a “conduit for public information and education” and to encourage “open communication and community involvement in matters related to the decommissioning process.” In my opinion, they have failed to fulfill this latter part of their charter. They hold meetings, fewer and fewer over the years, but they do no outreach to attract people to those meetings. I’ve raised this issue repeatedly and gotten nods of agreement to my suggestions — and absolutely no action. Even though they have money donated by Vermont Yankee’s owner, they don’t use it for public education events or media outreach. As a result, they regularly hear from a handful of anti-nukers like me, but they do not hear a peep out of the many people whose lives are impacted by how the site is cleaned up and used. Here’s why I’m writing now. There are supposed to be three meetings a year of the NDCAP, and there has been only one so far, with none scheduled. The May 2026 meeting was postponed, ostensibly because they wanted a report on the chemical contamination at the site from the state’s contractor. We know there are PFAS. We don’t know exactly where or how much. And then there’s the whole piece about leasing the Vernon site, which has chemical and radiological contamination, along with 60 concrete-and-steel casks of radioactive waste, to an out-of-state power development company. Although we have asked about the lease contents, waste ownership and how plans are being made and with whom, we have received no answers. This is all happening in a broader context. Gov. Phil Scott is promoting legislation that would define nuclear power as clean energy so that it can count toward meeting the state’s climate goals. Nuclear power emits ionizing radiation and makes people sick. Its entire fuel chain, from mining to waste management, is a net carbon emitter. It is not clean. The governor is also trying to repeal the statutory requirement that the legislature vote on whether nuclear power could be used again in Vermont, and he has vetoed legislation placing guardrails on data centers. If the governor, Public Service Department and NDCAP are interested in transparency and building trust with the public, they’ve got me fooled. To me, this looks like they’re hiding something. Is it a really bad report about the PFAS and NorthStar balking at the cost? Is it their attempt to hide plans for a new nuclear reactor or data center in Vernon until it’s too late for the public to stop it? What is going on, really? We all deserve an answer. We deserved it a long time ago. Ann Darling, Easthampton, Mass. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont’s nuclear watchdog has gone quiet. Courtesy of VT Digger
	As Congress debates college sports, athletes-turned-senators have a seat at the table The Protect College Sports Act is on the brink of passing in the Senate, where a handful of former college athletes who are now senators on both sides of the aisle have an extra say in the debate.
	Playing 'La Bamba' for an hour? Must be a Mexican fandango! A 300-year-old Mexican musical tradition is finding new life around the world — one sweaty, joyous, all-night fandango at a time.
	Photos: These shepherds climb down a mountain to go to night school Many thousands of boys and men in Lesotho take up the vital profession of herding but have to give up their education. A small network of schools on a shoestring budget is teaching them the ABCs.
	Childcare access is strained in Illinois. The state’s slow background check system continues to threaten it Chronic understaffing at DCFS and an unimplemented state law are leaving some childcare centers short-staffed, turning away kids and in some cases risking their funding.
	BBB Scam Alert: Planning a move to senior living? Watch for these housing and moving scams BBB Scam Tracker warns seniors about housing and moving scams when downsizing to a senior living community or move closer to family.
	Rise Up Coffee opens a second location, new Flip's Pancake House, Just Us & Treats opens and more Quad-Cities business news Rise Up Coffee opens second location, Flip's Pancake House opens in Milan, Just Us & Treats opens, and more Quad-Cities business news.
	Rock Island County real estate transactions for September 27, 2026 Here are homes sales and property sales in Rock Island County.
	Multiple arrests on suspicion of explosives offenses near U.K. base used by U.S. forces Police evacuated homes Sunday near an air base in England used by the U.S. and arrested several men over suspected explosives offenses.
	2 die in late-night Scott County crash Two people died in a two-car crash late Saturday in Scott County, according to a news release from the Scott County Sheriff's Office. Shortly after 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, the Scott Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call in reference to a crash in the area of Utica Ridge Road/210th Avenue and 287th Street [...]
	These Democrats are running for Congress on Christian faith. Will it pay off? It's rare for Democrats to make religion a centerpiece of their campaigns. But this midterm election cycle, a number of candidates for Congress are doing just that.
Saturday, September 26th, 2026
	Inside Iowa Politics: The month some Iowa GOP members of Congress disagreed with President Several Iowa Republican members of Congress who face challenging elections this November have publicly disagreed with President Donald Trump.
	"H" This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Between 1831 and 1846, the Sangamo Journal in Springfield, Illinois, published seventy-one poems by a poet who signed…
	Millie Moo Foundation turns loss into support for childhood cancer families A Port Byron family is honoring their daughter Millie, who died from childhood cancer, by raising money and supporting families facing similar situations.
	1 dead, 1 hospitalized after crash near Quad Cities International Airport One person is dead and another is hospitalized after a vehicle left the road near the Interstate 74 and Route 6 entrance to the Quad Cities International Airport.
	Below average temperatures for the marathon tomorrow After temperatures have been holding below average throughout most of the week, they are holding that trend for next week. The big Quad Cities Marathon will kick off tomorrow morning with temperatures in the upper 50s with a small chance of rain before clearing out and reaching near the 70s by the afternoon. As we [...]
	1st parish named for Archbishop Fulton Sheen in 'week of firsts' for Peoria Diocese On Saturday, Bishop Louis Tylka talked about "a week of firsts" for the Peoria Diocese at the church where Peoria native Archbishop Fulton Sheen was baptized, according to a news release from the diocese. The Peoria Diocese includes Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Silvis, Milan, Aledo, Galesburg, Macomb, Monmouth and Canton, among other cities. “This [...]
	One transported from scene after Rock Island crash One person was transported from the scene after a crash shortly before 4:30 p.m. Saturday at 23rd Street and 9th Avenue, Rock Island. Our Quad Cities News crew saw a tire in the street near an overturned vehicle that lay on the sidewalk after apparently crashing into a hedge. One person was transported from the [...]
	One dead after vehicle crash in Moline One person is dead after a single vehicle crash Saturday morning in Moline.
	One dead after vehicle left roadway at I-74 and Rt. 6 entrance to airport in Moline Officials say the crash remains under investigation by the Rock Island County Sheriff's Office.
	Millie Moo Foundation honors 6-month-old’s memory, helps childhood cancer families A Port Byron community walk honors Millie DeClerq, who died from cancer at 6 months old, while raising money to help families battling childhood cancer.
	Muscatine celebrates Hispanic Heritage with Viva Muscatine block party Muscatine celebrated Hispanic Heritage with the fourth annual Viva Muscatine block party, featuring live music, cultural performances, local vendors and more.
	Suspending the gas tax would be a shortsighted election year stunt IT WAS Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the Boston-born associate justice of the Supreme Court, who wrote in 1927 that “taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” When it comes to the state gas tax, this is the price we pay to ensure that we have safe and reliable ways to get where we need to go, with sufficient funding to build, operate, and maintain the essential transportation infrastructure we all depend upon. The current political environment, which has the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor proposing to leave at least $120 million (and probably more) on the table in order to gain political points, is a remarkable abdication of that principle and an example of how presumed short-term political gain will lead to long-term transportation pain. On Monday, Republican nominee Mike Minogue proposed suspending the gas tax any time the price of fuel exceeds $4 per gallon and working toward eliminating the levy altogether. Democratic incumbent Maura Healey, seemingly concerned about not keeping pace with her challenger amid a campaign season being defined, here and nationally, by “affordability,” has now proposed suspending the gas tax for two months. Both candidates are doing the public a disservice. You can’t drive a car without heavy and continuous public investment in roads and bridges – building them, maintaining them, policing them, plowing them. The state’s 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax is an essential source of funding for those investments, though it does not come close to covering the full costs of driving in Massachusetts, including the public health costs associated with dangerous particulate emissions. The state relies on three main sources of funding for transportation needs: the sales tax on the purchase of vehicles, automobile registration and inspection fees, and the state gas tax. Over the last four years, so-called Fair Share, or millionaires tax, revenues have also supported transportation needs. Depending on the year, collections from the gas tax are either the largest or second-largest source of state-generated transportation revenue. The gas tax is a rough form of a user fee. It has, since the first days of the automobile era in the last century, been the foundation of how state transportation infrastructure gets built and maintained. States rely on gas tax revenues for both pay-as-you-go transportation projects as well as for the payment of principal and interest on transportation bonds issued for large capital projects. The state gas tax helps pay for the roads our ambulances and EMTs and firefighters use to save lives. It helps pay for the road system that enables fulfillment of our everyday needs, whether getting to school or work or a doctor’s appointment, or a visit to a friend. It pays, in short, for the very things that help establish and improve our quality of life. At a time when our transportation system is suffering from chronic and worsening traffic congestion, when the public transportation system is undergoing a massive and long overdue rehabilitation of its system, and when federal dollars for projects across the board are being held back or clawed back by the Trump administration, deliberately reducing state revenue by roughly $120 million (the Healey administration’s estimate) or more seems profoundly inadvisable and wrongheaded. The administration has proposed using “surplus” millionaires tax revenue to make up for the lost gas tax revenue, but this is a classic example of robbing Peter to pay Paul, as it means some other worthy public need will go unfunded. Suspending the state gas tax for two months might save the average driver about $25, barely enough to respond meaningfully to current gas prices and other inflationary pressures. The benefits would be miniscule; the downsides would be enormous. First, the actual loss might be in excess of $120 million. The gas tax is actually paid by wholesalers on a monthly basis (your payment at the pump reimburses them). Wholesalers are likely to load up on gasoline during any suspension period in order to benefit from more sales, and that could mean state revenue losses in excess of the projected $120 million. Second, this is sending the wrong message to Massachusetts drivers. By making the gas tax seem something that is optional or not critical to our transportation needs, both candidates are undermining the very foundation of state transportation funding, making it harder in the future to gain public trust for revenue initiatives of any type. Third, any Fair Share “surplus” is not net new money. It is money that should be used as it was intended, to pay for specific and growing transportation infrastructure needs. Shifting money from one account to another is not finding a way to pay for this proposed suspension; it is a shell game. Finally, economists who have studied these types of gas tax suspension proposals estimate that drivers only receive about 72 percent of the benefit, with the rest going right back to the suppliers. So the actual benefit to drivers will be much less than most people probably expect. Massachusetts needs to invest in its residents, in order to promote the public good and public safety. That doesn’t happen at no cost. Tossing away $120 million in vital funding to score election year points is not the answer to rising gas prices. Losing $120 million (or more) is like losing almost the entire amount of money the MBTA has to pay every year for the RIDE paratransit services. It is close to the amount of money that the state uses to fund the regional transit authorities (about $97 million). It’s like losing roughly half of the money the state collects in tolls on the Metro Highway System. We should instead invest in policies that could help alleviate traffic congestion and improve access and improve air quality. Massachusetts should be making it easier for people to choose not to drive, or drive less, by spending more money on building a transformational regional rail system. Massachusetts should be making it easier for drivers to transition to electric vehicles, but we remain a laggard in making the investments that were facilitated by the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. As reported in Commonwealth Beacon this June, despite receiving a $64 million federal grant four years ago, Massachusetts hasn’t built a single electric charging station in accordance with the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. Over eight years since the Commission on the Future of Transportation said that we must “move more people in fewer vehicles,” Massachusetts is pushing more people to drive more, congesting roads more, polluting more. Political stunts like those being proposed by the two leading candidates for governor do nothing to address this trend and aren’t serving our best interests. Instead, they are undermining public understanding and support for investing in our common and shared futures. In the effort to navigate through the consequences of an ill-advised war in Iran, political leaders need to collectively rise to the occasion. The response to the pain at the pump shouldn’t cause more pain by reducing revenues necessary to keep investing in the infrastructure we all depend on. Political leaders of both parties should not be undermining the importance and value of the gas tax. Like any tax, it is unpopular, but it is one of the main engines fueling our transportation system and, through that, fueling our economy. It would be foolhardy and shortsighted to decide that the best way to help people who are feeling pain at the pump is to deliberately disinvest in the very systems they rely on for everyday necessities. James Aloisi is a former Massachusetts secretary of transportation. Courtesy of Commonwealth Beacon
	Iowa beats Michigan on last second touchdown Hank Brown threw a 16 yard touchdown to Reece Vander Zee on the final play of the game to give #17 Iowa a 20-19 win over #18 Michigan.
