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

Thursday, July 9th, 2026
	Over 30 young artists leaving their mark in this year’s Quad City Arts’ Metro Arts Apprenticeship Program The program is in its 26th year of providing paid creative outlets for area youth, ages 15-21, and business relations experience. Three murals, as well as a poetry apprenticeship, are underway this summer.
	98 workers to be laid off in Moline pharmacy closure 98 workers will be laid off due to the closure of a Moline pharmacy.
	Celtic Night Out returns to Rock Island The Scottish-American Society of the Quad Cities is preparing for its annual Celtic Night Out.
	France downs Morocco 2-0 to advance to the World Cup semifinal Morocco was no match for France, which lost 2-0. The French, one of the pre-tournament favorites, move on to the World Cup semifinals against either Spain or Belgium.
	Illinois to receive settlement against Cash App Illinois will receive $1.1 million multi-state settlement against Cash App. Block, Inc., the parent company of Cash App, reached a $45 million settlement with 47 states regarding deceptive safety claims, insufficient fraud protections and inadequate customer service. The lawsuit accuses the company of making it too easy to create fake or multiple accounts. The company [...]
	Honor Flight holds reunion for America 250 The event was open to all veterans who've been on an Honor Flight out of the Quad Cities.
	Muscatine to pursue six-month demolition, stabilization plan on Second Street The city is undecided on a cost estimate but intends to stabilize the remaining buildings on the 200 block of Second Street within six months.
	Crime Stoppers: Man wanted by Rock Island police on charges of sexual abuse and assault Christian Beard is wanted by the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear for armed violence.
	Crime Stoppers: Silvis police search for masked suspect who broke into tobacco shop Silvis police and Crime Stoppers are asking for help identifying a masked man who broke into Greenleaf Tobacco using a pry bar on June 16.
	Crime Stoppers: Man wanted by Bettendorf Police and Scott County Sheriff Diondre L. Wakefield is wanted by the Bettendorf Police Department and Scott County Sheriff's Office.
	East Moline reschedules Fourth of July fireworks for fair night East Moline has rescheduled its fireworks show to July 14 at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds, serving as a kickoff for fair week.
	Getting to Know John Byrnes Chief Meteorologist Andy McCray talks with familiar faces around the Quad Cities in the Getting to Know Podcast. Learn more about important people around our area and have a good time doing it. Each week will feature a new guest from restaurant owners, to area leaders, to Our Quad Cities News Staff. In this episode [...]
	Toiletries 4 Teens provides hygiene essentials for Quad Cities teenagers A Quad Cities nonprofit continues to provide hygiene products and everyday essentials for local teenagers while working to fill a gap for youth.
	‘Portrait of America’ honors U.S. milestones and Iowa’s Jim Leach at the Figge The Figge Art Museum’s new exhibition, Connie and Michael Roberts: Portrait of America, uses collaborative portrait panels and hidden storytelling elements to highlight influential figures in U.S. history during the nation’s 250th anniversary.
	UnityPoint Health – Trinity celebrates pulmonary rehabilitation patients of the year UnityPoint Health – Trinity celebrated its pulmonary rehabilitation patients of the year during a special ceremony July 9. According to a release, the event honored those with chronic lung conditions who have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving their health through the pulmonary rehab program. Steve Delf and Lucille Mumma were honored for their perseverance [...]
	Toiletries 4 Teens provides hygiene essentials for Quad Cities area teenagers A Quad Cities nonprofit continues to provide hygiene products and everyday essentials for local teenagers while working to fill a gap for youth.
	Quad Cities ‘Back the Blue Flight’ launches new honor program for local law enforcement Quad Cities Back the Blue Flight is launching one‑day honor trips to Washington, D.C., providing active and retired local law enforcement officers a no‑cost opportunity to visit the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and other historic sites while honoring fallen colleagues
	New study finds coffee is good for your liver The study found that while any coffee seemed to provide a health benefit, drinking five or more cups a day could be more beneficial
	Muscatine moves forward with plan to stabilize evacuated buildings on East 2nd Street City officials estimate it will take approximately six months to complete the work.
	Celtic Night Out returns to Rock Island celebrating Scottish heritage The Scottish-American Society of the Quad Cities is preparing for its annual Celtic Night Out.
	Alternating Currents announces 2026 comedy acts This year's offerings include a One Liner Madness tournament, a Kidz Improv Show and a humorous look through VHS in the Midwest.
	Optum to close divvyDOSE pharmacy in Moline, laying off 98 employees Optum will close its divvyDOSE pharmacy in Moline, with 98 employees set to be laid off in August and September, according to a state filing.
	Smithsonian chief emphasizes 'accuracy and integrity' after White House report The memo from the Smithsonian's secretary, Lonnie Bunch, responded to a White House report that calls the National Museum of American History driven by "a radical, activist ideology."
	Iowa confirms first case of measles in 2026 The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that a vaccinated Iowa adult has contracted the measles virus. The confirmation marks the first case of measles in Iowa in 2026 after nine were reported in 2025.
	Valley Homes project receiving tax credits from state Community Home Partners (CHP) announced that Valley Homes, a new 60-unit affordable housing development in Rock Island,has received Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Affordable Housing Tax Credits from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). The awards are a key source of financing for the $21.5 million developmentand move the project closer to construction. Valley Homes, [...]
	Moline OKs first step to sell former Catfish Charlie’s riverfront property The Moline City Council gave initial approval to sell the former Catfish Charlie's and Captain's Table riverfront property to its owners for $350,000.
	How to deal with seesawing gas prices Gas prices have fluctuated since the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, which disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and left consumers unsure of what they'll pay at the pump.
	Actress Marlee Matlin to speak at Putnam Museum on Aug. 19 Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin will speak at the Putnam Museum on Aug. 19 during the Culture Bright Summer Series.
	JDC dates announced for 2027 The PGA tournament will run from June 28 to July Fourth, 2027.
	EPA proposes weakening heavy-duty truck pollution rules The Trump EPA calls Biden-era rules for cutting pollution from heavy trucks "unworkable." The proposed changes have been celebrated by trucking groups and denounced by environmental groups.
	Rock Island Arsenal to hold Change of Commany ceremony Col. William J. Parker III will relinquish command of U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Rock Island Arsenal to Col. Jason M. Knapp during a change of command ceremony July 14 at 10 a.m. on the lawn of historic Quarters One. Installation Management Command- Sustainment Director Jason W. Condrey will officiate the event. Parker is leaving USAG [...]
	Meet new Davenport Police Chief, Assistant Chief at meet & greet Residents are invited to a meet and greet event with Davenport’s newly promoted Police Chief Greg Behning and Assistant Chief Jason Smith on Monday, July 27 from 4 – 6 p.m. The event will be at the Davenport Police Department, 416 N. Harrison Street. This is an informal gathering and is an opportunity for the [...]
	3 Iowa men accused of grooming minor after social media conversations Three men from Davenport and Fruitland face felony grooming charges following a months-long investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies.
	NEST Cafe's head chef in the running for national culinary award While Annie Myer has been busy keeping up with the lunch rush, people across the region and country are keeping up with her in the Favorite Chef competition.
	Davenport house fire threatens neighboring home; no injuries reported A house fire in Davenport early Wednesday morning left neighboring structure damaged.
	A new kind of robot swims the seas and soars the skies Inspired by diving birds, roboticists built the lightweight machines to move from water to air. The design may one day lead to robots that can monitor and sample the coastal ocean.
	3 men charged in Louisa County child exploitation investigation Three men were arrested after a three-month Louisa County investigation and face charges including grooming a minor, authorities said.
	Class action suit against AI makers over deepfake child sexual abuse material expands New plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceXAI and Stability AI say the companies' AI tools were used to make sexually explicit images of them as children.
	Optum to close Moline pharmacy, lay off 98 workers Nearly 100 workers will lose their jobs when Optum closes its Moline divvyDOSE pharmacy operation on Aug. 6.
	3 Hanover residents arrested following overnight narcotics raid in Jo Daviess County Deputies arrested three Hanover residents on drug charges following an overnight search warrant on South Whitton Road in Jo Daviess County.
	Rock Island liquor commission holds emergency meeting after 2nd shooting at bar The Rock Island City Council held an emergency meeting after a second shooting at DeAnna's Bar led the city to temporarily close the business.
	Putnam welcomes Marlee Matlin for Aug. 19 event The Putnam Museum & Science Center welcomes Academy Award-winning actress, author and advocate Marlee Matlin on Wednesday, August 19 for an evening exploring accessibility, representation and how arts and culture can build communities where everyone belongs. Doors open, and cocktail hour begins at 5:30 p.m. Attendance is limited to 220 guests. Click here for tickets. [...]
	Davenport man charged with having handgun in his backpack despite prior felony Davenport police stopped a man late Wednesday and said they found a handgun in his backpack.
	Humility Homes to break ground on new supportive housing project in Davenport Humility Homes and Services Inc. (HHSI) is preparing to break ground on a new supportive housing project in Davenport. HHSI and Gratus Development have announced their newest initiative, Sheridan Point Place. The project is an 11-unit, newly constructed development that will provide long-term, stable housing for people and families experiencing housing instability in the Quad [...]
	240th Street road construction starts July 13 Beginning July 13, 240th Street will be under construction. The street between 180th Avenue and 240th Avenue will be reduced to one lane for a Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) resurfacing project. Drivers can expect high traffic on 240th Avenue during this period. Traffic will be maintained by flaggers and a pilot car. Scott County Road [...]
	Demand for premium brand experiences fuels growth in specialty printing Demand for premium brand experiences fuels growth in specialty printingWhile the focus on marketing and brand promotion may be weighted heavily toward digital content, companies are increasingly aiming to deliver premium experiences that are inherently tactile, in part in response to the trajectory of those very same digital trends. Connecting with customers through physical touchpoints brings brands and their target markets closer together and satisfies the spike in high-end demand.In this context, specialty printing services have gained renewed commercial interest, enabling a touch of luxury and bespoke to permeate packaging and marketing materials. There’s ample data demonstrating the correlation between the growth in premium brand experiences and specialty printing services. TEAM Concept, a specialty printing service in Chicago, took a look at what’s driving this growth and how it’s complementing rather than competing against digital marketing efforts. TEAM Concept The Significance of TactilityTouch has a long-standing link with customer decision-making, and a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology outlines its importance in detail, pointing out that businesses can drive sales through tactility because humans have evolved to seek information through this core sense. In other words, we make decisions in part based on information delivered via our hands, so physically interacting with a product is as likely to determine whether a consumer chooses to buy it as the marketing blurb or a salesperson’s pitch.Merely touching a product or its packaging significantly increases a consumer's purchase intention and willingness to pay by creating a sense of ownership.The use of tactile materials and techniques like raised ink and embossing can serve this purpose especially effectively, with both packaging and marketing materials benefiting from this innate psychological incentive. It’s also a response to the decline in in-person retail experiences today, so the chances for a brand to impress a customer are reduced to a combination of digital content and the first postdelivery interaction with a product.When consumers cannot physically touch a product, such as seeing it on a shelf or on screen, visual cues that strongly imply texture, like high-definition gloss, metallic reflections, or deep-set embossing, act as tactile compensation. These cues stimulate the brain’s mental imagery, reducing the customer's perceived uncertainty and elevating their immersion in the brand experience. Again, research supports this, with the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research analyzing the visual-tactile cues brands use to convey premium experiences in an online shopping context.The Elevation of Premium Brand ExperienceResearch by EY indicates the importance of perceived quality, with 75% of luxury brand customers placing it at the top of the agenda. The same study, which surveyed 1,211 people in 2025, found 96% of consumers in this market segment also feel in-store experiences are the optimal way for their needs to be met, with VIP treatment and personalization also a priority met by face-to-face interactions.Emulating this in an environment where brands cannot directly engage with customers in the flesh is thus exactly what specialty printing provides. It also ties into shareability, which is part and parcel of premium brand experiences at a time when social media is where tastemakers influence purchasing decisions and audiences go looking for their next acquisition.An even invitation printed with foil lettering can be snapped and showcased on Instagram or TikTok and convey the high-end nature of the evening ahead far more than flat, low-cost designs of the past. Likewise, product unboxing videos generate much more buzz if the packaging is of a premium nature, with printed elements embossed for that total tactility. When a customer sees a deep deboss or shimmering metallic foil, their brain simulates the physical feel of the product, making the brand feel instantly premium, even if it’s only seen on social media.The Market RealityWhat’s most apparent from the demand for premium brand experiences and its impact on the specialty printing market is not only how it’s influencing design choices, but how the broader printing market is being influenced. Higher-end options are enjoying 11.9% year-on-year growth, while the traditional commercial printing sector’s annual growth is around 3.6%, according to a Fortune Business Insights 2026-2034 forecast.Specialty value-add printing is growing because brands are desperate to create memorable physical touchpoints. Consumer expectations are moving further in this direction, so brands must adapt to remain relevant. This growth disparity reflects specialty printing's rising strategic value for brands.This story was produced by TEAM Concept and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	“Hamilton,” July 16 On July 16, the Putnam Museum & Science Center's GIANT Screen Theater auditorium will definitely be "the Room where it happens," with the Davenport venue hosting a 6 p.m. screening of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.
