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

Galesburg NAACP hosts candidate forum Tuesday at public library

The Galesburg NAACP is hosting a candidate forum tonight at the public library featuring candidates running for state and county offices in November.

Rock Island man pleads not guilty after allegedly striking man with truck

A Rock Island man pleaded not guilty after allegedly hitting a man with his truck in Rock Island County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning.

Win 4 tickets to Brooks and Dunn concert at Vibrant Arena on October 3rd!

Brooks and Dunn, with special guests, set to perform at Vibrant Arena in October. Enter by September 30 for a chance to win 4 tickets to the show!

'Give Like Dolly Day' supports Imagination Library

Dolly Parton may be gone but her Imagination Library will benefit from a day of support this month in her honor. The Dollywood Foundation has announced Give Like Dolly Day on September 25 (a nod to her movie “9 to 5”), a global day dedicated to supporting local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library programs and honoring [...]

NCAA places Iowa State wrestling on 1-year probation for recruiting violations

The NCAA announced Tuesday that it has placed the Iowa State men’s wrestling team on a one-year probation.

Root for the Hawkeyes, raise funds for pancreatic cancer awareness at Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Tailgate

The Dr. Brent Ohl Strong Pancreatic Cancer Support and Awareness Organization is hosting its annual Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Tailgate at a new location this year, the Starlight Ballroom at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 W. Locust Street in Davenport. The tailgate will be on Saturday, October 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., combining the [...]

Wapsipinicon River hits major flood stage near DeWitt

The Wapsipinicon River reached major flood stage at 13.1 feet near DeWitt, threatening homes, businesses, and Old Highway 61 ahead of a Wednesday crest.

Trump's D.C. arch is now a military complex. Here's how that complicates things

The future of Trump's D.C. arch was already fraught. Then he rebranded it as a military complex. Experts say that only raises more legal and logistical questions.

North Scott Press — September 23, 2026

Princeton mobile homes lose water

The remaining residents of Rivercrest Estates, Princeton’s mobile home park, lost water service last Thursday, Sept. 17. The shutoff came one month after city officials warned that park owner Mary Diercks was delinquent on months of utility bills and had let water mains and other infrastructure deteriorate. They promised to end water service Sept. 17 if Diercks did not pay delinquent bills and make emergency repairs. Mayor Travis Volrath said Diercks had failed to pay bills, make repairs or respond to messages from the city. She has not responded to the North Scott Press’s repeated requests for comment. City officials have estimated that the park has between 60 and 70 residents. Michelle LaMaster lives at Rivercrest with her husband Joseph and daughter Cheyenne. She asked Diercks to pay overdue bills, but Diercks told the family that “they had been properly notified to get out,” Cheyenne said. On Thursday, hours after the water shutoff began, the LaMasters said they had nowhere to go. They are worried that their trailer will be tagged uninhabitable, leaving them homeless. “I'm on oxygen. No apartments will take me,” Michelle said. “Once they tag, I'm on the streets and I'll be deceased.” In the meantime, one of Joseph’s coworkers will tote five-gallon buckets of water to the trailer from his home in Princeton. He commutes to Hardee’s in Bettendorf while Cheyenne serves as caretaker for her mother. Don Smith has lived in Rivercrest since 1993, and has outfitted his trailer with two porches and a ramp. While he has secured a lot at the Walcott mobile home park, he is struggling to find the $10,000 he expects it will cost to haul the trailer across the county. He said he could move in with children of grandchild. But his trailer was “his home.” “I’m not leaving my place,” he said. He said community service groups that city officials brought to Princeton couldn’t help him finance the move. “I went to the meeting, I asked them all for help. They wouldn’t help me,” he said. Scott County community services has said they can help provide first month’s rent to residents leaving Rivercrest.  Smith said he still pays lot rent to Diercks. The LaMaster family has not paid lot rent since an attorney with Iowa legal aid advised them not to after Diercks refused to make improvements at their trailer. They said they have roof leaks and low water pressure. When a tree fell on top of the ramp that leads to their front door, Diercks refused to have it removed and Michelle was briefly homebound. Diercks told them she would not make repairs until they pay lot rent and late fees she has levied. Diercks told the NSP last fall that she could not afford repairs with the number of tenants who refused to pay rent. But in October 2025, she paid $50,000 in back taxes to maintain ownership of the property. City officials have estimated that as many as half of Rivercrest’s lots are abandoned, and that the park now has just 60–70 residents. Some of them are already leaving, like Kara Sires, who was packing her things Thursday afternoon and heading to Clinton. She has lived at Rivercrest for the last 18 months. “I kind of am excited to get out of here,” she said. “There’s a lot of problems here.” She said she had “pretty much given up” trying to get a hold of Diercks to address problems. Volrath said that the city had planned a meeting for residents for next Thursday, Sept. 24. The meeting would be closed to the press. City council members Brandon Forristall and Lori Maher, who serve as the city water committee, would attend. “After next Thursday, I’ll have some more information” for the public, Volrath said.  