	Mississippi Book Festival draws thousands to Jackson to celebrate the written word Jubilee JiBol stood in line, clutching an oversized book for author Mychal Threets to sign. At 9 years old, she was already a veteran of the Mississippi Book Festival, which returned Saturday to the state Capitol. “I’ve been coming since I was 1 years old, ever since I was a baby,” she said, as her mother, L.E. JiBol, nodded to confirm. Her brother Nile, 6, was a relative newcomer and has been working hard to improve his reading skills for future trips to the festival. They joined thousands of other book lovers who swarmed the grounds of the Capitol and nearby Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson, streaming through large white tents lined with tables stacked with books. Jubilee JiBol, 9, and her brother Nile, 6, get help from a volunteer while waiting in line at the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Sept. 26, 2026. Credit: Bobby Caina Calvan/Mississippi Today / Mississippi Today The annual festival, now in its 11th year, has become a gathering place for readers young and old to meet authors, discover books and celebrate Mississippi’s literary tradition. Threets, better known as Mychal the Librarian, has been an evangelist for reading. His mission is to teach kids what libraries can offer and that they belong there. ‘Just let them read’ He is now host of the revival of “Reading Rainbow,” a television program aimed at encouraging children to read and develop a love of books. The reboot debuted last year and has been renewed for a second season. “Just let them read and read because it’s so much fun. There’s so much joy in reading,” Threets said. “When I think about the future of libraries, that’s what I think of.” In the spirit of sharing that joy, Threets handed out free copies of his book, “I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy.” “A library is for every single person,” Threets said during a vulnerable, wide-ranging conversation in front of an audience at Galloway with author Margaret McMullan. Their conversation touched on Threets’ struggles with mental health and his thoughts about Black teenager Emmett Till, who was kidnapped and killed by white men in Mississippi in 1955. Threets also encouraged kids to read and talked about taking his cat to the library as a child. A long line of book-toting fans stretched for a block outside Galloway, which hosted some of the festival’s panels. In the minutes before former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon took the stage, parents corralled young children onto their laps. One uncle was already making plans to dash out to McKinnon’s 11 a.m. book signing. Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” asks an audience member a question during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today Traveling through time McKinnon first appeared as her alter ego, Dr. G. Edwina Candlestank, the eccentric narrator of McKinnon’s middle-grade series, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science.” “I traveled throughout time,” Candlestank said, exaggerating each syllable, to the state of “Mye-sye-sye-pie.” She stalked onto the stage with a tuft of her short blond hair sticking up, wearing round black glasses and a lab coat. As the crowd laughed, Candlestank ditched the lab coat for a black suit jacket to transform into McKinnon, now a New York Times bestselling author. “That’s the biggest round of applause I ever got in a Methodist church,” she quipped after the crowd settled down. Her books follow three misfit sisters and their mentor, the mad scientist Millicent Quibb. The characters, McKinnon said, were built from the hair up. When inhabiting new roles on “Saturday Night Live,” her first questions were: What’s the hair? What’s the voice? She developed the characters in her books much the same way. Audience members laugh as Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” talks about her book, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today Asked about the inspiration for her books, McKinnon pointed to her love of the natural world. She talked about crawdads making their homes in the mud, skunks and snapping turtles she sees every day on her farm. To her, they are “more magical than anything any author could ever conjure in their head.” McKinnon spent more time out of her seat than in it. She paced the stage as she recalled her childhood as a founding member of the “Honeysuckle Eaters Club” and slid through the church pews to ask young members of the audience what mad-scientist creatures they wished were real. “A frog mixed with Godzilla,” one audience member replied. “A chickibara,” said another, referring to a chicken mixed with a capybara – which McKinnon said happens to be her favorite animal. From whimsical to weighty The festival’s conversations went from the whimsical to the weighty, featuring writers whose work spans a multitude of genres. In the marbled chamber of Mississippi’s Old Supreme Court Chamber, five writers recounted what it was like to be on the other side of the bench, hearing a judge read out the sentences that would put them behind bars for years. Cree Myles, left, and rapper and author Rick Ross discuss his new book, “Renaissance of a Boss: Notes from a Creative Reawakening,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today The paths that brought each of them to prison fill a chapter of the 2025 anthology, “Breaking Chains, Building Futures.” But at the center of the book is what came afterward: how education helped move them forward from their time behind bars, earn college degrees and lead organizations dedicated to helping others break the cycle of incarceration. Weaving their stories together is author Stanley Andrisse, a self-described former “career criminal” who would have spent life in prison for a drug trafficking conviction if the prosecutor had gotten her way. Instead, Andrisse was sentenced to a decade behind bars. After his release, he went to college. He later earned a master’s degree, then a doctorate. He is now a tenured professor and scientist at Howard University. “I clearly didn’t live up to those expectations that that prosecutor had on this young Black boy those many years ago,” Andrisse said. Though his story took place around St. Louis, it deeply resonates in Mississippi, a state with one of the nation’s highest incarceration rates. Mississippi’s past revisited During another panel in the state Capitol, more of the past became the talk of the present, when another five authors shared stories drawn from Mississippi’s history – real-life tales spanning the state from the Delta to Hattiesburg. W. Ralph Eubanks, from left, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Robert P. Jones speak during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today The stories took place during the civil rights era — an inflection point for Mississippi and the nation. “They’re not just a Mississippi story,” said native Mississippian and novelist Steve Yarbrough. “All of these books, to one extent or another, they’re dealing with questions of race, inequity, inclusivity and basically, the question of whether or not some people are better or more qualified to live a good life than others.” Through their words, the triumphs and traumas of pioneers both renowned and little known saw the light of day. Among them was Clyde Kennard, the first Black person to apply to the University of Southern Mississippi. While his friend and fellow activist, Medgar Evers, is better known for challenging school segregation, Kennard’s story took center stage in the 2026 book “Mixing,” which chronicles his fight to desegregate USM and how officials framed and imprisoned him. In veteran Delta newspaper editor Jim Abbott’s memoir, “Paper Man,” Mississippi’s civil-rights history is told by a man who witnessed it. At the festival, the Greenwood native recounted how he went from a young, white Mississippian “angered” by the “negative publicity” that the civil rights movement brought his home state to a dogged newspaperman committed to exposing injustice and including Black voices in his stories. Back outside, Jubilee mused about someday becoming a writer – maybe more stories about mad scientists. Something fictional, she said. She knows the challenges of creating art. “Sometimes, I think about it,” she said. “But sometimes I’m just too tired and want to flop on the couch.” People gather for the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Rapper and author Rick Ross is welcomed onstage during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.W. Ralph Eubanks, from left, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Robert P. Jones speak during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.People gather for the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Author Deesha Philyaw signs a book for a fan during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Terry Williamson shops during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.People shop during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Audience members listen as Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” talks about her book, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Customers search for books during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Zelda F. Hill, author of the children’s book “Duck and Bubba: The Secret Fist Bump,” sells his book to Trey and LaWanda Parks during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Items on display during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.W. Ralph Eubanks, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Robert P. Jones speak during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.People gather for the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.People visit booths during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” talks about her book, “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” asks an audience member a question during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Kate McKinnon, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” asks a child a question during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Houston Smith, left, and Lexington Bush shop during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Books for sale at the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Cree Myles, left, and rapper and author Rick Ross discuss his book, “Renaissance of a Boss: Notes from a Creative Reawakening,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Rapper and author Rick Ross discusses his new book, “Renaissance of a Boss: Notes from a Creative Reawakening,” during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Customers search for books during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.People wait in line for a book signing during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. Courtesy of Mississippi Today
	Trump calls Iranian plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz not 'acceptable' President Trump said he was rejecting an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian proposal is similar to a memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran back in June.
	Erie family keeps farming history alive during annual harvest event Harvest season is underway across the Quad Cities, and one family at Bos Brothers Historical Farm in Erie is taking visitors back in time.
	Dolly Parton's classic "9 to 5" returns to theaters for limited run The newly restored film will screen Oct. 9 through Oct. 15.
	Raw milk cheese recalled over E. coli outbreak, FDA says The CDC noted the outbreak has caused 13 illnesses and eight hospitalizations.
	OpenAI says its models engaged with US government websites in misbehavior disclosure The disclosure is the latest in a string of incidents in which the AI platform has been caught going rogue. OpenAI says it is reviewing the findings.
	Revival, 'Jesus Walk,' planned for Muscatine The ELIM Arrival, the evangelical outreach branch of The Well of Iowa, will host a regional revival and worship night in Muscatine at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, in Riverside Park near the Harbor Shelter. The event is free and open to the public. Riverside Park will remain fully open to the public throughout the [...]
