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

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026
	Muscatine closes part of street for emergency water repair Crews in Muscatine are performing emergency water repairs, leading to a temporary, partial street closure. A news release from Muscatine said the 100 block of East 9th Street will close to all traffic, effective immediately, from the intersection with Iowa Avenue to the alley for emergency water repair. The street will be open during overnight [...]
	Celebrate Independence Day at Red, White and Boom! Enjoy Independence Day along the Mississippi River with Red, White and Boom! on July 3. Fireworks will be launched from two barges on the river between downtown Davenport and Rock Island at 9:30 p.m. Visitors can enjoy plenty of family-friendly activities in riverfront parks, including: Some of the best areas to view the show include: The [...]
	Family dog dies in Davenport house fire The Davenport Fire Department responded to the 3300 block of Covington Drive for a house fire Monday.
	5 ways to reduce everyday exposure to 'forever chemicals' Mara Hoplamazian has spent years reporting on 'forever chemicals,' or PFAS. Here's what they've learned about what may help limit everyday exposure to the contaminant.
	10th Street, 12th Avenue Moline closed after gas line struck Drivers are asked to avoid the 1200 block of 10th Street in Moline after work crews apparently hit a gas line. Crews were working on sidewalk replacement in the area when they apparently struck a gas line. The intersection is completely closed while repairs are underway.
	Family dog dies in kitchen fire At 6:52 p.m., Davenport fire crews responded to a house fire in the 3300 block of Covington Drive, according to a news release.
	Pet dies in Davenport structure fire A pet died in a structure fire in Davenport yesterday. A news release from the Davenport Fire Department said crews responded to the 3300 block of Covington Drive for a report of a structure fire on June 1 at about 6:52 p.m. The first fire units arrived at 6:58 p.m. and found a small, two-story [...]
	What parents should understand about AI chatbots in social media apps What parents should understand about AI chatbots in social media appsMost kids on social media have likely interacted with an artificial intelligence (AI) chat buddy. Some well-known examples: Meta has a new AI assistant that explains how to change a tire or lose weight. Snapchat’s My AI buddy will explain a science topic in a simple way. Even X has an AI chatbot named Grok (available with a subscription upgrade).For most families, the first interactions with these AI chatbots on social media are pretty harmless—like asking a chatbot to write silly song lyrics. Children can quickly realize, though, that they can use these chats to ask questions they might avoid bringing to adults about topics like depression. Or they might simply ask an AI chatbot to do their homework.“The temptation to use artificial intelligence to do schoolwork is strong,” says Lynn Rogoff, an adjunct associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology who designs chatbots for educational purposes. Her AI chatbot characters seek to give students factually accurate information about historical events—something she says is a positive use of AI for students. But she’s also aware that they struggle with drawing the line regarding how to use AI.“You have to persuade them that it’s in their best interests to gain critical literacy skills rather than let AI do their work,” she says.Verizon offers practical ways to build that literacy. Understanding how these tools actually work can make those conversations more useful and more grounded in reality.1. An AI chatbot is not a real person.Whether it’s a standalone app like ChatGPT or a feature incorporated into social media like X’s Grok, these humanlike personalities might seem like digital buddies, but they are not human. Instead, they use complex algorithms to generate answers from information found online, from sources like books and websites, and can present those answers and solutions in a conversational way. They can even crack a joke or two—but that doesn’t mean they have a sense of humor, either.2. AI chatbots are often inaccurate.AI chatbots can give false information. Asking a question about an upcoming event could generate a suggestion related to something that happened in the past. History questions can regularly produce muddy, biased, or wrong answers. One study out of Purdue University found that ChatGPT gave inaccurate answers to computer programming questions more than half the time.“[AI chatbots] may be pretty good at seeming real,” says Jessica Ghilani, Ph.D., associate professor of communication at the University of Pittsburgh. “But that isn’t the same as being accurate.” Experts say this is likely to improve over time, but it’s a reason for caution.3. Beware of ‘ghost sources.’Most kids are accustomed to typing a query into a search bar and getting a list of articles, research papers, and book suggestions. And while teachers may help kids learn the difference between credible and dubious sources, chatbots can provide chunks of information without a source.AI chatbots can sometimes list sources that don’t exist (these are called “ghost sources”). That means that any specific data or research provided by an AI chatbot needs to be checked and verified.4. It’s easy to plagiarize with AI, even unintentionally.A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that 1 in 4 teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork, roughly double the number from the previous year. And that’s only for one type of AI. As AI chatbots become more available, the number of teens who use the technology when doing homework is almost sure to increase.That’s why kids need clear boundaries about the right and wrong way to use AI to help with schoolwork. For example, chatbots can help brainstorm ideas, but AI-generated homework is getting easier for teachers to spot. Even when it’s unintentional, chatbot responses are built on other people’s work. And beyond AI-detection tools, it raises a more basic issue: Understanding what counts as their own work.“I want to reinforce to my [students] that their character and their integrity matter,” says Ghilani. “It matters to me; it should matter to them. It certainly matters for the good of the world around them.”5. AI chatbots can be fun, too.Jamie Davis Smith, a mom of four in Washington D.C. says her family used an AI chatbot to plan a summer road trip, which turned out to be mostly accurate. As a journalist, she knows accuracy and sourcing are crucial skills for kids to learn. That’s why she talks through what AI gets right and wrong. And she uses these fun activities to help teach what AI can (and can’t) do.Ask low-stakes questions.Recently, Smith’s son asked her if barn owls actually live in barns. Not knowing the answer, they turned to an AI chatbot. (Spoiler alert: Barn owls do prefer to live in barns.) Low-stakes questions are a great way to familiarize children with the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, Smith says.Play games with bots.Some popular AI chatbot tools have game features built in. Playing 20 questions or trivia games can help kids understand how these tools respond—and may highlight when they are wrong. Kids might catch a mistake when a chatbot turns up the wrong answer about a favorite sports team, for example, which could lead to a great conversation about the importance of accuracy.Ask a bot to tell jokes.Artificial intelligence isn’t only for research—these AI chatbots can be funny, too. Ask an AI chatbot or smart speaker for a knock-knock joke. These jokes can show how artificial intelligence can communicate with them.The bottom lineArtificial intelligence tools require supervision and guidance. Smith is cautiously having fun with these new tools even as she worries about kids using them to cut corners or even plagiarize work.“It’s important to start talking with your kids about how to use them responsibly, and their limitations,” Smith says. “And start now if you haven’t done so already.” This story was produced by Verizon and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Who's running in the 2026 Iowa primaries for state and local offices The Iowa primary election is set for Tuesday, June 2. WVIK compiled a list of races statewide and locally that Iowans will see on their ballots.
	78 Quad-Cities area students earn blood donation awards from ImpactLife Students who earned the reward receive a red cord to wear at graduation representing their accomplishment.
	Traffic alert: State Street to close at 18th, 19th streets for patching program Starting Tuesday, there will be closures at 18th and 19th streets as work switches to the north side of the road, according to a news release.
	Recuperar la esperanza para los hombres con disfunción eréctil (BPT) - Últimamente, parece que no puede pasar ni un día sin que vea un anuncio en la televisión o en Internet sobre la disfunción eréctil (ED). Pese a la atención que se le dedica a esta afección, muchos hombres pueden mostrarse reacios a hablar sobre ello porque se trata de un tema sensible y personal. En realidad la disfunción eréctil es una afección común que afecta a más de 18 millones de hombres en los Estados Unidos.1Los conceptos erróneos sobre la disfunción eréctil (ED), sumado a la naturaleza profundamente personal de la salud sexual, pueden desalentar a muchos hombres a hablar sobre el tema, y esto podría generar una sensación de aislamiento y vergüenza. La vacilación para hablar sobre disfunción eréctil, incluso con la pareja, puede afectar profundamente la confianza sexual y las relaciones de un hombre. Esto cobra mayor importancia cuando no se comprende en su totalidad la afección médica y las posibles causas.La disfunción eréctil ocurre cuando el flujo sanguíneo hacia el pene es limitado o los nervios están dañados. Hay muchos factores que contribuyen a la disfunción eréctil, que incluyen la edad y las afecciones médicas como la diabetes, las enfermedades cardiovasculares y los trastornos neurológicos.2Es importante que los hombres con disfunción eréctil consulten a un profesional de la salud. Un examen completo, normalmente con un urólogo, puede ser un primer paso importante para determinar la causa y el alcance de la disfunción eréctil y para identificar las opciones de tratamiento que sean adecuadas. A su vez, los cambios en el estilo de vida, como aumentar la actividad física, dejar de fumar, limitar el consumo de alcohol, hacer dieta y reducir el estrés también pueden ayudar a reducir los síntomas.2Los avances terapéuticos ofrecen opciones seguras y eficacesExiste una amplia variedad de opciones disponibles y se pueden implementar en función de las necesidades de cada paciente. Para la mayoría de los hombres, la primera línea de tratamiento suele involucrar medicamentos orales, que se pueden tomar una o dos horas antes de la relación sexual o en dosis bajas diarias para mantener un nivel constante del medicamento en el organismo.Los medicamentos orales no siempre son un tratamiento eficaz ya que pueden incrementar el flujo sanguíneo a otros tejidos del organismo.3 Algunos pueden producir efectos secundarios como dolor de cabeza, enrojecimiento facial o dolores musculares.3 A otros usuarios quizás no les agrade planificar la actividad sexual en torno al medicamento ya que esto significa una pérdida de la espontaneidad. Es importante que los hombres sigan hablando con su urólogo, quien puede recomendarles tratamientos alternativos como inyecciones en el pene, dispositivos de vacío o tratamiento a largo plazo, como un implante de pene.Explorar una alternativa de tratamiento más discretaEl implante de pene puede ser un tratamiento eficaz a largo plazo para los hombres que no responden a las opciones de tratamiento iniciales. Colocado quirúrgicamente, el implante de pene puede permitirle a un hombre con disfunción eréctil lograr y mantener una erección cuando lo desee y durante el tiempo que lo desee. El implante de pene permite el control directo del momento en que ocurre la erección y de su duración.Un tipo de implante de pene es la prótesis de pene inflable AMS 700™, que está diseñada para reproducir de manera muy similar una erección natural, proporcionando rigidez cuando se infla y un aspecto flácido y natural cuando se desinfla. Cuando se desinfla, el dispositivo no se ve desde el exterior, esto le permite mantener la discreción al hombre que tiene un implante de pene. El implante también está diseñado para brindar una sensación natural, un aspecto que puede ser fundamental. La sensación natural que ofrece el diseño, combinada con la espontaneidad para lograr la erección cuando se lo desee, puede favorecer la intimidad con la pareja.Dar el primer paso en el tratamiento de la disfunción eréctilPara los hombres que padecen disfunción eréctil, un paso importante es iniciar la conversación con un profesional de la salud que comprenda la afección y los tratamientos disponibles. Tenga en cuenta que no está solo, la disfunción eréctil es una afección médica común y tratable, y existen opciones de tratamiento seguras y eficaces.Si considera que el implante de pene podría ser una alternativa para usted o quiere saber más al respecto, consúltele a su médico acerca del implante de pene AMS 700. Para encontrar un especialista que ofrezca implantes de pene, visite EDCure.com.Información importante sobre seguridadLa prótesis de pene inflable AMS 700™ está indicada para su uso en el tratamiento de la disfunción eréctil masculina (impotencia) orgánica y crónica.Como sucede con todas las intervenciones médicas, existen riesgos asociados con la intervención y el uso del dispositivo, incluido el implante a largo plazo.El implante de una prótesis de pene dañará o eliminará cualquier capacidad restante de tener una erección natural y hará imposible otras opciones de tratamiento (medicamentos orales, dispositivos de vacío o inyecciones). Los hombres con diabetes, lesiones de la médula espinal o infecciones en la piel pueden tener un mayor riesgo de infección. La implantación puede provocar una curvatura del pene o formación de cicatrices. El dispositivo no es adecuado para pacientes con infecciones activas del tracto urinario, genitales o cutáneas en la zona de la operación. Algunos dispositivos AMS 700 contienen un antibiótico (tratamiento de superficie con antibiótico InhibiZone™). AMS 700 con InhibiZone no es adecuado para pacientes alérgicos a los antibióticos contenidos en el dispositivo (rifampicina y minociclina HCl) o a otras tetraciclinas, ni para pacientes con lupus sistémico, por lo que para estos pacientes se deben considerar dispositivos que no contengan InhibiZone.Los riesgos incluyen, entre otros: mal funcionamiento/fallo del dispositivo que requiera cirugía adicional, desplazamiento del dispositivo que puede provocar exposición a través de los tejidos, desgaste/pérdida del tejido (erosión del tejido/dispositivo), infección, inflado involuntario del dispositivo, dolor, enrojecimiento o sarpullido cerca de la incisión o del escroto, inflamación cerca de la incisión, del escroto o del pene, urticaria, fiebre, problemas de micción, dispositivo en una posición inadecuada (posición incorrecta del dispositivo); puede ser necesaria una segunda intervención quirúrgica para volver a colocar o extraer el reservorio (revisión o extracción del reservorio).El dispositivo puede escanearse mediante resonancia magnética en condiciones específicas. La exploración en otras condiciones puede provocar lesiones o mal funcionamiento del dispositivo. Hable con su médico antes de someterse a una resonancia magnética.Asegúrese de conversar con su médico para entender por completo todos los riesgos y beneficios asociados con el uso del dispositivo.PRECAUCIÓN: las leyes federales de los Estados Unidos solo permiten la venta de este dispositivo bajo prescripción facultativa.Este artículo es patrocinado por Boston Scientific.ReferenciasSelvin E, Burnett AL, Platz EA. Prevalence and risk factors for erectile dysfunction in the US. Am J Med. 2007 Feb;120(2):151-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.06.010.Leslie SW, Sooriyamoorthy T. Erectile dysfunction. In: StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing; 2024. Actualizado el 9 de enero de 2024. Consultado el 20 de mayo de 2026."Erectile Dysfunction (Ed)." Erectile Dysfunction (ED): Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment - Urology Care Foundation. www.urologyhealth.org/urology-a-z/e/erectile-dysfunction-(ed)#Treatment. Consultado en abril de 2026.
	Muscatine police continue working on homicide investigations Seven people, including two children in the Muscatine School District, were killed in a mass shooting incident.