Police officers honored with D.C. flight

Walcott and Eldridge police officers were among those flown to Washington, D.C. during the nation’s first honor flight for law enforcement. The Quad City Back the Blue Honor Flight left Moline near dawn and touched down back down past 10 p.m. In the hours between, 170 Quad City officers and family members visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Capitol Hill, and other D.C. sights. “It was something special,” he told The North Scott Press. Organizers raised every dollar needed to bring officers to D.C. “The money they raised, the support from the community here in the Quad Cities was really amazing. It truly showed how many people still support law enforcement.” Officers arrived at the Moline airport early Wednesday,  Sept. 9, to an honor guard drawn from local military and law enforcement agencies. The Salvation Army handed out coffee and donuts, retired Walcott Police Chief Jeff Blake said. Then it was through the air to the tarmac at Washington Dulles, where firefighters greeted the plane with a water salute. A fleet of officers on motorcycles escorted the honor flight’s chartered bus into the city to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The memorial’s marble walls hold the names of more than 20,000 officers killed in the line of duty since 1791. Among those on the honor flight were two gold star families of Quad City police officers killed in the line of duty in Iowa and Illinois, Lellig said. They found the names of their relatives at the memorial. “All the honor and respect to fallen officers was pretty surreal,” Lellig said. Eldridge Cpl. Jack Schwertman, also on the flight, agreed. “Obviously, police officers are killed every year,” he said. “But to see how it effects the families first hand—it was just kind of an emotional experience.” From the memorial, the flight traveled to the Capitol, then on to the Lincoln Memorial for a group photograph. Travel delays kept the group stranded in D.C. until well into the evening. Their return was triumphant—the crowd had waited several hours, and anticipation had built. Several hundred people gathered in the airport terminal with smiles and signs to welcome their families home. “It was tremendous to see everyone support us coming back,” Blake said. Lellig called it the best part of his day. Beyond the attraction of D.C., the flight was a chance for retired and active duty police officers across the Quad Cities to swap stories and reflect on their work, Schwertman said. Officers “got to intermingle and open up the circle of people you know,” he said. While honor flights for military veterans have spread across the country, this is the first for law enforcement officers. Eldridge and Walcott officers on the trip said they hope the idea catches on. “I look forward to getting the chance to help other active and retired officers share this same experience,” Walcott Police Chief Adam Hill said, “and pay their respects to the fallen brothers and sisters that gave their lives serving and protecting for the greater good.” “It’s humbling to be part of such a special event,” he added. “It was a tremendous day to go out and do that stuff,” Blake said. “I hope it continues from here on out.”  

East Moline Fire Department accepting firefighter applications

The East Moline Fire Department is hiring! The department is now accepting applications to fill five openings for firefighters. Testing for applicants is now open and will be conducted through the National Testing Network (NTN). Click here for more information on testing and to begin the application/testing process.

Schroeder is Iowa Arts Administrator of the Year

When Lancer Productions staged Frozen, Jr. in 2022, North Scott Activities Director Jason Schroeder was thrilled. And terrified. He had promised to bring the show to North Scott after seeing the movie with his daughters. But he had also promised to don an inflatable costume of Olaf the snowman to direct traffic before the show. Don the costume he did. It’s just one of the many things that earned Schroeder from the School Administrators of Iowa as Fine Arts Administrator of the Year. “It's a great honor, I appreciate it, but I have great people around me,” Schroeder said. “I have an outstanding fine arts team, and they deserve more the credit than I do.” As activities director, Schroeder oversees North Scott’s fine arts and athletics programs. He took on the role in 2012, after returning to North Scott—he’s Class of ’96—as a special education teacher and coach in 2003. He did not participate much in fine arts as a student. “I wanted to do it, but I was too nervous to do it,” he said. “I was always nervous to be on stage in front of people.” It’s one of his biggest regrets. “It’d be the one thing, if I could go back and change something during my high school junior high career.” Schroeder received the award on the recommendation of fellow arts staff at North Scott. Lancer Productions Director Stacie Kintigh wrote that Schroeder was “an unwavering champion of all arts programs” in a letter to the SAI. His leadership helped build and sustain top theater, music and speech programs—and it is literally building a new orchestra room. “The results speak for themselves,” Kintigh wrote. North Scott Speech Director Emily Hintze has worked with Schroeder for 14 years. “You wouldn’t think for such an athletic guy he loves speech and theater, but he does,” she said. “Bringing joy to what he’s doing is Jason’s strength and leadership. He wants us to have a good time, and he wants the students to have a good time.” Iowa Alliance for Arts Education Director Leon Kuehner said in a press release that Schroeder “exemplifies the spirit of the SAI Fine Arts Administrator Award.” “He empowers his fine arts teachers to thrive and advocates for a culture where students in fine arts are seen, valued, and equipped to succeed,” Kuehner said. “That’s the biggest thing: knowing day to day that he supports what the students are working for, and what they’re doing,” Hintze added. North Scott Band Director Mike McMann said Schroeder helps his program in every way he can. You could find Schroeder setting up chairs before a show, or giving up his spring break to chaperone the school band’s trips to Disney. “I know people probably think I'm crazy —what are you doing, type of thing—but I I absolutely love it,” Schroeder said. It includes an 18 to 20 hour bus ride each way. “It is it is such a great time.” The SAI award is not the first time Schroeder has been recognized as an outstanding leader: he received a similar award from the Iowa High School Speech Association, and he’s been named southeastern Iowa’s athletic director of the year three times by the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association. Schroeder is reluctant to take much credit for his recognitions. “I appreciate the honor, but when I when I got it, I told everybody's: it's them,” he said, referring to North Scott’s fine arts staff. “They do the work, and I'm just here to be the person to help guide them along the way. It's an awesome honor to have, but those guys and ladies—they bust their tails, and I don't think everybody always knows how much they are doing.”  