	'Every day is a big difference': San Antonio tow truck driver hit on Loop 410 finally home after 137 days His family says every day brings new progress, but they're still pleading for help identifying the hit-and-run driver who forever changed their lives.
	Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges Canoeist David Hearn plead not guilty in D.C. Superior Court Thursday to a charge of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
	Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charge Canoeist David Hearn plead not guilty in D.C. Superior Court Thursday to a charge of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
	6 moves to make after a layoff 6 moves to make after a layoffLeaving a job can often come with many emotions. But an expected layoff can be especially challenging to navigate. “Our jobs aren't just how we identify ourselves in terms of who we are and what we do; they’re our source of security and our income. When all of those things are taken away from you very suddenly…it’s devastating,” says Octavia Goredema, a career coach and author of “Prep, Push, Pivot: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women.” “Your schedule immediately is gone. Your network feels like it's been ripped out from underneath you.”Many people are currently going through this experience as layoffs permeate industries from transportation to technology to health care. In May 2026, U.S. employers announced roughly 97,000 job cuts, up 16% from the month before and the highest for that month since 2020, according to a report by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.But if your job is eliminated, Current, a consumer fintech banking platform, has some steps you can take to get back on track. Here are six moves experts say to make now.1. Allow yourself time to processWhile it can be easy to immediately jump into job hunting, give yourself time to process the loss of your last job, if possible. Taking a few days or weeks to do activities you enjoy, such as reading, exercising, getting together with friends, or even organizing your home, can help you get into the right mindset to find the best next opportunity for you.“Think about how you might want to structure the time that you now have. It can feel very isolating to suddenly not have responsibilities with your work and the connections that your work provides, so try and find opportunities to connect,” Goredema says. “Try and find things that you can do that can add to your schedule and some form of routine of your own so that you know that when you wake up, you've got something that is structured for your day.”2. Make sure you have all your severance detailsIf your previous job offered you severance, it’s important to read through the package and understand what exactly is available to you and whether there are any actions you need to take on your end.“Especially in the heat of the moment, it can be easy to overlook or forget key details,” says Matt Berndt, career strategist at Indeed. “Ask for documentation that could come in handy later, and find out if you have a severance package, what it entails, and when you have to accept or reject it.”If you aren’t sure, ask and get it in writing so you don’t miss any key information, he adds.Ask for more time to review the package if you need it and consider bringing in a second pair of eyes, such as from an employment attorney, Goredema adds. Don’t forget that you can (and likely should) negotiate severance.3. File for unemploymentOne of the first things you should do if you’re laid off is gather all your documents to file for unemployment benefits. Do this as quickly as possible, since there’s typically one “waiting week” when you won’t be paid, and to account for processing time.“Having all your information in one place saves you the trouble of tracking it down and slowing down your filing process,” Berndt says. “The requirements vary by state, but often include your driver's license or valid ID, copies of recent pay stubs, and proof of unemployment.”The Department of Labor has a guide to filing for unemployment in each state.4. Get the word outGoredema recommends letting your network know that you’re looking for your next opportunity. While some people may feel embarrassed or don’t want to burden others, telling people you know — whether they’re your neighbor, friend, or family member — that you’re job searching could lead to surprising results.“You don't know who other people know. … It's not necessarily about that person who you're talking to; it's about the people in their network,” Goredema says. “It expands your reach.”It will likely get easier and easier to talk about with every new person you tell, she adds.5. Review your budgetIt can take time for unemployment benefits to kick in, so you need to make sure you can cover your living expenses in the meantime, Berndt says. “Break down your costs into must-haves and nice-to-haves, and consider where you can save money while you search for a new job,” he adds.Use that information to adjust your budget if necessary, or create one if you don’t already have a budget in place.Financial advisors tend to recommend keeping an emergency fund that can cover living expenses for three to six months in case a layoff or another costly surprise arises. You can keep this in a high-yield savings account so that your money works for you even when it’s sitting idly. If you don’t have an emergency fund in place, make a note to start saving for one once steady paychecks are hitting again.6. Treat your job search like it’s your jobWork provides a certain rhythm and structure to our daily lives, and when that rhythm and structure disappear, it can be easy to fall into a rut of inaction, Berndt says.“To avoid this, schedule your day like a workday,” he adds. “Budget time to research and explore your options, reach out to people in your personal and professional networks, stay current with trends and developments in your industry, gain new skills, take care of your physical and mental health, practice interviewing, and, of course, apply for jobs.” Start by updating your resume and online profiles, such as LinkedIn or a portfolio. Take the time to reevaluate your career options and consider a career pivot.“It’s certainly not the ideal way to do it, but this is an opportunity to think about where you want your career to take you. You have the freedom to explore new careers and industries,” Berndt says. ”Consider: what work did you love to do? Is there a new skill you want to learn? Something you’re really passionate about?”Once you’ve determined what you’re looking for, you can hit the ground running.This story was produced by Current and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Power vs. progress: How canceled energy projects are threatening the AI boom Power vs. progress: How canceled energy projects are threatening the AI boomOne factor often missing from discussions of data center energy use is the number of planned energy projects that could provide the power required. Driven by the exponential growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the tech boom has ignited an unprecedented wave of capital allocation. Technology giants — including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft — are projected to invest a staggering $650 billion globally in capital expenditures, according to market analysis by Bloomberg. The vast majority of this capital is flowing directly into large-scale data center projects and the procurement of the advanced hardware required to train next-generation large language models (LLMs).In this article, ProLift, a full-service industrial rigging, crane, transportation, and warehousing company, examines the growing deficit in energy supply and electrical grid capacity affecting data center expansion. While technological advancement continues apace, the physical modernization of the U.S. electrical grid remains bound by complex industrial supply chains, long permitting timelines, and shifting regulatory frameworks.The primary constraint facing data center construction today is structural electricity access. This problem is significantly exacerbated by the cancellation of nearly 1,900 power projects, erasing roughly 266 gigawatts (GW) of planned generation capacity. With longstanding questions about how best to satiate the energy demand of the economy’s technological appetite, recent federal policy shifts, such as paying energy companies to cancel renewable energy projects, have added additional strain.The AI Boom’s Energy AppetiteArtificial intelligence workloads require orders of magnitude more electricity than traditional cloud computing. An LLM uses roughly 10 times more energy to respond to a query than a traditional search engine. This massive compute density is driving unprecedented power demand across major data centers in the U.S.According to research from Goldman Sachs, data center power demand is projected to increase by 160% through 2030. This steep demand curve has created a massive problem for utility operators. For more than a decade, regional grid planners operated under the assumption of flat or marginally growing electricity demand. The AI data center boom has disrupted these long-term projections. In high-density markets like the mid-Atlantic, the grid operator PJM Interconnection has reported record-high capacity prices.The question of how many data centers can operate in the U.S. by 2030 doesn’t depend on server capacity as much as it does on megawatt availability.The Collapse in New Energy SupplyWhen examining this issue, the sharp contraction of new energy projects can’t be ignored. The abandonment of 1,900 power generation and storage projects means the elimination of 266 GW of planned capacity. This equals the output of nearly a quarter of the entire operational U.S. generation fleet, and it leaves approximately $400 billion in capital investments unrealized, as estimated by Enki.The vast majority of these terminated projects consisted of low-cost clean energy resources, including solar arrays, battery energy storage installations, and wind. Clean energy projects have historically accounted for a huge portion of new capacity seeking entry to the grid. Now, their deployment has slowed. Interconnection queues — the formal review processes required to hook a new power plant up to high-voltage lines — have become bogged down in backlogs.And it’s not just federal policies designed to stymie renewable energy growth in favor of oil and gas that have exacerbated these issues. The Trump administration’s implementation of tariffs on imported equipment has increased parts costs in both the renewable and oil and gas sectors. While many of these tariffs have been suspended after their invalidation by the Supreme Court, the policies have introduced instability and cost uncertainties for energy developers. Now, nearly half of all planned U.S. data center capacity faces operational delays or cancellations tied directly to shortages of power and heavy grid equipment, such as large-scale transformers for data centers, high-voltage switchgear, and industrial-grade lithium-ion batteries.Where the Two CollideIt’s not difficult to understand why coupling skyrocketing computing demand and a constricting electrical grid is causing problems. These converging factors have transformed power access into a major gating factor for tech companies. If a company cannot secure a firm, long-term power allocation for a facility from a regional utility, it must pause or cancel its construction plans.The consequences are already unfolding across the country. In early 2026, Oracle and OpenAI terminated plans to expand a flagship AI data center campus in Abilene, Texas. The proposed expansion aimed to scale the facility’s capacity from 1.2 gigawatts to an unprecedented 2.0 gigawatts, but negotiations ultimately dissolved because of prolonged financing challenges and shifting energy infrastructure forecasts.This structural environment has altered the economics of American data centers. Historically, site selection depended on real estate costs, tax incentives, and fiber-optic considerations. Today, securing a physical interconnection agreement with a utility likely takes precedence over all other concerns.Not only has the principal problem before data center expansion changed, but the ability to solve that problem has also changed. Building enough data centers to meet the forecasted compute demand requires a massive feat of collective construction. The time required to build a modern data center facility is often less than 18 months. However, deploying the external high-voltage transmission lines and substations needed to energize that building can easily take five to seven years.Real-World ConsequencesThe upshot of all this is a deceleration in the deployment of advanced AI infrastructure. Because tech firms cannot secure uniform, high-capacity grid connections across the country, a distinct pattern of geographical concentration is emerging. New developments are clustering almost exclusively in regions that can provide immediate, surplus energy reserves or state-level regulatory environments that facilitate rapid grid attachment.And this geographic convergence is placing localized power grids under immense stress. For instance, during a severe winter storm, Texas data centers had to significantly curtail their power consumption to preserve regional grid stability and protect residential heating systems. This demonstrates the operational vulnerability of concentrating massive amounts of compute infrastructure within single, heavily leveraged energy markets.Concurrently, the broader financial cost of executing these builds continues to rise. Supply chain friction resulting from the aforementioned tariffs and the data center-led surge in demand has caused manufacturing lead times — and costs — for critical power equipment to skyrocket. Large electrical transformers now command much longer lead times and developers are caught in a highly competitive bidding market for available components. This is driving up the total cost of installation.The Workaround EconomyBecause of all this, hyperscalers are investing heavily in energy workarounds that bypass traditional public utility networks entirely. Specifically, they’re going “behind-the-meter,” opting for on-site industrial power generation.Rather than waiting half a decade for regional transmission line expansions, facility operators are forging direct, localized partnerships with independent energy producers. Industrial gas turbines and nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) are two popular potential solutions. Nuclear energy offers the benefits of being reliable and carbon-free. Major tech firms have executed historic power purchase agreements tied directly to operational nuclear stations, while simultaneously funding the development of these SMRs for longer-term use.But utility-scale nuclear deployments and SMR technologies also require multi-year development cycles. So many operators fall back on fossil-fuel-based alternatives to meet immediate operational timelines. This has led to a proliferation of localized, natural gas-fired microgrids and massive arrays of diesel backup generators. And while these solutions allow companies to bridge the energy gap and keep momentum in the technological race, they create no small amount of friction. First, the increase of emissions conflict with any stated long-term sustainability and decarbonization targets previously established. Second, local pollution has become a source of major tension between data center operators and local residents.The OutlookSecuring the necessary energy to power the data center boom will likely continue to be the chief challenge for operators. Tech companies might be able to train and deploy an artificial intelligence model in a matter of months. But building the high-voltage transmission lines and physical infrastructure required to support that model requires years of careful engineering, transport logistics, and precise field execution.While some government initiatives look to balance localized consumer protection with national technological leadership, they underscore a highly fragmented industrial landscape. For the logistics, transport, and rigging specialists who move and install the massive components that comprise data centers and power substations, questions of digital trends and theoretical AI capabilities are background noise. The major issues remain the practical, core realities of supply chains, heavy asset management, and structural