	How digital platforms are transforming the equipment rental industry How digital platforms are transforming the equipment rental industryEquipment rental technology directly benefits construction and contractor crews by supporting more efficient projects and jobsites. Digital platforms, artificial intelligence and telematics make it easier to manage equipment rentals. When you rent machinery from a forward-thinking company, you can enjoy on-demand equipment access, easy online booking, reliable performance and more efficient project planning.With the latest rental technology, you no longer need to make multiple phone calls, manage piles of paper contracts or deal with uncertain delivery windows. Instead, you can view inventory and manage rental details through a centralized platform. Your team can track and accurately predict when equipment will arrive.This comprehensive guide from Herc Rentals explains how digital platforms are transforming the equipment rental industry and what it means for your company.The Shift to a Digital-First Rental ExperienceThe transition from analog to digital processes in the rental workflow represents a change in how you interact with your supply chain. Traditionally, renting a piece of equipment requires a direct conversation with a rental coordinator. You must call during business hours, confirm equipment availability manually and track the asset through visual inspection and handwritten logs once it arrives.Modern digital platforms have upended this model. They centralize data and make it available to you as the end user. Construction and engineering sectors are accelerating their investment in digital tools to boost efficiency. For the equipment rental market, this means moving toward platforms that function much like consumer e-commerce sites but with the robust backend logic required for heavy industrial machinery.How Does Technology Improve the Rental Experience for Contractors?Technology significantly enhances the rental experience with tangible benefits, like saved time and easier processes. Digital platforms address the friction points that have traditionally slowed down the rental process. When you trust a rental company that not only embraces new technology, but spearheads it, you can enjoy the following advantages: Herc Rentals 24/7 Access to Online BookingConstruction does not always adhere to a standard nine-to-five schedule. Emergencies can happen overnight. Project planning often takes place on the weekends.Digital platforms help solve accessibility challenges by offering 24/7 portals where you can browse catalogs, check specifications and reserve equipment. Rather than waiting for a callback to confirm if a specific boom lift or excavator is in stock, you can reserve gear real time — giving you on-the-go access around the clock.Constant rental portal access allows you to secure the assets the moment you identify a need. Online booking systems provide detailed specifications, such as load capacities, reach heights and fuel requirements. This information helps you select the right machine for each task, reducing the likelihood of miscommunication that can occur during phone orders. It also creates a verifiable digital trail of each reservation.Real-Time Equipment Status VisibilityThe integration of telematics and GPS tracking is one of the most significant advancements in rental technology.Digital platforms offer real-time visibility for equipment deliveries. You can track each piece of equipment's precise location at all times. This makes it easier to coordinate site logistics. Knowing exactly when a machine will arrive helps crews prepare the site and mobilize operators, eliminating wasted labor hours waiting for equipment.You can also use real-time tracking to verify where each machine is on large, decentralized jobsites. This reduces the time spent searching for equipment that may have moved to different jobsites or areas within a jobsite.Simplified Digital Account ManagementAdministrative challenges can become a hidden cost in construction projects. Managing stacks of paper contracts, tracking fuel surcharges and reconciling invoices can consume hours of valuable time. Digital platforms consolidate these tasks into a single dashboard, streamlining them for greater efficiency.Project managers and office staff can perform these tasks through a centralized account portal:View active rentals.Extend contracts.Reserve rental equipment.Receive, pay and store invoices digitally.Predict future project costs.Digitizing these tasks reduces the risk of lost paperwork and payment disputes. It creates a reliable audit trail, so your team has a clear, real-time view of rental costs.How Technology Improves On-Site Equipment PerformanceThe technology embedded within machinery has also evolved. Renting equipment gives you the opportunity to try the latest equipment models, featuring advanced sensors and connectivity. This directly enhances equipment performance on your jobsites, helping your team work smarter, not harder.Improving Equipment Efficiency with TelematicsTelematics systems do more than track locations — they provide a window into a machine's operational health and efficiency. Data points such as fuel consumption, engine load and idle time are captured and transmitted to the cloud.Equipment data is invaluable for optimizing efficiency. Reports can reveal when equipment sits idle for too long or how long operators use it for important tasks. By identifying these patterns, you can coach operators on better practices, significantly reduce fuel costs and improve your company's environmental impact.You can also monitor equipment utilization rates to make informed decisions about fleet sizing. For example, if your team only uses a rented dozer for two hours a day, the data may recommend a smaller machine or a shorter rental period. This approach prevents over-renting, helping you reduce overhead costs.Increasing Accuracy to Reduce ReworkRework is one of the most expensive challenges in construction. The latest equipment technology uses GPS positioning and grade control systems to help operators perform tasks correctly on the first pass. Rental companies often offer fleets with these “smart” capabilities.Excavators and dozers with integrated 2D- or 3D-grade control allow operators to dig or grade to exact specifications. This eliminates the need to rely solely on surveyors or manual stakes. It also reduces the amount of material your team needs to move and minimizes the risk of over-digging or under-compacting.When you rent advanced equipment, you can achieve tighter tolerances and higher quality finishes. With the right features, you can reduce the need for corrective work, keep projects moving forward and protect your company's profit margin.The Role of AI in Equipment Rental ReliabilityAI technology is transforming the equipment rental industry's maintenance procedures, helping you access more reliable fleets. Traditionally, rental companies based equipment maintenance on fixed schedules or when breakdowns occurred. AI changes this by using data to predict needs before they become serious complications.Predictive Maintenance to Prevent On-Site BreakdownsNothing disrupts a project schedule like a piece of critical machinery breaking down. With advanced technology, companies can ensure the equipment you need remains operational and reliable throughout the entire rental period. AI algorithms collect and analyze equipment data points to determine machine health:VibrationTemperaturePressureEngine hoursFault codesFluid levelsEmissionsBy monitoring these variables, AI can detect subtle signs that equipment needs attention. Rental companies then perform the necessary maintenance or repairs, delivering machinery you can depend on.Rental companies can also dispatch technicians or send replacement equipment as soon as a part requires service. When you rent machinery from a reputable company that uses predictive AI, you can reduce unplanned downtime and keep your projects on track.AI-Optimized Logistics for On-Time DeliveryDelivering heavy equipment to a jobsite involves complex logistics, especially in remote locations and dense urban environments. Delivery delays can trigger a domino effect, stalling various trades and pushing back completion dates.Some rental companies use AI-driven logistics platforms to optimize delivery routes and schedules. These systems analyze the following factors:Traffic patternsRoad restrictionsDelivery windowsTruck capacityDynamically adjusting to real-time conditions helps rental companies deliver equipment on time. Your team can implement tighter scheduling, coordinating your crew's work hours and equipment arrival with precision.How Will Automation Reshape the Industry for Renters?As technology continues to advance, the equipment rental industry moves toward greater automation levels. The rental experience will become virtually frictionless the more it relies on data and autonomous systems. Herc Rentals Automated and Contactless Rental ProcessesContactless service is popular in various industries and is becoming a permanent feature of the rental landscape. We are moving toward a future where the rental counter is entirely virtual.Mobile apps have evolved to handle the entire check-in and checkout process. You can use your smartphone to scan a QR code on equipment and do the following:Initiate a rental.Verify a piece of equipment's condition via photo uploads.Digitally sign acceptance forms.Request automatic pickup when a rental period is complete.Automation extends to the equipment yard. Some rental facilities may start featuring automated kiosks and secure access zones where you can access small equipment and tools outside of standard business hours. If you have a sudden need for gear in the early morning hours, you can pick it up immediately rather than waiting for a branch to open.Data-Driven Equipment RecommendationsSelecting the right equipment for a job can be challenging. Is a 19-foot scissor lift sufficient, or does your project require greater reach? Can a 3-ton excavator handle your jobsite's soil conditions?Advanced AI-powered platforms will be able to use data analytics to function as intelligent consultants. Automated systems can analyze project parameters to recommend the most efficient, cost-effective equipment for each task. For example:Type of workSite conditionsMaterial weightsThis data-driven guidance can help you prevent the common pitfalls of under-specifying or over-specifying equipment. With this approach, you can avoid paying for unnecessary capacity or straining your rental equipment.Long-Term Strategic InsightsDigital platforms empower your team with insights far beyond equipment recommendations. These systems enable more strategic long-term decisions by analyzing vast datasets, like:Utilization ratesMaintenance historiesProject typesWeather patternsPeak rental periodsRegional demand trendsWith these insights, you can forecast project needs and determine the best times to rent each type of equipment. These insights also help optimize your fleet purchases versus rentals, so you can decide when to invest in a piece of equipment and when to rent. Working with a forward-thinking rental company is an excellent way to allocate your resources efficiently across multiple jobsites.The Evolving Role of Rental Company PersonnelWhile digital platforms automate many transactional tasks, they do not eliminate the need for human expertise. Rental company personnel are shifting from mere order takers to strategic partners. Freed from manual processing, staff can now serve you with different types of high-value support:Complex project consultationsAdvanced technical support for specialized equipmentProactive maintenance or equipment replacement when telematics systems detect a needTechnology does not replace human interaction in the equipment industry. Instead, it enhances your relationship with your equipment providers. Rental company personnel can take on the role of trusted equipment advisors when they use digital platforms for administrative tasks.The Importance of Cybersecurity and Data Privacy in Digital Rental PlatformsRobust cybersecurity and data privacy are essential when working with digital rental platforms. Modern platforms manage sensitive project data and financial information. Before working with an equipment rental company, ask about their security measures.An equipment provider should implement advanced security protocols to protect your company's confidentiality and system integrity. This prevents risks, such as data breaches and malware, so you can use digital tools and navigate the rental process with peace of mind.Embracing the Shift to Digitized Equipment RentalThe equipment rental industry is undergoing a profound transformation. The shift from manual, analog processes to sophisticated digital platforms enhances how you can plan, procure and manage heavy machinery. Embracing these changes gives you 24/7, on-demand access to equipment with the latest features. As these technologies mature, they will offer even greater opportunities for automation and efficiency, and help your team navigate the complexities of modern construction.This story was produced by Herc Rentals and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	IMEG, Rock Island, acquires Rodriguez Transportation Groups, Texas IMEG, Rock Island, has acquired Rodriguez Transportation Group (RTG), a Texas-based transportation engineering and planning firm recognized for its expertise in transportation planning, roadway and highway design, traffic engineering, drainage design, and land surveying. The acquisition marks a significant expansion of IMEG’s infrastructure capabilities in Texas, adding transportation depth to the firm’s existing MEP, civil, [...]
	Trump appoints housing official as acting director of national intelligence Bill Pulte has shown a willingness to go after the president's perceived enemies.
	Scott County teen accused of creating and distributing child sexual abuse material A Scott County teen has been arrested after he allegedly coerced a 16-year-old into helping him create child sex abuse materials which he sold for money.
	Doctors checked Biden just after Trump debate as Jill Biden feared he had a stroke The Biden administration previously said doctors examined the president "days" following the debate, not in the moments after. The former first lady revealed more details in her new book.
	Donahue man arrested, charged with 30 child pornography counts A man from Donahue is in the Scott County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond after authorities said he obtained and sold images and videos of child pornography. The criminal complaint filed in Scott County Court in Davenport said a signed search warrant was executed on June 1 for the residence, person, vehicle and [...]
	Americans are spending a fortune on wellness. A weekend outside is beating all of it. Americans are spending a fortune on wellness. A weekend outside is beating all of it.There is a yoga mat in your living room. A meditation app you opened twice. A gym membership that has become a monthly guilt subscription. You are trying. Most Americans are. According to new research from Eddie Bauer Adventure Club, a vacation club for active explorers that recently debuted in Moab, Utah, what actually works is as simple as stepping outside. The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted in April 2026 finds that 40% feel noticeably more relaxed or recharged within 30 minutes of being outdoors, and 73% say it happens within an hour.Below, Eddie Bauer Adventure Club explores what the findings reveal about the wellness benefits of getting outdoors. Eddie Bauer The comparison against traditional wellness habits is striking. Half of Americans say a short outdoor trip is more effective for their stress and mental health than their regular wellness routine, outperforming gym memberships, meditation apps and self-care habits they are already investing in. Eddie Bauer The problem is not awareness. It is frequency. Forty-three percent say they get outside, but not nearly enough. And even when they do make it out, the reset does not always get a fair chance. Sixty-two percent check their phones within the first hour of arriving somewhere in nature, including 31% who do so immediately.The barriers keeping people indoors are more practical than you might think. Family responsibilities, travel costs and work schedules rank among the biggest barriers. Screen time and digital habits, often assumed to be the main culprits, rank lower than all of them.What is draining people in the meantime runs deeper than any single habit. Financial stress leads the list at 24%, followed by general burnout and the persistent sense that they are always reachable and never fully off. The reset, when it comes, is fighting something that does not clock out.The good news is that the solution people are looking for is more accessible than they might expect. They are not holding out for a two-week expedition. Asked what they hope to get from time outdoors, 27% of U.S. adults say a chance to unplug and disconnect from daily life entirely. The reset does not have to be complicated. It just has to happen.That reset is also about more than personal stress relief. The outdoors is where people reconnect with the people who matter most. Asked how important it is that outdoor experiences can be shared across generations, with parents, children or grandchildren, 29% say it is one of the main reasons they seek out time outdoors at all.For many Americans, the recharge they are looking for is not new. It is just outside.MethodologyDecker Royal, on behalf of Eddie Bauer Adventure Club, commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 1,000 adults throughout the United States. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Fieldwork was conducted between April 22 and April 27, 2026. Atomik Research, part of 4media group, is a creative market research agency.This story was produced by Eddie Bauer and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Sandburg, Galesburg, has signed on as part of consortium to support maritime workers Sandburg, Galesburg, has signed on to be a charter member of a new, multi-state consortium to support inland maritime workforce needs in the upper Midwest, a news release says. The Corn Belt Ports Rural Logistics & Maritime Training & Education Consortium is a regional workforce development initiative that brings together a network of higher education [...]
	Assisted living statistics: Demographics, services, and trends Assisted living statistics: Demographics, services, and trendsMore than 32,000 assisted living communities throughout the United States provide housing and support for older adults who can no longer live independently. As the population ages, demand for assisted living continues to grow. This report by A Place for Mom highlights key assisted living statistics, including resident demographics, care needs, costs, and industry trends.Key insightsOver 1 million people live in assisted living communities throughout the U.S.More than half of assisted living residents are 85 or older, and most are women.The median cost of assisted living is $5,419 per month, but actual costs can vary significantly based on location and care needs.Most people use personal income and assets to pay for assisted living. About 17% of residents rely on Medicaid for support.Assisted living communities in the USThere are 32,231 assisted living communities and other residential care communities in the U.S., according to the most recent data available from the National Center for Health Statistics. Assisted living goes by many names, including personal care homes, board and care homes, and adult foster care. Specific terminology and regulations typically vary by state.In general, these communities provide similar services for adult residents: housing, meals, supervision, and help with daily activities. While they don’t typically provide medical care, some residents receive additional services such as nursing care or physical therapy through third-party providers.Assisted living resident demographicsAn estimated 1,016,424 people live in assisted living communities and other residential care communities throughout the U.S., many of whom have complex care needs.Residents are more likely to be female and in older age groups. About 67% are women, and 84% are age 75 or older. A Place for Mom Most assisted living residents are white (92%), while 2% are Black non-Hispanic, and 6% are Hispanic or another race.Residents of assisted living communities typically have chronic health conditions that affect their ability to live independently. The most common conditions include high blood pressure (58%), Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia (44%), heart disease (33%), depression (26%), and diabetes (16%). Only 8% of residents have never been diagnosed with any of these conditions.Assisted living services and care needsMost assisted living residents need significant daily support — 62% require help with three or more of the six activities of daily living (ADLs). However, the level of care each resident needs varies. A small portion of residents (12%) do not need any assistance with ADLs, but they may require other forms of support, such as medication management, supervision, or assistance with household tasks.The most common resident needs in assisted living include assistance with bathing (75%), walking (71%), dressing (60%), transferring to/from a bed/chair (57%), toileting (51%), and eating (28%). A Place for Mom Assisted living services and amenities are designed to meet these needs. Residents can typically benefit from help with ADLs, 24-hour supervision, meals, housekeeping, medication reminders, transportation, activities programming, and communal areas for socializing, hobbies, and events.Staffing requirementsStaffing requirements in assisted living facilities and other types of residential care communities are set at the state level and vary widely. Most states do not require a specific staff-to-resident ratio for assisted living.For example, regulations in Colorado merely stipulate that in each assisted living residence, “Staff shall be sufficient in number to help residents needing or potentially needing assistance, considering individual needs such as the risk of accident, hazards, or other challenging events.”On the other hand, Florida sets minimum staffing requirements based on the number of residents, requiring assisted living communities to provide a certain number of total staff hours each week as occupancy increases. By law, a mid-sized community with about 50 residents in Florida must provide at least 375 hours of staff time per week.Staffing requirements may also vary within states depending on factors such as community size and whether specialized services, like dementia care, are offered.Assisted living financial statisticsThe national median cost of assisted living in the U.S. is $5,419 per month, based on A Place for Mom’s proprietary data.Actual costs vary depending on factors like location and the level of care a resident requires. For example, Louisiana has the lowest median monthly cost of assisted living at $3,983, while the District of Columbia is the most expensive at $8,960 per month. A Place for Mom Most residents use their personal income and assets to pay for assisted living. Other payment sources may include long-term care insurance, Social Security benefits, and income or proceeds from the rental or sale of a home.For many older adults, however, affordability remains a concern. Nearly 10% of Americans age 65 and older live in poverty. While an estimated 17% of residential care community residents rely on Medicaid, coverage is limited. In most states, Medicaid offers some coverage of care services provided in assisted living communities, but programs, eligibility requirements, benefits, and availability vary from state to state. Medicaid does not cover room and board in assisted living in any state.Assisted living demand and industry outlookDemand for assisted living is expected to grow as the U.S. population continues to age. In 2025, an estimated 63.3 million Americans were age 65 and older, and by 2040 that number is projected to exceed 78 million. Life expectancy is also increasing, contributing to a larger population of older adults who may eventually need long-term care.Recent data suggests demand is already increasing. Assisted living occupancy reached 87.9% in early 2026, reflecting continued growth in the number of residents moving into communities. Meanwhile, new construction across the broader senior housing sector has slowed, which may limit availability in some markets.At the same time, most seniors prefer to age in place. About 60% say they would rather remain at home with the help of a caregiver, while 18% say they would consider moving into an assisted living community if they could no longer live independently. Aging in place remains the top preference, yet assisted living is often a next step when care needs become more complex.This growing demand may place additional pressure on the assisted living workforce. In 2022, the industry employed roughly 455,900 full-time equivalent nursing and social work employees, highlighting the scale of staffing needed to support residents’ care needs. Meeting future demand will depend on both workforce availability and the capacity of existing communities.FAQsHow many people live in assisted living in the U.S.?About 1 million people live in assisted living communities and other residential care communities in the United States, according to research conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.What is the average age of assisted living residents?Assisted living residents are typically in their 80s, with more than half (53%) age 85 or older, according to research conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.How many assisted living communities are there in the U.S.?There are about 32,231 assisted living communities and other residential care communities in the United States, according to research conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.What level of care do assisted living residents need?Most residents need help with daily activities, with 62% requiring assistance with three or more activities of daily living, according to research conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.This story was produced by A Place for Mom and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Bachman-Turner Overdrive plays Rhythm City Bachman–Turner Overdrive will be playing Rhythm City Casino September 18. According to a release, Bachman-Turner Overdrive brings its No Speed Limit Tour 2026 to the QCA. In 2023, Randy Bachman revived Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the legendary rock n’ roll band behind worldwide hits such as “Takin’ Care Of Business” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet." After [...]