Eldridge, county awash in recent rains

A week's worth of rainfall wreaked havoc on Scott County, as evidenced by area flooding. Clockwise from top left: Field flooding in Donahue, the Wapsi River near Long Grove, Sheridan Meadows in Eldridge, and Pride Lake at Scott County Park.  

210th Street political signs vandalized

Republican signs on 210th Street were vandalized last Thursday evening. Sheriff Tim Lane told The NSP Monday that, while the department will follow up on any leads, political vandalism isn't unusual, especially in an election year. “It just kind of tells you what political environment we are in locally and nationally. People are very, very involved in the political atmosphere, and they’re willing to go to the extent of going on other people’s properties to destroy signs," Lane said.

North Scott National Honor Society welcomes 20 members

The Phyllis Heuer Chapter of National Honor Society at North Scott High School held its induction ceremony on Monday, Sept. 14, in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Twenty new members were welcomed to the chapter. NHS president Parker Hamly presided over the ceremony, which included recognition of this year’s seniors and induction of the new members. Hamly also led a presentation on the four pillars of NHS: Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character. New inductees included seniors Maxwell Davis, Madelynne Kindig, Victoria Samara, Natalie Sierk and Tyler West; and juniors Alec Chizek, Grace Clark, Emma Hamann, Anna Jones, Emma Kruse, Shannon Moeller, Natalie O’Flahrity, Chloe Rickertsen, Bella Riley, Brinley Schroeder, Kora Thiessen, Riley Toohey, Dana Webb, Addyson Yanke and Zach Zrostlik. Previously inducted current members of NHS include Jorge Azuela, Nora Davis, Lillian Farro, Treyton Feist, Parker Hamly, Marley Harrington, Madilynn Hillmann, Kelsie Hilsenbeck, Madelyn Jepsen, Grady Kirst, Katelyn Kuesel, Katherine Moeller, Katelyn Peck, Lydia Petefish, Emmersen Plett, Aaron Raleigh, Emma Reif, Bryce Stewart, Isabella Suarez and Eisely Weinert.

Businesses sue over Scott County valuations

The Iowa 80 Truckstop and Grand Haven Retirement Community are among five Scott County properties whose owners have sued to have their multimillion-dollar property valuations dropped lowered in district court. The four properties are: • Iowa 80. The Scott County Board of Review has assessed the 17 parcels which compose the truck stop at $27,991,700. The Iowa 80 Group has sued. • Grand Haven. The Board of Review assessed the 201. E. Franklin Street property at $13,244,000. Property owner Callahan Construction has sued.  • Arconic. The Board of Review assessed Arconic’s Riverdale factory complex at $52,162,700. Arconic has sued. • Pebble Creek Villas. The Board of Review has assessed the 21-parcel LeClaire development at a combined $1,676,900. The development company has sued. • Bettendorf Hy-Vee. The Board of Review assessed the 2900 Devils Glen Road Bettendorf Hy-Vee at $10,136,800. Hy-Vee, Inc., the grocer’s corporate wing, has sued to have the valuation dropped to $5,068,400. Under Iowa law, property owners must appeal property valuations to the board of review before proceeding to district court. The board of review did not revise its valuations of any of the above properties on appeal. A greater number of property owners sued the Scott County Board of Review last year in district court. Iowa 80, Arconic and Pebble Creek all sued, alongside Tanglefoot, Glenbrook Ridge Senior Living and other developers. Some of those cases have been dismissed while others may proceed to trial.