	Stone County re-entry program sees growing demand and waitlist STONE COUNTY — A re-entry program at the Stone County Correctional Facility has developed a waitlist as officials prepare to select participants for its next cohort. Twenty-two participants graduated from the Pathway Home 5 Re-entry Program last month. Warden John Moran said interest has grown as inmates have seen others complete the program and prepare for employment and life after incarceration. “What I do see now is that we have a larger waiting list,” Moran said. “It’s obvious that the program’s working or that they’re getting something out of it because guys are wanting to sign up for it.” The program, administered by the South Mississippi Planning and Development District and funded through a U.S. Department of Labor grant, provides employment and re-entry training before participants leave incarceration and support for up to a year later. Participants learn resume writing, digital and financial literacy, employment readiness, personal development and interviewing. The program also helps address barriers after release, including transportation, work clothing, child care and finding employers willing to hire people with criminal records. In the classroom, program participants learn resume writing, digital and financial literacy, employment readiness, personal development and interviewing. Warden John Moran says the facility eventually wants to expand to multiple cohorts. Credit: Bibhas Pantha/RHCJC For graduate Zachary Brady, the program became more valuable than he initially expected. “It started out more or less like I might need to get this under my belt to go home,” Brady said. “I really didn’t know what the class had to offer, but once I got into it, I was very glad that I took it.” Brady said mock interviews helped him build confidence for finding work after his release. “We did mock interviews, so now whenever I get home, I won’t be nervous or not know how to speak to the people that I’m getting interviewed by,” Brady said. Chris Nixon, Pathway Home 5 program administrator, said the program’s work continues once participants leave the facility. Chris Nixon, administrator of Pathway Home 5, said the program’s goal is to continue helping formerly incarcerated people after their release. He said finding employers willing to hire people with criminal records can be difficult. Credit: JC Roberts/RHCJC “Once they get out is where we’ll pick up again and help them with their incentives and supportive service and employment and resources that we can provide for them,” Nixon said. Finding employment can be one of the biggest obstacles, Nixon said, particularly because participants need employers willing to hire people with criminal records. “There’s employers really needing people and they are willing to give them a second chance, and that’s really helpful,” Nixon said. “I’ve seen some really good careers come out of this for them, some high-paying jobs.” The program, which can work with participants for up to a year after graduation, is part of a broader effort at the correctional facility to prepare inmates for life after incarceration. Moran said more than 153 community volunteers also support inmates through programs and activities. Brady said that community involvement has been meaningful as he prepares for release. “I’m grateful … to have people like that in our community that’s willing to step forward, to spend time with us and to help us rehabilitate ourselves for going home,” Brady said. According to Warden John Moran, the Stone County Correctional Facility currently holds 280 inmates, with a growing list of participants for the Pathway Home 5 program. Credit: Bibhas Pantha/RHCJC As the facility prepares to select its next Pathway Home 5 cohort, Moran said growing interest means some inmates will have to wait for a spot. The facility has previously tried running two cohorts simultaneously, he said, but maintaining multiple groups can be difficult. Brady said inmates who get the opportunity should take advantage of it. “If they want to take the program, take it, but take it and be serious when you take it,” Brady said. “You have to want it. You have to dedicate yourself and stay consistent and push through.” Courtesy of Mississippi Today
	Thousands to gather in St. Louis to honor Catholic leader who's one step from sainthood Fulton Sheen, a native of Peoria, Illinois, preached about philosophy, morality and politics. He's considered the country’s first televangelist.
	‘Mend it and keep it alive’: Inside Vermont’s growing repair culture Simone Traynor is a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program. Every third Saturday in Burlington’s Old North End, volunteers come together to fix one another’s broken belongings, eat bagels and do something good for the environment. Everyone has a role. At a recent session of the Old North End Repair Cafe, one volunteer greeted everyone, another sewed and repaired textiles and some dropped by just to enjoy the company. They came with the shared purpose of reducing unnecessary waste. That’s a big challenge. Vermont generates about 912,180 tons of waste annually, with much of that total winding up in the landfill despite recycling programs, according to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources 2024 Diversion and Disposal Report. In an era of overconsumption, some Vermonters have taken to creating third spaces with the goal of repair. People passionate about the environment or simply looking to save money and reduce their waste have a growing interest in places where they can fix what’s broken and get to know other people in spaces like the repair cafe, which meets at 12-22 North Street. “It’s a great community of people who are here to support each other and socialize,” said Ali Hamedani, a repair cafe volunteer. “It just seems like a wonderful community of friends with a shared goal of helping each other, helping random strangers, all for free, to repair and renew things and maintain connections with each other.” A new state-funded program, ReuseVT, aims to connect Vermonters with opportunities to repair their broken belongings and reduce waste. The website’s directory lists repair cafes, including the one in Burlington’s Old North End. It also features Vermont businesses and nonprofits that provide repair services and libraries that loan items from cookie pans to snowshoes. When something breaks, the fastest, cheapest fix is usually to buy another one. Susan Alexander, director of ReuseVT, said that convenience has changed how people think. “There’s nothing more appealing to consumers than cheap and convenient,” she said. “The reality is, that toaster may have 99% working parts and just one little thing that needs to be fixed on it, but it’s really hard to find people with those skill sets.” Economically, repairing instead of repurchasing can be difficult for the average consumer. “Sometimes repair is as expensive, if not more so, than replace,” Alexander said. “If I can buy a toaster online for $27, but my guy down the road (who can fix it) is going to charge me $35, that’s a hard barrier.” However, there is a strong case for repairing and reusing items. It conserves resources, supports outlets for low-cost goods and promotes a local, circular economy. Repair keeps local dollars local, Alexander says. “When I go to the thrift shop or when I went down the road and had my lamp repaired, I took the money that I’m earning on this job, I give it to the guy who’s fixing my lamp, then he goes down to the grocery store and buys his groceries,” she said. Trav Fryer (green shirt) at the Old North End repair cafe. Photo by Simone Traynor/Community News Service Trav Fryer, who runs the Old North End Repair Cafe, says the fixer-upper approach comes naturally to him. “It just feels very innate to me. Why would you throw it out? It’s so much more efficient,” he said. He was inspired to start hosting repair cafes in Burlington after attending them regularly in Palo Alto, California. Other regulars describe themselves as coming from “mend-it” families. “My mom grew up on a farm. The first move was always to try to mend it and keep it alive,” said Chrissy Bedard, a regular volunteer at the repair cafe. “Once you put your heart and soul into something, you want to keep it around as long as you can, so knowing how to fix it is a huge piece of that.” ReuseVT launched about a year and a half ago, funded through an Environmental Protection Agency grant awarded to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Alexander wrote the original proposal, which is now in its second year. She said the funding filled a gap in how the state had long approached waste. “For years and years and years, people have put money into recycling,” she said. But reduction and reuse went underfunded. Many Vermonters are looking for ways to be more sustainable in their daily life. A source like ReuseVT simplifies the search with information including the website repair directory. “The community has really been looking for a directory that’s specific to reuse and repair opportunities,” Alexander said. Vermont’s reuse and repair culture goes beyond any one organization. Alexander noted that numerous organizations around Vermont are part of the reuse movement. ReSource Vermont, a statewide nonprofit with locations in Burlington, Williston, Barre and Morrisville, has a threefold mission. “One is to keep things out of the landfill, so it’s an environmental piece. It’s also poverty alleviation … and then their third thing, they also do a lot of repair training,” Alexander said. Also in Burlington, Generator teaches skills like jewelry making or woodworking to anyone willing to learn — skills that can be applied to repair work as well as new products. “They basically create community around providing a space for people to either just come in and use it for a workspace, or they provide equipment and teach classes,” Alexander said. She hopes to see the movement grow, and perhaps one day see an annual gathering and a vending event built entirely around reused and repaired goods. Meanwhile, repair cafes, such as the one in Burlington, are built around fixing things together. “We want it to be a learning experience and hands-on,” Fryer said. Fryer sees something specific to Vermont’s rural and agricultural heritage in repair culture: scrappiness. “Farmers have to fix things themselves,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to fix the tractor to keep farming. You kind of just have to figure it out.” Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘Mend it and keep it alive’: Inside Vermont’s growing repair culture. Courtesy of VT Digger
	Powerful nor'easter brings winds, floods to East Coast Thousands of people are without power across the East Coast as a nor'easter rips through the area. Forecasters expect significant winds and rain throughout the weekend.
	Meth is a key driver in Fiji's fast-growing HIV epidemic: 1 in 60 adults are affected In mid-September, Fiji's government declared a national emergency because of a startling rise in HIV infections. The country's crystal meth epidemic is a strong contributing factor.
	Why this island paradise has the world's fastest-growing HIV epidemic In mid-September, Fiji's government declared a national emergency because of a startling rise in HIV infections. The country's crystal meth epidemic is a strong contributing factor.
	Activist against book banning will appear at Augustana College, Rock Island Augustana College, Rock Island, invites the public to a River Readings lecture featuring Steven Pico, who at age 17 challenged his Long Island school district’s decision to remove 11 books from its school libraries, according to a news release. In a free presentation called "UNCENSORED," Pico will talk at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, in [...]
	Blue Violin will present rock 'n' roll Christmas concert in Moline Blue Violin will be in concert Tuesday, Dec. 22, at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center, 3600 Avenue of the Cities, Moline, a news release says. Internationally touring violinist Blue Violin brings the fourth annual Retro Rock 'n' Roll Christmas to Moline — a holiday concert designed to feel more like an '80s arena rock show [...]
	Knox Jazz Year will bring lineup of acclaimed musicians to Galesburg The Knox College Music Department has announced the 2026-27 Knox Jazz Year, bringing an exceptional lineup of nationally and internationally acclaimed musicians to Galesburg for performances, residencies, workshops, and collaborations with Knox students. This year's schedule builds on relationships that Knox has developed with musicians over many years, with several artists returning to Galesburg in [...]
	Recap: Davenport vacancy, Whiteside officer suspended and other local government news Davenport decides to fill a vacancy in 2nd Ward by appointment, a Whiteside County officer was suspended over alleged misuse of a Flock system, and Davenport library board urges independence.
	The U.S. has more thalidomide survivors than the government admits In the 1950s and 1960s, doctors gave the drug thalidomide to pregnant patients without telling them — and without FDA approval. Now those patients' children want recognition.
	The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions The battle over AI's promise and perils is not a clash between two opposing sides, but a debate among a range of competing voices and ideologies. Here is a guide to who's who in that debate.
	Meal deliveries can save money and improve health. Will they survive Medicaid cuts? Some states deliver meals to Medicaid patients that address their dietary needs. Evidence shows it aids recovery and saves healthcare costs, but federal budget cuts may lead some states to cancel it.
	Pope warns a 'paradise of machines' could undermine humanity as he opens France trip Pope Leo XIV has warned that a "paradise of machines" could undermine humanity. He raises concerns about artificial intelligence, nuclear arms, and human rights during his visit to France.
	Roads flood in New Jersey, inundate some homes, as first major signs of nor'easter take shape Thousands are without power on the U.S. East Coast, while roads are flooding in some coastal New Jersey communities.
Friday, September 25th, 2026
	CNN left off Air Force One for Trump's upcoming trip, White House signals in new media restriction The White House has signaled that CNN will be left off Air Force One for President Donald Trump's Saturday trip in the latest media restriction in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications.