	Eugene Field Elementary closed due to water main break An email from the Rock Island - Milan School District says Eugene Field Elementary School will be closed today, June 2, due to a water main break. All classes and school-related activities are canceled today. Families and staff have been notified and will receive updates when more information is available.
	Breaking down barriers to achieve the American dream: How first-time homeownership is possible Breaking down barriers to achieve the American dream: How first-time homeownership is possibleAccess to homeownership has been one of the primary ways Americans build generational wealth.However, rising home prices and interest rates are leaving would-be homebuyers on the fence when it comes to believing they could purchase their first home. In fact, first-time buyers only make up 21% of purchases in the housing market, the lowest share since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) began tracking that data in 1981.Despite this historically low number, the desire to become a homeowner remains strong. According to a NeighborWorks America national survey, 49% of U.S. adults are interested in buying a home. At the same time, 31% believe it’s unattainable.Where is the disconnect, and what is holding interested buyers back from making their dream a reality?Often fueled by outdated assumptions or unclear information, commonly cited obstacles range from down payment requirements to credit expectations.The good news is that the housing ecosystem is evolving to better inform and support first-time buyers to help them create a roadmap to success. Financial institutions are expanding educational resources, and lenders are introducing more flexible products. A growing number of organizations, including insurers, are stepping in to help make homeownership more accessible.Buyers can overcome underestimating their buying power by exploring their options. In this article, Progressive examines widely held beliefs about buying a first home, using current data and lending standards to help clarify what “ready” can look like for today’s first-time homebuyers, as well as breaking down some of the barriers that may stand in their way.Myth #1: A 20% Down Payment Is RequiredWhile 20% down is often the expected amount that comes to mind for prospective buyers, the real average tells a different story. The median down payment for first-time buyers was at an all-time high since 1989 at 10% in recent years, according to NAR.The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) offers government-backed FHA loans that are designed to assist buyers who do not qualify for a conventional loan. FHA loans allow down payments as low as 3.5%.Conventional loans, which are the most common loans offered by lenders, are from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These programs are government-sponsored enterprises, meaning they are private companies developed by the U.S. Congress to assist with keeping the mortgage lending industry operating efficiently, and allow as little as 3% down.A factor to plan for when making a down payment of less than 20% on a conventional home loan is private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI allows lenders to help protect themselves in the event a borrower defaults on their loan. While PMI is an initial additional cost added to loan payments, it does enable lower upfront down payments.While PMI supports lenders, the Homeowners Protection Act, or PMI Cancellation Act, provides borrowers with the ability to remove PMI from their loan payment. They must meet certain criteria to meet eligibility, including maintaining current loan payments. Once their equity has reached at least 20%, the borrower can request PMI cancellation or wait for automatic PMI termination.Myth #2: You Need Perfect Credit to QualifyThe guidelines for an FHA loan make it possible for borrowers with credit scores as low as 500 to meet eligibility requirements, reported by LendingTree. Conventional loans require borrowers to have a minimum of 620 for their credit score.In addition to FHA and conventional mortgages, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also offer loan options.Credit score and down payment minimum requirements, combined with an evaluation of a borrower’s overall financial health, vary for each type of loan.FHA loans offer lower credit thresholds combined with down payment minimums. Qualified borrowers with a credit score of 500 to 579 need to put 10% down, while those with a credit score of at least 580 only need to put 3.5% down.Conventional loans require a minimum credit score of 620 with a 3% down payment, while those with a credit score of 780 or higher may benefit by qualifying for lower interest rates and PMI premiums.For qualifying military personnel, VA loans have no minimum credit score rules. Although, most lenders do require a credit score of at least 620 for borrowers. These loans do not require a downpayment.Designed to assist lower income borrowers in eligible rural areas, USDA loans also have no set minimum credit score or down payment requirement. These are similar to VA loans in that most lenders do require a minimum credit score of 640.Myth #3: The Down Payment is the Only Financial HurdleAspiring homeowners often underestimate the total cost of buying a home and can be caught off guard by the financial realities of homeownership. When crunching the numbers to figure out how much cash is needed to buy a home, there are calculators and programs available to assist.Closing costs when purchasing a home are separate from the down payment and may be negotiated between the buyer and seller. These cover a variety of fees, such as attorney fees, property appraisal, title insurance, and more. These costs typically range from 2%-5% of the home price. A home closing cost calculator and other housing calculators are available on FINRED.All U.S. states have Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) who exist to assist with providing affordable housing for residents of their state. HFAs help provide affordable mortgages through the federally authorized program Housing Bonds, as well as other housing assistance, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA). Contact information for each state’s individual HFA can be found on NCSHA’s map.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is a federally funded program that provides grants to state and local communities. These communities then use the funds to create programs to provide decent housing for low- to moderate-income people in urban areas, including first-time homebuyer programs.Employer-assisted housing (EAH) programs are designed to help employees with the cost of housing, often located near the workplace. An EAH program can include assistance via loans or grants to help with closing costs or down payments. In some cases, homeownership education and counseling can be combined with forgivable loans. Both public- and private-sector employers can take advantage of developing EAH programs to assist not only their employees, but to aid in the economic development and revitalization of their communities.Mortgage reserves requirements, or “rainy day” funds, are an additional factor that lenders may require, depending on loan type. For conventional loans, lenders may require up to six months of cash reserves. A borrower’s debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, credit score, and down payment may affect whether cash reserves are needed.What “Homeownership Readiness” Actually MeansFor many, purchasing a home can be the largest financial commitment they will ever make.First-time home buyers should review a number of factors to decide if they are ready now, or if they should develop a plan to become ready in the future. A nationwide list of housing counselors is available to offer advice on buying a home.Key factors buyers should consider:Do they currently have at least two years of stable income and a steady employment history? Additional readiness factors are available from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).Is their DTI ratio manageable? Generally, a DTI below 36% is ideal but some lenders will accept DTIs up to 43%.How will they budget for ongoing costs, such as home improvements, maintenance, taxes, and insurance?First-Time Homebuyer Programs and Resources — There is HelpA range of programs exist to support first-time buyers, from federal loan options from the FHA, VA, and USDA to state and local assistance programs like HFAs and the CDBG, as well as public- or private-funded EAH programs.Increasingly, private-sector organizations are expanding support to help offset upfront costs, as well as introducing tools and educational resources to help make the path to homeownership more accessible.Debunking the Myth by Empowering Buyers with OptionsCommon assumptions about the path to homeownership have made it difficult for prospective first-time home buyers to take the steps needed to buy their first home. However, the truth is that buyers have many options and programs that exist to assist them. High down payments or strict credit requirements are often less of a concern than buyers realize, more so today as the housing industry continues to evolve to support them.Providing buyers with clear, accurate information about which loans or programs fit their needs, along with increasing support from lenders, and public- and private-sector organizations, will play an important role in helping more first-time buyers move from aspiring homeowners to active participants in the market. Understanding what readiness truly looks like is a key step toward making homeownership a reality.Please note: This material is offered for informational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice.This story was produced by Progressive and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How a hotter summer changes the cost of cooling your home How a hotter summer changes the cost of cooling your homeAir conditioning accounts for roughly 19% of annual household electricity use in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While that share of energy usage has stayed consistent for years, what has changed is how hard cooling systems have to work.An analysis of 25 years of federal climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, conducted by Shipley Energy, shows that cooling degree days have increased in 45 of 48 contiguous states since the early 2000s. The increases are not evenly distributed across the state or region. Some states are accumulating hundreds of additional cooling degree days each year, while a handful have held relatively steady. The result is a widening gap in what American households pay to stay comfortable during summer, while electricity bills are climbing, and the lifespan of the equipment cooling Americans is decreasing.This analysis uses monthly cooling degree day data from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, combined with state electricity rates from the EIA’s 2024 State Electricity Profiles, to measure how cooling demand has shifted across all four Census regions covering the lower 48 states, and estimates what that shift costs the average household in both energy and equipment wear.What are cooling degree days?A cooling degree day is the standard metric utilities and climate scientists use to quantify cooling demand, and is measured by how much the average outdoor temperature exceeds 65 F, the temperature at which most buildings begin to require cooling. If the average temperature on a particular day is 85 F, that day registers 20 cooling degree days (CDDs), while a day averaging 60 F registers zero CDDs.Annual cooling degree days are then the sum of the daily values across an entire year. The higher a state’s annual CDD total, the more hours homeowners run air conditioning systems, consuming more electricity, and causing more mechanical wear on their systems. As a rough benchmark, each additional cooling degree day adds approximately 2 kilowatt-hours of electricity consumption for a typical household running a 2.5-ton central air conditioner at a SEER 14 efficiency rating. Shipley Energy When CDD totals rise year over year, it means summers are either getting hotter, lasting longer, or both. This leads to higher utility bills and shorter intervals between equipment replacements.How much has cooling demand increased across the country?Comparing five-year averages for 2001-2005 versus 2021-2025 helps to smooth out individual hot or cool years and reveals the underlying trend. Across the four U.S. Census regions, the pattern is consistent: cooling demand is up everywhere, though the South is absorbing the largest increases in absolute terms.A separate analysis by Climate Central found that annual cooling degree days have increased since 1970 in 232 of 240 U.S. locations studied, covering 97% of the areas examined. The findings here, using a different time window and methodology, broadly align: 45 of 48 contiguous states show higher average CDD totals in the most recent five-year period compared to the early 2000s.The regional breakdown: Shipley Energy The South region leads in raw CDD growth, gaining an average of 175 cooling degree days per state. The Northeast gained fewer degree days in absolute terms (+114) but is seeing the fastest proportional increase, and its high electricity rates amplify every additional degree day.The Midwest sits in the middle with moderate increases (+90 CDD) and relatively affordable electricity. The West shows the smallest average gain (+35), but that number masks a wide split: Desert states like Arizona and Nevada have actually seen CDD declines in the population-weighted data, while Pacific Northwest states like Oregon and Washington are posting some of the steepest increases in the country.Which states are seeing the biggest increases?Texas leads all states with a 427-CDD increase between the 2001-2005 and 2021-2025 periods, averaging a gain of nearly 20 cooling degree days per year. Mississippi (+274), Arkansas (+234), Utah (+229), and Oregon (+227) round out the top five. Several of these may surprise readers, Utah and Oregon are not states typically associated with intense cooling demand, but both have seen sustained warming that is pushing their CDD totals well above historical norms.Three states, Nevada (-433), Arizona (-347), and New Mexico (-89), bucked the trend with lower CDD averages in the most recent period. These are still among the hottest states in the country by total cooling degree days. The decline is likely a data quirk: the federal dataset weights readings by where people live, and rapid suburban growth in cooler parts of those states can pull the statewide average down even when temperatures at individual locations haven’t changed.For homeowners, the trend line matters as much as the current total. A state like New York, which added 154 cooling degree days over the period, went from an average household that barely needed AC in May or September to one where those shoulder months now regularly register measurable cooling demand. That kind of shift means AC systems are starting earlier in spring and running later into fall, adding runtime that compounds year after year.How much is this adding to household electricity bills?Cooling degree day increases become a dollar figure when multiplied by two variables: how much electricity each degree day requires (approximately 2 kWh for a typical household) and what that electricity costs in a given state. The interaction between those factors reshuffles the state rankings in ways that raw CDD data alone does not predict.As cooling degree days increase, homeowners across the country have seen electricity bill increases between $28 and $84 annually.The 15 states with the highest estimated cumulative household cooling cost impact over the 2006-2025 period: Shipley Energy Delaware tops the list at an estimated $1,293 in cumulative extra cooling costs over 20 years, despite ranking only sixth in raw CDD growth. Its 13.56 cents/kWh electricity rate, combined with a 206-CDD increase, produces a larger dollar impact than many hotter states with cheaper power. Connecticut ($1,287) and California ($1,282) follow, driven almost entirely by their electricity rates of 24.37 cents and 27.04 cents, respectively. California added just 68 cooling degree days over the period, but each one costs more than twice as much to cool through as a degree day in Texas.Texas, despite having the single largest CDD increase of any state (+427) and the highest current annual cost adder (+$83.61/year per household), lands eighth in cumulative impact because its 9.79 cents rate limits the per-degree-day cost. New Hampshire, which most people do not associate with air conditioning costs, ranks 16th; its 20.61 cents rate means each of its 158 additional cooling degree days costs 41 cents per household, more than double what the same degree day costs in Arkansas.How do rising CDDs affect the lifespan of a central air conditioner?The electricity bill is the visible cost. The less visible one is what all that additional runtime does to the equipment. Major HVAC manufacturers, including Carrier and Trane, cite a typical central air conditioner lifespan of 15 to 20 years, with climate and usage as the primary variables that determine where a given unit falls in that range.Carrier notes the distinction directly: An AC system in a northern climate with moderately warm summers will accumulate fewer hours in service and fewer start-and-stop cycles than a unit installed in a warmer and more humid climate. That difference, compounded over a decade or more, translates into meaningfully different replacement timelines by region. Shipley Energy Mapped against the CDD data: Shipley Energy A household in the South running nearly 1,930 cooling degree days per year is putting roughly three times the cooling workload on its compressor as a household in the Northeast at 632 CDD. That gap has widened by 175 degree days over the past two decades in the South alone. For homeowners in the highest-CDD states like Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the practical result is that AC units that might have lasted 18 years in the early 2000s are now running harder every summer and wearing out faster.The replacement cost context makes this more than an inconvenience. A new central air conditioner installation averages $5,750 for a standard 3-ton unit, with the full range running $3,300 to $7,800 depending on efficiency rating, installation complexity, and region, according to 2025 industry pricing data. Higher-efficiency units with SEER ratings of 16 or above cost more upfront but consume less electricity per cooling degree day, which increasingly matters as CDD totals continue to climb.If the current CDD trend holds, homeowners in the South may face an additional full AC replacement cycle over a 30-year period compared to conditions in the early 2000s, meaning homeowners should budget for an extra $5,000 to $8,000 in cooling system costs on top of the higher annual electricity bills.What can homeowners do about rising cooling and HVAC costs? Shipley Energy Reduce the cooling loadSeal and insulate. Air sealing and attic insulation reduce the total cooling load your AC has to handle. A smaller load means fewer runtime hours, lower electricity consumption, and less compressor wear, regardless of how many cooling degree days accumulate outside.Use a programmable or smart thermostat. Avoid overcooling when the house is empty. In a high-CDD state, every degree of thermostat adjustment affects hundreds of hours of annual compressor runtime.Upgrade equipment strategicallySize the unit for current conditions, not historical ones. Rising cooling degree day totals mean the system a home needed in 2005 may be undersized today. An undersized unit runs constantly without reaching the set temperature, accelerating wear and increasing electricity consumption.Invest in higher SEER ratings. A SEER 16+ unit costs more upfront but uses significantly less electricity per cooling degree day. As annual CDD totals continue to rise, the difference in operating cost between a SEER 14 and a SEER 18 unit compounds each year.Consider a heat pump. Heat pumps handle both cooling and heating in a single system. In regions where CDDs are rising and heating degree days are falling simultaneously, particularly in the Northeast and South Atlantic regions, a heat pump addresses both trends.Manage your electricity costsUnderstand your rate structure. If your utility offers time-of-use pricing, shifting AC-heavy hours to off-peak windows can reduce per-kWh costs during the times when cooling demand is highest.Plan for a shorter replacement cycle. Homeowners in high-CDD states should budget for an AC replacement every 12 to 15 years rather than assuming the full 20-year lifespan. A dedicated replacement fund avoids the financial shock of an emergency installation during a heat wave.This story was produced by Shipley Energy and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	UTHS student makes school history with dual graduation United Township High School senior Tyler Horvath made school history this spring as the first known student in United Township High School history to simultaneously earn both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree while still in high school, according to a news release. Tyler graduated from Black Hawk College, earning his associate’s degree [...]