execution.Ultimately, it’s not the speed of software innovation or the availability of advanced silicon chips that will determine the trajectory of the AI boom. It will be the physical limits of electrical grids, the availability of specialized heavy machinery, and the strategic foresight required to execute complex industrial builds despite significant resource constraints.This story was produced by ProLift and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How to get rid of swimmer’s ear and prevent it from coming back How to get rid of swimmer’s ear and prevent it from coming backYou don’t necessarily have to swim to get swimmer’s ear (otitis externa), an infection of the outer ear. Whether you’re spending time outdoors in humid weather, bathing, or running through the backyard sprinkler, it’s easy to get water in your ear. About 1 in 10 people will experience swimmer’s ear at some point in their lives.When water gets trapped in your ear canal, bacteria or fungi have a chance to grow. And that can lead to swimmer’s ear.The usual treatments for swimmer’s ear are eardrops that you put directly into your ear canal. In this article, GoodRx, a platform for medication savings, shares home remedies for swimmer’s ear that can help ease symptoms.Key takeaways:Swimmer’s ear (otitis externa) is an outer ear infection that can develop when water gets trapped in the ear canal.Home remedies can lower the risk of developing swimmer’s ear and help relieve symptoms.Swimmer’s ear is usually treated with topical eardrops, not oral antibiotics.Home remedies for swimmer’s earIf you have water stuck in your ear, there are some simple home remedies that can help you manage your symptoms. Some of these self-care tips can even help prevent swimmer’s ear in the future.Keep your ears dryWhen you have swimmer’s ear, keeping your ears dry can help lower the risk of more bacteria and fungi growing in your ear canal. This can help prevent your infection from getting worse.Keeping your ears dry can also make you more comfortable. Drainage from swimmer’s ear can be irritating and itchy.Plus, keeping your ears dry can help prevent swimmer’s ear.Remember that swimming isn’t the only way to get water in your ears. Everyday things like bathing and humidity can trap moisture in your ears. If your ears are wet, try these tips to help prevent swimmer’s ear:Tilt your head to the side to help water drain out of the ear canal.Gently pat your ears dry.You can also use a hair dryer on the lowest setting to dry out your ear. Take a break from swimmingIf you have signs of swimmer’s ear, like pain, itching, or redness around the ear, it’s best to avoid swimming for a while. This can help you avoid getting a new infection while your old one is still trying to clear up.Most experts recommend staying out of the water for seven to 10 days if you have swimmer’s ear.If you can’t stay out of the water, take steps to avoid getting more water in your ears. Consider using a bathing cap or well-fitting earplugs to prevent water from getting in your ear. And pat dry your ears after you get wet.Use drying eardropsIt may seem counterintuitive, but using eardrops can help clear and dry out the ear canal.You can make eardrops to prevent swimmer’s ear at home by mixing equal amounts of rubbing alcohol and distilled white vinegar. After swimming, put a few drops in each ear. This combination helps dry out your ear canal and prevents the growth of bacteria.Good to know: Don’t use homemade eardrops if you have ear tubes or a hole in your eardrum without first talking with an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist or a healthcare professional. Homemade rinses can increase the risk of serious infection in people with a hole in their eardrum.Homemade ear rinses can sometimes help relieve symptoms of swimmer’s ear. But many people also develop skin breakdown inside the ear canal when they have swimmer’s ear. Alcohol, vinegar, and other rinses may cause further irritation.It’s best to talk with a healthcare professional before using a homemade rinse when you have swimmer’s ear.Apply heatGentle heat around the ear can help relieve swelling and pain from swimmer’s ear. Try applying a heating pad or a warm compress around your ear for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Keep the heating pad on low and wrap it in a towel to avoid burns.Try over-the-counter pain relieversPain relievers like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin) can reduce discomfort from swimmer’s ear. They’re available over the counter (OTC). Here’s what to know about them:Acetaminophen generally starts working in 45 minutes. You can take it every four to six hours.Ibuprofen starts working within 30 minutes. You can take it every six to eight hours.Make sure to follow the dosing instructions closely, especially for children.Prescription treatments for swimmer’s earHome remedies can help ease symptoms of swimmer’s ear. But in most cases, infections are treated with prescription eardrops. Oral antibiotics aren’t the first-choice options, though there are times when a healthcare professional may recommend them.Antibiotic and steroid eardropsPrescription medications are a common and effective swimmer’s ear treatment. They’re usually in the form of eardrops. A healthcare professional will prescribe the best medication for you based on whether your eardrum is involved and if you’re at high risk for complications.Prescription eardrops for swimmer’s ear often include antiseptics, antibiotics, steroids, or a combination of these. Common swimmer’s eardrops are:Hydrocortisone/acetic acid (Acetasol HC) eardropsNeomycin/polymyxin B/hydrocortisone eardropsCiprofloxacin/dexamethasone eardropsCiprofloxacin eardropsOfloxacin eardropsCipro HC eardropsOral antibioticsFor a simple swimmer’s ear infection, it’s not recommended to use oral antibiotics. But there are some cases when a healthcare professional may recommend an oral antibiotic to help prevent a more serious infection from developing. For example, if you have a condition that makes you more prone to serious infections, or it’s too difficult for you to use eardrops. Options can include:LevofloxacinCiprofloxacin Are there home remedies you should not use to treat swimmer’s ear?Yes, some home remedies for otitis externa can make your symptoms worse. Here are home remedies to avoid when you have swimmer’s ear symptoms.Avoid garlic oilGarlic has some antibacterial properties. However, studies show that garlic doesn’t work as well as antibiotics to treat swimmer’s ear. Plus, garlic oil can cause skin irritation or burns inside the ear canal.Avoid hydrogen peroxideExcess earwax can sometimes make you more prone to swimmer’s ear. That’s because wax can trap bacteria and water in the ear canal.You can use OTC products like Debrox. Or you can use a home mixture of equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water to soften and remove wax. This may help to prevent swimmer’s ear.However, you should never use these drops if you have symptoms of swimmer’s ear. They can cause more damage to the ear canal. These drops should also not be used if you have ear tubes or a hole in the eardrum.Avoid ear candlesEar candles are a home remedy that some people use to remove wax and debris from the ear canal. However, ear candles can cause serious burn injuries and aren’t recommended for treating swimmer’s ear.Avoid cotton swabs (Q-tips)Resist the urge to put cotton swabs like Q-tips (or any other objects) into the ear to try to clean it out. This can damage your ear canal and increase your risk for infection.Avoid essential oilsVarious essential oils have been reported to help treat ear infections. One small study looking at a combination of three essential oils found that they worked as well as ciprofloxacin antibiotic eardrops to treat otitis externa. But the study was small. Essential oils can cause allergic reactions or damage the eardrum. That’s why experts don’t recommend essential oils for treating swimmer’s ear.When should you get medical care for swimmer’s ear?If you have symptoms of swimmer’s ear, it’s best to reach out to a healthcare professional for help. You’ll want to get care if you have:Itching in the earA sense of fullness or your ears feeling pluggedPain when pulling on the earlobe, chewing, or touching the earDischarge coming out of the earSwelling and redness of the ear or behind the earExtension of the ear away from the side of the headFeverMost cases of swimmer’s ear get better quickly with antibiotic or steroid eardrops. Rarely, though, swimmer’s ear can lead to a more serious infection, such as cellulitis or malignant otitis externa. Checking in with a healthcare professional can help you avoid more serious complications.Frequently asked questionsHow long does swimmer’s ear last without treatment?Swimmer’s ear symptoms can sometimes last for weeks without treatment. In some cases, swimmer’s ear can go away on its own. But if bacteria is causing your swimmer’s ear, you’ll likely need medication to get rid of the infection. If your symptoms are worsening or don’t improve within a few days, it’s best to see a healthcare professional to prevent complications.How long does swimmer’s ear last with treatment?Swimmer’s ear usually responds well to treatment, and you should see an improvement within 48 hours. Sometimes, there can be heavy debris in the ear that needs to be removed before the medication can properly work. So let your prescriber know if your swimmer’s ear hasn’t gotten better with treatment.The bottom lineHome remedies can help prevent swimmer’s ear by keeping the ear canal clear and dry. If you start to develop symptoms of an infection, you can use gentle heat and OTC pain relievers to help manage symptoms. But it’s best to have a medical professional examine your ear if you think you may have an ear infection. They can get you started on antibiotic or steroid eardrops to help you feel better faster and prevent more serious complications.This story was produced by GoodRx and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Can ChatGPT give good relationship advice? Can ChatGPT give good relationship advice?If you’ve hit a rough patch with your partner and aren’t sure who to talk to, you’re not alone. When emotions run high, communication can get tricky. It’s natural to look for a neutral third party as a sounding board for advice.As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced and integrated into our daily lives, you may have already used AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, as your go-to source for all kinds of advice. When it comes to matters of the heart, does ChatGPT give good relationship advice? What are the limits to what ChatGPT can do for your relationship?In this article, Talkspace explores how relationship advice from ChatGPT may be helpful and where its use is limited.Why People Turn to ChatGPT for Relationship AdviceIt can be challenging to find someone to talk to about your relationship. Sharing with friends or family feels too personal, or they may be too close to the situation to give you impartial relationship or dating advice.Getting relationship advice from ChatGPT can have some advantages over turning to family or friends. Unlike friends and family, a chatbot is available at any time of the day. That means you can talk to ChatGPT at 2 a.m. after a fight or during your lunch break when you’re worried you’re overthinking in your relationship. Additionally, a conversation with ChatGPT is anonymous, which may make it easier to be honest, and it gives you the freedom to discuss relationship problems without fear of being judged or misunderstood by the people you're involving.What Kind of Relationship Advice Can ChatGPT Offer?While ChatGPT isn’t a therapist, it can be useful for some types of relationship advice and handling common relationship problems. Below are some examples of where ChatGPT can give good relationship advice.General communication tipsIf communication is an issue in your relationship, ChatGPT may be able to offer some general tips for improving your communication. If you ask ChatGPT for communication exercises for couples, you may get advice such as:Create a safe space for you and your partner to express your thoughts and feelings without judgment.Practice active listening and reflect back what you heard to make sure you understood your partner correctly.Use “I” statements instead of “you” statements to reduce blame.Set aside regular time to talk.Avoid bringing up the past.Take breaks if things get heated.Regularly acknowledge and appreciate each other's efforts and positive qualities.Although these tips are pretty general, they’re a good reminder to reflect on how you and your partner communicate.“Practicing for difficult conversations is always a good idea. Whether you jot down your thoughts and have them with you during the conversation, or you practice with a trusted friend, or discuss it with a licensed mental health professional, it is crucial to feel prepared for important conversations in life,” says Talkspace therapist Jill Daino, LCSW-R, BC-TMH. The use of AI may offer another way to help prepare if you are stuck finding the words or tone for a difficult conversation. While it doesn’t take the place of speaking from your heart, it might help you get unstuck.”Conflict resolution techniquesDisagreements are a part of any relationship, so it’s important to understand some common conflict resolution techniques. ChatGPT can give you some techniques to resolve conflicts in a relationship with more awareness and care, such as:Pause before reacting.Look for common ground instead of trying to win.Stick to one issue at a time.Use calm language.Use the XYZ formula — “When you do X in situation Y, I feel Z.”Set a time limit on the argument.End with a connection, even if the conflict isn’t resolved.Empathetic language and supportSometimes, the hardest part of having a tough conversation is knowing how to express yourself in a supportive way that your partner can really hear. If you’re not sure how to express yourself without sounding critical or defensive, ChatGPT may be able to offer suggestions for more empathetic phrasing.For example, if you’re feeling frustrated with your partner for being distracted or on their phone when you try to talk to them, ChatGPT may be able to help you bring this up. It can suggest more empathetic ways to express your frustration, which might lead to a more productive conversation. You could explain the situation to ChatGPT and ask, “How can I phrase this without sounding annoyed or accusatory?” ChatGPT can make suggestions for more thoughtful and empathetic language to start a constructive conversation.Common-sense perspectivesWhen relationship problems create heightened emotions, it can be difficult to see your situation clearly. ChatGPT may be able to offer a calm, common-sense perspective on your problems, which can help you take a step back and see the bigger picture.After describing your relationship problem to ChatGPT, it may be able to point out common patterns or suggest reasonable next steps. ChatGPT’s relationship advice is often steady, neutral feedback, or it points out things you already know. For example, ChatGPT may say, “It’s okay to take a break and revisit the conversation later,” or “It’s normal to have ups and downs in any relationship.”These kinds of responses aren’t groundbreaking, but they can be reassuring when you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure. At the very least, they might help you take a step back and look at the situation with a bit more clarity.Limitations of Using ChatGPT for Relationship AdviceWhile ChatGPT can be a helpful tool for thinking through your relationship challenges, it definitely has its limits for relationship advice.Not a licensed therapistChatGPT can feel supportive, but can you use AI for therapy? It’s important to remember that a chatbot is not a licensed therapist and doesn’t understand human emotions. The relationship advice ChatGPT offers is based on patterns in language, not clinical judgment, lived experience, or emotional insight. Even though using ChatGPT as a therapist may feel and sound like the real deal, this AI tool doesn’t actually understand your situation.Unlike a licensed therapist, ChatGPT isn’t held to any ethical or professional standards. If it gives unhelpful or even harmful advice, there’s no accountability or protection for you.Cannot understand emotional nuance or historyIf you’ve ever stressed that a friend might misunderstand your sarcastic text, you know how hard it can be to convey emotional nuance with text alone. ChatGPT faces these same challenges, except it’s not human and doesn’t truly understand your emotions or tone. Although a chatbot is available 24/7, it doesn’t know your deep personal history or who you are as a person, the way people in your life, like friends, family, or your therapist, do.No memory in most versions; no continuity between chatsMost versions of ChatGPT — including the free versions — don’t remember one conversation from the next. That means if you start a new chat with a follow-up question, ChatGPT won’t remember what you’ve already told it. To continue a previous conversation, you’ll have to explain it again, which can be frustrating.Even if you have a version of ChatGPT with memory, its memory is still limited and still isn’t the same as talking to a human you’ve formed a real emotional connection with.Lacks context about your partner or dynamicWith no memory or knowledge of your history, ChatGPT only knows the information you tell it at the moment. That means it doesn’t have any insight into your or your partner’s personality, values, or your shared history. ChatGPT can’t observe your relationship dynamics or pick up on subtle patterns or shifts over time.With limited, one-sided information, ChatGPT lacks a deep understanding of all the layers at play. ChatGPT can offer general suggestions that sound reasonable but aren’t based on the full context of your relationship.