	Pigeons This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The communities clustered along the Mississippi around Rock Island have contributed their share of sports heroes to…
	Ernst honored at Iowa GOP dinner, urges support for candidates Iowa Republicans honored retiring U.S. Senator Joni Ernst Friday night in West Des Moines. Ernst’s seat could be critical in determining whether Republicans hold the majority of seats in the U.S. Senate next year.
	OQC Crime Watch 82: Cybersecurity expert: How to 'keep kids safe on Roblox & beyond' Watch crime reporters Linda Cook and Sharon Wren talk about crime and courts in the latest episode of the Our Quad Cities Crime Watch Podcast. In this episode, Linda and Sharon talk with cybersecurity expert, teacher and author Tom Arnold, who teaches in the cybersecurity graduate program at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Arnold, who [...]
	Erie family keeps farming history alive A family in Erie, Illinois, is keeping the history of farming alive with an annual event that shows visitors how harvesting and everyday life once looked.
	QC Senior Expo brings hundreds together for services and connections Hundreds attended the QC Senior Expo in Davenport, where seniors found services, job opportunities, free haircuts and resources all under one roof.
	Iowa’s U.S. Senate candidates share fuel cost policies, trade criticisms on campaign trail Iowa Rep. Josh Turek, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat in 2026 against U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, held a roundtable discussion Sep. 25, 2026 in Des Moines about rising fuel costs. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and state Rep. Josh Turek both reiterated their calls for Congress to reduce fuel prices as they campaigned Friday for the state’s competitive U.S. Senate seat. At a news conference in Des Moines, Hinson reiterated her calls for the House to return to Washington, D.C., to work on lowering fuel prices and bringing the war in Iran to a close. Hinson said she texted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to “put the extra pressure on” bringing the House back to work. Johnson sent members of the House home Sept. 16 for extended district work. Hinson and other members of the House are not expected back in D.C. until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “I think it was a mistake for them to cancel session,” Hinson said. “Every option should be on the table, and we should be in Washington, D.C., working to provide that relief right now.” Hinson said Johnson responded to her text that “they are talking about it.” Turek held a roundtable Friday with several Iowans who said the surge in fuel prices — due in large part to the ongoing war with Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz — are making it difficult for their businesses and families to stay afloat. Hilary Abrahamson, a mother of four, said while she and her ex-husband are both making much more money than 10 years ago, she said “we had more freedom 10 years ago financially,” in light of recent high gas costs alongside other rising costs of living. Abrahamson said the high gas costs were even more frustrating to her and many other Iowans because they did not believe the U.S. should be at war with Iran. “It would be different to sacrifice some day-to-day things on behalf of a war people felt was necessary or benefited them,” Abrahamson said. “But from what I’ve heard, almost nobody feels they have any personal stake or interests, and it feels sort of like another pointless, forever war. And so, it’s really hard to sacrifice for something that seems totally personal to people you don’t know and have nothing to do with.” Turek said while holding town halls and events throughout Iowa, “I have yet to encounter a single Iowan that said to me, ‘I want to be in another forever war.'” He criticized Hinson for voting against of a measure to restrict the president’s military powers in Iran — a war resolution that Hinson’s Iowa Republican colleagues Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks broke party lines to support. Four Republicans in the Senate similarly voted Thursday to require congressional approval for further involvement in the war. Hinson voted with the rest of Republicans to block the measure in the House, which has been brought to a vote six times since the war began in February. Asked Friday if she would support the vote should the House return soon to D.C., Hinson declined to say yes or no. “I like to take a look at every single piece of legislation before I (vote on) it, but I’ve made it very clear in my position: we don’t need another resolution on the House floor,” Hinson said. “We need a resolution to end the war as quickly as possible, and the president can do that.” The Democratic candidate said Hinson’s vote was a continuation of “forever wars,” which some Republicans, including Trump, have called to end. “In my lifetime, I’ve seen us spend a trillion dollars in Afghanistan, a trillion dollars in Iraq — for what?” Turek said. “And here we are again, another unnecessary war, spending over $40 billion dollars over there as we’re closing schools and roads and hospitals, leading the nation in farm foreclosures.” In a social media post Monday, Hinson called for a “successful and immediate end” to the war in Iran which has contributed to hikes in gas and diesel prices. Iowa farmers have asked for immediate relief as they embark on harvesting crops. Turek released a plan Sep. 16 to provide relief on fuel costs by pausing diesel exports, temporarily suspending the federal gas tax and opening the strategic oil reserves. He said this relief — alongside other policy positions he holds on tariffs, supporting rural healthcare access and improving water quality — are needed to help Iowans during a difficult period. “Iowans are hurting and uniquely hurting — I think you can make the argument that we are hurting more than almost any other state,” Turek said. “I mean, we’re one of three states seeing our economy contract. You heard me give the numbers on where we’re at with health care. We’ve got a cancer crisis, we’ve got a water quality crisis, we’ve got public education that’s gone from the gold standard down to the bottom half. … And now, because of this war in Iran, you’ve got Iowans that are paying astronomical prices at the pump. Diesel price is at an all-time high and (so are) input prices. Iowans deserve to have someone in D.C. fighting for them.” Hinson says ethics complaint is false Hinson called a recently filed ethics complaint against her the actions of a “liberal group doing this for completely political purposes.” The political action committee Defend the Vote announced Friday it had submitted an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct alleging Hinson gave her husband, who works with the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, special access to her office and other congressional offices. Defend The Vote Executive Director Brian Lemek said in a news release that Hinson should “know better” than to break ethics rules. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson held a news conference in Des Moines Sep. 25, 2026 calling for the U.S. House to return to Washington, D.C. to ote on a measure lowering fuel costs. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) “Iowa families struggling with rising prices deserve to know whether their congresswoman is working for them or for the insurance industry that supports her household’s business interests,” Lemek said in the release. Hinson said the group’s complaint is a lie about her and her family. “I have done everything ethically,” Hinson said. “I serve on the House Ethics Committee, and I look forward to seeing that complaint go exactly where it deserves to be, which is the trash.” Turek criticized Hinson in a statement Friday, calling her a “corrupt, self-serving D.C. politician who has repeatedly shown that she is only looking out for herself, her donors, and special interests.” “Hinson has sold out Iowans time and time again, voting to cut healthcare, food assistance, and Social Security – all while enriching herself and her billionaire friends and donors,” Turek said. “She voted seven times to continue this reckless war in Iran and Iowans are paying for it at the pump. This clear pattern of corruption is disqualifying, and it’s exactly why Iowans are going to reject Ashley Hinson in 39 days.” Ernst calls for supporting Hinson in general election U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst answered questions from Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann at the GOP Reagan Dinner in West Des Moines Sep. 25, 2026, an event honoring her as she prepares to leave office. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Alongside the earlier news conference and a meeting with cancer activists, Hinson also spoke at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Reagan Dinner Friday evening, an event in West Des Moines honoring U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. Ernst, the Republican whose seat Hinson hopes to fill, announced she would not seek reelection in September 2025 and went onto endorse Hinson in January. Republican leaders including U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, state House Speaker Pat Grassley and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh gathered to thank Ernst for work in Washington, D.C., as well as her service as a state lawmaker and in the U.S. Army Reserve. When Hinson addressed the crowd, she reflected on her first meeting with Ernst over 10 years ago, when Hinson was a reporter for the TV station KCRG. “Now I get to serve alongside of you and hopefully fill your combat boots, Joni,” Hinson said. “And serving in Washington, D.C., is true combat right now. And you have shown us the way, you’ve shown us the light, and you’ve shown us what it means to serve with dignity and purpose.” She said defeating Turek in the November election is vital to preserve Ernst’s legacy and continue work on conservative goals. She claimed Turek was “masquerading as a moderate,” and said winning the election is needed to keep Democrats from gaining majority control in the U.S. Senate, saying Turek was aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “The reality is that this election on November 3rd will determine the balance of power in the United States Senate. It determines whether or not we’re going to have the wrong Chuck … making the decisions and calling the shots in the United States Senate,” Hinson said, referring to Schumer in contrast to Grassley. Speaking with Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann, Ernst also also reflected on her relationship with Hinson, saying she was happy to encourage Hinson’s first run for the U.S. House to unseat former Democratic U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer in 2020. “I just knew we had to find the right person to run against Congresswoman Finkenauer, and Ashley was that person from the time I met her when she interviewed me all those years ago,” Ernst said. Ernst said she felt more confident leaving the U.S. Senate with Hinson as the GOP nominee. “When I went through that really tough decision, you know, whether to run or not — first and foremost, (I asked) can we keep the seat?” Ernst said. “It’s so important that Sen. Grassley have someone who will support those votes and vote with him and do the absolute best for Iowa. And it didn’t take me but a split second to to come to the realization that I know somebody who is absolutely ready to take that step and follow me in the United States Senate, and that’s why I’ve thrown my weight behind Ashley.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Iowa Capital Dispatch
	Longfellow Elementary students celebrate '9 2 5' with reading tribute to Dolly Parton Friday was "Dolly Day," so named in honor of the late Dolly Parton, who starred in the hit movie "9 to 5." On 9/25, one Rock Island school went "9 2 5" with a whole lot of reading. Longfellow Elementary School celebrated Dolly Parton's love for books with a story time. School district leaders and [...]
	Davenport man charged for making video of nude child Davenport man charged after making video of nude 3-year-old girl.
	Rock Island reschedules its homecoming football game against longtime-rival Moline It's homecoming weekend for Rock Island High School. Homecoming was supposed to be kicked off with a football game against longtime rival Moline. That game is now postponed, as several Rock Island players and coaches are dealing with an illness. The freshmen game will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday, while the varsity game kicks [...]