	After prison, artist finds new purpose through massive bridge mural A collection of murals is growing in Moline, including a massive tribute to the I-74 Bridge created by an artist rebuilding his life after prison.
	The state of solar: Despite partisan rhetoric, the industry is still booming The state of solar: Despite partisan rhetoric, the industry is still boomingThe future looked dire for renewable energy in the United States last spring. Republicans in Congress started gutting the Inflation Reduction Act, forcing its generous tax credits for wind and solar into an early retirement. The Interior Department then rolled out a series of byzantine regulations aimed at restricting clean energy on federal land. Some feared those regulations would curb wind and solar development on private land, too.Although these restrictions do seem to have hindered the wind industry, there are some signs that its fortunes are changing. But a year later, solar continues to boom. MAGA influencers are promoting it, there’s hope for legislation that would speed up approvals for new projects, and the industry has continued to expand over the last year as energy requirements from data centers demand fast, cheap power. The Trump administration has even signed off on some big solar projects: In February, the administration announced that it would allow several solar projects that had been blocked by the new Interior regulations to move forward.“I feel like there has been so much written that’s like, ‘The Trump administration is delaying this stuff. It’s holding it all up in red tape. Nothing’s getting built,’” said Hannah Hess, director of the Rhodium Group’s Clean Investment Monitor team, told Grist. “When we look at the data, that’s not true.” Combined, solar and battery storage (which banks excess energy for use when the sun’s not shining) accounted for 79% of power generation brought online in 2025 and are expected to continue to grow by 49% before the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits expire at the end of 2027.Support for solar among rank-and-file conservatives has fallen in recent years, caught up in partisan culture wars, but it could gain more traction in the party if it’s paired with affordability concerns. Some 69% of Republicans say they are supportive of solar, provided it lowers electricity costs, according to a recent poll from the research organizations GoodPower and NORC at the University of Chicago. The Solar Energy Industries Association, the industry’s primary lobbying group, has emphasized that its industry aligns with President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda and lowers energy costs for families and businesses. “Conservative voters are drawing a clear distinction between rhetoric and practical solutions that lower costs,” read a blog post from the association in February.Even prominent conservative figures seem to be softening toward solar. Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official and the wife of Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for policy, has gone so far as to herald solar as the “energy of the future.” In February, she posted to X: “Giant fusion reactor up there in the sky — we must rapidly expand solar to compete with China.” That same month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who had been a vocal critic of solar power, started saying it could be beneficial. “Is there a commercial role for solar power that can add to the grid affordable, reliable energy?” he said. “Certainly there is.”Data center developers have begun looking to solar as a complement to oil and gas, rather than a competitor. The incoming demand “feels crazy,” said Jim DesJardins, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico. “It’s scary, almost. Five years ago, we were talking about an increase in load from EVs and building electrification — we’re not talking about that anymore. It’s all data centers and how are you going to power them.” This year marked the first time, said DesJardins, that the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association reached out to sponsor the renewable energy association’s annual conference.Solar is, by far, the cheapest and fastest way to bring energy online, especially as the shortage of gas turbines — internal combustion engines that convert fuel into a steady, reliable energy — in the U.S. creates yearslong delays to build new power plants that run on natural gas. The technology is crucial for data centers that need to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “The backlog alone [for turbines] is five to nine years,” said Mike Hall, CEO of Anza Renewables, an energy intelligence and procurement platform based in California. “Then you’ve got to permit it. Then you’ve got to be near a gas pipeline for fuel, and then you’ve got the climate and the carbon issues.” A recent study from the analytics company Sightline Climate found that half of data center deals were expected to be delayed due to power constraints and local opposition, and developers are beginning to realize that waiting in line for a gas turbine could spell doom for their operation.There are still some obstacles ahead for solar power, however. “We’ve definitely seen examples from our developer customers where the Department of Interior rules are creating challenges for their projects on federal land, but we haven’t seen that it’s really slowed down development on private land,” said Hall. “The bottlenecks are typically still local permitting and interconnection with utilities — those are still major challenges, and we haven’t seen a lot of improvement in either area yet.”Shortly before Congress adjourned for its winter recess in December, the House passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, also known as the SPEED ACT, a bipartisan bill that would streamline the permitting process for energy, infrastructure, and transportation projects by overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Signed by President Nixon in 1970, NEPA requires federal agencies to consider how proposed infrastructure projects or drilling permits would affect the environment before approving them. Permitting reform is the rare, bipartisan issue that has sparked real enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle.After a scuffle over the Trump administration’s decisions to shut down offshore wind projects, which judges ruled invalid, Democratic senators Martin Heinrich and Sheldon Whitehouse are coming back to the negotiating table to hammer out a deal. “Right now, we’re leaving electrons on the table thanks to Trump’s deliberate attacks on clean energy — forcing Americans to pay higher electricity bills,” Heinrich’s office told Grist. “To lower costs, this administration needs to stop stalling and slow walking clean energy projects and take the politics out of permitting reform.”The war in Iran, which has caused oil prices to skyrocket, may serve to boost interest in solar power even more — especially as a way to combat rising electricity costs and promote energy independence. “Energy poverty has always been a problem in the U.S., and it’s gotten significantly worse in recent years,” said Brad Townsend, vice president of policy and outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, an environmental policy nonprofit. He pointed to a study from the nonprofit RMI, formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute, that found 1 in 3 households were struggling to pay their utility bills. “I think folks in the administration are increasingly becoming aware of the fact that we can’t turn away renewable energy.”In terms of the geopolitical reasons to support solar, “no one has fought a war over the sun,” DesJardins told Grist. “Not yet, anyways.”This story was produced by Grist and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Eugene Field Elementary School closed Tuesday due to water main break The district said all classes and school-related activities are canceled due to the break. Families and staff have been notified.
	How Ebola kills -- and what it takes to stop it It's a virus that can strike with unrelenting force. The kind of care need to knock it out is often not fully available in a lower resource country like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
	Estes Construction launches new community grant funding process New company giving pillars to guide Estes Construction’s regional investments in both grant funding and sponsorship fulfillments.
	Family dog dies, no injuries to people reported in Davenport fire Monday Firefighters responded to the fire in the 3300 block of Covington Drive at about 6:52 p.m. Monday.
	Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, LeClaire seek ideas about public transportation The cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, and LeClaire invite residents to participate in a survey to share experiences and ideas to improve public transportation in Scott County, according to a news release. The regional transit study is made possible by an Iowa Department of Transportation grant awarded to the four partner communities. The study aims [...]
	Mitsubishi HC Capital America and Vibrant Credit Union expand retail financing for inventory finance dealers Mitsubishi HC Capital America has new relationship with Vibrant Credit Union to provide non-commercial, consumer retail financing for customers purchasing compact agriculture and construction equipment.
	Retirements, hirings and personnel news from Rock Island-Milan School District from May 26 The following personnel items are from the May 26 agenda of the Rock Island-Milan School District.
	Live updates: Quad-Cities voters head to the polls for Election Day FREE ACCESS: Election Day is here! Quad-City Times reporters will be at polling places and candidate watch parties, bringing you live updates as Iowa's 2026 primary unfolds.
	Changes coming late week -- hotter and wetter Warm and dry weather is in the forecast today and tomorrow. It turns breezy and hot Thursday. Dry conditions and a worsening drought are expected until showers and storms late week. Here's your full 7-day forecast.
	¿Cree que el aire de su casa es limpio? Estos tres problemas veraniegos demuestran lo contrario (BPT) - Si bien puede estar deseando disfrutar de los días soleados y cálidos del verano, hay otro aspecto de la temporada que no es tan agradable: la mala calidad del aire interior (Indoor Air Quality, IAQ). Dependiendo de la zona del país donde viva, podría enfrentarse a varios problemas ocultos que afectan la calidad del aire que respira en su hogar.Los expertos en confort para el hogar de Lennox, líder en soluciones de climatización confiables y eficientes, le ofrecen consejos sobre qué debe tener en cuenta respecto a la calidad del aire de su hogar y pasos sencillos para tranquilizarse.¿Sin aire fresco? Para maximizar la eficiencia del aire acondicionado, los propietarios suelen mantener sus casas bien cerradas, sin abrir las ventanas en todo el verano. Esta falta de ventilación hace que los compuestos orgánicos volátiles (COV) se acumulen en el hogar. Los COV son gases que emiten diversos productos domésticos e incluyen una serie de sustancias químicas, algunas de las cuales pueden tener efectos negativos para la salud, como irritación de ojos, nariz y garganta, mareos, dolores de cabeza y fatiga, entre otros. Los COV se concentran diez veces más en interiores, lo que los convierte en un factor clave en la calidad del aire de su hogar.La solución para evitar preocupaciones. Para reducir los posibles efectos negativos de los COV, puede abrir las ventanas por la noche o a primera hora de la mañana para mejorar la ventilación sin que entre el calor más intenso del día.¿Cómo puede saber si su casa tiene un nivel elevado de COV? Además de experimentar síntomas en casa como los mencionados anteriormente, esté atento a olores persistentes provenientes de elementos como pintura nueva, muebles o alfombras. Para obtener una visión más clara de la composición del aire interior, los propietarios pueden contactar a un distribuidor local de Lennox para realizar una prueba de calidad del aire interior que ayude a identificar posibles problemas.Para mejorar la ventilación general de su hogar, considere un ventilador para toda la casa. Estas unidades son la solución ideal para disfrutar del aire fresco que tanto desea en su hogar.Las soluciones de ventilación bien pensadas, como abrir las ventanas, pueden ayudar a que entre aire fresco de manera eficiente. Getty Images¿Hay humedad? Muchas regiones del país son especialmente húmedas durante los meses de verano, lo que puede suponer un problema para las personas con enfermedades respiratorias como el asma o la EPOC, un sistema inmunitario debilitado o determinadas alergias. Dado que la humedad del verano puede favorecer la aparición de moho en los hogares, esto puede provocar síntomas como congestión nasal, tos o irritación ocular, entre otros.La solución para evitar preocupaciones. Para mejorar los niveles de humedad en su hogar, utilice extractores de aire en baños y cocinas para reducir la humedad ambiental. También conviene reparar fugas o filtraciones, evitar que la humedad entre desde el suelo cubriendo la tierra con plástico en los espacios de acceso y mejorar el paisajismo para que el terreno tenga una pendiente que se aleje de la casa.¿Cómo puede saber si hay demasiada humedad en su casa? Busque condensación en las ventanas o madera deformada. También puede notar olor a humedad, crecimiento de moho o componentes estructurales debilitados.Si su hogar se beneficiaría de un mayor control de la humedad, quizás le interese invertir en un sistema deshumidificador confiable. Los niveles de humedad equilibrados que proporciona un sistema como este pueden contribuir a que su hogar sea un lugar más saludable y tranquilo durante todo el año, además de ahorrar energía.La condensación en las ventanas puede indicar que hay humedad en su casa. Getty Images¿Hay polen? Que la primavera llegue a su fin no significa que sus alergias desaparezcan. Los estornudos, la tos y la picazón en los ojos se deben al polen del exterior que invade su hogar. Si bien el polen de los árboles aumenta en primavera, el polen de las gramíneas alcanza su punto máximo en verano. Puede ser difícil evitar los alérgenos en verano, incluso estando en casa.La solución para evitar preocupaciones. Para evitar que el polen ingrese a su casa, deje los zapatos en la puerta, dúchese y cámbiese de ropa inmediatamente al regresar a casa, especialmente si acaba de disfrutar del aire libre. Mantenga las ventanas cerradas cuando el nivel de polen sea alto.Si usted o algún miembro de su familia sufre de alergias frecuentes, elija un filtro HEPA de alta eficiencia o un filtro MERVE 13+ para el sistema de climatización, o cambie a un sistema de purificación para toda la vivienda, una forma de limpiar el aire del interior de su hogar sin preocupaciones. Los sistemas de purificación y filtración de aire Healthy Climate® de Lennox están diseñados para funcionar junto con su sistema central de calefacción y refrigeración, con el fin de mejorar la calidad del aire en toda la vivienda, no solo en habitaciones concretas.Los miembros de la familia que padecen alergias pueden beneficiarse del uso de un filtro HEPA o MERVE 12+. Getty Images¿No sabe de si la calidad del aire interior de su hogar debería ser mejor? ¡No se preocupe! Puede realizar este cuestionario en línea para determinar la calidad del aire en su hogar. O bien, comuníquese con su distribuidor local de Lennox para realizar una evaluación de la calidad del aire y analizar los niveles de COV, humedad, dióxido de carbono, monóxido de carbono y otros contaminantes en su hogar. Obtenga más información sobre los productos para la calidad del aire interior que Lennox ofrece en Lennox.com.Las soluciones de Lennox para la calidad del aire interior están diseñadas para ofrecer un rendimiento confiable, una durabilidad excepcional y un funcionamiento energéticamente eficiente, lo que ayuda a crear un aire más limpio y un confort que perdura en el tiempo. Cortesía de LennoxPie de foto de la imagen principal: Con la llegada de los días más cálidos, la mala calidad del aire interior puede afectar su hogar. Getty Images
	Davenport schools, library, launch summer Books on the Blacktop Program The Davenport Community School District (DCSD) has announced a partnership with the Davenport Public Library to launch the Books on the Blacktop Program this summer, a news release says. Designed to bring literacy resources directly to local neighborhoods, DPL Outreach Wheeled Library (OWL) will visit elementary schools across the district, offering students and families easy access [...]