Running wild in McCausland

2026 Labor Day Race in McCausland It was a beautiful day for a run and Aaron Skopec ran away from everyone in a time of 16:55 and Miah Allison ran it in 24:01 for the women, the mile race was won by Ryder Garlough in 7:55 for the boys and the girls was won by Makenzie Garlough in 8:48. The ¼ mile was won by Freddie Pfitzenmair in 2:03 for the boys and Adelyn Anderson ran it in 2:40 for the girls. Men’s 5k 12 & under Dawson Hanson 38:16(34) 13-19 Nate Holst 21:04(2) Colin Luckritz 23:42(4) Carter Jost 33:22(27) 20-29 Nikola Davis 23:50(5) Jeremy Yost 24:20(9) Brady Ernst 58:10(51) 30-39 Anthony Garlough 25:02(11) Ty Williams 28:13(17) Jeffrey Aplin 53:53(47) 40-49 John Hoffman 23:16(3) Travis Henningsen 25:56(14) B. Booto 40:46(37) 50-59 Dustin Henningsen 24:46(10) Stephen Wail 40:28(36) Herman Felix 58:46(52) 60-69 Bob Snyder 26:50(16) Kevin Rice 29:11(18) Andy Anderson 29:28(20) Brian Kopf 31:00(24) Paul Schmidt 33:46(29) Scott Lindle 59:03(53) 70-79 Robert Thompson 26:25(15) Bob Madison 30:42(23) Charlie Johnson 42:12(39) Gary Loy 48:09(40)   Women’s 5k 12 & under Harlee McGee 37:07(33) 13-19 Myla Hnason 25:46(12) Aspen Hanson 31:07(25) Rachel Reeves 33:08(26) 20-29 Ashlynn Ernst 58:10(50) 30-39 Cori Wail 34:37(30) Carlie Fascher 36:59(32) 40-49 Tara Flesch 24:02(7) Julie Anderson 24:20(8) Melissa Hoffman 25:25(13) Jamie Bocox 29:16(19) Liz Allison 30:24(22) Elizabeth Jost 33:24(28) Felipa Ruiz 36:58(31) Kelsey Hanson 42:10(38) Erin Bickford 53:49(45) 60-69 Carol Hultquist 39:05(35) Sofia Simons 51:05(44) Deb Luce 53:53(46) Laurie Gaertnier 54:26(48) 70-79 Sue Johnson 30:22(21) Jean Roeder 49:00(41) Janelle Swauberg 49:06(43) 80-89 Judie Gulley 49:03(42) Grace Knapper 56:11(49) 1 mile boys Drake Pillard 8:21(2) Harper Soda 10:18(7) Reed Morris 10:28(8) Cole Scoma 10:28(9) Everett Christensen 11:20(10) Zack Scoma 11:22(11) Charlie Pfitzenmaier 11:32(12) 1 mile girls Hailey Fitzgerald 9:45(4) Bella Ingersoll 9:45(5) Emery Pillard 9:51(6) ¼ mile boys Theodore Soda 2:20(2) Gavin Christensen 2:21(3) Oliver Kirby 3:08(5) Harvey Brimeyer 3:22(7) Sammy Scoma 3:25(8) ¼ mile girls Amelia Brimeyer 3:11(6) Opal Kirby 3:59(9)

Monmouth College 2nd best value regional college: U.S. News & World Report

Monmouth College has been named the second-best value regional college in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report. Monmouth was also ranked No. 15 in the Midwest among "Top Private Colleges." "Our students are the reason behind everything we do," said Monmouth President Patricia Draves. "It's our mission to help them realize their full [...]