“While it is tempting to want to have an “answer” to relationship challenges, the reality is human beings are complex, and so are the interactions between people in a relationship. The challenge with turning to AI for relationship advice is that AI simply does not know you or your partner and the nuances of being human,” Daino says. “The dynamics that contribute, the history, the context, and all the subtleties that make up a relationship cannot be boiled down to an AI response. Unfortunately, relying on AI can lead to generic responses without real insight into the people involved, potentially creating more difficulties along the way.”May provide irrelevant informationWhile ChatGPT can generate quick suggestions, it often pulls from patterns in language and large data sets rather than a clear, tailored understanding of your situation. This can result in answers that sound polished but don’t actually address your specific question or circumstances.In some cases, ChatGPT might even provide relationship advice that feels completely irrelevant or off-base, especially if your question is complex or layered. That’s because it lacks the human ability to ask clarifying questions, pick up on nuance, or verify the accuracy of its responses with real-world knowledge. While this doesn’t necessarily make ChatGPT unsafe, it does mean you should approach its advice with caution and a critical eye.Can be overly neutral or “safe”Without an emotional connection or memory of your history, ChatGPT’s relationship advice can be surface-level or detached from your situation. That’s because ChatGPT is designed to respond without taking sides or making any assumptions. If you turn to ChatGPT for guidance, you might get a response that doesn’t validate your experience.In some cases, a neutral or general response can be helpful. In fact, a 2025 study found that some participants in couples therapy actually preferred responses from a generative AI tool over a human therapist. Although a neutral stance can be helpful sometimes, it can also leave you feeling unseen and unsupported when you’re looking for empathy or clarity.When To Rely on ChatGPT vs. When To See a HumanAsking ChatGPT for relationship advice can be helpful in certain situations. ChatGPT may help if you’re feeling stuck and unsure of how to approach a difficult conversation with your partner. It can help you brainstorm ways to express yourself, explore a different perspective, or practice the conversation by role-playing.There are clear limits on using relationship advice from ChatGPT, though. ChatGPT isn’t the right tool to help you deal with trauma, abuse, or serious relationship crises. ChatGPT can’t offer appropriate clinical support or personalized care like a human can.For long-term issues or deep emotional processing, it’s best to talk to a licensed therapist to help you process complex emotions and offer support that's grounded in real understanding and accountability.Can ChatGPT Give Good Relationship Advice?Whether ChatGPT’s relationship advice is good or not depends on what you’re looking for. If you need a non-judgmental space to explore your thoughts, rehearse difficult conversations, or get general communication tips and dating advice, ChatGPT can be a helpful tool. It’s always available and can offer you a neutral perspective. However, using AI for mental health support isn’t a replacement for emotional intimacy, personalized support, or professional guidance. ChatGPT doesn’t know your full story and can’t truly understand human emotions.This story was produced by Talkspace and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
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	Your finances on autopilot: How AI tools are changing financial management for small businesses Your finances on autopilot: How AI tools are changing financial management for small businessesSmall business owners can easily see their financial data, as it takes seconds to pull a report from accounting software. But the data alone is almost worthless unless you know how to use it.The ability to turn data into insights is often the line between barely keeping the doors open and really thriving, but it doesn't necessarily require expensive accountants or business advisors. It just requires the right tools.Xero broke down how AI analytics can help business owners interpret financial reports and turn data into decisions, without any special training, coding, or prompts. Analytics shift the accounting conversation from what happened yesterday to what happens tomorrow, and more importantly, what you should do about it.From accounting to insights: making decisions with dataBusiness insights start with data; if you don't have quality data, artificial intelligence can't help. Its insights are only as good as the data it consumes. If you want to use AI to improve financial decision-making at your business, the first step is accurate accounting records. The second step is AI integration.At its core, accounting is data entry and report generation. Whether you're using spreadsheets or accounting software, you note transactions — what you earned, how much you spent, your contributions to the business, details about loans and capital assets, and so on. Then, that data flows into financial reports.Profit and loss reports and balance sheets are great for filing tax returns or applying for loans, but they don't offer much more. They present static information with limited context, and even if you're a financial professional, interpreting them can feel nearly impossible.AI changes that, as it takes your accounting data and turns it into insights. If profits are down, AI can let you know why. Maybe sales are slow, costs are rising, or you're selling products with lower profit margins than usual. Analytics lets you dig deep into the numbers so you can figure out what's happening and make a plan to fix it.But unlike traditional accounting reports, AI-powered tools don't only look into the past. They help you see what's on the horizon, and that's critical for protecting your cash flow.Cash flow forecasting to get the timing rightCash flow problems are the biggest driver of small business closures. Just because a business is profitable doesn't mean it has cash available to pay bills, cover payroll, and stay on top of tax obligations. For profitable businesses, it's usually a timing issue — but unfortunately, landlords, vendors, and employees don't care what your bottom line is at the end of the year; they need to be paid on time.Cash flow forecasts help you get the timing right. Powered by AI, forecasts use historic data to unearth patterns and predict what's coming next for your business. They show you if you have enough cash (at the right times) to cover your costs for the next 30, 60, or 90 days. They also help you identify when you'll be short on funds, and most importantly, they help you make decisions.When you pair forecasts with a conversational AI superagent, you can ask questions about your data in plain English. Can I afford a big purchase now? Should I hold off for a few months? Do I need to delay paying a vendor so I have enough cash to cover payroll? AI gives you the information you need quickly, in words you can understand.Scenario modeling takes the process even further by helping you understand the financial impact of various decisions. Use AI to show you how hiring a new employee, refinancing a loan, or buying new equipment affects your cash flow. With the right tools, you can even analyze the impact of sequential decisions over long time frames.How is any of this possible? The mechanics are extremely complicated, but on the most basic level, AI looks for patterns. It spots trends, gives you information, and then learns from your feedback.Spotting trends you might not see on your ownAI can find trends that are effectively invisible to the human eye. You can easily see if a customer doesn't pay in full, a vendor doubles their rates overnight, or the bank makes an error with your deposit. But what about the smaller details? That's where you should lean on AI.If it has the right data, AI can tell you whether the profit margin is dropping on a certain product, an expense is slowly creeping upward, or a customer's late payments are getting even later. It detects slight changes and patterns that aren't easy to find on your own, and it alerts you about problems before they get out of control, when they're easier to deal with.When you use AI to analyze your accounting records, it not only helps you detect isolated issues, but helps you understand the bigger picture. Say sales are up, but profits are down: AI can tell exactly which expenses are driving up costs, by how much, and when this started happening. That's the level of detail you need if you want to be successful, and when you use AI, you don't need to spend hours analyzing reports to find it.Instead, you let your tools do the hard work, while you benefit from the insights.But where do you start? With accurate booksIntegrating AI into your business may be easier (and cheaper) than you think. You don't need confusing software, new hardware, or a lot of time to learn. You just need accounting software that leverages AI to make your life easier.Look for software that automates data entry through bank feeds, point-of-sale integrations, and receipt capture; the fewer numbers you type in manually, the more accurate your records will be. Reliable data is critical for quality insights, but don't stop at automation. Insist on software that uses AI to help with bank reconciliation, expense categorization, and invoice management. These features free up your time so you can focus on important financial decisions, not data entry.Make sure the software has built-in analytics to generate cash flow forecasts, calculate profitability metrics, and compare performance across different time frames. For faster insights, consider using conversational AI to interpret your reports, answer questions, and alert you about trends. Some accounting software comes with built-in AI assistants or lets you connect to a tool like Claude for conversational insights.This can sound overwhelming, but remember, you don't have to do everything at once. Start slow. Test out some of your software's automations to see how much time they save you on data entry. Run a cash flow forecast and use it to plan your next month's budget. Or just play with the conversational tools; you can ask them absolutely anything about your business, and as long as they have the data, they'll give you an answer.You don't need more data; you need help using itYou don't need more data. You need tools that help you use the data you already have. And AI is the best way to get there.It's worth the effort, as a Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) survey indicates that businesses that use AI daily are more than twice as likely to have revenue growth as businesses that don't use AI. And if you're excited about the potential of this technology, the numbers are even more in your favor: Business owners who are excited about using AI saw the highest rates of revenue growth.If you’re ready to see what AI can do for your business, the roadmap is clear: Find the tools, commit to regular bookkeeping (if you're not already), and take time to learn how to use the AI tools. Then, watch what happens as you make decisions based on insights.This story was produced by Xero and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Can you use your home equity to wipe out student loans? Here's how it works. Can you use your home equity to wipe out student loans? Here's how it works.If student loan debt is costing you too much, it may be an option to pay off your student loans with a home equity loan.If you’ve built up some equity, a home equity loan could be a relatively cheap and easy way to borrow. Under certain conditions, it might make sense to use it to pay off student loans.This guide from Freedom Debt Relief on how home equity works could help you figure out whether using it for student loans is worthwhile in your situation, and it also explains three different methods to use your home equity to pay off student loans.Key Takeaways:Refinancing student loans with home equity could lower your interest rate and your payments.With this kind of refinancing, you lose federal student loan protections like deferment and income-based repayment options.Extending repayment to 30 years could increase your total interest expense.What Is a Home Equity Loan?A home equity loan is a mortgage. Instead of using the money to buy a home, however, you could use it for other purposes since you already own the property.The equity in your home is the value of the property above what you still owe on your mortgage, or, in other words, market value minus outstanding debt. For example, if your home is worth $250,000 and you owe $200,000 on your mortgage, you have $50,000 in equity.You build equity when your home’s value increases, and as you pay down your mortgage. Continuing with the example, let’s say you’ve made payments for a few more years and your mortgage balance is down to $180,000. At the same time, the home’s value has risen to $295,000. You now have $115,000 in equity.Home equity loans are secured by your home. That collateral is a financial safety net for the lender. If you don’t repay the loan, you could lose your home, because the lender can sell it to recover what you owe.That security gives home equity loans two big advantages—they're cheaper than most other borrowing options, and they’re relatively easy to get. Home equity loans typically have lower interest rates than other kinds of loans, and in some cases have more flexible credit requirements.How Can You Use a Home Equity Loan to Pay Off Student Debt or Pay for School?If you have equity in your home, a home equity loan could be a source of funds to pay off student debt or to continue paying for your education.Lenders typically don't let you borrow the full value of your home equity. For example, a lender might limit your combined total mortgage debt to 80% of what your home is worth. Some lenders have higher limits.With an 80% limit and a $295,000 home, the maximum you could owe on your home, between your mortgage and your home equity loan or HELOC, would be $236,000. If you still owe $180,000 on your mortgage, that means you could apply to borrow another $56,000.If you have enough equity to borrow against, here are a few ways you could do it.1. Cash-out refinance loanA cash-out refinance means taking out a new mortgage for more than you currently owe. You use the loan proceeds to first pay off your existing mortgage loan, and then get the difference in cash. You could use the money you borrowed to pay for school or pay off student loan debt. This kills two birds with one stone. It allows you to:Refinance what you owe on the home. That could make sense if you can get better terms on a new loan than you have on your existing loan.Use the cash-out portion for other needs. One use could be to pay off student loans.Cash-out refinancing means you aren't just changing the terms of your student loan debt, but also changing the terms of