	Mark Twain This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Mark Twain held a very peculiar idea about literature. He thought that books ought to tell the truth. It’s a lesson he…
	10 new books in June will transport you With all that's required to reach "dream destinations" these days, another option is to walk to your local public library instead — and pick up one of these new books out in June set across time and place.
	EU strikes migration deal for more deportations and detention centers abroad The European Union has moved forward with an overhaul of its migration policy, aiming to ramp up deportations and build detention centers abroad. Critics compared the regulation to the immigration strategy of the Trump administration.
	Stripping U.S. citizenship en masse is harder than Trump vowed President Trump's vow to revoke citizenship worries immigrant advocates, legal scholars and naturalized Americans — but so far it's proving harder to do than the rhetoric suggests.
	Tuesday is a big primary day. Here are key races to watch Six states — California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico — hold elections on Tuesday. Here are key races to follow.
	Why is Michigan loosening its rules for parents wanting to exempt kids from vaccines? A decade ago, Michigan had high rates of parents not vaccinating their children, so it required them to attend an in-person education class to get an exemption. It worked — until things got ugly.
	Ultra-Orthodox protesters block roads and trains across Israel over military draft Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox demonstrated across Israel on Monday, blocking roads and trains and setting cars on fire to protest mandatory enlistment in Israel's military.
	Cheese bread sold at Costco, Walmart recalled over salmonella concerns A Michigan-based company is recalling some of its popular frozen cheese breads over potential contamination with salmonella.
	What to know about US military strikes on alleged drug boats The U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats have killed over 200 people. The attacks began in September and aim to stem drug flow, but critics question their legality and effectiveness.
	Russian attack on Ukraine kills at least 11 and traps others in damaged buildings Russia attacked Ukraine overnight Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and trapping others, authorities said. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight of Kyiv's districts.
Monday, June 1st, 2026
	Elected officials, law enforcement react to Muscatine shooting Elected officials and law enforcement organizations are speaking out after six people were killed in Muscatine.
	A look into the Muscatine shooter’s criminal past The man who police say killed six people in Muscatine has an extensive criminal past
	Gov. Reynolds signs agriculture and water-quality bills into law Gov. Kim Reynolds signed several bills related to agriculture and the environment into law Monday, including measures related to water quality, ethanol and the Iowa Farm Act.
	A look into the Muscatine shooter’s criminal pas The man who police say killed six people in Muscatine has an extensive criminal past
	The number to remember for one key Iowa primary race Five candidates for one office could mean that no candidates earns enough votes to clinch the nomination.
	Galva citizens pressure city council to find way to pause carbon-capture project Galva residents packed half of the high school gym on Monday night. Not because of a basketball game, but to make their voices heard on a project they believe is too risky to have in their town. About 150 people attended the Galva City Council meeting Monday evening. It was moved to the Galva High [...]
	Knox County Courthouse Task Force holds first meeting The courthouse is nearly 140 years old and recently suffered a sewer collapse beneath the building.
	After prison, artist finds new purpose through bridge mural A collection of murals is growing in Moline, including a massive tribute to the I-74 Bridge created by an artist rebuilding his life after prison.
	7 dead, including shooter, following shootings in Muscatine Police believe 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland shot and killed six family members on Monday. When confronted by police, officers said McFarland took his own life.
	Cinemark theaters have record domestic box office for month of May Cinemark Holdings, Inc. , which has a multiplex in Davenport, has announced it delivered its highest-ever domestic box office performance for the month of May, according to a news release. These record-level results were fueled by broad moviegoer enthusiasm and the company’s strategic programming of a well-balanced slate that included blockbusters, breakout mid-tier content and strong [...]
	Este verano, deje que el juego marque el camino (BPT) - Con la llegada del verano y el cambio de rutinas, muchos padres se preguntan cómo mantener a sus hijos entretenidos, aprendiendo y desarrollándose mientras no hay clases. Entre el trabajo, los horarios ajustados y el intento de limitar el tiempo frente a las pantallas, es fácil sentir que debería hacer más.Sin embargo, una de las cosas más valiosas que puede ofrecerle a su hijo este verano no requiere más tiempo, dinero ni planificación.Requiere juegos.El Día Internacional del Juego, que se celebra el 11 de junio, es un recordatorio oportuno de que jugar no es solo una forma de pasar el tiempo; es una de las maneras más importantes en que los niños aprenden y crecen.El juego no es una pausa del aprendizaje: es aprendizajeExiste la idea equivocada de que el juego está separado del aprendizaje, como si fuera algo que los niños hacen después de terminar el "verdadero" trabajo. En realidad, ocurre exactamente lo contrario.Los niños pequeños aprenden mejor jugando.A través del juego, los niños desarrollan al mismo tiempo habilidades fundamentales: lenguaje, resolución de problemas, autocontrol, creatividad y comprensión socioemocional. La Academia Estadounidense de Pediatría incluso ha descrito el juego como una necesidad biológica esencial para el desarrollo saludable del cerebro y la creación de relaciones sólidas y afectuosas. Las investigaciones demuestran de manera constante que el juego favorece el bienestar emocional y la resiliencia, no solo en los niños, sino también en los adultos.Por qué el juego funciona"El juego acompaña a los niños exactamente en la etapa de desarrollo en la que se encuentran", afirma Rachel Robertson, directora académica de Bright Horizons. "Les permite explorar, experimentar, tomar decisiones y aprender mediante prueba y error. Cuando los niños dirigen su propio juego, están pensando, resolviendo problemas y desarrollándose activamente".Además, el juego se relaciona con algo igual de importante: la alegría.Como jugar es divertido, a veces puede parecer menos importante; sin embargo, la alegría impulsa el aprendizaje. Cuando los niños participan activamente y sienten curiosidad, tienen más motivación para explorar, hacer preguntas y perseverar frente a los desafíos. Es en esos momentos de risas e imaginación donde nacen la confianza y la creatividad. Pequeños momentos, gran impacto¿La buena noticia? Fomentar el aprendizaje de su hijo a través del juego no requiere dedicar horas de su día. No se trata de agregar más actividades, sino de reconocer las oportunidades que ya existen.Estas son algunas maneras sencillas de aprovechar al máximo los momentos cotidianos este verano:Convierta las rutinas en juegos. Cante canciones mientras ordenan, hagan carreras para ponerse los zapatos o cuenten los pasos mientras van hacia el coche.Siga la iniciativa de su hijo. Incluso 10 minutos de juego guiado por el niño, donde él decide qué hacer y cómo hacerlo, pueden tener un impacto enorme.Aproveche lo que ya tiene en casa. Cajas, cucharas, papel y materiales simples de arte ofrecen infinitas oportunidades para la creatividad.Destaque lo que observa. Comentarios sencillos como "Seguiste intentándolo hasta que funcionó" ayudan a desarrollar la confianza y la perseverancia.Haga que los tiempos de espera sean divertidos. Ya sea en el coche, en una fila o en el supermercado, jueguen, inventen historias o busquen patrones juntos.Acepte el desorden y las tonterías. La creatividad y la exploración pueden ser desordenadas, y eso también forma parte del proceso. Ordenar juntos es otra oportunidad de aprendizaje.Ya va por buen caminoEl verano no necesita estar lleno de actividades estructuradas para ser significativo. Algunos de los aprendizajes más importantes ocurren en los momentos más simples: cuando usted está presente, participa y disfruta junto a sus hijos.
	This summer, let play lead the way (BPT) - As summer begins and routines shift, many parents find themselves wondering how to keep their children engaged, learning and thriving while school is out. Between managing work, juggling schedules and limiting screen time, it's easy to feel like you should be doing more.One of the most powerful things you can offer your child this summer doesn't require more time, money or planning.It requires play.International Day of Play on June 11 is a timely reminder that play isn't just a way to pass the time; it's one of the most important ways children learn and grow.Play isn't a break from learning — It is learningIt's a common misconception that play is separate from learning — something children do after the "real" work is finished. In reality, the opposite is true.Play is how young children learn best.Through play, children are building critical skills all at once: language, problem-solving, self-control, creativity and social-emotional understanding. The American Academy of Pediatrics has even described play as a biological imperative, essential to healthy brain development and strong, nurturing relationships. Research consistently shows that play supports emotional well-being and resilience — not just for children, but for adults too.Why play works"Play meets children exactly where they are developmentally," says Rachel Robertson, Chief Academic Officer at Bright Horizons. "It allows them to explore, experiment, make choices and learn through trial and error. When children are in charge of their play, they are actively thinking, solving and growing."It also taps into something equally important: joy.Because play is fun, it can sometimes feel less important — but joy actually fuels learning. When children are engaged and curious, they're more motivated to explore, ask questions and persist through challenges. Those moments of laughter and imagination are where confidence and creativity take root. Small moments, big impactThe good news? Supporting your child's learning through play doesn't require carving out hours of your day. It's less about adding more — and more about noticing what's already there.Here are simple ways to make the most of everyday moments this summer:Turn routines into play. Sing songs while cleaning up, race to put on shoes, or count steps on your way to the car.Follow your child's lead. Even 10 minutes of child-directed play — where they decide what to do and how to do it — can be incredibly powerful.Use what you already have. Boxes, spoons, paper and simple art materials offer endless opportunities for creativity.Name what you notice. Simple observations like "You kept trying until it worked" build confidence and persistence.Make waiting time playful. Whether you're in the car, in line or at the grocery store, play games, tell stories or look for patterns together.Embrace the mess and the silliness. Creativity and exploration can be messy — and that's part of the process. Cleaning up together is its own learning opportunity.You're already on the right trackSummer doesn't have to be filled with structured activities to be meaningful. Some of the most impactful learning happens in the simplest moments — when you're present, engaged and having fun together.
	What was missing in some key Iowa primary races Several perceived front runners ended the primary campaigns in Iowa without debating their opponents.
	Neighbors recount what they witnessed as Muscatine shootings unfolded Residents watched first responders flood their street Monday afternoon. Here's what neighbors saw and heard as police investigated.
	When the most aggressive-seeming greenery has a softer side S’áxt’, also known as devil’s club, is seen in Juneau in September 2020. (Photo by Jasz Garrett)There were lots of cottonwoods. Some birch and spruce. I didn’t yet know them as individuals, the shade and companionship they’d give, but they were friendly. And welcoming, in their familiarity. Like cousins, green with life. Especially the aspens, who felt the most charming and easy in a teasing way, with their flapping leaves that said, “Hello.” To me, the newcomer in town. Last summer, walking down a small slope on the dirt path near my house felt like stepping through a portal. To life and breath and soil. Away from busy cars. Powerlines. Sidewalks. The mail-order-kit houses erected in the 1950s during the oil boom, all lined up, one after another. Away from neighbors I felt shy around and mostly didn’t know yet. In the neighborhood we’d chosen because it was known to be uncharacteristically neighborly. Where there is, however, a standing, though unenforceable, restrictive covenant, which says: “The property hereby conveyed shall not be sold or alienated in any manner whatsoever to other than Americans of the white race.” So, as you can imagine, entering that portal meant entering the familiar world of the good nature of trees, who always welcome. And other plants that didn’t abide by often cruel, made-up human rules. Daily walks, wherever I am, have always been important for me. My therapist friend tells me that walking is a form of somatic therapy. Body healing that calms the nervous system. Movement that allows us to process emotions and trauma. I know I need these walks, and I know I enjoy them more when I’m surrounded by the quiet of trees and growing plants that are ever-changing throughout the summer. Quotation Other plants didn’t abide by often cruel, made-up human rules. So I was surprised when I looked down at the forest floor of my new walking route on the trail system of Alaska’s largest city and felt like a stranger. I knew the ferns. But I didn’t yet know the difference between pushki, or cow parsnip, and devil’s club, two showy plants with leaves as big as Thanksgiving platters. I hadn’t yet realized that pushki has a soft, hollow green stem while devil’s club has a strong, dark brown, spine-covered branch-like stem. Other patterns of new-to-me plants pushed out from the soil, and I wanted to know them, too. If I knew who they were, maybe I could gather the courage to get to know some new people, too. My introduction to having a relationship with plants wasn’t on a trail but in Gram’s kitchen, as a kid. If I had a cough or sore throat, Gram gave me a mug one-quarter full of a brown cold tea. Though we grandkids didn’t like the astringent, bitter medicine taste of sargiq, or wormwood, we drank what Gram gave us, because Gram knew best. Now I pick the tall stalks every fall to dry upside-down in my kitchen, then store them in jars to make tea for my family whenever we catch a cold or have a sore throat. And today, whether I’m walking on the Anchorage trails or back home on the river beach in Unalakleet, I am drawn to the plants, knowing that many are helpers, some are food, and a few, like rich purple monkshood, are straight-up deadly. On my new neighborhood trail, in a place where I felt like a foreigner, I knew I needed to be introduced. Like at a dinner party. Or a backyard barbeque get-together. I needed a casual, safe situation where introductions were expected. SO, NATURALLY, I met devil’s club, or S’áxt’, as it’s known in Tlingit, at the hospital clinic. The same place where I get penicillin shots for strep throat, estradiol patches and progesterone pills for perimenopause, and colonoscopies. The Alaska Native Medical Center has a Traditional Healing Clinic, where Indigenous healers provide counseling, physical services, a healing garden, talking circles and cultural classes. For two months, I saw a healer every week to relieve pain in my shoulder and hip. She offered a class on making a healing salve out of devil’s club. I immediately signed up and waited, impatiently, for my introduction to a plant I knew was important to local and Southeast Alaska Native peoples. Seven or eight of us met in what felt like a lab in early summer. White 5-gallon buckets sat on the table filled with stalks of brown, thick, spiny, crooked stems. Our instructor told us to pick the stalks in early summer and to wear leather gloves to protect our skin from the plant’s sharp spines, which contain a sap that can cause blisters and pain. In fact, most people who come across S’áxt’ avoid it at all costs because any spines that become embedded in one’s flesh can cause a severe infection. Devil’s club’s scientific name is Oplopanax horridus, or “horrid, armed ginseng.” A proper introduction to this plant was necessary. Our instructor, Ruby, is Tlingit and was introduced to S’áxt’ by her grandmother, who made tea from the cambium in her kitchen. Ruby taught us to scrape the spines and outer skin off the stems with a spoon. We then peeled the next layer, the smooth cambium, off the stalk in white tendrils. This was the medicine. Like sargiq, which I knew, S’áxt’ could be made into tea for colds and sore throats or a healing salve for aches and pains and a long list of ailments. The plant teaches me that even the most feared and aggressive-seeming life can be soft and have something to share if you take the time to get to know it. Quotation New-to-me plants pushed out from the soil, and I wanted to know them. I left the clinic with cambium ready to soak in a carrier oil like grapeseed or olive. In the fall I mixed the oil with Vitamin E oil and beeswax from some Anchorage friends who keep backyard bees. I gifted a tidy jar of the salve to them and shared others with more of my friends and family. I kept a small tin case of it for any rashes, cuts or achy joints at my house. Later in the summer, my husband, young son and I went biking along the Anchorage trails. Among the ferns, in the golden sunlight that filtered through the birch and cottonwood branches, I saw some large showy leaves on a plant taller than me. Cone-shaped clusters of small red berries dotted the cacophony of plants, showing off their glory at the tail-end of the season. I smiled. And said, “Hello,” to S’áxt’. Happy to know them. Feeling like I was no longer a total stranger in a new place. I was getting to know my neighbors. We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy. This article appeared in the June 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Plants make good neighbors.” This article first appeared on High Country News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-6/in-anchorage-a-writer-gets-to-know-devils-club-and-her-other-new-botanical-neighbors/", urlref: window.location.href }); } } Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
	1 killed in dump truck crash A dump truck appeared to be in the ditch on its side.