Keller Kearney wins Football Contest — again

For the second week in a row, Keller Kearney of Park View won the NSP Football Contest. Keller missed one, with a tiebreaker of 56. That was the exact number of points in the Ole Miss win over LSU. Keller wins $50. Coming in second was Doyle Fox of DeWitt, who missed one with a tiebreaker of 55, good enough for $25. Third place, and $10, goes to Ken Moss of Eldridge. Ken missed one, with a tiebreaker of 59. Carson Kress of Eldridge also missed one, with a tiebreaker of 61. Those who missed two, and their tiebreakers, were Marty Kearney (54), Caitlin Kearney (57), Vicki Kearney (56), Jim Roseman (63), Glen Naber (41), Bryan Janoski (41), Mark Bloom (48), Alec Clark (54), Scott Kashmarek (62), Andrew Kashmarek (51), Steve Kuehn (60), Nicole Claussen (41), Heidi Holst (55), Tanner Burchette (62), Dale Bergert (32), and Dick Erps (49). Making up the honor roll were those who missed three: Robin Porter, Joseph Beale, Paxton Porter, Chase Porter, Jaclyn Kearney, Al Pawloski, Martha Pearce, Carson Lage, Emmett DeLuca, Kathy Straley, Bennett Fox, Mack Janoski, Lyn Jungblut, Scott Ossowski, Brian Wood, Troy Harmel, Eric Clark, Thomas Jungblut, Jeff Kress, Keaton Kress, Nicole Steinbeck, Matthew Steinbeck, Robert Fox, Mary Kashmarek, Reilly Kashmarek, Peggy Kuehn, Maddox Drummond, Gary Hansen, Dennis Claussen, Adam Claussen, Rryan Claussen, Gary Culver, Clay DeCock, Hadley DeCook, Mark Tomsche, Lorna Lillis, Marty Lillis, Liv Mossage, Cole Ernst, Derrick Barry, and Judy Bergert. Twenty-five missed four and 15 missed five. There were 111 entries. Games missed most frequently included Clear Creek-Amana over North Scott, Kentucky over Texas A&M and Ole Miss over LSU. Other winners were Davenport North over Davenport Central, Clinton over Maquoketa, Western Dubuque over Decorah, Arizona State over Kansas, Alabama over Florida State, Louisville over SMU, Iowa over UNI, Iowa State over Bowling Green, Notre Dame over Michigan State, and TCU over Arkansas State. Nine weeks remain in the contest, with a new slate of games in this week’s paper. Be sure to visit our sponsors to pick up your entry forms: Porter Insurance, DuTrac Community Credit Union, ORA Sports Medicine, Farm Bureau Financial Services – Tony Burkhart, First Central State Bank, Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors – Nancy Billups, King’s Material, Eldridge Body Shop, Amhof Trucking, Iowa 80 Truckstop, and Steve’s Auto.  

The 2026 Booker Prize shortlist is 'writing at its best'

This year's shortlist is made up of former Booker winners and debut authors, with tales spanning a wide range of genres, from historical fiction to campus novel to dystopian fiction.

More NS students learning about career pathways

More North Scott students than ever have opportunities to explore career paths, as the District Career and Academic Plan has been expanded to include elementary students. At the Sept. 14 school board meeting, high school principal Andrew Lehn and junior high principal Chad Jones gave the annual fall DCAP update. Elementary guidance counselor Jill Peekenschneider has been added to the DCAP team. Components for elementary students include a college and career unit for K-6 students, fifth graders participating in Junior Achievement’s BizTown, and additional partnerships with Junior Achievement. The district is also in its second year of using the career readiness platform Xello. “Essentially, it gets kids to understand what their skills are, what their interests are and then career navigation,” explained Lehn. Xello includes several assessments, such as an interests matchmaker tool. Jones said, at the junior high level, every student was able to work in Xello during the last school year. “We went into the social studies classrooms for that. All the students were able to look at what things interest them and what careers go with that,” Jones said. Students also complete Individual Career Development Plans. This includes five essential standards: self-understanding, compiling career information, career exploration, post-secondary exploration, and career and post-secondary decision-making. The ICAP can be informed by many activities offered by the district, including career exploration expos at the junior high and high school levels, career exploratory seminars and panel discussions for freshmen, job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships. Jones said he also spoke with junior high industrial tech teacher Isaac Simmons about the possibility of taking some students over to the student-built home site for this school year, which is just blocks away from the junior high. These kinds of activities help create career connections for students as they explore their interests. Lehn reported success with the district’s partnership with Eastern Iowa Community College. During the 2025-26 school year, 686 North Scott students were enrolled in one or more concurrent classes, with more than 50 concurrent and CCIR classes offered. More than 200 students attended an EICC orientation at the high school. College and Career Transitions counselor Patricia Madden also had success with students. Approximately 68% of high school seniors completed the FAFSA form for college financial aid, up from 56% the previous school year. Madden received an award for the district’s participation and growth in FAFSA applications. Homecoming Homecoming Week is Sept. 28 – Oct. 3. Superintendent Joe Stutting said the parade will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a shorter, revised route. The parade will no longer go along LeClaire Road. Instead, once the procession turns out of the Ed White parking lot, the parade will proceed west along West Prairie Vista Drive, then south on South 8th Street, east on Pinehurst Drive, and north on South 5th Street before returning to Lancer Stadium. Full details regarding Homecoming Week, including the required parade registration form, can be found at the district’s Homecoming Hub, north-scott.k12.ia.us/homecoming-hub. Recognitions Board members Joni Dittmer and Morgan Dunn handed out the first Lancer Pride Awards of the school year to Stephanie Peterson, a reading interventionist at Virgil Grissom, bus driver Connie Hart, and Ed White teacher Holly Timm. Peterson has been at Grissom for six years and has been in education for 20 years. Her nominator wrote about the impact Peterson had on her son and said she had been very encouraging. “That encouragement meant a ton to him,” read the nomination letter. “It made him want to keep working very hard and he speaks volumes about the relationship today.” The nomination letter also praised Petersen’s communication skills and her ability to work with parents. Hart has been a bus driver for eight years and drives the John Glenn route. “Connie is always thinking of the kids on the bus,” read her nomination letter. “She always makes my child feel welcomed and excited to see her every day.” Transportation director Derek Hamilton agreed. “We are very fortunate to have Connie. She takes the time to get to know all of the individual kids on her route and she drives a lot of after-school activities, and she takes the time to get to know the entire team.” Hart said she enjoys driving and “spoiling” the students. Timm has been at North Scott for seven years and taught at Alan Shepard before coming over to Ed White. She has worked with several grade levels, including preschool, first and second grade and special education. “She truly loves working with our youngest learners and feels fortunate to have worked with so many,” Dittmer read from the nomination letter. “Mrs. Timm was very positive and kind. She talked me through my first school day being away from my parents. She made me feel safe and at home when I was with her.” Stutting also recognized athletes who received honors over the summer, including Reese Barnett, Delaney Hill and Nora Barnett (girls’ soccer), Micayla Ramirez and Alyssa Schroeder (track and field), Laney Welge, Brinley Schroeder and Cadey Bredar (softball) and Addison Eckhardt (girls’ golf). Student-built home The board approved several contracts for the student-built home including: • Engler Construction for flatwork at the site for $32,906.60 (including a $3,000 discount) • Premiere Plastering & Drywall Inc. for $20,711 • Hill Painting for $14,054 (including a $2,500 discount) • Kipper Carpentry for teaching roofing services for $1,750 (including a $1,750 discount) Bills District director of business affairs Lisa Jones presented $1,270,988.09 in bills for payment. Highlights included $29,535 to Affordable Parking Lot services for parking lot and sidewalk repairs across the district; $61,812 for Wenger Corporation for music equipment including choral risers and acoustical equipment; and $63,337.71 to Builder Sales & Service for painting projects conducted during the summer in multiple classrooms and entryways across the district. Jones said PPEL funds were used for the supplies from Wenger Corporation.