your current mortgage.To decide whether this is a good idea, look at both decisions separately. Consider refinancing student loan debt if you can get better terms on a new loan. This could mean lower interest rates and/or lower monthly payments.Even if you can improve on the terms of your student loan debt, it’s only worth it to use cash-out refinancing if you can also improve on the terms of your current mortgage.For example, it probably wouldn't make sense to trade in a low-rate mortgage for a higher-rate mortgage just to refinance your student loan debt. In that case, it may be more cost-effective to leave your current mortgage in place, and take out a home equity loan to pay off your student loan debt.2. Home equity loanHome equity loans help you borrow without changing your current mortgage. That would make more sense than refinancing if the terms on your current mortgage are better than you could get on a new loan.With a home equity loan, you get the full amount in one lump sum. You then immediately enter the repayment period, and pay off the loan in equal installments over a preset number of years.A home equity loan could make sense if you want to use the money all at once. If your only goal is to pay off your student loan debt, this might be the right approach. However, if you also want the flexibility to borrow again in the future without reapplying, a home equity line of credit may be more cost-effective.3. Home equity line of creditA home equity line of credit (HELOC) works like a credit card. You can borrow, repay, and borrow more, up to the credit limit, for the first few years of the loan. This is called the draw period. As you pay back what you’ve borrowed, you free up more available credit. That way, you could borrow again in the future.When the draw period ends, you enter the repayment phase and can’t borrow more. At this point, you’ll make a principal and interest payment that’s calculated to fully pay off the debt by the end of the repayment period.Using a HELOC could be an advantage if you need the flexibility to borrow more than once. With a HELOC, you only pay interest on the amount you borrow.A HELOC might make sense if you’re continuing your education, since you could use the HELOC to pay school bills as they come up.Steps toward borrowing against home equity to pay off student loansGiven the different kinds of home equity options, here’s how to decide what's the best fit for you:Figure out how much home equity you could borrow against. Look at recent sales of comparable homes in your area to estimate how much your home is worth. Subtract the amount you owe on your mortgage to get a rough idea of how much equity you have.Check your credit report to see if you're in a good position to take out a loan. See if there are things in your credit record that should be fixed or improved before you apply for a loan.Research current rates for cash-out refinance mortgages, home equity loans, and HELOCs.Compare those rates with the rates on your mortgage and student loans.Based on how the rates compare with those on your existing debt, decide whether you want to refinance your current mortgage, your student loans, or both.Figure out what type of loan you want. This depends largely on whether you could save money by refinancing your existing mortgage, and whether you play to use the money all at once or at different times.Compare lenders and get quotes on the type and amount of loan you need. Inquire with lenders who are willing to prequalify you using a soft credit check that doesn't affect your score.Work up a budget to understand what monthly payment you can afford.Look at the total interest cost of the loan, along with any closing costs and other fees. Compare that to the total cost of paying off your current debt without changing it.If everything checks out, apply for the loan that looks most attractive. The application process is likely to involve not just a check of your credit history, but also an inquiry into your current finances and an appraisal of your home. Advantages of Using a Home Equity Loan to Pay Off Student Loans or Pay for CollegeThere are some clear advantages to taking out a home equity loan to pay off student debt or pay for college.1. You may be eligible for a lower interest rateUnlike student loans, home mortgages and home equity loans are secured debt (they involve collateral). So you might get a lower interest rate on a home equity loan than your current student loan rate.2. Stabilize payments by switching to a fixed loanIf you have a private student loan, it may have variable interest rates. If you want to make sure you can afford your future payments, you may want to refinance into a loan with fixed interest rates.3. Arrange for credit when you need itWith a HELOC, you could pay off your student loan debt now, and also lock in access to credit for potential future needs. Instead of borrowing all at once, you could tap into your line of credit when you need it. That way you don't pay interest until you're ready to use the money.4. Take care of multiple financial needs all at oncePaying off your student loan debt may be only one of your financial goals. You may also want to refinance your current mortgage, pay for a costly repair, or cover other expenses.Depending on the situation, a cash-out refinance loan or a home equity loan could give you relatively low-cost access to credit for a variety of purposes.5. You may be able to repay your loan over a longer timeUsing a home equity loan to pay off student loans could give you as much as 30 years to pay the money back.In contrast, the standard repayment period for a federal student loan is 10 years. Private student loan terms vary, but are generally less than 30 years.Paying a loan back over a longer time could reduce your monthly payment. Because of interest, this usually means you pay more in total over the long run. But lower payments could make a huge difference if you're struggling to make your monthly payments.6. You could consolidate paymentsCombining multiple student loans into one (and possibly paying off other debt) could simplify monthly bill-paying. Streamlining bill payment could help you keep track of your obligations so you don’t miss a payment.Disadvantages of Using a Home Equity Loan to Pay Off Student Loans or Pay for CollegeHome equity loans may not make sense for paying off student loans in all situations. Consider these potential drawbacks so you can make the right decision for your situation.1. You could lose borrower protectionsWith federal student loans, you have a variety of borrower protections, including forbearance and income-driven repayment plans. There are even conditions in which you could get a portion of your loan balance forgiven.If you use home equity to pay off federal student loan debt, you lose these protections.2. There may be upfront costs for a new loanApplication fees, closing costs, and other expenses are common when you initiate a new loan. Some lenders will roll these into the principal of the loan so you don't pay them all at once. Even so, they still add to your borrowing costs.This means comparing the cost of a new loan with your current debt involves more than just comparing interest rates or monthly payments.3. Interest on home equity debt isn’t always deductibleSome student loan interest is tax-deductible, and some home equity loan interest is deductible. But home equity loan/HELOC interest is generally only deductible if you use the money to build or improve the home you borrowed against. If you use home equity to pay off student loan debt, you might not be able to deduct the interest. Talk to a qualified tax professional about your situation before you make a decision.4. The loan is secured by your homeHome equity loans and refinance mortgages are relatively cheap and easy to get because they use your home as collateral—of course, that also means you have to be confident you can repay the loan.Before you commit to a home equity loan, take a detailed look at how the payments would fit into your budget. Think about any future expenses you know are coming up. Don’t put your house on the line unless you’re confident you can make the payments.If you’re struggling to make ends meet and aren’t sure you can make the payments on a home equity loan, there are other alternatives. Debt counseling or debt relief options might lead you to other solutions.5. You may restrict future financial flexibilityEquity in your home is a valuable resource. Consider carefully how you want to use it. Borrowing against your home equity to pay off a student loan reduces the remaining equity in the home. This limits your ability to borrow against it for other purposes until you’ve built the equity back up.If the value of your home drops, having a home equity loan outstanding might even restrict your ability to sell or refinance the home.6. The availability of home equity depends on market conditions and loan progressJust because you've been paying off your mortgage for a while, that doesn't necessarily mean you have enough equity to borrow against. Declines in the market value of your property could wipe out the equity in the home. If you bought your home with a zero or very low down payment, you might pay for years and still not have enough equity to borrow against. Also, lenders typically don't loan you the full value of your equity. They usually require you to hold onto some of it.7. The potential for balloon payments requires careful planningIf you get a HELOC, it may require repayment of the full remaining balance after the draw period ends. In contrast to smaller monthly payments over time, this type of balloon payment can be a shock to any budget. Before signing up for a loan, be completely familiar with the payment schedule.8. Variable-rate loans can make debt riskierBe especially careful if you're thinking about refinancing from a fixed-rate to a variable-rate loan. Doing so could make your payments unpredictable.Understanding Variable vs. Fixed Interest RatesWhen considering refinancing options for your student loan debt, you may be able to choose a fixed or variable interest rate:A fixed interest rate is set when the loan is made, and stays the same throughout the repayment period.A variable interest rate changes according to market conditions—it may rise when rates generally are rising, and fall when rates generally are falling.It's important to know whether the current loan you're refinancing has fixed or variable rates, as well as what type of rate structure your new loan would have. The difference affects both the cost of the loan and the risk to the borrower.Fixed-rate loansIf a loan has a fixed interest rate, the cost and the monthly payments are predictable.The predictable nature of fixed-rate loans makes it easier to plan ahead. Before you sign up for a fixed-rate loan, you can figure out how well the payments fit into your budget.Variable-rate loansA loan with variable rates could work for you or against you, and it’s not always easy to predict which way it will go. If interest rates rise, your payments could get more expensive. If rates fall, your payments could get cheaper.If you take out a loan when interest rates are generally high, a variable-rate loan lets you avoid locking into a high rate for the life of the loan. However, interest rate changes are very hard to predict.The big risk of a variable-rate loan is that your payments may become unaffordable. If rates rise after the loan begins, you pay more than you originally signed up for.Direct Comparison Table: Student Loans vs. Home Equity OptionsDeciding whether to use home equity to pay off your student loan requires looking at the costs, risks, and benefits. The table below summarizes the major points discussed in this article. This should help you compare the strengths and weaknesses of these loan types. Freedom Debt Relief Alternatives to ConsiderYou can choose from several different options for dealing with your student loan debt, depending on your financial situation and goals.Federal student loan refinancing. You may be able to refinance student loan debt into a federally sponsored Direct Consolidation Loan. However, opportunities to lower your interest rate by refinancing a federal student loan are relatively rare, because they already have low interest rates.Income-driven repayment plans. The federal government offers student loan borrowers income-driven repayment plans. Your monthly payments adjust according to your income. That could make your payments more affordable without having to refinance.Debt settlement. In some cases, if you're genuinely unable to pay all your debts, you can negotiate with your creditors to accept less than the full amount you owe. You could also hire a professional debt relief firm to negotiate on your behalf. Debt settlement is best suited to unsecured debts, and is not available for federal student loans. However, if you settle other debts, it may free up enough money to help you afford your student loan payments.Is Using Home Equity to Pay for College or Pay Off Student Debt a Good Idea?Think of it this way: Using home equity to pay off student loan debt is a viable option to consider. Whether it’s the right choice depends on your situation.Here's a checklist of things to consider before making this decision:How your monthly payments would be affected by refinancingHow confident you are in being able to make those monthly payments along with your other expensesHow refinancing would affect the total you pay over the life of the loanWhether you plan on moving before the end of the loan termWhether other major financial needs are likely to arise before the loan is paid offHow you might benefit from the protections offered on federal student loansWhether your finances need a more comprehensive solution, like debt counseling or debt settlementHere are a couple of examples of when it might make sense to use home equity to pay off student loans:Lower the student loan rate while keeping your mortgage intactYou have a $15,000 private student loan at 12% with 10 years left to pay. Since taking out that loan, you've built up $100,000 in home equity. Your mortgage is at 3%, so you don't want to refinance that. You prequalify for a 10-year home equity loan at 8%. So, you could apply for a $15,000 home equity loan and effectively lower the interest rate on your student loan debt from 12% to 8%. Even with 1%-2% loan fees, this move could make sense.Refinance your mortgage with enough cash to pay off the student loanYou owe $320,000 on a 15-year mortgage at a 7% interest rate. You also have $30,000 in student loan debt with an 8% interest rate and 10 years left to pay. Even though you bought your house just a couple of years ago, its value has risen from $400,000 to $450,000. That gives you about $130,000 in equity.You find that 15-year mortgage rates have dropped to 5%. So you could lower the interest rate on both your mortgage and your student loan debt. Using a loan calculator, you compare your current costs with the cost of refinancing your mortgage and your student loan debt with a $350,000 cash-out refinance loan. Here's what you find: Freedom Debt Relief In this case, cash-out refinancing is a clear win. You could reduce the monthly payment and total remaining cost on both your mortgage and your student loan.Every situation is different. The above are just a couple of examples to show what you should evaluate when considering using home equity to pay off student loan debt. If you don't feel comfortable making this decision, a professional financial planner or debt counselor may be able to help.A good decision is one you make after thinking through all the outcomes and alternatives. The checklist and thought process described above can help you feel more confident about whether using home equity to pay off student loan debt is the right decision.This story was produced by Freedom Debt Relief and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