	Meet our new Storm Track 8 meteorologist, Matthew Clark! Matthew joins our team all the way from Tampa, Florida. He looks forward to the change of pace with the Midwest's weather.
	Police: 6 family members killed in Muscatine before suspected gunman shot himself Police say all 6 victims are believed to related to suspected gunman
	Iowa Democratic Senate primary: Wahls, Turek make final push before election Iowa’s primary election is Tuesday, and candidates across the state are making their final push to voters.
	Iowa primary election guide: What voters need to know With early voting numbers lagging behind 2022, Iowa county auditors are preparing for Tuesday's primary. Here's what you need to know to vote.
	Illinois passes budget, still no deal to keep the Bears in the state Illinois state lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session after almost three straight days of debate, but there's still no deal to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois. Our Quad Cities News Illinois Capitol Bureau chief Alex Whitney looks at why that will be in limbo going into the summer.
	Dementia tracking bracelets helping bring loved ones home A Geneseo program designed to keep people with dementia safe is giving families peace of mind and helping police find missing loved ones faster.
	7 dead, including accused shooter, following series of shootings in Muscatine Police believe 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland shot and killed six family members on Monday. When confronted by police, officers said McFarland took his own life.
	Idaho has the fifth-highest rate of uninsured young kids, report finds A report by the Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families found that nearly 8% of Idaho children under age 6 are uninsured, according to the latest data from 2024. (Getty Images)The rate of Idaho babies, toddlers and preschoolers who don’t have health insurance rose 36% in recent years, leaving the state with the fifth-highest rate of uninsured young children, according to a new report. The report comes years after Idaho state health officials removed tens of thousands of children from Medicaid shortly after the COVID pandemic ended, a public assistance program that covers more than a third of Idaho kids in rural areas. And as Idaho Medicaid braces for a big slate of changes — like pay cuts for doctors and disability care providers — one local health policy advocate says access to health care will get even harder for kids. “All it takes is one broken arm on the school playground to financially devastate a family already struggling to make ends meet,” Idaho Voices for Children Policy Associate Ivy Walker said in a statement. “This should be a wake-up call for Idaho policymakers because the unfortunate truth is that children’s access to health care is about to get much worse.” The report, released Monday by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, found that nearly 8% of Idaho children under age 6 are uninsured, according to the latest data from 2024. That meant Idaho had the fifth-highest young children’s uninsured rate. Researchers with the center say they focused on young children’s health insurance coverage rates in the latest reports because access to health care is important during their formative years. “Their coverage is really important during a critical time of their development. When they don’t have access to the care that they need in those early years, they’re at higher risk of falling behind developmentally,” said Elisabeth Burak, a senior fellow at the center. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Nearly 8% of Idaho young kids don’t have health insurance Idaho’s rise in uninsured rates for children means that 10,700 young Idaho kids were uninsured in 2024, a number that grew by 2,800 kids between 2022 and 2024. In 2022, 5.8% of young Idaho kids were uninsured, compared to 7.9% in 2024, the report found. Accounting for race and ethnicity, American Indian and Alaskan Native young children had the highest uninsured rates, at 10.5% in 2024, along with Hispanic and Latino young kids, who had a 7.2% uninsured rate in 2024, according to the report. Three large states — Texas, Florida and Georgia — accounted for more than half of the national increase of 220,000 more young children being uninsured, which was a 23% increase between 2022 and 2024, the report found. Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families Executive Director Joan Alker said she expects to get new data about health insurance coverage rates for 2025 this fall. In a separate report released last fall, Georgetown’s center found that the rate of Idaho children without health insurance rose the second fastest in the country. Why did Idaho’s rate of uninsured young kids rise so much? The data analyzed in the report covers the years in which Idaho state health officials were reviewing the eligibility of all Idahoans on Medicaid. Pandemic-era protections that barred states from removing people from Medicaid had ended, and Idaho sought to complete the eligibility reviews fast. Most Idahoans who lost Medicaid through the process, commonly called unwinding, were removed for not replying to the state’s renewal paperwork. Almost three-quarters of the nearly 50,000 kids who lost Medicaid were removed from the health insurance public assistance program for non-responses, Idaho Voices for Children said last year. Walker, a policy associate for the nonprofit, said the latest report’s results confirm what she and other experts feared. A spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the state agency that runs Medicaid, pointed to several checks in Idaho’s handling of unwinding, saying the state “followed all requirements.” That includes starting first with automatic renewals before sending out paperwork, finding updated addresses using the Postal Service, and sending three notices. “Idaho was one of the first in the nation to begin and finish the required Medicaid Unwinding process so numbers for some states show less closures because they started and finished the process after we did,” agency spokesperson AJ McWhorter said in a statement. In the past, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare officials defended the agency’s handling of Medicaid unwinding, saying they rushed to meet a legislative request to quickly finish the process and that state officials “went above and beyond” to reach out to people on Medicaid, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Walker said there are several other issues at play in the recent rise in young Idaho children being uninsured, like the state ending the practice of using other government data to automatically review Medicaid enrollee’s eligibility to stay on the program and what she described as confusing renewal paperwork notifications during the unwinding process. “It’s just, I think, a lot of confusion in a very complex system,” she said in an interview on Monday. “The Department of Health and Welfare really needs to improve their outreach for enrollment, especially around children.” Walker said the crunch to access care is likely going to worsen under recent Medicaid provider pay cuts of 4% — recently extended by the Legislature. “The budget and these lower payment rates have also unfortunately affected how providers are going to move forward, under their own business models,” she said. “Meaning they may have to limit the number of Medicaid patients they see, or just be unable to continue offering their services altogether.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Idaho Capital Sun
	Police: Muscatine man fatally shot six family members and himself A domestic dispute is believed to have triggered the shootings, in which seven, including the suspect, were killed.
	NJ bill would help Medicaid recipients meet new federal work requirements A bill backed by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin seeks to make it easier for people who receive food stamps or Medicaid benefits to satisfy the new work rules through volunteer jobs. (Photo by Mary Iuvone/New Jersey Monitor)With more than half a million New Jerseyans soon set to face new Medicaid work rules, lawmakers in New Jersey advanced a Democratic measure Monday that would make it easier to meet those requirements through volunteering. Changes by the Trump administration to reduce federal spending on Medicaid will force some recipients to document that they spend at least 20 hours a week working, in school, or volunteering if they want to continue to receive public health insurance benefits after January 2027. A bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) calls for state agencies to connect Medicaid members with volunteer opportunities and make it easier for them to document the time they gave to these causes. The Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee passed the bill Monday, with four Democrats voting yes and two Republicans abstaining over concerns that the language suggested the Trump administration’s requirements were unreasonable. “If volunteer hours count toward the new eligibility requirement, then we ought to be able to make it easier for people to comply,” Coughlin told committee members. The bill doesn’t change the benefits or who is eligible, Coughlin said, but it would reduce the barriers imposed by the new law. “It simply makes it a little bit easier for the people who have it a little bit harder,” he said. Medicaid covers nearly 2 million New Jerseyans, some 550,000 who will be subject to work rules next year. These members will also need to prove they are financially eligible twice a year instead of just once. Experts warn that the federal changes could force as many as 350,000 out of the program. Coughlin’s proposal would also apply to New Jerseyans who receive food stamps, federal aid that helps feed some 850,000 people statewide. Work rules implemented this year are expected to impact tens of thousands of food stamp recipients, state officials have warned. These changes are already reducing the number of people who can collect benefits, Coughlin said. “People are now running into barriers that have nothing to do with whether they qualify but have everything to do with whether they can navigate the system,” he said. Coughlin’s legislation calls for $120,000 to support various state volunteer programs and requires them to work together to create a comprehensive database of opportunities with links to multiple state websites. It also calls for records documenting people’s volunteer jobs to be easily available to Medicaid and food stamp administrators. Gov. Mikie Sherrill included $10 million in her state budget proposal for the coming year to shore up New Jersey’s Medicaid enrollment system in advance of the work-rule requirements. The spending plan, which lawmakers must adopt by July 1, also includes $71 million to offset federal funding cuts for administering the food stamp program. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Courtesy of New Jersey Monitor
	1 person is dead after a crash in Rock Island County The sheriff's office says a car was hit by a truck. The driver of the car, 38-year-old Brenton Collins died at the scene.
	I Am Curious (About the Yellow): “Backrooms,” “Pressure,” and “The Breadwinner” I'm not sure what it says about the future of horror movies – if it says anything at all – that the year's strongest, scariest creep-out to date is directed by someone not quite old enough to drink.
	Scott County residents invited to take public transit survey Residents in Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge and LeClaire are invited to take a survey to share experiences and ideas for public transit.
	The Third Place QC seeks larger home as demand for services exceeds expectations The organization anticipated serving about 40 people a day when it opened in October 2025. Since then, The Third Place has served around 120 people daily.
	Frequent records requester sues Davenport for redacting attorney billing Ezra Sidran's lawsuit alleges Davenport improperly redacted certain information from billing statements for outside legal counsel that he requested under open records laws.
	Arizona sues MultiPlan, major insurers, alleging a ‘cartel’ that underpaid doctors and hospitals Attorney General Kris Mayes speaks to reporters on June 1, 2026, announcing a lawsuit accusing MultiPlan and health insurers of colluding on prices in violation of Arizona law. (Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a lawsuit Monday against MultiPlan, which last year renamed itself Claritev, alleging the company conspired with insurers for years to under pay doctors and hospitals, oftentimes leaving patients footing the bill for out-of-network care. “This wasn’t an accident,” Mayes told reporters Monday. “It was a coordinated deliberate scheme.” SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Mayes’ office is accusing Multiplan, along with insurers Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Elevance, Molina, Centene and Health Care Service Corporation, of working together to determine lower rates for out-of-network care. The sprawling complaint alleges that MultiPlan helped these companies set the prices for out-of-network services by using a proprietary algorithm that fixed prices for each service regardless of the geographic area or other factors. The company has already been under the microscope after a 2024 investigation by the New York Times brought many of the same allegations to light. The company is also facing a federal lawsuit making similar allegations in which the U.S. Department of Justice has sided with those seeking relief from MultiPlan. “This case, like the RealPage case, is an example of old fashioned price fixing using new technology which is against the law all the same,” Mayes said, referring to a lawsuit she filed in 2024 involving collusion among apartment complex owners. The MultiPlan lawsuit alleges that insurers contributed to the “illegal repricing scheme by supplying the claims, and billing data that informs MultiPlan’s algorithms, which would be against each client-payor’s competitive economic interests but for the market control on out-of-network services compensation rates affected by the conspiracy.” Mayes’ office is seeking a permanent injunction from MultiPlan being allowed to operate in this way; restitution for those harmed; civil penalties; and for those named in the suit to surrender any profits made under the alleged “illegal scheme.” State prosecutors claim that MultiPlan and its co-conspirators violated Arizona’s anti-trust act consumer fraud act. “The more they squeezed our doctors and hospitals, the more profits they made,” Mayes said. Claritev, which used to operate under the name MultiPlan, said the lawsuit is “without merit” and countered that it follows state and federal laws. “Because this is active litigation, we will defend ourselves through the legal process and will not comment further on the specifics of the complaint at this time,” the company said in a statement. “We remain focused on working with clients and partners across the healthcare ecosystem to make healthcare more transparent, accessible, and affordable for consumers.” The lawsuit alleges that MultiPlan and the health insurers wielded an outsized influence, effectively eliminating any competition and consolidating market power — allowing them to set prices and “effectively forming a buyer’s ‘cartel.’” This “cartel” primarily impacted PPO plans, specifically those through employers which are offered as having increased flexibility. The availability of a large network of insurers and their data was something that MultiPlan used to “further lower out-of-network prices and to enlist new clients into the cartel,” the lawsuit alleges. “MultiPlan retains all competitor data in a massive database—by February 2026, MultiPlan touted that it had ‘approximately 15 petabytes of data’—to which all clients have access,” prosecutors wrote in the lawsuit. And that data allowed MultiPlan to create tools like PlanOptix, which allowed any member of that “cartel” to determine in real time if a competitor was reimbursing at a higher or lower rate than them. “As a doctor, there is nothing more frustrating or heartbreaking than watching an insurance plan get in the way of a patient’s needs,” Dr. Andrew Carroll told reporters Monday. Carroll supported the lawsuit and said that MultiPlan’s alleged price fixing hurts smaller independent doctors like him, as they are unable to appeal decisions made by the company. Doctor and Arizona Medical Association President Jason Jameson said that the “collusion” among insurers created a dangerous environment for patients in the state, in addition to harming physicians and hospitals. “It is more than insulting, it is actually dangerous to the healthcare in our state,” Jameson said. With hospitals set to see major impacts to their budgets from Medicaid and Medicare cuts, MultiPlan and the insurer’s “collusion” creates further problems for hospitals that oftentimes rely on insurance payouts, Mayes said. “The MultiPlan cartel takes particular advantage of hospital emergency departments,” the lawsuit alleges. “Emergency rooms cannot decline to treat patients with insurance plans connected to MultiPlan. As such, hospital emergency rooms rely on the commercial insurance networks that contract with MultiPlan for reasonable compensation for emergency services. At the same time, demand for emergency department medical services is highly inelastic. Patients often have little choice regarding which hospital they are taken to and are rarely able to avoid or defer emergency medical treatment. By colluding to underpay emergency services providers, MultiPlan and its clients have been bleeding emergency rooms dry.” The lawsuit also alleges that private medical groups with tight profit margins are being hit hard by these underpayments. “While revenue per physician has increased by 9.1% since 2020, the median expense per physician has increased by 26.5%,” the lawsuit says. “Just like other providers, these medical groups cannot afford to be underpaid. When they are, access to and the quality of care could decline, which, in turn, harms patients.” ***UPDATED: This story has been updated to include additional comments. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Courtesy of Arizona Mirror
	Gov. Reynolds signs agriculture and water-quality bills into law Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs Senate File 2493 into law outside of the Capitol, exempting products that use 85% ethanol from the state excise tax, Des Moines, Iowa, June 1, 2026.Gov. Kim Reynolds signed several bills related to agriculture and the environment into law Monday, including measures related to water quality, ethanol and the Iowa Farm Act. One of those bills, House File 2771, the state’s agriculture and natural resources budget bill, includes the “Farm to Faucet” water-quality proposal introduced by Reynolds, state Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig and other Republican officials in the final days of the 2026 legislative session. The package represents a $319 million investment in improving Iowa’s water quality over the next 12 years, according to the governor’s office. It includes a one-time investment of $25 million going directly to Central Iowa Water Works to upgrade its nitrate-removal capacity, alongside a one-time $10 million revolving loan fund — the Rural Iowa Infrastructure Bank — to provide loans at a rate of 1% or less to finance small and medium-sized communities seeking to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure. The proposal makes several other funding shifts and investments, which GOP officials have said will direct money to programs that have proven to effectively improve water quality and agricultural best practices in the state. It eliminates the Water Quality Financing Program and redirects the $8.5 million currently going to the program to other initiatives, such as the Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Financial Assistance program. It also creates a new Greater Des Moines Watershed Program with $3.72 million in annual funding. There’s also $800,000 going to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources annually for water quality monitoring efforts, some of which will be distributed through grants. Water quality has become a top concern in Iowa in recent years, especially in central Iowa where Central Iowa Water Works implemented a lawn-watering ban in June and July of 2025 when nitrate levels were significantly elevated in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers As worries grow about the potential risks of high nitrate levels — and the possible relationship between Iowa’s water quality problems and the state’s high cancer rates — Democrats in the state legislature moved to introduce multiple measures during 2026. Though some Democrats voiced concerns about the Republicans’ proposal, saying it did not provide enough resources to water quality monitoring programs through the Iowa Water Quality Information System administered through the Iowa Flood Center or provide meaningful incentives to farmers to implement best water quality practices, the measure signed by Reynolds gained bipartisan support in both chambers. At the bill signing Monday, the governor said improving water quality in the state is a top priority on both sides of the aisle. “We all want the same solution on water quality. And this is how we get there,” Reynolds said. The governor also signed Senate File 2465,”The Iowa Farm Act,” a measure introduced by Naig early in the year. The new law will make the Choose Iowa program permanent and rename it the Choose Iowa Food Bank Purchasing Program, alongside creating the Choose Iowa School Purchasing Program — an expansion on the dollar-matching pilot program helping schools and food banks in the state acquire locally grown and raised products from Iowa farms. It makes a variety of other changes, including a sales tax exemption for honeybees, expandinding the state’s agricultural tourism law to include public educational events about agriculture on Iowa farms, and includes new confidentiality measures related to biosecurity and equipment data. The governor called the measure “a first of its kind — the Iowa Farm Bill,” and thanked Naig and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship staff, alongside the DNR, for their work on the measure. Naig thanked lawmakers, farmers, landowners and other parties for their willingness to work with his office to move the measure forward. “Every item in the Farm Act can be traced back to an idea or feedback that came directly from farmers and businesses or community roundtables as I’ve traveled the state,” Naig said. “It expands opportunities for Iowa’s agriculture, reduces unnecessary regulatory burdens, strengthens rural communities, supports beginning farmers and our ag workforce, and gives farmers greater certainty and more tools to prepare and plan for the future.” The governor also signed Senate File 2493, a bill that exempts ethanol blends above 85% used in agricultural equipment from the state excise tax. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support, with a 44-0 vote in the Senate and an 85-1 vote in the House. Reynolds, joined by members of the Legislature, Iowa Corn Farmers and John Deere executives on the Iowa Capitol steps, touted the benefits of statewide ethanol use and production. “Ethanol isn’t just beneficial to Iowa agriculture as a product, it also is a fuel that farmers depend on to operate equipment at competitive prices,” Reynolds said. “This legislation builds on Iowa’s leadership in renewable fuels and recognizes the importance between agriculture and biofuel production in our state.” Deanna Kovar, the president of John Deere’s Agriculture and Turf Division, emphasized that the bill will allow Iowa to continue leading the ethanol industry. “Overall, it is important that Iowa continues to lead in ethanol with all of the refiners and all of the corn that we grow in this state,” Kovar said. “About 40% of U.S. corn crops go into ethanol, so it’s a really important business for all corn growers across the country.” Kovar added that the bill will help facilitate more widespread ethanol use for newer agricultural technology, including the John Deere E98 Prototype 8R tractor that was on display. Kovar said the tractor, which was manufactured in Waterloo, has “diesel-like” characteristics, and uses an engine that accommodates E98 fuel. Kovar said she has heard exclusively positive feedback from farmers. No release date is set for the model. “We had two farmers help us get this bill passed, but just as importantly, they used this tractor in their fields last year,” Kovar said. “The agricultural community’s response to the tractor has been tremendous.” Courtesy of Iowa Capital Dispatch
	Illinois politics latest: State budget finalized, Chicago Bears bill stalls, social media tax Brenden Moore with Capitol News Illinois joined The Current to break down the latest headlines from the statehouse.