Change your home's look in one easy step

Homeowners are often looking for ways to improve or update the look of their homes. But while new siding or masonry can be cost-prohibitive, there’s one simple way to completely change the exterior of a home, and it’s frequently overlooked: the garage door. And as it turns out, fall is a good time to make a change. “This is getting into our busiest time of the year,” said Matt Finck, president of Raynor Door Co. of the Quad Cities. “Things that maybe get pushed off over the spring and summer tend to come to a head when it gets cold. “It feels like, with summer vacation and kids out of school, things get pushed to the back burner,” he continued. “And, let’s face it, when it’s 90 degrees out, it is what it is. It’s hot. So, we don’t think too terribly much about it.” But with the arrival of the colder months, homeowners may not only be looking to complete projects before the end of the year, they may also be looking for a project that improves their quality of life. A well-insulated garage door can help keep the entire house warm, while also reducing heating costs. Finck said repair issues often come with the colder months, too. “Garage doors and mechanical components tend to break more when it’s cold.” Changing the look Just changing the garage door can have a huge impact on the look of a home because the door is often a focal point. For many homes, it’s one of the first features that gets noticed. “You can dramatically change the appearance of your home with a new garage door,” said Finck. “Yes, there is some cost to it, but it’s not near the cost of re-siding or putting stone on your home or new windows. It’s a fairly straightforward process, and it makes a huge architectural change to the home if you choose to do something bold. And I think statistically, replacing the garage door is one of the best returns on investment that you can get on a home.” Finck said darker colors, including black and darker woodgrain looks, are very popular right now. “The woodgrain colors keep evolving as far as your choices and panel styles,” he said. “Twenty years ago, your choice was white or brown, and do you want the small squares or the long rectangles? There’s probably close to 20 colors between the different manufacturers, along with custom painting and all of the different panel styles and window options. “There’s always new colors coming,” he continued. “The woodgrains, they were fairly blah and repetitive to begin with, but it was new and that’s all there was. And then the manufacturers do a lot of market research.” He said black has become more popular over the last three or four years, as white siding with black features has been trending with new builds. Finck said he sees that trend continuing for the foreseeable future. “And some people are adamant they don’t want black,” he said. “But there’s other dark colors – slate and charcoal. It’s just what you’re trying to aesthetically do with everything else, what stone color or siding or brick, or whatever particular aesthetic you’re going with.” The market has been trending away from earthtones, which were frequently seen in the 1990s and early 2000s, when tan brick and siding were more popular. Still, that look hasn’t gone completely away. “A lot of people still say, I’ll take exactly what I have. I just need better insulation and something that’s not 25 years old,” said Finck. “We can do that, too.” With new options emerging, Finck said AI is one tool that homeowners have turned to in order to make decisions. The Raynor Door website features a Design Center tool where customers can upload a photo of their home and try out different doors to get an idea of what the final product will look like.  But not all decision-making tools are so high-tech. Sometimes, if a customer feels overwhelmed, Finck recommends they just look around their own neighborhood to see what appeals to them. “Snap a few pictures and send them over to us, go on Pinterest or Instagram and just find some ideas. And then we can kind of steer you in the right direction.” The company is also seeing some new trends as newer construction emerges in the area, particularly taller garage areas that are used for more than just parking a car. That includes basketball courts, golf simulators, camper garages and garages with car lifts. For projects like that, “It’s easiest if we get involved right away and figure it out,” said Finck. “And it’s far cheaper to order right the first time.” Regardless of what door customers ultimately choose, Finck said one of the most important factors to consider is sufficient insulation. Although many new builds feature climate-controlled garages now, hot and cold air still can escape in and out of the house, and an insulated garage door can reduce heating and cooling costs. “I would say a vast majority of our customers choose an insulated door, and even a better insulated door than what would be standard,” said Finck. “There’s not a huge discrepancy in the insulation cost.” Maintenance Finck said there’s not really an “average” lifespan for a garage door. It all depends on how much the door is used. “They’re typically rated for about 10,000 life cycles, but that means something completely different to everyone,” he said. “If you’re