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	The surprising cost of manual order fulfillment, and how to automate your way out The surprising cost of manual order fulfillment, and how to automate your way outMost e-commerce businesses know their carrier rates and what they are paying for shipping labels. But very few understand the cost of their whole fulfillment process, from labor and errors to the countless decisions their team makes on a daily basis.That’s because the most expensive part of shipping isn’t the obvious stuff. It’s the invisible costs hidden behind all the operational steps required to pick, package, and deliver a product. Businesses rarely measure three of the most significant and consequential costs associated with manual order fulfillment: time, money, and opportunity.Making matters worse, manual order fulfillment has three layers of cost that tend to go unexamined: time, money, and opportunity. Each one gets worse as order volume climbs. The businesses pushing hardest to grow are usually the ones getting hit the hardest, and they don’t always realize it until something breaks.Fulfillment automation tackles all three expenses. But before you can fix the problem, it’s helpful to understand the ways your manual processes are eroding your margins in the first place. As ShipStation explains below, it’s likely more than you think.The time you’re losing on every shipmentTeams squander hours making individual shipping decisions and handling repetitive tasks, such as manually comparing carrier rates and services, validating addresses, and configuring shipment details. Those are hours drained before anyone even touches a box.Each order can take between three and seven minutes to process when someone has to manually weigh the package, notate dimensions, choose a carrier, pick a service level, and print a label. That may work well enough at low volume, but it becomes impossible to manage efficiently as order volume grows. The whole sequence requires multiple people working full-time to complete when you’re facing hundreds of orders per day.What makes this so frustrating is that the process never gets more efficient. Manual fulfillment scales linearly. It takes just as much time to fulfill a single order regardless of total volume. The process doesn’t become faster. It just repeats.There’s also the productivity loss that often goes unnoticed. The more systems you have, the more separate sites and platforms you need to navigate. From carrier websites to spreadsheets, a process that should take three minutes consumes double that time when you’re constantly switching between tabs.Growing businesses end up running harder to stay in the same place.Overspending on one shipment at a timeThe financial drag of manual fulfillment is also obscured because it doesn’t show up as one big line item. It’s spread across thousands of shipments.Overpaying by 50 cents a package sounds like nothing, but at 1,000 shipments a week, you’re looking at $26,000 a year. Scale that to five thousand shipments and it’s $130,000 gone. It hides in the volume.The problem isn’t bad rates. It’s that no one can realistically evaluate rate-vs-speed-vs-reliability tradeoffs thousands of times a day. When a person is manually deciding which carrier and service level to use based on the unique requirements of each shipment, small inefficiencies start stacking.The default-carrier habit compounds the problem. Rates shift all the time. The cheapest option last quarter might be the most expensive one this quarter. But nobody’s going back and reevaluating. The rate table gets set and forgotten, and you lose margin on autopilot.It’s worth noting that rate comparison and rate decisioning aren’t the same thing. Comparison just lines up your options by price. Decisioning goes further. It actually selects the carrier based on cost, speed, reliability, and the rules you’ve built for your business. Most teams doing this manually never get past comparison, if they get that far. Many of them skip even that and just ship with the carrier they’ve always shipped with. That difference between looking at options and actually optimizing the choice adds up fast.Then there are the costs that result directly from manual errors, which are easy to track but hard to prevent.Wrong addresses that result in returned packagesIncorrect weights produce carrier adjustments and surchargesMisshipments means a replacements, refunds, and unhappy customersEach one is a measurable expense and byproduct of asking people to do repetitive, detail-oriented work hundreds or thousands of times a day without making mistakes.At volume, even a tiny error rate gets expensive. Running a 1%-2% error rate means you’re facing dozens of corrections a week on a few hundred orders a day. And a correction is never just one thing. It’s a reship, a support ticket, and likely a discount to keep the customer happy.The work that’s not getting doneThe opportunity cost never shows up on a company’s balance sheet, but it might be the most consequential one.All the time spent comparing rates, printing labels one at a time, and chasing address mistakes is time taken away from supplier negotiations, customer experience, channel expansion, product development, and other high-impact actions.There’s also the “key person” problem. When fulfillment knowledge lives in people’s heads rather than in the system, you’re one sick day or resignation away from chaos. That institutional knowledge doesn’t transfer easily. Training a replacement to reach the same level takes weeks or months. In the meantime, mistakes go up and output goes down.The biggest cost, though, is the ceiling. When order processing requires a proportional amount of human labor, your ability to scale is limited by your ability to hire, train, and keep warehouse staff. That’s a completely different growth model than one where the system absorbs volume increases while headcount remains the same.Think about what that means during your most critical moments. Whether it’s a successful product launch, a viral social media post, or a popular marketplace promotion, these moments should be drivers of growth. However, if your fulfillment operation can’t handle the volume spike, these important events become lost opportunities or full-blown crises at a time you can least afford them.Some businesses end up throttling ad spend or pausing campaigns not because the marketing isn’t working, but because the back end can’t keep pace.How fulfillment automation changes the equationSo how do you fix a problem that touches every order, every team member, and every dollar? This is where fulfillment automation comes in. Instead of people manually handling each step and making judgment calls in the shipping process, automation applies rules and logic to execute them consistently, instantly, intelligently, and at scale.This results in fewer touches per order, fewer errors, and a process that doesn’t get more expensive as volume grows.Fortunately, automation doesn’t mean replacing everything you’ve built with something entirely new. It’s not a complete overhaul. The most successful businesses treat it as layers, starting with the most time-consuming work and expanding to the decisions that cost the most money.Here’s what that looks like in practice.Layer 1: Automate the tasksMost businesses start here, as it delivers immediate and visible relief.Order importing and centralizationInstead of logging into each sales channel separately, orders from every store, marketplace, and platform automatically flow into a single queue.Batch label printingRather than processing shipments one by one, print labels in bulk for dozens or hundreds of orders at once and with just a few clicks.Product defaults and autofillSave weight, dimensions, preferred services, and customs details so details are applied automatically. Over time, the system learns from your shipping history and fills in details without any manual intervention.Tracking updates and notificationsOnce a label is created, tracking information automatically syncs back to your sales channels and customers without copying/pasting tracking numbers into platforms or manually triggering shipment confirmation emails.These are the table-stakes automations. They knock out the most repetitive, lowest-value work almost immediately. They’re also the easiest to set up, which means they build confidence that automation actually delivers before you tackle the harder stuff.Layer 2: Automate the decisionsThis is where serious savings start showing up. You’re replacing routine human judgment with consistent, rule-based logic that runs the same way every time.Carrier selection rulesDefine criteria (order value, weight, destination, delivery speed) and let the system automatically select the right carrier and service. Every shipment gets an optimized decision, not a default one.Real-time rate shoppingInstead of locking in a single carrier, evaluate rates from multiple carriers for each shipment when creating the label. Balance cost, speed, and reliability based on your priorities, not on whoever was cheapest six months ago.Warehouse routingRoute orders to the fulfillment location closest to the customer, or to the warehouse where the item is actually in stock. When items in the same order are in different locations, automatically split the shipment and assign each piece to the right facility.Address validationFlag incorrect or incomplete addresses before labels print, not after a package gets returned. This single step eliminates one of the most common and costly manual errors in fulfillment.Service mappingConnect the shipping options customers see at checkout to the actual carrier services your warehouse uses. When a customer selects a delivery speed, the system automatically matches it to the right service and package type with no interpretation required or room for mismatch.Customs and international complianceAutomatically apply HS codes, declared values, country of origin, and content descriptions based on product data. Cross-border orders ship with the correct documentation, eliminating the need to research requirements.Together, these turn carrier selection, routing, and compliance from daily judgment calls into background processes. Your team handles the exceptions instead of the routine.Layer 3: Automate the intelligenceThis is where the gap widens between fulfillment operations that execute and those that actually get smarter over time.Performance analyticsTrack carrier performance by lane, delivery accuracy by region, and cost trends over time. Use that data to refine your automation rules and make smarter macro-level decisions.Predictive insightsMove from reacting to shipping problems to predicting and preventing them. Estimated delivery dates become informed projections rather than rough guesses. Delay risks surface before customers notice.Returns intelligenceReturns data contains signals most businesses ignore, such as product defect patterns, sizing issues, and carrier damage trends. When that data feeds back into your operations, returns shift from a pure cost center to an intelligence source that improves product and packaging choices and carrier selection.Inventory-aware fulfillmentWhen inventory data and fulfillment logic operate as one system, you can forecast reorder points, prevent overselling across channels, and route orders based on real-time stock levels rather than static assignments.Most fulfillment operations were set up to ship packages, not to learn from shipping them. Layer 3 changes that. Analytics goes from backward-looking reports to forward-looking guidance. Every shipment makes the system a little smarter.Automation doesn’t remove people from the process. It removes decisions that don’t require people, so your team can focus on the ones that do.These layers compound. The data from Layer 1 (order volume, product dimensions, shipping patterns) feeds the rules in Layer 2 (carrier selection, routing logic). The patterns from Layer 2 feed the predictions in Layer 3. Each layer improves the next, so the return on automation keeps growing rather than plateauing.The math favors automationManual order fulfillment doesn’t set off alarms because there’s no single moment that feels urgent. It’s a slow, compounding drag of a few extra dollars per shipment and minutes per order that could’ve gone toward something strategic.But compounding cuts both ways. Businesses automating their fulfillment right now aren’t just saving on this month’s shipments. They’re building operations that improve with every order and every rule refinement. Manual operations, meanwhile, stay flat or get more expensive.Finally, there’s the competitive angle. Your customers are comparing your shipping to your direct competitors and other brands they buy from, including those that already automate fulfillment, optimize carrier selection, and invest in the post-purchase experience. Manual processes make it harder to keep up with what shoppers now expect as normal.This story was produced by ShipStation and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Entrepreneurship has no ZIP code: How rural merchants are building a billion-dollar global export economy Entrepreneurship has no ZIP code: How rural merchants are building a billion-dollar global export economyEvery story about ambition used to have the same opening scene: A small-town dreamer leaves home, with suitcase in hand, for a place with a glittery skyline. But there’s a new story now.The things that once made cities the most viable launchpad are available to entrepreneurs anywhere. Last year, rural merchants in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Japan generated billions in sales, outpacing the growth rate of urban merchants in these countries.Shopify explored how rural entrepreneurs are building a global export economy worth billions. On every measure tracked, the geographic barrier to commerce has collapsed. Location used to be a ceiling, but now it's just a pin on a map."The extent of the market"There's a reason small towns couldn't sustain every type of business in the past.In 1776, Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, named the problem in “The Wealth of Nations.” Specialization is the engine of economic prosperity, but only when the market is big enough to support it. A village may keep a blacksmith in business, but not a bejeweled, small-batch, nickel-free, boutique swordsmith in business. The swordsmith's success is limited by what Smith called "the extent of the market." Some trades, Smith wrote, "can be carried on nowhere but in a great town."For most of history, this meant the same thing for anyone with a specific, specialized ambition: Leave for the city. Cities had the population density to sustain a specialist butcher, a specialist tailor, or a specialist anything. The bigger your ambition, the bigger the market you needed to find.The internet expanded who entrepreneurs could reach. And the commerce infrastructure to act on that has now caught up. Today, an entrepreneur making something specific, once limited to a hundred local customers, can sell to millions of them anywhere in the world. Shopify More founders are starting outside citiesThe popular narrative about rural towns is one of contraction, with residents leaving, opportunities thinning, and Main Streets fading from view.But across major economies, major sellers are thriving outside of metropolitan areas. They defy the pull of cities and run competitive businesses from somewhere quieter. For them, being in a small town has changed from a constraint into an edge, with lower overhead, room to grow, and access to a worldwide market from anywhere.And a growing share of the next generation is choosing rural locations. The proportion of shops that are run from rural areas is accelerating in every country. In the U.S., it rose from 25% in 2015 to 30% in 2025. In France, from 11% to 19%. In Canada, from 14% to 20.5%. COVID-19 accelerated e-commerce broadly, but it didn't create the structural shift this data describes. The trend predates the pandemic and has continued well past it. More founders are choosing to operate outside urban centers, and choosing it more often, year over year. Shopify ...And their reach is globalThe economy of small towns is its own export engine, and it moves billions a year. The most striking number in the data is what these entrepreneurs ship and where it lands. Across the nine countries studied, rural merchants generated $2.9 billion in cross-border sales in 2025, up from $655 million in 2019. That's a 342% increase in six years.Previously, small-town entrepreneurs built local-first businesses that took years to expand, but today’s rural entrepreneurs can go global from day one. In some markets, 47% of rural merchants shipped internationally last year. The first sale and the hundredth sale can now go anywhere.J.Q. Dickinson Salt Works, in Malden, West Virginia, ships to high-end restaurants in Tokyo and Copenhagen. Nova Scotia Fisherman, a skincare brand in rural Nova Scotia, stocks shelves in eight countries. Mill Scale Metalworks, in Lockhart, Texas, sends custom-built smokers to barbecue obsessives across three continents. These products are often