	TikTok to pay Alabama $116 million in lawsuit settlement In this 2020 photo illustration, the TikTok app is seen on an Apple iPhone. The company and Alabama settled a lawsuit on Friday that requires the company to prevent children from having access to its site in the evenings starting at midnight. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)The Alabama Attorney General’s Office and TikTok Friday reached a settlement over a state lawsuit that alleged the social media platform addicted children and lied about the safety of its platform. The settlement, coming about a month after the social media platform settled a similar lawsuit with the federal government, requires TikTok to install features that prevent teens from accessing the platform from midnight to 6 a.m. The agreement also requires TikTok to pay $116 million in restitution to the state and establish a $183 million fund for contingency payments, to be released depending on whether other states enter settlement agreements. The consent decree, issued by Montgomery Circuit Judge Monet Gaines, also requires TikTok to provide educational resources to parents to protect their children while on the site and allows them to control the content their children view. It also requires the company to impose restrictions on minors’ access to inappropriate content. TikTok did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Friday it was a “great day” for Alabama parents and that they can “rest easier” because of protections that were established on the site. “TikTok has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app,” Marshall said in the release on Friday. “We’ve said from day one that our number one goal was to stand up for Alabamians when they are being harmed, and today, we did exactly that.” TikTok said in a statement Friday that its priority “has always been fostering a safe and positive space where people can be creative, discover what they love, and connect with their community.” “This builds on our commitment and core objective to continually enhance our robust safety tools to protect teens,” the statement said. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office sued TikTok in April 2025, accusing it of “fueling a mental health crisis among Alabama’s youth.” “TikTok’s so-called ‘safety features’ are a joke,” the office said in a statement. “They are nothing more than a marketing ploy to trick parents into trusting a product that TikTok knows full well is dangerous.” The lawsuit accused TikTok of deploying an algorithm to keep children on the site to sell advertising, and accused the social media platform of harming their mental health, leading to self-harm and depression. “The TikTok algorithm regularly exposes children to overtly mature and inappropriate content concerning alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sexual content, nudity, suicide, and eating disorders,” the lawsuit states. “This content, and the addictive properties of the app, are distinctly harmful to the still-developing minds of children and damaging to the State’s future.” TikTok filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in June 2025, arguing among other matters the state’s claims were barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. “Under Section 230, a defendant is immune from suit when: it is a provider of an interactive computer service; the plaintiff’s claims treat the defendant as the publisher of information; and that information is provided by another information content provider, not the defendant,” TikTok said in its motion. The company also cited the federal Child Online Privacy Protection Act to challenge the claim made by the AG’s Office that the platform retains data from users. TikTok also said that the claims should be dismissed because the company was not based in Alabama. Friday’s settlement requires the social media platform to provide parents with resources allowing them to tailor the preferences and privacy settings and how to obtain information on their children’s accounts. It will also inform parents about how they view their children’s activity and their visibility on the site. It also requires TikTok to create protections for teens to prevent interactions with “age-inappropriate accounts” and to provide age-appropriate content recommendations. TikTok will also impose a ban for teen users during the late evenings to early morning by default. However, for those with permission to use the platform, TikTok will limit messages and disable some notification features. The agreement also allows parents to impose limits on the amount of time their children may view the site. The default daily limit is set to two hours per day starting at midnight. The platform will also allow parents to see a summary of the children’s activity on TikTok and to schedule when they will be blocked from having access. Of the $116 million TikTok will pay to Alabama, $14.2 million will go to attorneys’ fees and another $2 million will be for litigation. The remaining $100 million will be paid to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office for an unspecified purpose. The company will also pay about $183 million that Alabama could receive in increments or tiers based on specific milestones. Tier one, for example, is worth about $55 million and could be paid out should the attorney generals’ offices from 10 states formalize qualifying agreements. Alabama is slated to receive another $55 million if another 10 states execute qualifying agreements. Courtesy of Alabama Reflector
	Moody's assessment results in upgraded Rock Island County credit rating A recent independent assessment by Moody’s resulted in a credit rating upgrade for Rock IslandCounty, from A1 to Aa3, according to a news release. A local government’s credit rating is an independent assessment by a rating agency of that government’s ability and willingness to meet its debt obligations. A sign of financial stability, a credit [...]
	State officials approve 14.6% rate increase for individual premiums on ACA marketplace Marylanders impacted by premium rate increases are urged to shop for plan options on the Maryland Health Connection. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)Marylanders who purchase individual health care plans on the state’s insurance marketplace will see a second year of double-digit increases to their monthly healthcare costs, after state insurance officials said Friday they have approved a 14.6% average premium rate increase across plans in 2027. For the 274,000 Marylanders who purchase plans on the state’s insurance market under the Affordable Care Act, called the Maryland Health Connection, the new approved rate increases will compound on last year’s 13.4% rate hike that was issued in response to the expiration of federal tax credits that helped keep some plans more affordable. Without those tax credits, more Marylanders struggle to afford their healthcare plans, leading some of them to downgrade their coverage or go without insurance, experts say, which further puts pressure on the healthcare system. Insurance companies say the increased rates are needed to stay solvent and pay claims at a time when there is less federal funding to help offset rising healthcare and prescription drug costs. Proposed rate hikes for long-term care plans would double premiums for thousands of seniors “I think that the rates that were released today … reflect exactly what’s been brought Maryland’s way, following the expiration of the premium tax credits,” said Matthew F. Celentano, executive director of the League of Life & Health Insurers of Maryland. He’s referring to the enhanced federal tax credits that expired in December 2025 after Congress failed to renew them. Celentano said the tax credits were “critical for consumers” and in helping keep healthcare costs down. The 14.6% average rate increase approved by state insurance regulators on individual plans is actually higher than the 13.7% average increase initially requested by health insurance companies in May and June. But over the summer, insurance companies amended their rate proposals asking for even higher rate increases. State insurance officials say that the approved average rate increase of 14.6% is lower than what insurance companies ultimately asked for in their amended requests. The approved rate increases announced Friday include an average 10.2% premium increase on small group plans purchased on the Maryland insurance market. Increases in the small group market plans were driven largely by increased inpatient hospital care and rising prescription drug costs. Dental plans purchased on the insurance market will also see an 3% average premium increase, down from the 6.5% average increase requested by insurance companies. Just how much the premium rate increases impact family budgets will vary based on several factors, including insurance carrier, plan type, household size and income. For example, a household of four with an Optimum Choice Bronze plan may see a 3.5% rate increase, raising their monthly premium from from $975 to $1,009 a month, state insurance officials estimate, or a $34 per month increase. But a family of four with a CareFirst Bronze plan may see their monthly healthcare costs jump $302, with a 17.2% increase to their monthly premium. Rate increases for individual plans bought on the Maryland insurance market will vary by plan. Here are some examples of what rates may look like for a family of four on a Bronze plan. (Chart courtesy the Maryland Insurance Administration) The Maryland Insurance Administration notes that those examples do not take into account any subsidies that could lower monthly premiums for qualifying households. But rising costs in healthcare and other industries are straining Maryland household budgets, leaving them to make hard decisions of moving to a lower coverage plan or dropping their plans altogether. Maryland insurance regulators say that enrollment on the Maryland Health Connection dropped from 294,000 last year to 274,000 this year. The drop in enrollment is expected to continue into next plan year – an additional reason why insurance companies asked for another year of steep rate increases, according to Maryland insurance regulators. Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Health Care for All coalition warns that the current state efforts are not enough to keep up with rising premiums and healthcare costs. “We are disappointed that Marylanders will pay higher insurance premiums because of bad decisions by the Trump Administration and Congress, especially their failure to extend critically needed health care tax credits and cuts they made in eligibility. This is exacerbated by rising hospitalization and pharmaceutical costs,” DeMarco said in a written statement. “Maryland cannot continue to protect our people without additional state revenue for health care and action to rein in skyrocketing drug costs,” his statement said. Insurance Commissioner Marie Grant urges Marylanders affected by the rate increases to explore plans offered on the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. Those with household incomes that fall below 400% of the federal poverty level can qualify for state subsidies that may keep costs lower. Grant also warns Marylanders to be wary of unauthorized health insurance plans in their search for more affordable insurance coverage. “People need to shop and understand their options,” Grant said. “That (14.6% increase) may not be the rate you see – depending on your age, your family structure, your plan.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Maryland Matters
	Man enters into plea agreement in Scott County human trafficking case Agron Mitchell Simpson, a registered sex offender, pleads guilty to multiple charges in federal human trafficking case.
	Spanberger proposes slate of data center regulations, puts first directives in motion Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22 on Sept. 18 to kick off her data center regulation package. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger last week unveiled a package of legislative proposals to rein in the data center industry in the commonwealth, with goals to tighten environmental regulations, increase cost allocation for the industry and make the proposal process more transparent by barring non-disclosure agreements between localities and data center developers. The plan does not include a moratorium on data center development while the details of the plan are refined, a step several environmental and advocacy groups and citizens have demanded in recent weeks. Dubbed the “Data Center Accountability Framework,” Spanberger’s plan outlines five pillars as key priorities: transparency, environmental protections, lowering energy costs, promoting clean energy and focusing on local workers. “The framework is a thorough plan to end data center secrecy, protect our environment, lower energy costs for families, bolster our clean energy economy and make sure Virginia workers have the protections and assurances they deserve,” Spanberger said as she announced the plan at the Virginia State Capitol. Spanberger also signed Executive Order 22, which will kick-start her plans for clamping down on the industry ahead of the legislative session that begins in January. Transparency Perhaps the most concrete of the directives is a measure to ban nondisclosure agreements between data centers and executive branch agencies, departments, state boards and commissions. It also bars those agencies from requiring such agreements for data center projects. New data centers in Maryland to get additional scrutiny under governor’s order The order does not impact the use of nondisclosure agreements by localities, but the governor said she plans to work with the General Assembly to pass a law banning the agreements at the local level. Spanberger’s package also proposes eliminating by-right local approvals of data centers that use more than 25 megawatts of power. Many counties have taken steps toward requiring conditional-use permits, which require public hearings and a vote of approval from local leaders. Additionally, the governor wants to remove data centers from Virginia’s fast-track permitting process on permits for projects in “business ready” locations. The fast-track process is a remnant of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, which encouraged and supported rapid build-out of the state’s data center industry to boost Virginia’s business reputation. Environmental protections The framework directs lawmakers to develop policies to create data center standards for energy efficiency, water use and land impacts. Budget language that passed the General Assembly in June directed the Department of Environmental Quality to identify “water scarcity areas” where data centers’ water use for cooling could put drinking water availability at risk. Data centers in those areas, mainly east of Interstate-95, will have to reduce their water use. The framework also outlines a plan to expedite noise regulations included in the budget language, but does not set a deadline for them to be in place. Currently, DEQ has until 2029 to research the lowest possible sound levels data centers could operate on and make that the standard across the board. Lower energy costs Spanberger’s framwork requires utilities to make data centers pick up more of the energy infrastructure costs incurred by the industry. Dominion Energy has already taken action on that front, creating a new GS5 rate class that mostly includes data centers and large manufacturers. The State Corporation Commission approved the new rate class last November. Like the recommendations in Spanberger’s framework, the new rate class includes 14-year contracts and specific cost allocations for energy generation, distribution and transmission. The SCC also recently directed Dominion to create a new tariff to directly assign the cost of high-voltage transmission lines that are only necessary due to data centers to those customers. Spanberger supported the tariff, which is reflected in her framework. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Tech giant Microsoft has already put the State Supreme Court on notice that it could appeal that order. Microsoft representatives said in an email this month that the company hopes “any rates ultimately put in place are transparent, fair, and reflect the costs each customer creates.” By filing notice of appeal, they continued, “Microsoft preserves its ability to challenge any implementation that does not meet these expectations.” Elevating clean energy, hiring Virginia workers Spanberger’s plan would also limit the amount of power data centers can produce on-site through natural gas generators and other “behind the meter” methods that don’t draw from the electric grid. But it would make it easier for data centers to bring clean energy options on-site, by reforming utility charges for clean-energy investments. PJM, the regional grid operator for 13 states, including Maryland and Virginia, recently proposed a new rule to direct data centers to pay for their power generation or cover their energy needs by backstop power purchases. This would help bring more power on the grid when it’s strained on very hot and cold days. Several recent proposals by data centers in the commonwealth show the industry’s growing interest in building its own gas turbines to power data facilities. That method skirts the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires utility companies to retire carbon-emitting power sources by 2050. The framework prioritizes hiring local workers to build data centers and using local businesses for procurement and contractors. Lawmakers, environmental groups, data centers react Several lawmakers and environmental groups spoke up in support of Spanberger’s framework. “Governor Spanberger’s Data Center Accountability Framework is a step in the right direction,” said a statement from the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. “We look forward to continuing to work with Governor Spanberger in the upcoming 2027 legislative session to develop thoughtful legislation that holds data centers accountable.” Many of these policies would require legislative approval, and many are prospective, meaning they will apply to new data center applications but not the more than 600 centers already operating or being built statewide. Counties scramble to respond to data centers, setting moratoriums, a ban “For those that are up and running and already operating, we have the ability and intention to continue to make sure that into the future we are holding them to greater and greater standards,” Spanberger said. Representatives from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Sierra Club, and League of Conservation Voters joined Spanberger for the announcement, calling it a strong first step toward legislation to cement the framework’s goals. Other organizations criticized the framework for not including an outright pause on data center development. “It does not address the continued connection of data centers to the grid, despite inadequate power and the many impacts on air quality, water supply, electric bills, and people and communities,” the Piedmont Environmental Council said in a statement. “Not to mention the hundreds of miles of proposed transmission lines, solely to support data centers.” “We must stop the madness and issue an immediate pause on approvals until these protections – and more – are fully implemented,” said Chesapeake Climate Action Network Director Victoria Higgins. The Data Center Coalition, the leading national group that lobbies for the industry, said it is waiting for more details on the plan. “(We) are ready to engage with policymakers to ensure workable, balanced policies that keep Virginia competitive and honor prior commitments by the Commonwealth and its localities,” coalition representative Nicole Riley said. Spanberger did not answer directly when asked why she did not impose a data center development moratorium while lawmakers consider her framework, but reiterated that some localities are considering pausing data center development. “While [localities are] looking at what’s available to them as a potential option, it is up to our communities … But the state has to show leadership,” Spanberger said. “We are in a place where day by day, community members are demanding action.” The framework, she added, “is an opportunity for us to take action and ensure that we are moving forward.” — This article originally appeared in Virginia Mercury, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Courtesy of Maryland Matters
	Consortium including Sandburg recognized by U. S. Maritime Administration The Corn Belt Ports Rural Logistics & Maritime Training & Education Consortium, which includes Sandburg as a member, has been designated as a 2026 Center of Excellence (CoE) for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education. According to a news release, the consortium was one of 16 CoE designees for 2026 by the U.S. Department of [...]