using that as a walk door, coming in and out; you have kids that are getting bikes out; you’re taking trash out that way; and that is your main way in and out, you could run the door 15 times per day. It adds up over time. Whereas somebody might have a small, single door where they just park a lawnmower. They might only open that once a week. The set of springs on that door might last 15 years. Compared to the other person – theirs might only last two or three.” A new garage door is also a relatively low-maintenance improvement. “It’s not staining your deck every May,” said Finck. “There are small things you have to do as far as oiling and adjusting that either you can do or have a professional do. Most people don’t think about their garage door until it’s broken.” There are a few things homeowners can do to maintain their own garage doors, such as ensuring hinges are lubricated, and checking to make sure the door’s photo eyes are aligned. But for the most part, Finck recommends people leave repairs to the professionals. “There’s a lot of things that are dangerous. Cables, springs, are dangerous. I don’t recommend any homeowner tackle those unless they have formidable mechanical knowledge, and even then, it’s dangerous.” Picking out your next door Raynor Door has been in business since 1997 and is locally owned and operated. In addition to the website, Raynor Door also has a showroom at its headquarters at 2370 West Lake Boulevard in Davenport. The company primarily stocks Raynor brand doors, which are made at a facility in Dixon, Ill. Raynor Door is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit raynorqc.com. The website includes a contact form, or customers can call 563-391-9566 to arrange for an appointment or a service call.

Tips for winterizing your home

It's not uncommon to spend a lot of time out of the house when the weather outside is warm. The popularity of outdoor living spaces has made it easier than ever to enjoy nature without leaving home, which can generally be done from late spring to mid-fall each year in many regions. But as fall creeps toward winter and temperatures drop, it's time to head back indoors. As millions prepare to go back inside with winter approaching, it can be beneficial to winterize a home so interior spaces are more comfortable and exterior spaces are better able to withstand potentially harsh winter weather. · Check your carbon monoxide detectors. Fall is a great season to open the windows in many regions that feature prototypical autumn air. But the crisp air of fall will eventually give way to much colder air, at which time the windows will be closed and likely remain shut for months to come. The Minnesota Department of Health notes that carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that cannot be detected by the senses. When windows remain closed for long periods of time, such as in winter, the buildup of CO, which can come from sources like water heaters, gas stoves, fireplaces, and clothes dryers, can poison residents over time. CO detectors are a safety net against such a fate, but they must be operating at peak capacity in order to be effective. As fall winds down, check all CO detectors to make sure they're working properly and replace any that are not. · Check for drafts. Check around windows and doors throughout the home to see if there are any gaps that are allowing air from outside to enter the home. If daytime temperatures are mild well into the fall, then it can be difficult to see if there are any drafts before the sun goes down. Conduct this check in the evenings when temperatures are a little more chilly and leaks are easier to detect. If drafts are detected, apply weather stripping around doors and windows that do not require replacement. If there's drafts around aging windows and doors, consider replacing them. · Call a chimney sweeping service. Cozying up beside a fire can make anyone forget the cold weather outside. But fireplaces should be subjected to a thorough cleaning by a skilled professional before each winter. Animals might have nested in the chimney since the fireplace was last used, and you will want any nests cleared prior to lighting your first fire of the season. In addition, the tar-like substance creosote, which forms when wood is burned in a fireplace, can build up and harden over time. That's a dangerous prospect, as creosote is highly flammable, which can lead to chimney fires. Creosote also can block the flow of air through a chimney, and that can trap gasses, including CO, in a home. · Reverse your fans. It's a simple step but one people may not even realize they can make. In homes with ceiling fans, residents can reverse the fans so the blades spin clockwise. This simple step pushes trapped warm air hovering around the ceiling into the living space below. This can make home interiors warmer without requiring residents to turn up the thermostat and increase their energy bill. · Replace your HVAC air filter. Replacing the air filter on your HVAC prior to winter can make the unit operate more efficiently, which can help reduce your wintertime energy bill. Replacing the filter also improves indoor air quality. which is a notable benefit during a time of year when the windows typically remain closed for months.  