niche, specific, and made viable by global reach.The economics of trade predict this shouldn't happen. For as long as commerce has existed, businesses have mostly sold to people who lived nearby. The farther your customers are, the fewer of them you should have. Economists call this the gravity model, because like gravity, the pull of a business should weaken with distance. Entrepreneurship in 2026 rewrites that model.An order from a rural merchant travels 1,799 kilometers on average. From an urban merchant, that number slightly increases to 1,870—effectively the same. It's proof that whether you’re a rural or urban business, your reach is now far beyond local. Shopify And European rural merchants are posting some of the steepest cross-border growth in the data.In Germany, rural cross-border sales (rural merchants that sell to buyers in other countries) have grown 1,571% in five years. In Spain it’s 1,844%, while in France it’s 1,114%. The continent's rural economies—small towns in Bavaria, villages in Andalusia, towns in the French countryside—are exporting at an urban pace.The infrastructure lives wherever the founder isFounders in a rural town can operate with the same sophistication as someone in a sprawling metropolis—payments that clear in any currency, shipping that automates customs paperwork, and artificial intelligence tools that can draft product descriptions and translate them into six languages. Capital has caught up, too. A rural entrepreneur can access funding based on their sales velocity instead of their proximity to traditional lenders.This didn't happen all at once. Easier online store creation arrived in the late 2000s, automated international shipping matured in the 2020s, and AI-powered tools became standard in the last two years. Each layer compressed what a rural founder required to succeed.The result is a symmetry that didn't exist a decade ago. A founder in a small town can run a global business at a fraction of the operating cost of an urban one. The infrastructure lives wherever the founder does.A new geography of buildingFor rural entrepreneurs, leaving home is no longer the prerequisite for creating something meaningful. The kid with a specific obsession, the maker with a niche craft, or the founder with a small market in mind can all build where they are and still reach the world. The extent of the market is now the extent of the internet.MethodologyMerchants are classified as rural or urban using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) framework, applied via the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Global Human Settlement Model (GHS-SMOD R2023A, epoch 2025)—a 1-square-kilometer grid that classifies land as urban center, town/suburb, or rural based on population density and contiguity. Merchant locations are derived from business addresses provided during registration, validated against Who's on First geographic boundaries where possible. The gravity model measures the median gross merchandise value (GMV)-weighted great-circle distance from each merchant's business location to their order destinations, capturing how far each dollar of commerce travels.This story was produced by Shopify and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
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	Are miles or cash back better for business credit card rewards? Are miles or cash back better for business credit card rewards?If you're a finance leader choosing a business credit card program, the miles-versus-cash-back question isn't really about which rewards generate more on paper. Consider what your company actually spends on, how many employees hold cards, and whether your team has the bandwidth to manage a rewards program that requires active attention. Those factors matter more than headline rates.Most advice on this topic is written for individuals picking a personal card. That framing doesn't hold up when you're running a multi-employee program where rewards accrue at the company level, reconciliation happens monthly, and a VP of finance is trying to model rewards against annual card spend across dozens of employees. The decision looks different from that seat. There is also a third path that most comparisons skip. Flexible-redemption point programs let companies receive a single rewards currency and choose how to redeem it. That means the miles-versus-cash-back decision doesn’t have to be a permanent commitment made at card selection.This article from Brex covers how each reward type works for businesses, the differences that matter in finance operations, which companies fit each profile, and how flexible-redemption programs change the calculation.How business miles rewards work compared to cash backThe two reward types differ in how they're accrued, valued, and redeemed. Those differences shape budgeting, travel policy, and finance operations once rewards move from a headline perk to something your team has to account for and use consistently.How business miles rewards workBusiness miles, or points, are travel-oriented rewards accrued per dollar spent, typically with multipliers on travel-related categories like flights, hotels, and rideshare. A card might generate a dollar for every mile on general purchases but three to seven times each dollar spent on specific travel categories. The value of miles changes depending on how they're redeemed, which appeals to frequent travelers and frustrates finance teams trying to assign a dollar value to received rewards. Miles typically accrue to the company account in card rewards programs, though some programs route them to individual cardholder loyalty accounts. That split matters more than most companies realize, and it's covered in detail in the multi-employee section below. Program architecture determines who ultimately receives the value created by company spend.How business cash back rewards workCash back accrues a fixed percentage of spend to the company, usually as a statement credit, direct deposit, or check. Common structures include flat-rate programs and tiered programs that offer higher rates on categories like software, advertising, or travel, with a lower base rate on other purchases. The value hits the company account directly, and no redemption strategy is required to unlock the full reward.What miles and cash back have in commonBoth reward programs produce value to the company for spend already happening, both scale with card volume, and both can be modeled as an effective value per dollar spent against annual card spend. Both are also subject to program rule changes, rate adjustments, and category definitions set by the issuer. The differences show up in how the reward amount gets calculated, how much finance work it generates, and how reliably the value gets captured.Key differences between miles and cash back for business credit cardsThe differences extend past rates and affect how your finance team plans budgets, tracks value per dollar spent on card spend, and manages rewards across employees.Predictability of each reward typeCash back has a fixed, known value. If your card receives a flat percentage back, you know exactly what every transaction produces, with no variability and no decision to make. A finance team modeling the reward amount on annual card spend can assign a precise dollar figure using whatever flat percentage the program offers.Miles carry a redemption value that can vary significantly based on how they're used. Modeling the same card spend requires assumptions about redemption methods, travel booking patterns, and partner availability. Those assumptions shift over time, and for companies running tight forecasts, the unpredictability turns rewards into something that has to be estimated.Redemption optionsCash back is typically redeemed as a statement credit or bank deposit. Miles or points may be redeemed for travel, gift cards, merchandise, or statement credits, with values that vary by redemption method. More options mean more potential value, along with more decisions about timing and method. For a finance team managing rewards across many cardholders on business credit cards for employees, the added choice of strong category multipliers and flexible redemption options can amplify the reward value on everyday company spend.Annual feesA card with an annual fee that generates elevated rewards on travel needs enough travel spend to offset the fee before rewards become net positive. Some cards bundle perks like lounge access and travel credits that only matter if your spending patterns actually activate them. For companies that want to skip this math entirely, no annual fee business credit cards with strong reward multipliers can let you evaluate the program purely on what you accrue versus what you spend.Qualifying requirementsMiles programs with higher rates and premium travel perks often require stronger credit profiles, longer business history, or higher revenue thresholds. Most premium miles cards also require a personal guarantee from the founder or owner, which means the company's credit obligation becomes the founder's personal liability if the business can't pay. Flat-rate cash back cards tend to have lower thresholds, though premium cash back cards in the 2%-plus range frequently carry the same underwriting standards as travel cards.Administrative complexity across teamsCash back is simple to administer across an organization because the percentage is the percentage. Miles programs require tracking point balances, understanding transfer partner valuations, monitoring for program changes, and making active redemption decisions that affect the value received. A loyalty market study from EY in 2024 found that 41% of professional loyalty program operators reported difficulty quantifying overall program impact. If dedicated loyalty program operators struggle to measure what their programs deliver, finance teams managing miles as a secondary responsibility face the same challenge without equivalent infrastructure.Travel perks vs spending flexibilityMiles cards often pair rewards with travel-focused benefits, while cash back cards capture value across any spending category. For companies where business travel is a major expense line, those perks can help offset the complexity. For companies where travel accounts for a small share of total card spend, the perks go largely unused. The deciding factor is whether your company's actual spending pattern activates enough of those benefits to justify the complexity of the program.Which businesses get more value from miles vs. cash backBoth reward types can work, but they're built for different spend profiles. The decision depends on your company's actual spending patterns, team size, and willingness to invest time in reward optimization.Which businesses typically benefit more from miles?Companies with high travel spend relative to total card spend are the clearest fit for miles programs. Consulting firms, sales-heavy organizations, and companies with distributed teams that meet in person regularly generate concentrated travel spending where category multipliers deliver outsized rewards. Global business travel spending was projected to reach $1.57 trillion in 2025, with 8.1% growth forecast for 2026, according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)â€˜s 2025 Business Travel Index Outlook.The math works when a significant share of card spend is on flights and hotels, and someone on the team can invest time in strategic redemptions. Startups sending founders on frequent fundraising trips are another profile where miles can outperform cash back, especially when the founder is already familiar with loyalty program optimization. In those cases, a variable-value reward can be worth the extra work because travel is already central to how the business operates.Which businesses typically benefit more from cash back?Companies where most card spend goes to software, advertising, vendors, and office operations may be able to get more from cash back. Businesses that value predictable rewards benefit from a reward structure that doesn't require estimation or active management. Early-stage startups where cash flow is the priority, companies without someone dedicated to managing redemptions, and teams with diverse spending across many categories all tend to land in this bucket.Tech and information companies are a good example. They typically concentrate spend on software subscriptions, advertising, and services rather than flights and hotels. For them, flat-rate or category-specific cash back often outperforms travel multipliers applied to a thin travel budget. If you're evaluating cards for a spend mix like this, see how the best business credit cards for ad spend structure rewards for high software and advertising volume, since those categories are where cash back cards tend to widen their lead over miles programs.Can your business use both miles and cash back cards?A company can run a miles card for travel-heavy employees and a cash back card for general operations. The trade-off is administrative. Two programs to track, two sets of rewards to manage, and two billing cycles to reconcile. For companies large enough to segment spend by department, a dual approach can capture the best of both. A well-structured corporate credit card program can support both reward types on one platform, which reduces the reconciliation burden of running them separately.For smaller teams, the complexity usually isn't worth the marginal gain. A single program with strong rewards across all categories tends to deliver better net value after accounting for the time spent managing it. This is exactly the problem that flexible-redemption point programs are designed to solve. Rather than committing to a miles card or a cash back card and living with that decision across every spending category, a flexible card program receives a single rewards currency that can be directed toward travel redemptions when travel is heavy and toward cash back when it isn’t. For finance teams that want the optionality without running two separate programs, that architecture is worth understanding before making a final card selection. The best setup is the one your team can run consistently without adding friction to close, reconciliation, or budgeting.How to calculate whether miles or cash back delivers more valueThe break-even point depends on your redemption rate per mile compared with your cash back percentage. Two scenarios show how the math plays out differently depending on travel intensity, even when monthly spend is identical.Miles tend to outperform only when two conditions hold at the same time, including when your team redeems them at a consistently strong value, and travel represents a meaningful share of card spend. Below those thresholds, cash back is usually the better financial decision and far easier to operationalize. When building a budget model, use a conservative baseline for miles valuation, then treat any higher-value redemptions as upside rather than a planned line item.For programs with flexible redemption points, the calculation shifts because you’re not locked into one redemption type. If travel is heavy in Q1 and light in Q3, the same earned points can be directed toward travel redemptions or cash back, depending on what delivers more value that period. That optionality is worth modeling separately from a dedicated miles or cash back card, because the effective gain isn’t fixed at card selection. Instead, it follows your actual spend mix.How reward type affects finance operationsThe rewards question covers more than rates. What happens after rewards are accrued, and how that integrates with your finance stack, determines the operational impact in ways that don't show up in a simple rate comparison.Impact on budget forecastsCash back produces a known line item. A percentage of card spend rewards appears as a statement credit or expense offset, and finance teams can model it as a predictable percentage of projected card volume. Miles produce an asset with variable and uncertain value that may not appear on a profit and loss statement in the same way.For companies that accrue rewards as miles or points, accounting treatment can add complexity that cash back typically avoids. Depending on how a program is structured, unredeemed rewards may need to be treated as a performance obligation on the company's books, which can require estimating redemption rates and cost-per-point assumptions each reporting period. Controllers running tight forecasts or preparing for an audit may want to confirm the accounting treatment for their specific