	Family Resources honors lives lost on National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims Family Resources gathered Friday in Davenport for the fifth annual National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims, offering healing and survivor support.
	Need to rehome a plant? Quad City Botanical Center is taking donations now The center is accepting plant and garden‑related donations through Sept. 30, with all items rehomed during the Great Garden Cleanout fundraiser on Oct. 1. Donations can be dropped off during regular admission hours.
	Military retirees learn about resources, benefit updates, at Rock Island Arsenal Military retirees from across the Quad Cities gathered to learn about resources and updates to their benefits. The annual Military Retiree Appreciation Day was Friday at Rock Island Arsenal. Vets met with medical and dental providers, veterans service organizations, and community groups. It was also an opportunity for retirees to catch up with their fellow [...]
	More rain to end September After an already wet stretch last week with 8 straight days of measurable rain totaling out to 4.7" of rain total, more rain is on the way to end the month. There is a chance of above average rainfall for the Quad Cities for next week right around when we switch from September into October [...]
	Haunted Fairgrounds to open with new design Visitors can expect to see plenty of new scares at this year's Haunted Fairgrounds.
	Rock Island school celebrates Dolly Parton on 9/25 Longfellow Elementary in Rock Island celebrated Dolly Parton on 9/25, with volunteers reading to students and sharing her legacy of kindness.
	Musco Sports Center wins People's All-Star Community Award The City of Muscatine has announced that the Musco Sports Center has won the 2026 People’s All-Star Community Award, presented by the Iowa League of Cities. The final crown was secured on Sept. 24, 2026, after a highly competitive, statewide bracket-style tournament conducted via public voting. The Musco Sports Center, recognized as the largest inflatable [...]
	Mother of man killed in McDonough County police chase settles lawsuit for $1.5 million James Mellenthin died when his vehicle crashed during a high-speed pursuit on Route 67.
	Ella Langley concert, QC Marathon to impact Moline traffic Ella Langley performs Saturday at Vibrant Arena as the QC Marathon also takes place, prompting road closures and traffic changes in downtown Moline.
	Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map The ruling is a defeat for Republicans seeking to give their party an edge in the midterm elections for control of the House. It means voters will face a different map than the one used in the primary elections.
	Rep. Hinson said that she texted U.S. House Speaker about this issue U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson said that she has been in contact with House Speaker Mike Johnson about calling back members to address rising fuel costs.
	Highlight Zone: Week 6 Week 6 of the Highlight Zone
	Jaden and Cece from Family Resources talk Domestic Violence Awareness Month Jaden and Cece from Family Resources talk Domestic Violence Awareness Month
	I have spent the past 6 months reading hundreds of poems by young people – I was surprised to find hope, not despair If you’ve read any commentary about younger people, none of the following statistics will surprise you. Approximately 19% of Americans who are 12 to 19 years old are depressed – higher than any adult age group. Only about 58.5% of teens who are 12 to 17, meanwhile, say they consistently receive the emotional and social support they need. They often have little faith in institutions – be it the government or schools, or one another. And the average American child age 8 to 18 spends 7.5 hours a day watching or using screens. On the one hand, these statistics are understandable: Young people are facing a future shaped by climate anxiety, political extremism, economic instability and chronic loneliness. But those numbers may only be telling part of the story. I have spent the past six months reading hundreds of poems submitted by young writers age 10 to 21. In June 2026, we will publish an anthology of writing from 177 of these young people in the “1455 Young Poets Anthology.” More than 300 young people submitted their poems to a nonprofit I run, called 1455 Storytelling Arts. The poets mostly come from the U.S., but nine other countries are represented. I continually found myself surprised, encouraged and inspired while reading their poetry. In a world that sometimes seems to reward the noisiest and the most aggressive, the wealthiest and the most selfish, these young poets understand something at once simple and profound that I think many adults have forgotten: Hope is not optimism. It’s endurance. The 177 poets featured in the ‘1455 Young Poets Anthology’ range from 10 to 21 years old. 1455 Literary Arts ‘The only way through is through’ For the young writers whose work crossed my desk, hoping for a better future seems to be both a personal and collective act of accountability. It’s a refusal to accept a status quo in politics and other ways of life that might not work for some people. Again and again, young people submitted poems that wrestled with loneliness, fractured families, violence, identity, anxiety, grief and uncertainty. Layla Dwelle, age 15, confronts this tense atmosphere of information overload and anxiety, writing, “I’m tired of the cycle / I’m tired of evil / I’m tired of what is done / I’m tired of what isn’t.” Yet many also revealed an unwillingness to surrender entirely to despair. Alicia Chow, age 14, writes, “I realize the only way through is through / So I keep moving as defiance of loss.” These poems acknowledge pain, but identify tenderness in the darker corners of life. They describe a world that has a soundtrack set on two extremes: chaos and silence. They grapple with real fear and insist that bearing witness to the world gives purpose and meaning to people’s lives. These writers, in short, are not giving up – they are looking to create a future that revises the dysfunctional present, which they see as a work in progress. The titles of some poems speak volumes about the worlds and feelings these poems explore: “Self-Portrait as a Firefly,” “The Cost of Rain,” “The Ones Who Run,” “Prayer for a New Season,” “The Grass That Grows in the Cracks” and “Scars on Soul.” Where reality meets urgency What struck me most while editing this anthology was not the poets’ honesty or vulnerability, though both of those qualities were present. Instead, it was their maturity that really stood out. There’s a focused seriousness present in their writing that combines political reality with a sense of urgency. Here’s Emily Bennett, age 18, from her poem, “For the Love of the Sunk Cost Fallacy”: Because,nothing true aches forever.And sometimes the bravest thingyou can do is simply open your hands. Many of these young writers are trying to answer questions that adults themselves struggle with or avoid, including how to remain human in a culture that monetizes distraction. This is an issue the American writer Jenny Odell compellingly addresses in her 2019 book, “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.” Her thesis, simple yet radical, is that attention is people’s most vital resource, and all people are being bombarded, 24/7, with algorithmic strategies looking to distract and divide them. She astutely describes “the mindless traffic of information,” which, not so coincidentally, is something poetry has always stood in quiet defiance of. The poems raise other questions. How do people care for one another without becoming uncomfortably numb to others’ pain and suffering? How do people imagine and create a future while they are constantly reminded of growing inequality within many countries, and with the world’s wealthiest people quickly growing richer? The fact that so many young people are still turning to poetry feels, to me, significant, if not momentous. Poetry is typically not a commercially rewarded art form. It obliges readers to slow down, sit with ambiguity and experience language in ways that plumb interior life. If today’s algorithms reward speed, branding and certainty, poetry rewards reflection. This is the thesis of professor and Atlantic editor Walt Hunter’s illuminating – and quite encouraging – recent article, “Stop Meeting Students Where They Are,” which we recently discussed in detail on my podcast, “Some Things Considered.” Young Americans may not have given up after all Younger people are not oblivious about the world’s problems. The young poets I’ve been reading see empathy not as weakness, but as a bold imperative to help make the world a kinder, more just place. I can hardly think of a better example than 16-year-old poet Dave Thompson’s provocatively titled “What if Jesus Was a Little Brown Boy in the USA”: But you are here.A little God walking to school,still foolish enoughstill holy enoughto believe love might meanwhat it says. As a podcaster and professor of storytelling, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people my age or older lament that today’s generation doesn’t read or doesn’t care. This issue comes up at almost every panel discussion I’ve recently participated in. I think these kinds of assertions about young people are both simplistic and unhelpful. In some ways, while mental health is a real concern for young people, they are doing better than their predecessors in other ways. Youth arrest rates have been declining since the 1990s in the U.S., for example, and American high school students are more likely than ever to graduate. I think we should pay attention to some of the messages that these young poets are sending. We might even seek to emulate them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sean Murphy, Shenandoah University Read more: Trump’s first term polarized teens’ views on racism and inequality From Norway to Wisconsin, children want to be social media influencers when they grow up School start times and screen time late in the evening exacerbate sleep deprivation in US teenagers Sean Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
	I have spent the past 6 months reading hundreds of poems by young people – I was surprised to find hope, not despair If you’ve read any commentary about younger people, none of the following statistics will surprise you. Approximately 19% of Americans who are 12 to 19 years old are depressed – higher than any adult age group. Only about 58.5% of teens who are 12 to 17, meanwhile, say they consistently receive the emotional and social support they need. They often have little faith in institutions – be it the government or schools, or one another. And the average American child age 8 to 18 spends 7.5 hours a day watching or using screens. On the one hand, these statistics are understandable: Young people are facing a future shaped by climate anxiety, political extremism, economic instability and chronic loneliness. But those numbers may only be telling part of the story. I have spent the past six months reading hundreds of poems submitted by young writers age 10 to 21. In June 2026, we will publish an anthology of writing from 177 of these young people in the “1455 Young Poets Anthology.” More than 300 young people submitted their poems to a nonprofit I run, called 1455 Storytelling Arts. The poets mostly come from the U.S., but nine other countries are represented. I continually found myself surprised, encouraged and inspired while reading their poetry. In a world that sometimes seems to reward the noisiest and the most aggressive, the wealthiest and the most selfish, these young poets understand something at once simple and profound that I think many adults have forgotten: Hope is not optimism. It’s endurance. The 177 poets featured in the ‘1455 Young Poets Anthology’ range from 10 to 21 years old. 1455 Literary Arts ‘The only way through is through’ For the young writers whose work crossed my desk, hoping for a better future seems to be both a personal and collective act of accountability. It’s a refusal to accept a status quo in politics and other ways of life that might not work for some people. Again and again, young