	Scott County worker killed in dump truck rollover crash A secondary roads employee was driving a county-owned dump truck when the driver reportedly lost control and rolled into a ditch.
	June (and summer) climate preview for the Quad Cities What a beautiful Monday! It made for a great (and above average) start to June and meteorological summer in the Quad Cities. Here's a look at the June climate stats for the Quad Cities: And this is also the first day of meteorological summer in the Northern hemisphere too - here are some summer stats [...]
	National abortion network says assistance calls and related costs are increasing Ginnely Carrasco, director of programs and interim executive director of the Florida Access Network. (Screenshot)New data show the need for support for women seeking the procedure has nearly doubled in the four years following reversal of Roe v. Wade, with the number of calls for assistance reaching 158,000 in 2025, up from 82,000 calls in 2022. Since 2024, abortion funding costs have increased by 30% and costs for travel and accommodations have have risen by 13%, according to the National Network of Abortion Funds. The data were compiled by the abortion funds, grassroots organizations that help make abortions more affordable for people in need. They work in their communities and states but collaborate with other funds to help people who must travel out of state to access abortion. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. The national abortion network represents about 100 abortion funds. window.addEventListener("message", function(event) { var message = JSON.parse(event.data); if (message.sender == "Flourish" && message.context == "iframe.resize") { src = message.src.replace(/#.+$/, ""); vizFrame = document.querySelector('iframe[src="' + src + '"]'); vizFrame.setAttribute('height', message.height); } }); Despite its 24-hour waiting periods, required sonograms, limiting the procedure to medical doctors and osteopathic physicians, and a ban on the use of telehealth to provide abortion care, Florida was once considered a state where women could come to obtain this care. That changed in May 2024, when a six-week abortion ban took effect. Of the 44,206 abortions performed in Florida in 2025, 1,359 were for women who reported living out of state, according to an Agency for Health Care Administration report. “Now we’re in a situation where over 30% of Floridians that we serve need to travel out of state for abortion access,” Florida Access Network director of programs and interim executive director Ginnely Carrasco said Monday. “Currently, abortion seekers are traveling an average of about 1,000 miles to access care in states like Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the average cost of traveling outside of the state for abortion care is around $2,400,” she said. Carrasco said her network decided in 2024 to “close its forum” between Thursday and Sunday, to ensure the fund didn’t run out of money. “While this means that we don’t go through our budget within the first week or two, it has limited our reaching on our capacity to be accessible to as many clients as possible,” she said. Nevertheless, she acknowledged “temporary closures this year because of funding shortages and struggles.” Courtesy of Florida Phoenix
	Nurse practitioners renew push for independence from physician oversight in Pa. Nurse practitioners, pictured with association President-Elect Sheilah Yohn, pushed to expand their scope of practice at a June 1, 2026 rally in Harrisburg. Most of the commonwealth's neighbors, with the exception of Ohio, allow the providers to operate independent of a physician. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)Last year, Family Practice and Counseling Services Network hired a psychiatric nurse practitioner to assist with the mental health needs of a “medically underserved” clientele. But CEO Emily Nichols said it would be nearly six months before they saw a single patient at the Philadelphia Federally Qualified Health Center, since Pennsylvania requires nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice underneath a physician. “And that’s just one psych NP. We could hire four more for the need we see, but we don’t have the resources and we don’t have the collaborating physicians,” Nichols told the Capital-Star. “And we have to pay for (collaborating physicians). We’re a community health center; we’re operating on a pretty thin margin.” A map of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania using 2023 data. (Chart from the Center for Rural PA) Pennsylvania is what’s known as a “reduced practice state,” meaning that Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners must have a written collaborative agreement with a licensed physician to work. But attempts to advance legislation changing that rule have repeatedly failed, despite broad, bipartisan support. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners notes that NPs can assess patients, diagnose conditions, order and interpret tests, develop treatment plans, prescribe medications and coordinate patient care — with an agreement for an overseeing doctor to consult, review records and charts and more. Rep. Nancy Guenst (D-Montgomery) notes that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has had full-practice nurse practitioners for nearly a decade. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star) Other states don’t have the same restrictions, including nearly all of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states. Supporters argue that NPs can fill in gaps as the number of commonwealth physicians declines, particularly in rural areas. In contrast, the number of NPs has been increasing in both urban and rural settings. More than two dozen states are more flexible, as well as the Veteran Affairs health system. Rep. Nancy Guenst (D-Montgomery), a U.S. Army veteran, said, “If it works for our veterans, it can work for Pennsylvanians.” “We do not have to guess whether this works,” Guenst said before a crowd of NPs in the Capitol on Monday. “Study after study has shown improved access to care, particularly in rural communities, with no reduction of quality or patient safety.” Nichols, who’s based in Philadelphia, called her center “lucky” for having a supportive collaborative partner, adding that many other centers don’t have NPs at all because of that requirement. But day-to-day, doctors still need to sign off on routine items, such as specialized shoes for diabetic patients. “When a nurse practitioner is seeing you as a patient, they could easily just sign that form and you could go get what you need,” said Nichols. “But there’s a barrier to do that.” Support in the General Assembly Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) started her current term in 2018, and has introduced Senate Bill 25 every year to expand the practice of NPs. Despite that consistency, even keeping the same bill number across two administrations, it has yet to make it to a governor’s desk. Bartolotta’s first version notes that 21 other states and the District of Columbia allow NPs “full practice authority.” Today, that number is 28. “I do not want to see 49,” Bartolotta said at Monday’s rally. “We hit a crisis point a long time ago. It’s not, ‘This could be good someday.’ That day is behind us … What the heck are we waiting for?” Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) has sponsored Senate Bill 25, which would expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, every year since 2017. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star) In the early years, NP legislation passed the Senate with only a handful of detractors, but didn’t get a House hearing at least four years in a row. Now, the hesitation appears to come from her own chamber’s leadership, as House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford) advanced his own pilot version out of the House chamber when he was a rank-and-file member in 2020. This year’s House version, House Bill 739, is sponsored by Guenst. Neither Bartolotta’s Senate measure nor Guenst’s bill have yet had committee hearings. One of the biggest opponents to expanding the scope of NP duties is the Pennsylvania Medical Society, whose opinion Bartolotta said, “has carried significant influence in Harrisburg and has contributed to delaying the legislation despite its broad bipartisan support.” The Medical Society didn’t immediately return a request for comment Monday, but generally opposes expanding duties for non-physicians, including pharmacists. Online, the body points to studies showing that non-physician led care increases health care costs, asserting that, “Optimal patient care is most effectively delivered through health care teams.” SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. “We’re not trying to replace doctors,” Bartolotta emphasized. “(NPs) are in partnership with them, able to fill in all of those gaps that just keep turning into chasms. They’re here to fill the gaps of really good, quality healthcare for people who desperately need it.” In contrast to ongoing efforts focused on educating new providers, Bartolotta noted that NPs “are ready to go” now at no extra cost to the state, and can refer high-level cases to doctors when needed. Some Pennsylvania NPs have secured jobs across state lines, like addiction specialist Justin Rohrback. He started his practice in Maryland instead of his York County hometown. He said that disruptions in physician oversight not related to patient care in a previous job threatened to undo recovery treatment plans, and were only averted “at great (financial) cost.” “When we discuss healthcare policy … we need to remind ourselves what these numbers represent. These are not just prescriptions. They’re mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, neighbors and friends,” said Rohrback. “We are losing qualified healthcare providers due to regulatory red tape.” Leaving money on the table? Licensed NP Rep. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia) jokingly noted that few things had such broad appeal that they’d attracted support from political opposites like President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama. “We have Democratic support. We have Republican support. We have Senate support. We have House support,” said Khan. “Let’s get this done.” That endorsement is reflected in the federal Rural Health Transformation Plan’s application process. The state got $193 million last year from the program, which is designed to offset the billions in Medicaid losses over the next decade. Pa.’s federal rural health funding doesn’t compare to projected Medicaid loss Despite having the third-largest rural population in the country, Pennsylvania’s per-resident award was just $78, compared to an average of $157 nationwide. A handful of scoring mechanisms work against the commonwealth, including its status as a “reduced practice state” for NPs. The program application places an emphasis on states that “help rural providers practice at the top of their license,” naming both NPs and physician assistants as examples. “We are running out of time to pass the full practice authority before the state submits its (next) application to the federal government,” said Sheilah Yohn, the president-elect of the NP coalition. “We must be able to clearly state that we are a full-practice state,” before the Aug. 30 deadline, she continued. In some commonwealth counties, she added that NPs are the highest-level healthcare provider, but must coordinate with a physician outside of their community to deliver care. “Full practice is a win for everyone,” Yohn concluded. Courtesy of Pennsylvania Capital-Star
	Rescue Rocks benefit for Scott County shelter returns Saturday The Humane Society of Scott County will hold its annual Rescue Rocks fundraiser June 6 at The Tangled Wood in Bettendorf, featuring live music, a silent auction, food and drink specials, and adoptable pets.
	Multiple active crime scenes in Muscatine Around 3:10 p.m. a KWQC crew could see police in the 300 block of Park Avenue.
	Police responding to active scene in Muscatine News 8 journalists are on the scene of an investigation in the 200 block of Park Avenue in Muscatine.
	66th Honor Flight departs with 8 service women making the trip The 66th Honor Flight departed the Quad Cities International Airport this morning with eight service women making the trip.