program with their advisor. Cash back, by contrast, generally posts as a statement credit with a straightforward cost basis reduction, though companies should confirm the appropriate treatment with their own accounting team.Multi-employee program managementWhen multiple employees hold cards, centralized reward management matters. Cash back typically pools at the company level automatically. Miles programs vary, with some accruing to the company and others routing directly to individual cardholder loyalty accounts. When miles go to individual accounts, the value generated by company spend ends up with employees who can use it for personal travel.How reward type affects travel policy complianceWhen miles accrue to individual loyalty accounts, employees have a direct financial incentive to make booking decisions that build their personal balance rather than protect your company's budget. The cost is measurable. Cash back programs don't create this incentive. The reward goes to the company regardless of which vendor, route, or fare class the employee books, so there's no personal accumulation motive pulling behavior away from policy. For finance teams building or tightening a corporate credit card program, the behavioral difference between these two reward structures is as important as the headline rate comparison.Choose the right business credit card rewards for your companyThe miles-versus-cash-back decision comes down to travel volume, redemption discipline, and how much complexity your finance team can realistically absorb. Cash back is usually the stronger choice when you need predictable reward amounts, broad category coverage, and minimal administrative work. Miles make more sense when travel is a major expense, and someone on the team will actively manage redemptions to pull more value from the program. And for companies that don’t want to commit to one mode permanently, a flexible-redemption point program sidesteps the either/or entirely by generating rewards that can be directed toward whichever redemption delivers more value in a given period.The card program itself matters too, because the operating model around the card determines how easy those rewards are to track and use.FAQs about miles vs cash back for business cardsHow much is a mile worth on a business credit card?Mile value varies by redemption method. Through a basic travel portal, miles typically give less than through airline transfer partners, where experienced redeemers can get more value. Statement credit redemptions often give the least. The redemption method matters more than the rate, which means the same points balance can produce very different real-world value.Do business credit card miles expire?Expiration and forfeiture risk depend on the specific issuer or loyalty program. For businesses, the more pressing question is whether rewards sit in a centralized company account, how actively someone is managing redemptions, and whether unused rewards could lose value before the team gets around to using them. Depending on how your program is structured, there may be accounting considerations around unused rewards, including how to estimate the portion expected to go unredeemed. Your accounting advisor can help determine what applies to your specific situation. For programs where miles sit in individual employee loyalty accounts, the company may have no visibility into redemption activity at all, which makes accurate breakage estimation nearly impossible. Program structure matters as much as the rewards currency because it determines whether received value ever actually becomes captured value.Are travel rewards worth it if your team doesn't travel often?If travel makes up a small share of total card spend, flat cash back is almost always the stronger choice because travel multipliers apply to too few transactions to matter.What happens to miles accrued on employee cards?It depends on the program. Some corporate credit cards pool all miles in a central company account. Others deposit miles directly into individual employee loyalty accounts, which means the company loses direct control over the rewards. Employees can redeem them for personal travel, and there's no mechanism to recapture that value.Before choosing a miles program for a multi-employee team, confirm where rewards actually accrue. If the program routes miles to individual accounts, factor that leakage into your value calculation.This story was produced by Brex and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Savings accounts for kids: A guide for parents Savings accounts for kids: A guide for parentsWhether your child’s piggy bank is stuffed, or you want to be proactive about teaching them smart money habits, a kids savings account can be a great tool to kick off building your child’s financial literacy.What is a kids savings account?Parents can open a savings account and designate it for a child, even when minors can’t open an account by themselves, Ally Financial reports. As the account owner, you can use it as a tool to teach your child the ins and outs of saving money.Alternatives to a kids savings accountSavings accounts aren’t the only way to secure your child’s financial future. Other accounts include:Kids checking accounts: This is particularly useful for older children learning to manage spending with a debit card. This could be set up as a checking joint account with a parent, for example.Custodial accounts: The most common types of custodial accounts are known as Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UGMA) or Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA), depending on your state.529 college savings plans: Plan for future education expenses with this state-sponsored, tax-advantaged investment account.Benefits of opening a kids savings accountFinancial habits start young. Opening a savings account for your child can provide them with several benefits in the long run:Encourage early financial literacy.Teach children the importance of saving.Enable parental controls for monitoring and guidance.Earn interest on savings.Top features to look for in a kids savings accountAs you start to explore accounts, consider ones with:High annual percentage yield (APY): A good feature to consider when comparing savings accounts is APY, which accounts for the interest rate and compounding periods. The more frequently interest compounds, the more you could earn.No monthly fees: Without monthly maintenance fees, your child can keep 100% of their savings, potentially maximizing growth through compound interest.Parental controls and monitoring: With a joint checking account, you can keep an eye on account activity and set spending limits to help teach financial responsibility, and with a UTMA/UGMA account, you can restrict access to funds.Access to ATMs: Give your child hands-on experience in dealing with money by choosing an account that offers access to ATMs.How to open a kids savings accountYou can open a savings account online in just a few steps:Choose the right bank: Compare different financial institutions’ fees, interest rates and features.Gather necessary documents: To open an account on behalf of your child, you’ll typically need their Social Security number and a form of identification.Apply online: Many financial institutions offer online applications for convenience. Just keep in mind, this would need to be set up as a custodial account.Set up parental controls: Once the account is approved, you can customize the settings, depending on the account type, to either monitor and guide your child’s financial activities or restrict access to funds.Is a child’s savings account taxed?Just like adults’ accounts, children may be taxed on interest earned in a savings account.Can I open a joint account with a child?If you want to teach financial responsibility or manage money together, you might consider opening a joint checking account — if your state and financial institution allow it.Joint accounts typically require an adult to serve as the primary account holder. Remember, joint account owners have equal access, so unless there are parental controls, your child will have full access to the money in the account.What happens when my child turns 18?At this point, their kids savings account could be converted into a standard adult account, granting them full legal control, sole ownership and the ability to withdraw funds without parental consent.Start saving earlyAs a parent, you want to set your child up for success as they get older. Guiding your kids with smart financial behaviors can benefit them now — and in the future.This story was produced by Ally Financial and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Greg Lehmann joins ImpactLife as Vice President, Donor Outreach and Collections ImpactLife appoints Greg Lehmann as the blood center's Vice President, Donor Outreach and Collections.
	Pleasant Valley School District principal resigns, resignations, hirings from June 22 school board agenda The following personnel items are from the June 22 of the Pleasant Valley School District. The School Board met at Belmont Administration Center at 525 Belmont Rd., Riverdale, Iowa.
	Milan seeks community input as comprehensive plan is developed Milan officials and Planning Commission seek community input as they develop a comprehensive plan update for the community, a news release. The current plan was prepared in 2019 and an update is needed to address current development needs and vision for the future., the release says. The Village of Milan will host a visioning and [...]
	Pay It Forward \| Meet a Monmouth lady putting families first in time for school Karla Wallace has made it her mission to give back to the Monmouth community by providing students with school supplies for the school year.
	Sony will stop producing physical video games: what that means for the secondhand market A Quad Cities resale store says people save money on new video games by buying secondhand.
	Davenport veterans center director continues to give back Lola VanDeWalle asks for nothing in return for 10 years of supporting veterans throughout the Quad-Cities.
	Quad Cities Veterans Outreach Center continues to grow, adapt 10 years in The Davenport nonprofit continues to expand its services to meet veterans' evolving needs.
	Death of the Downtown This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Few people around Rock Island had ever seen a downtown die. Since Midwest towns began to sprout up in the 19th century,…
	Bonnie Tyler, singer of ballad 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' has died at 75 Tyler died "unexpectedly" in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said Thursday in a statement on her website.
	A Florida airport is officially renamed for Trump. What does he stand to gain? Trump is the first president to have an airport named after him while in office. The Trump Organization says he won't get royalties from the renaming, but legal experts see potential loopholes.
	How England's class divide shaped Andy Burnham, the U.K.'s likely next prime minister As mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham brought growth to the postindustrial city. Can he scale that nationally as the next prime minister?
	Campaign staffers keep trying to bet on races despite push to curb insider trading Kalshi says it has blocked "dozens" of trades from campaign insiders, but experts say the company's approach leaves lots of potential loopholes. NPR has found at least one trade that slipped through.
	Recent recalls may impact you: What to know It's been a busy summer for recalls. Here are some you may have missed.
	Egypt complains officials were biased in World Cup loss to Argentina The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said Wednesday it "cannot remain silent" after what it believes was unfair and biased officiating in Egypt's 3-2 round of 16 loss against Argentina on Tuesday.
	Trump flies partway home from Turkey in an old Air Force One President Trump flew partway home from a NATO summit on an old Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted plane, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran began trading strikes again.
	Trump wraps NATO summit on a positive note, after meeting Zelenskyy President Trump capped a NATO summit in Turkey meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and saying that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot air defense systems.
	U.S. launches new airstrikes on Iran and Tehran fires back at Gulf Arab states The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war.
	Special Weather Statement until THU 1:15 AM CDT Strong Thunderstorm Warning: Gusty Winds Impacting Western Scott and Surrounding Areas
Wednesday, July 8th, 2026
	Rock Island Public Library holds reading of the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago today, Colonel John Nixon gave the declaration's first public reading outside the state house in Philadelphia.
	Sony to stop producing physical video games: what that means for the secondhand market A Quad Cities resale store says people save money on new video games by buying secondhand.
	'Right to repair' secured in court A settlement with Deere and Co. requires that Deere gives farmer and repair providers access to equipment repair resources, including software.
	Illinois State Police release body cam footage in fatal Bureau County police shooting of 3-year-old Three-year-old Damian Camacho was shot and killed when officers responded to a hostage situation in rural Princeton on May 10.
	Durant, Louisa-Muscatine softball pick up quarterfinal wins Durant and Louisa-Muscatine softball picked up quarterfinal wins Wednesday night.
	Steamwheelers head coach Cory Ross named to Nebraska Football Hall of Fame Quad City Steamwheelers head coach Cory Ross has been named to the 2026 Nebraska Football Hall of Fame class.
	Cook review: 'Maternal Instinct' is unforgettable real-life horror show You can't imagine anything like this story could happen in real life until you see what unfolds in "Maternal Instinct," a true-crime story that's one of the best documentaries in recent years. Taylor Parker is pretty, vivacious and fun. When she meets Wade Griffin, who makes a living selling feral hogs, at a rodeo,it seems [...]
	Inside Iowa Politics: What is Iowa’s America’s Harvest Festival? Gov. Kim Reynolds announced "America's Harvest Festival" will take place October 24th as part of the 250th birthday celebration of the United States.
	No charges for Princeton officer in fatal shooting of 3-year-old boy A special prosecutor has recommended no charges be filed against a Princeton police officer involved in a stand-off that resulted in the death of a 3-year-old boy.
	First Army deactivates two divisions, welcomes new senior enlisted leader at Rock Island Arsenal In a ceremony at Rock Island Arsenal, the First Army deactivated two divisions amidst a restructuring move and appointed new Command Sgt. Maj. Randolph Delapena.
	Iowa had twice the drinking water violations for nitrate in 2025 as in 2024 A report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows Iowa had 36 nitrate-related drinking water violations in 2025, which is more than double the number reported in 2024.
	2nd man faces charges after fatal shooting at Rock Island apartments A second man faces charges in connection with a June 16 fatal shooting at Crowne Forest Apartment, East Moline, according to a news release. On Tuesday, July 7, East Moline Police detectives obtained criminal charges through the Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office on Derion L. Craig, 21, for his involvement in a homicide at [...]
	‘So far, we’re looking good:’ Scott County farmer talks this year’s corn While farmers say things are looking good across the immediate area with this year’s crop, too much rainfall has been an issue in some areas, even locally.
	Graham Platner drops his bid for Senate after facing an allegation of rape Platner's campaign to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine was marked by repeated scandals. It came to a crashing halt after the allegation led top Democrats to withdraw their support.
	Steamwheelers looking for a win to keep playoff hopes alive The Steam Team and the Fishers will kick off on Saturday at Vibrant Arena.
	Grass tennis courts set to open in Moline, bringing rare surface to QC The Quad City Tennis Club is opening grass tennis courts Thursday — one of the only surfaces of its kind in the Midwest. Officials say it took nearly four years to get them ready.

Thursday, July 9th, 2026

Wednesday, July 8th, 2026