people submitted poems that wrestled with loneliness, fractured families, violence, identity, anxiety, grief and uncertainty. Layla Dwelle, age 15, confronts this tense atmosphere of information overload and anxiety, writing, “I’m tired of the cycle / I’m tired of evil / I’m tired of what is done / I’m tired of what isn’t.” Yet many also revealed an unwillingness to surrender entirely to despair. Alicia Chow, age 14, writes, “I realize the only way through is through / So I keep moving as defiance of loss.” These poems acknowledge pain, but identify tenderness in the darker corners of life. They describe a world that has a soundtrack set on two extremes: chaos and silence. They grapple with real fear and insist that bearing witness to the world gives purpose and meaning to people’s lives. These writers, in short, are not giving up – they are looking to create a future that revises the dysfunctional present, which they see as a work in progress. The titles of some poems speak volumes about the worlds and feelings these poems explore: “Self-Portrait as a Firefly,” “The Cost of Rain,” “The Ones Who Run,” “Prayer for a New Season,” “The Grass That Grows in the Cracks” and “Scars on Soul.” Where reality meets urgency What struck me most while editing this anthology was not the poets’ honesty or vulnerability, though both of those qualities were present. Instead, it was their maturity that really stood out. There’s a focused seriousness present in their writing that combines political reality with a sense of urgency. Here’s Emily Bennett, age 18, from her poem, “For the Love of the Sunk Cost Fallacy”: Because,nothing true aches forever.And sometimes the bravest thingyou can do is simply open your hands. Many of these young writers are trying to answer questions that adults themselves struggle with or avoid, including how to remain human in a culture that monetizes distraction. This is an issue the American writer Jenny Odell compellingly addresses in her 2019 book, “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.” Her thesis, simple yet radical, is that attention is people’s most vital resource, and all people are being bombarded, 24/7, with algorithmic strategies looking to distract and divide them. She astutely describes “the mindless traffic of information,” which, not so coincidentally, is something poetry has always stood in quiet defiance of. The poems raise other questions. How do people care for one another without becoming uncomfortably numb to others’ pain and suffering? How do people imagine and create a future while they are constantly reminded of growing inequality within many countries, and with the world’s wealthiest people quickly growing richer? The fact that so many young people are still turning to poetry feels, to me, significant, if not momentous. Poetry is typically not a commercially rewarded art form. It obliges readers to slow down, sit with ambiguity and experience language in ways that plumb interior life. If today’s algorithms reward speed, branding and certainty, poetry rewards reflection. This is the thesis of professor and Atlantic editor Walt Hunter’s illuminating – and quite encouraging – recent article, “Stop Meeting Students Where They Are,” which we recently discussed in detail on my podcast, “Some Things Considered.” Young Americans may not have given up after all Younger people are not oblivious about the world’s problems. The young poets I’ve been reading see empathy not as weakness, but as a bold imperative to help make the world a kinder, more just place. I can hardly think of a better example than 16-year-old poet Dave Thompson’s provocatively titled “What if Jesus Was a Little Brown Boy in the USA”: But you are here.A little God walking to school,still foolish enoughstill holy enoughto believe love might meanwhat it says. As a podcaster and professor of storytelling, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people my age or older lament that today’s generation doesn’t read or doesn’t care. This issue comes up at almost every panel discussion I’ve recently participated in. I think these kinds of assertions about young people are both simplistic and unhelpful. In some ways, while mental health is a real concern for young people, they are doing better than their predecessors in other ways. Youth arrest rates have been declining since the 1990s in the U.S., for example, and American high school students are more likely than ever to graduate. I think we should pay attention to some of the messages that these young poets are sending. We might even seek to emulate them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sean Murphy, Shenandoah University Read more: Trump’s first term polarized teens’ views on racism and inequality From Norway to Wisconsin, children want to be social media influencers when they grow up School start times and screen time late in the evening exacerbate sleep deprivation in US teenagers Sean Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
	I have spent the past 6 months reading hundreds of poems by young people – I was surprised to find hope, not despair If you’ve read any commentary about younger people, none of the following statistics will surprise you. Approximately 19% of Americans who are 12 to 19 years old are depressed – higher than any adult age group. Only about 58.5% of teens who are 12 to 17, meanwhile, say they consistently receive the emotional and social support they need. They often have little faith in institutions – be it the government or schools, or one another. And the average American child age 8 to 18 spends 7.5 hours a day watching or using screens. On the one hand, these statistics are understandable: Young people are facing a future shaped by climate anxiety, political extremism, economic instability and chronic loneliness. But those numbers may only be telling part of the story. I have spent the past six months reading hundreds of poems submitted by young writers age 10 to 21. In June 2026, we will publish an anthology of writing from 177 of these young people in the “1455 Young Poets Anthology.” More than 300 young people submitted their poems to a nonprofit I run, called 1455 Storytelling Arts. The poets mostly come from the U.S., but nine other countries are represented. I continually found myself surprised, encouraged and inspired while reading their poetry. In a world that sometimes seems to reward the noisiest and the most aggressive, the wealthiest and the most selfish, these young poets understand something at once simple and profound that I think many adults have forgotten: Hope is not optimism. It’s endurance. The 177 poets featured in the ‘1455 Young Poets Anthology’ range from 10 to 21 years old. 1455 Literary Arts ‘The only way through is through’ For the young writers whose work crossed my desk, hoping for a better future seems to be both a personal and collective act of accountability. It’s a refusal to accept a status quo in politics and other ways of life that might not work for some people. Again and again, young people submitted poems that wrestled with loneliness, fractured families, violence, identity, anxiety, grief and uncertainty. Layla Dwelle, age 15, confronts this tense atmosphere of information overload and anxiety, writing, “I’m tired of the cycle / I’m tired of evil / I’m tired of what is done / I’m tired of what isn’t.” Yet many also revealed an unwillingness to surrender entirely to despair. Alicia Chow, age 14, writes, “I realize the only way through is through / So I keep moving as defiance of loss.” These poems acknowledge pain, but identify tenderness in the darker corners of life. They describe a world that has a soundtrack set on two extremes: chaos and silence. They grapple with real fear and insist that bearing witness to the world gives purpose and meaning to people’s lives. These writers, in short, are not giving up – they are looking to create a future that revises the dysfunctional present, which they see as a work in progress. The titles of some poems speak volumes about the worlds and feelings these poems explore: “Self-Portrait as a Firefly,” “The Cost of Rain,” “The Ones Who Run,” “Prayer for a New Season,” “The Grass That Grows in the Cracks” and “Scars on Soul.” Where reality meets urgency What struck me most while editing this anthology was not the poets’ honesty or vulnerability, though both of those qualities were present. Instead, it was their maturity that really stood out. There’s a focused seriousness present in their writing that combines political reality with a sense of urgency. Here’s Emily Bennett, age 18, from her poem, “For the Love of the Sunk Cost Fallacy”: Because,nothing true aches forever.And sometimes the bravest thingyou can do is simply open your hands. Many of these young writers are trying to answer questions that adults themselves struggle with or avoid, including how to remain human in a culture that monetizes distraction. This is an issue the American writer Jenny Odell compellingly addresses in her 2019 book, “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.” Her thesis, simple yet radical, is that attention is people’s most vital resource, and all people are being bombarded, 24/7, with algorithmic strategies looking to distract and divide them. She astutely describes “the mindless traffic of information,” which, not so coincidentally, is something poetry has always stood in quiet defiance of. The poems raise other questions. How do people care for one another without becoming uncomfortably numb to others’ pain and suffering? How do people imagine and create a future while they are constantly reminded of growing inequality within many countries, and with the world’s wealthiest people quickly growing richer? The fact that so many young people are still turning to poetry feels, to me, significant, if not momentous. Poetry is typically not a commercially rewarded art form. It obliges readers to slow down, sit with ambiguity and experience language in ways that plumb interior life. If today’s algorithms reward speed, branding and certainty, poetry rewards reflection. This is the thesis of professor and Atlantic editor Walt Hunter’s illuminating – and quite encouraging – recent article, “Stop Meeting Students Where They Are,” which we recently discussed in detail on my podcast, “Some Things Considered.” Young Americans may not have given up after all Younger people are not oblivious about the world’s problems. The young poets I’ve been reading see empathy not as weakness, but as a bold imperative to help make the world a kinder, more just place. I can hardly think of a better example than 16-year-old poet Dave Thompson’s provocatively titled “What if Jesus Was a Little Brown Boy in the USA”: But you are here.A little God walking to school,still foolish enoughstill holy enoughto believe love might meanwhat it says. As a podcaster and professor of storytelling, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people my age or older lament that today’s generation doesn’t read or doesn’t care. This issue comes up at almost every panel discussion I’ve recently participated in. I think these kinds of assertions about young people are both simplistic and unhelpful. In some ways, while mental health is a real concern for young people, they are doing better than their predecessors in other ways. Youth arrest rates have been declining since the 1990s in the U.S., for example, and American high school students are more likely than ever to graduate. I think we should pay attention to some of the messages that these young poets are sending. We might even seek to emulate them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sean Murphy, Shenandoah University Read more: Trump’s first term polarized teens’ views on racism and inequality From Norway to Wisconsin, children want to be social media influencers when they grow up School start times and screen time late in the evening exacerbate sleep deprivation in US teenagers Sean Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
	“This prosecution is crazy”: Iowa election volunteer charged with election interference Protests are planned Monday over the pending court case against an Iowa election volunteer charged with interfering with vote counting in the 2024 election.