	Battery storage would ease stress on Pa.’s power grid, panel hears Power lines in Upper Burrell Township in Westmoreland County on Jan. 16, 2026. (Photo by John Beale for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)As higher electricity rates took effect Monday in Pennsylvania, state lawmakers heard broader deployment of battery storage technology could help improve the stability of the region’s power grid and lower the price of power. A part of daily life, batteries power smartphones, cars, toys and an endless list of electronic devices. But large-scale battery storage is a relatively new element of the power grid that lights homes and businesses and keeps industry humming. “Battery storage is no longer an emerging technology,” Chris D’Agnostino, the head of state policy for the renewable energy industry group Advanced Energy United. “It’s a proven grid resource that can help address some of Pennsylvania’s most pressing energy challenges.” He and other experts testified before the state House Energy committee that grid-scale battery storage helps optimize energy efficiency by storing electricity from sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric and traditional thermal power plants and then releasing it when it’s needed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. But the commonwealth ranks 28th in the nation in battery storage capacity, committee Chairperson Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) said. “I would like us to move up in those rankings quite a bit,” she said in the hearing on legislation that would mandate the state’s largest electric utilities to install 3,000 megawatts of battery storage by 2033. House Bill 2380, introduced by Rep. Nikki Rivera (D-Lancaster) would put the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) in charge of assigning shares of the 3,000 megawatts based on the service load and annual peak demand of each electric company with more than 600,000 customers. Witnesses agreed increased battery storage would improve affordability, reliability and the grid’s ability to meet growing demand from increased electrification of transportation, industry and data centers to power artificial intelligence. But an electricity industry representative said the question before the panel was not whether batteries will play a larger role in the commonwealth’s future energy supply, but whether the legislation is good policy. Andy Tubbs, president and CEO of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, said setting hard mandates for electricity companies without basing the figures on pilot programs or system reliability standards is a mistake. “The acquisition targets would be more understandable if we had better footing … where these targets are stemming from,” Tubbs said. Pennsylvania is part of the PJM Interconnection grid, which manages wholesale electricity markets for 13 states and Washington, D.C. The organization holds auctions to ensure there’s an adequate supply of electricity. Over the last two years, prices have increased sharply as plans for hyperscale data centers fueled unprecedented rises in the demand forecast. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office sued PJM in late 2024 and reached a settlement establishing a price ceiling for the auctions that has now been extended twice under pressure from PJM state governors and the Trump administration. But for the second summer in a row, consumers will see the impact of the wholesale price increase in their electricity bills. According to the PUC, customers of 11 electricity distribution companies will see rate hikes this month, with most increasing between 1.5% and nearly 20%. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Under Pennsylvania’s deregulated electricity market, local electricity companies may no longer own power plants or other generating assets. But the PUC has determined that battery storage facilities are a “non-wire” distribution asset that can improve reliability by eliminating congestion on the grid, Commission Chairman Stephen DeFrank said. And because storage battery systems can improve the grid’s resilience at a lower cost than building new transmission lines, the investment is easier for local utilities to justify to the commission, DeFrank added. Since issuing a policy statement on battery storage, the state has seen little significant investment in the technology, he noted. PPL has two battery storage facilities, while Duquesne Light operated a two-year pilot program. UGI Electric also had a pilot approved but did not pursue it due to cost issues. “With this background, it is prudent for this committee to consider means to spur investment in energy storage as a distribution and transmission asset,” DeFrank said, but added the mandate to install 3,000 megawatts of storage, ”may be overly aggressive and potentially unachievable when required to meet cost benefit tests.” Battery storage is most common in “behind the meter” applications, where homeowners or business owners install battery banks to capture solar electricity for later use or to feed into the grid to offset their bills. Grid-scale battery storage is “in front of the meter,” meaning that it feeds directly into the electricity grid to serve all customers, Michelle Buczkowski, CEO of storage battery maker EOS Energy Enterprises, said. H.B. 2380 divides the 3,000 megawatts utilities would be required to install into 2,000 megawatts of short duration storage, which can feed into the grid for up to four hours. They would also install 1,000 megawatts of long term storage, which lasts 10 hours or more. Buczkowski said short duration storage excels at meeting hourly fluctuations in demand, but lacks the ability to deliver sustained energy needed to meet extended increases in demand, such as severe weather events or greater industrial demand. She noted that giving utilities more flexibility to install long-duration storage systems could further improve reliability and lower costs for consumers. Extended duration events, such the arctic cold that affected most of the country in February, are the greatest threat to grid reliability, said Mark Thompson, senior director of state affairs for Form Energy. The company manufactures multi-day batteries with 100 hours of storage capacity. “Multi-day storage can store massive amounts of energy from periods of abundance and low cost, and then dispatch that when needed,” Thompson said. He drew comparisons to the electricity grid and other utilities such as water and natural gas, which benefit from massive long-term storage capacity in reservoirs and tanks. “This kind of long duration energy storage is not available on the electric grid. We have seen on those other systems that it tends to make their systems very reliable and much lower cost,” Thompson said, adding that it would help the electricity grid weather variations and increased load. “The system’s calling out for the ability to store power over extended time periods.” Courtesy of Pennsylvania Capital-Star
	Iran halts talks with U.S. over Israeli actions in Lebanon, Gaza Trumps says Israel and Hezbollah will stop fighting after Iran stops talks with U.S. over Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, Gaza
	Rhode Island has a primary care problem. Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King has a plan. Fewer Rhode Islanders reported have a personal doctor or healthcare provider over the last decade, a dip mirrored nationwide, a new state report notes. (Photo by Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty image)An initial wellness exam for the state’s primary care landscape published by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner on Monday found fewer Rhode Islanders have a personal doctor they can turn to for non-urgent health concerns compared with a decade earlier. The 31-page report, which relies on 2024 insurance claims data, marks the first in what Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King intends will serve as an annual checkup on the policy and funding ailments plaguing Rhode Island’s primary care system. “The purpose is to establish a baseline understanding, so we can be able to judge whether the efforts undertaken actually improve the needle on primary care payment and access,” King said in an interview. Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) “Primary care is the cornerstone of a strong and effective health care system,” the report states. “For most patients, it serves as the entry point to care; they rely on trusted relationships with primary care clinicians for preventive services, chronic condition management, and referrals to specialists when needed. Timely access to high-quality primary care is crucial to the health and productivity of Rhode Islanders.” Rhode Island is not alone. Financial strain, provider shortages and the behavioral shifts lingering after a COVID-19-induced shutdown have led to a drop in primary care visits nationwide. The Ocean State appears to fare better than the national average in terms of adult access overall, but demographic details reveal alarming disparities. One-third of Hispanic Rhode Islanders lack a reliable primary care doctor or nurse practitioner, more than six times the rate of their white, non-Hispanic peers. Low-income households, those that earned less than $25,000 in 2024, were more than four times as likely to report no primary care provider than households that earned $75,000 or more. People on Medicaid are also at a disadvantage relative to their peers with commercial insurance; less than half of Rhode Islanders with Medicaid through managed care organizations had a regular wellness visit with a primary care provider in 2024, compared with nearly seven in 10 people with commercial insurance plans. And across insurance models, people are increasingly turning to urgent care in lieu of traditional office visits with doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants due largely to an ever-deepening provider shortage. Research from Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School referenced in OHIC’s report estimates Rhode Island needs at least 300 more primary care providers, with the 700 full-time providers unable to care for the population even at a staggering 1,700 patients per provider. Workforce burnout, retirement and moves to other states that offer competitive reimbursement rates are expected to worsen the existing provider shortage. It’s a grim prognosis, and one that many fear will worsen under federal policy changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. New restrictions on Medicaid eligibility are expected to create a rise in uncompensated care, adding more demand and pressure to cash-poor healthcare facilities. Caps on student loan amounts will make it hard for aspiring doctors and nurses to afford advanced degrees, limiting the pipeline of providers badly needed to fill in the gaps in Rhode Island. And new limits on federal pass-through funding to states will make it even less financially feasible for providers to participate in treating patients with government or even traditional, commercial insurance — leading to a rise in private-pay “concierge medicine,” in which a limited number of patients pay a fee directly to their doctor for access. “There’s no business reason why any primary care physician shouldn’t do direct primary care,” said Dr. Michael Fine, former state health director and president of advocacy group Primary Care for All Americans. Referring to the rise in concierge medicine, Fine said, “What I am hearing on the street with this is, it’s turning into a tsunami.” Low-income and Hispanic people in Rhode Island are far less likely to have access to a primary care provider than their more affluent and White peers. (Courtesy of Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner) In search of solutions But, there are remedies — some already in place and others under consideration — that could help heal the state’s primary care system. In March 2025, King’s office issued new regulations to commercial insurers, requiring them to increase their share of overall annual spending on primary care from the 4.7% spent in 2024, to 10% by 2028, while mandating they reduce prior authorization policies for providers by at least 20%. The spending mandate is expected to increase funding by $40 million over four years. Meanwhile, a highly anticipated review of state reimbursement rates for primary care providers, measuring costs and competitiveness with neighboring states, will be issued in September. Many expect OHIC’s forthcoming rate review will mandate further rate hikes for primary care providers, who receive 30% less than their Massachusetts counterparts for the same services, on average, from commercial payers, according to the OHIC report. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement comparisons are less stark, but still favor Massachusetts providers. Commercial insurers have historically pushed back on the rate differences between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, citing the cost-of-living differences. King acknowledged that it’s unreasonable to expect the Ocean State to match its northern neighbor on all types of medical service payments. But given the importance of primary care, a matching rate might be needed, he said. Meanwhile, lawmakers are finalizing a fiscal 2027 spending plan that, at last revision, is set to include a $5 million seed fund for a medical school at the University of Rhode Island. The long-awaited creation of a state medical school is one of several measures intended to attract and retain new primary care providers, along with enhanced student loan forgiveness (also bolstered in the revised House fiscal 2027 budget) and scholarships. The Senate Committee on Finance is scheduled to advance a bill Tuesday that would set up a scholarship fund for doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who stay and work in Rhode Island for twice the number of years they receive educational scholarship funds. The $1 million price tag was not included in the revised fiscal 2027 budget, but Sen. Pam Lauria, the bill’s sponsor, remains optimistic. “I know the budget is being discussed in both chambers, and this is something the Senate is committed to,” Lauria, a Barrington Democrat and nurse practitioner, said in an interview. A House companion bill by Rep. Kathleen Fogarty, a South Kingstown Democrat, remains under review in the chamber’s finance committee following an April 30 hearing. Asked for comment on the scholarship bill, Larry Berman, a spokesperson for House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski, said the revised fiscal 2027 budget added more money for loan forgiveness plans for primary care providers, including through the state’s Wavemaker fellowship program. A spokesperson Senate President Valarie Lawson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. The Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner has required commercial insurers to increase spending on primary care to 10% by 2028. (Courtesy of Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner) Tackling self-insured employers King is also considering how to leverage his office’s authority over self-insured employers, responsible for coverage for roughly two-thirds of Rhode Islanders. Unlike businesses that transfer all the risk of health coverage for their workers to third-party insurers, or self-insured individuals, King’s office has no power to set annual premium rates for these private companies, including top employers like the state of Rhode Island and many of the major hospital and healthcare groups. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island voluntarily raised its primary care provider rates for its self-insured employee plan last year, with the intent of investing more than $50 million through 2028. “These investments will improve financial stability for practices, support recruitment and retention, and help expand access to care at a time when primary care continues to face workforce and financial pressures,” Rich Salit, a company spokesperson, said in an email. Goodwill might not be enough to spur other self-insured employers to follow suit. So King is contemplating mandates by way of the insurance companies that act as third-party administrators to business-funded plans. “If we’re really committed to primary care, it’s worth exploring whether we can or should require self-insured employers to invest in primary care,” he said. Lauria backed the proposal, noting that her own employer, Brown University Health, has not voluntarily agreed to increase its reimbursement rates to primary care providers. Brown University Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. Fine remained skeptical that any of the small measures taken or under consideration were enough to save a broken healthcare system. “I don’t care about where the deck chairs are on the Titanic,” he said. “What I care about is that we are sailing the Queen Elizabeth and not the Titanic.” His proposal? A “Marshall Plan,” that includes strategic and coordinated oversight of providers, and private and public insurance payors, while also addressing geographic distribution of primary care offices and the demographic barriers to care. Fine’s advocacy group, Primary Care for All Americans, recently held its inaugural summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, featuring top research and healthcare leaders discussing various models for improving primary care, including a universal care model. “Cory did a great thing by throwing down this gauntlet,” Fine said of the report. “But his authority only extends so far.” SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Courtesy of Rhode Island Current
	Police responding to scene in Muscatine News 8 journalists are on the scene of an investigation in the 200 block of Park Avenue in Muscatine.
	Greyhound Lounge opens in downtown Davenport Greyhound Lounge is a new bar in downtown Davenport catering drinkers and non-drinkers in a unique and cozy setting.
	7 sales tax filing errors that trigger state audits and what to do if you already made them 7 sales tax filing errors that trigger state audits and what to do if you already made themWith states ramping up their tax enforcement personnel and sharpening their data-matching tools in 2026, Q1 filings are right in the crosshairs. Finance teams that filed just a few weeks ago may already be in the window where errors surface.The last thing your business needs is state tax notices or audit selection letters. The good news is that most common mistakes are fixable. However, you need to act before the state does. Anrok pulled together seven common tax filing errors after consulting leading sources, including BDO USA, Source Advisors, and more.The most common state tax filing errors to watch out forKeeping your business in compliance this tax season is about knowing how to avoid common mistakes. These are seven to have on your radar.1. Failing to register where you have economic nexusSince the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax once they cross a certain revenue or transaction threshold. Commonly, $100,000 in sales is the threshold, but rules can vary by state. Some states have removed transaction based thresholds from their economic nexus calculation.If you discover you’ve been selling into a state and haven’t been collecting tax when you should have been, filing a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) can typically limit the look-back period and the imposition of penalties. Timing will be critical, though, once a state tax authority notice arrives you’re generally disqualified from pursuing a VDA.2. Missing or deficient exemption certificatesExemption certificates are a leading area of audits when it comes to sales tax. They are also one of the most easily neglected. Under audit, an otherwise exempt sale may be deemed taxable if there is no valid documentation from a customer. Missing a few certificates can result in large penalties and interest, as outlined by Source Advisors. Additionally, the bar for what counts as valid may be higher than you think.For example, accepting a certificate that hasn’t been updated in years and and is expired as of an explicit date may be treated as a failure in an audit occurring today. Many states are starting to scale back leniency around retroactive certificate collection, too, meaning once you are audited, you may not be able to claim a certificate. If you notice any gaps, reach out to customers now, as proactive remediation will almost always yield a better outcome.3. Product taxability misclassificationNot all products your business offers will be taxed the same way, and the rules are constantly changing. In particular, states continue to broaden and redefine what counts as taxable digital products. This can lead to seemingly inconsistent rules around product downloads, SaaS, streaming, and cloud-hosted tools. An outdated product classification can lead to tax gaps across multiple states.In a late-2025 update to sales tax changes put together by Anrok, Maine was singled out as an example. In that state, digital audiovisual and audio works, including subscriptions to platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify, have been pulled into their definition of taxable services. Similar changes have taken effect across other states. If your product includes any digital goods or bundled services, it’s worth reviewing the most up-to-date taxability classifications to avoid outsized liabilities.4. Late or missed filingsFiling taxes late can be expensive due to compounding penalties. Some states are as low as 1%, but others can be quite high. California, for instance, has a maximum of 25% per its latest Franchise Tax Board update. Even a late filing with zero tax due can trigger a penalty and, perhaps worse, flag your account for future scrutiny.Some states offer amnesty programs where you can pay outstanding taxes for all unfiled periods without incurring fees, so run an internal audit to see if you have unfiled returns. Filing something is almost always better than filing nothing, as the clock on penalties doesn’t pause while you’re deciding if you need to file.5. Incorrect tax rate applicationSales tax is rarely just a single number. Rather, it’s a layered combination of state, county, city, and special district rates. Outdated internal systems may accidentally misapply tax rates, omit jurisdiction-specific rules, or fail to track exemption certificates as they should. These technology gaps can be easily exploited by auditors. Ensure that all tax calculation systems in your organization have been updated to reflect 2026 rates, and consider a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement if you notice any accidental under-collecting.6. Unreported consumer use tax on business purchasesConsumer use tax is one compliance obligation that many businesses overlook until they’re in an audit. When a company purchases taxable goods or services from a vendor who is located out-of-state, it can get tricky. If that vendor didn’t charge sales tax, it’s the buyer’s responsibility to self-assess and remit use tax directly to the state. This can apply to software subscriptions, equipment, office supplies, and other items.If your business hasn’t been tracking and self-assessing this tax, a quiet internal review focused on identifying these gaps and making voluntary corrections is far preferable to an auditor finding the issue.7. Assuming marketplace facilitators handle all obligationsIf your business sells through Amazon, Etsy, or other major marketplace providers, it’s easy to fall prey to a false sense of security. As outlined by BDO USA, a major professional services firm, this is one example of many where tax gaps may occur.Marketplace facilitator laws require platforms to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of third-party sellers in states with sales tax, but that’s where the coverage ends. Should your business also sell through your own website, social media, or other nonmarketplace channels, you are the responsible party for collecting and remitting sales tax.Also, sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon program may be required to file tax returns in states where inventory is stored, even if Amazon is handling the tax collection on those transactions. This is why reviewing your multichannel exposure and confirming exactly which obligations fall on you is essential.The window to self-correct is still openState audit selection isn’t completely random. States are running increasingly sophisticated data-matching programs, and they are cross-referencing income filings, payroll records, and more against sales tax returns using new technology.If a state shares information about noncompliance with other states, based on information sharing agreements, a single audit can open the door to multistate exposure. For any of these seven common errors, the cost of correcting mistakes is almost always lower than the cost of doing so through an audit. Identify any gaps your business may have and act before the state does.This story was produced by Anrok and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Voting opens to name the Field of Dreams ballpark’s new baseball team The decision is up to Iowans — what will be the name for Dyersville’s baseball team?
	Large police presence near Muscatine riverfront A large police presence including Iowa State Patrol and the Muscatine Police Department is in multiple locations near the Muscatine riverfront on Monday afternoon. Police blocked off both the riverfront bike path and the 200 block of Park Avenue in what appears to be a crime scene. Yellow police tape stretched across Park Avenue. Muscatine [...]

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