	Former Davenport fire chief dies at 76 The Davenport Fire Department announced the death of former Fire Chief Mark Frese.
	CDC reports first measles death of year as Illinois, Iowa track rising cases As national measles cases reach a 30-year high, Illinois reports 23 cases and Iowa confirms 38, with health officials urging residents to verify MMR status.
	Former St. Ambrose University president dies Edward Rogalski served the school for nearly 40 years, including 20 as president.
	Former Davenport Fire Chief Mark Frese dies at age 76 Mark Frese served 37 years on the Davenport Fire Department, the last 10 leading as its chief.
	Longtime Davenport firefighter, chief, dies A longtime Davenport firefighter and fire chief has passed away, according to a news release from the City of Davenport. "The City of Davenport and the Davenport Fire Department are deeply saddened to announce the passing of former Davenport Fire Chief Mark Frese #419, who passed away at his home this morning, September 25, 2026, [...]
	Johnson County lowers flags to half-staff in memory of student and teacher drowning victims Johnson County has lowered its flags at government buildings in memory of the student and teacher who died this week at Lake Macbride State Park.
	Seniors provided free resources, services at 5th annual QC Senior Expo Quad City seniors were treated to a one stop shop on Friday at the Golden Leaf Banquet Center for the QC Senior Expo.
	Mark Frese, former Davenport Fire Chief, dies at age 76 A longtime Davenport Fire Department chief has died. The City of Davenport and the Davenport Fire Department announced in a news release that former Davenport Fire Chief Mark Frese #419 died at his home on Sept. 25 at the age of 76. Chief Frese dedicated almost 37 years of his life to serving the citizens [...]
	Iowa League of Cities holds conference in Bettendorf The Iowa League of Cities held its annual conference and exhibit in Bettendorf for the first time this week. From Wednesday, September 23 through Friday, September 25. Hundreds of city officials from across the state traveled to the Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf for the three-day event from Sept. 23 – 25, the League’s largest educational [...]
	Rock Island school celebrates Dolly Parton Day Students at Longfellow School in Rock Island celebrated Dolly Parton Day on Friday.
	New owners bringing back Captain’s Table name to Moline riverfront The owners of Stumphy’s in Geneseo are moving to Moline to revive the longtime Captain’s Table riverfront restaurant, aiming for a November opening date.
	Early voting underway in Illinois, starts soon in Iowa: What Quad Cities voters need to know Early voting has begun in Illinois and starts soon in Iowa. Here are key dates, deadlines, and ID laws Quad Cities voters need to know before Election Day.
	The Pacific is churning with hurricanes. The Atlantic is quiet. Blame El Niño The Pacific Ocean has had an unusual number of storms this year, while the Atlantic hasn't recorded a single full-blown hurricane. Scientists point to an exceptionally strong El Niño.
	Davenport fire chief retiree dies Mark Frese dedicated 37 years to the Davenport Fire Department until his retirement in 2011.
	Rock Island homecoming game postponed due to 'unexpected illness' impacting athletes, coaches The district said several athletes, coaches and family members "were impacted by an unexpected illness" Thursday evening.
	Aseguradoras dicen que están empezando a emitir nuevas pólizas de seguro de viviendas en California, pero ¿cuántas? This article is also available in English. Read it here. Las compañías de seguros están comenzando a emitir nuevas pólizas en California después de años de reticencia debido al creciente riesgo de incendios forestales. El Departamento de Seguros del estado afirma que esto significa que las nuevas regulaciones del comisionado saliente Ricardo Lara, destinadas a aumentar la disponibilidad de seguros, están dando resultado. Cada vez que una compañía anuncia sus planes para volver a vender pólizas, el departamento lo celebra como un éxito. Sin embargo, el estado no ha publicado la cantidad de nuevas pólizas que las compañías han emitido hasta el momento. Entra en escena Consumer Watchdog, el grupo de defensa que a menudo se enfrenta al departamento. Publicó una estimación de los nuevos compromisos de póliza: 12,189 desde enero de 2025, cuando entró en vigor la denominada estrategia de seguros sostenibles de Lara. Esta estrategia permite a las aseguradoras utilizar modelos de catástrofes, que según afirman tienen en cuenta el riesgo de forma más adecuada porque incluyen modelos prospectivos, y considerar los costes de reaseguro al fijar sus tarifas. Consumer Watchdog, cuyos datos provienen de un análisis exhaustivo de las solicitudes de tarifas de las compañías de seguros, afirma que esa cifra es baja, considerando que las aseguradoras han solicitado u obtenido aumentos de tarifas por valor de 571 millones de dólares en virtud de las nuevas regulaciones. El departamento de seguros discrepa del análisis del grupo, afirmando que tiene la intención de publicar sus propios datos y análisis, y descarta las cifras del grupo por considerarlas “incompletas y prematuras”. Ben Armstrong, actuario de Consumer Watchdog, está haciendo un seguimiento de los voluminosos informes de tarifas disponibles públicamente. Analizó las declaraciones de las aseguradoras sobre la cantidad de nuevas pólizas que se comprometen a emitir y comparó los nuevos informes con los informes de tarifas anteriores de cada compañía. Armstrong explicó a CalMatters que no se trata de una ciencia exacta, ya que los informes mencionan compromisos, no ventas reales, y en algunos casos no incluyen un cronograma preciso. Las nuevas normas permiten a las aseguradoras tener en cuenta los modelos de catástrofes y sus costes de reaseguro, siempre que se comprometan a aumentar las ventas en zonas de alto riesgo. De las 10 compañías que solicitaron aumentos de tarifas conforme a las nuevas normas, solo cinco se han comprometido a vender más pólizas, según el análisis del grupo. La normativa exige que las aseguradoras elijan una de estas opciones : suscribir el 85 % de su cuota de mercado en zonas de alto riesgo; aumentar sus pólizas un 5 % en dichas zonas; o incrementar su número de pólizas un 5 % excluyendo a los clientes del Plan FAIR. Algunas de las compañías que han solicitado u obtenido aumentos de tarifas afirman que ya cumplen con el umbral del 85 %. “Lo que estamos viendo es la realidad actual para los californianos que se han visto obligados a soportar aumentos de tarifas a cambio de la promesa de más políticas en el futuro”, dijo Carmen Balber, directora ejecutiva de Consumer Watchdog. <img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/XxJ0Q/full.png?w=780&ssl=1" alt="Una tabla con las compañías de seguros, los aumentos de primas que han solicitado y sus compromisos de crecimiento de las pólizas." style="margin-bottom: 10px; max-width:100%;" /> En la última década, el estado ha sufrido los incendios más mortíferos y destructivos. Hace varios años, las compañías de seguros comenzaron a quejarse de que California, que tiene autoridad sobre los aumentos de primas, no los aprobaba con la suficiente rapidez para que pudieran ajustar sus tarifas al creciente riesgo del cambio climático y los incendios forestales. Algunas compañías dejaron de emitir nuevas pólizas o decidieron no renovar las existentes. Las nuevas regulaciones de Lara, que incluyen disposiciones impulsadas por la industria aseguradora, buscan abordar este problema. Balber afirmó que su grupo publicó su análisis para recalcar que el estado debe redoblar sus esfuerzos para garantizar que las viviendas resistentes al fuego cuenten con cobertura de seguro. Señaló que el número de nuevas pólizas a las que las aseguradoras se han comprometido hasta el momento es minúsculo en comparación con el número de pólizas del Plan FAIR, el último recurso, que sigue creciendo, aunque a un ritmo más lento. Los propietarios recurren a esta alianza estatal gestionada por las aseguradoras cuando no pueden adquirir pólizas en otros lugares, por lo que cuanto mayor sea el número de pólizas en el plan, peor será la situación del mercado principal de seguros. A junio, el Plan FAIR aún contaba con aproximadamente 697.000 pólizas activas, un 157% más que en septiembre de 2022. Michael Soller, portavoz del departamento de seguros, declaró que el departamento publicará su análisis una vez que haya examinado el mercado en general y los datos que recopila anualmente. Desconoce si el departamento publicará un análisis antes de que finalice el mandato de Lara en enero. Los californianos votarán para elegir a un nuevo comisionado en noviembre. “El comisionado Lara ha dicho que la estrategia de seguros sostenibles no es una solución inmediata”, afirmó. “Es una solución y una recuperación que lleva varios años”. David Russell, profesor de seguros y finanzas en Cal State Northridge, coincidió con el departamento en que la estrategia de Lara tardará en dar resultados. “Las aseguradoras están volviendo al mercado con cautela”, dijo Russell. “Lo están haciendo de forma selectiva. Siguen siendo propiedades de alto riesgo”. Una casa en Magalia, condado de Butte, el 4 de noviembre de 2023. Fotografía de Manuel Orbegozo para CalMatters. El excomisionado de seguros Dave Jones dijo que Lara podría haber exigido a las aseguradoras que suscribieran más pólizas de alto riesgo, especialmente considerando que el punto de partida era bajo porque se estableció después de un período de no renovaciones y sin nuevas pólizas. Jones también mencionó que las pólizas de líneas excedentes —pólizas de compañías que no están autorizadas ni reguladas por el estado, y que no cuentan con el respaldo estatal en caso de quiebra— están aumentando en California debido a que la disponibilidad sigue siendo un problema. Soller no cuestionó ninguna cifra específica del análisis de Consumer Watchdog. Sin embargo, señaló que Mercury afirmó que su objetivo a ocho años es convertir aproximadamente el 6,5 % de las pólizas residenciales del Plan FAIR, en consonancia con su cuota de mercado, a pólizas estándar para propietarios de viviendas. «Eso por sí solo representa decenas de miles de nuevas pólizas», declaró Soller. Pero hasta el momento, la documentación presentada por Mercury muestra que se ha comprometido a emitir solo 2107 nuevas pólizas en zonas desfavorecidas, por lo que eso es lo que se incluye en el análisis de Consumer Watchdog. El estado aprobó un aumento de tarifas de 85 millones de dólares para la compañía. La compañía que ha conseguido el mayor aumento de tarifas, de más de 150 millones de dólares, Farmers, se ha comprometido a emitir 5.596 nuevas pólizas. “La disponibilidad está mejorando, pero a un precio”, dijo Russell. “Eso siempre iba a ser así”. Según el sitio web de comparación de seguros Insurify, el costo promedio del seguro de vivienda en California ha aumentado un 5% en lo que va del año , uno de los mayores incrementos del país. Más de 8 millones de propietarios de viviendas en el estado cuentan con pólizas de seguro, según el departamento de seguros. Courtesy of Cal Matters

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