Should you insulate your pipes this winter?

Homeowners want to do everything they can to protect their investment, and that includes both renovating a property to reflect recent trends and keeping up with routine maintenance to ensure a home does not fall into a state of disrepair. Anticipating potential issues and planning for them is part of maintaining a home. Such anticipation is an acquired skill, but homeowners can use the experience of others to identify ways to prevent home-related issues before they arise. One issue homeowners may want to plan for is frozen pipes. The winter of 2025-2026 was notably cold. According to AccuWeather, the La Niña weather pattern was a driving force behind a particularly cold winter in various parts of the United States, including the northeast, midwest and mid-Atlantic regions. Temperatures in those regions were 10° to 15° F below normal, which AccuWeather notes laid the foundation for the most severe and frigid winter in nearly a decade. The extreme cold that characterized the winter of 2025-2026 forced some homeowners to confront issues they had not anticipated, including frozen pipes. Pipe insulation is an important part of home maintenance that some homeowners may not have been aware of as recently as early 2026, but the following are some notable reasons to add this to your home-related to-do list before winter returns. · Insulation prevents pipes from freezing. Frozen water inside pipes can start what's essentially a chain reaction that can cause pipes to expand. When pipes expand, the resulting pressure can cause them to burst. By insulating pipes, homeowners can prevent them from freezing. Insulating pipes that are already behind a wall is not a simple job, so it's best left to a professional. But pipes that are along exterior walls should be insulated to ensure they do not freeze when temperatures drop and remain low. Pipes in attics, basements and crawl spaces may be exposed, and homeowners may be able to insulate these on their own, though novices might still want to leave this important job to a professional. · Insulating pipes can save you money. The United States Department of Energy reports that insulating hot water pipes is a notable way to save energy and money. According to the DOE, insulating water pipes reduces heat loss and can raise water temperature by as much as 2° to 4° F. That allows homeowners to lower the temperature setting on their water heaters, which saves money. Insulating pipes also reduces the time it takes for water to warm up when turning on a faucet or shower, which in turn leads to less water consumption and lower water bills. · Insulation can reduce the risk of mold growth. Winter is not the only time of year it pays to have insulated pipes. According to the insulation experts at Aeroflex®, pipes are subject to mold growth. That can happen when pipes sweat in humid climates (think of a water bottle left out in the hot sun). The resulting condensation from sweating pipes can drip and lead to the growth of mold in surrounding areas, including within the walls. Mold growth in a home has been linked to various negative health outcomes, including respiratory issues. But insulation prevents the condensation that can lead to mold growth. · Insulation is inexpensive. Homeowners who have grown accustomed to costly repairs and renovations should know that insulating pipes, particularly exposed pipes, is an inexpensive project. While it will cost more to insulate pipes within walls due to the extra work required to access such areas and address them once insulation has been installed, insulating those pipes, especially if they're along exterior walls, can greatly reduce the risk for potentially costly damage down the road. Insulating pipes is a worthwhile undertaking for all homeowners, and can be particularly beneficial for those who live in areas with extreme weather in winter and summer.

NSP wins 13 National Newspaper Awards

The North Scott Press received 13 awards in the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, including four first-place awards. Work judged was for calendar year 2025. The NSP’s awards included: First place in Best Headline Writing (Daily & non-daily, circulation less than 5,000). Judge’s comments: “By and large the headlines in this category were solid, non-sensationalist headlines. The difference came with the specialty headlines that were clever without being ‘punny.’ I loved ‘A Cup of Ambition.’” First place in Best Review (Daily & non-daily) for Erin M. Gentz’s “Countryside’s ‘Hairspray’ is an absolute must-see.” Judge’s comments: “Great review of show with deep dive into characters.” First place for Best Performing Arts story (Daily & non-daily, circulation less than 5,000) for Erin M. Gentz’s “Broadway bound,” about Natalie Sierk and her experience at the Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards. Judge’s comments: “In depth story about not only the recipient, but the program, the scholarships and more. Excellent use of details and provision of information.” First place for Best Sports Story (Non-daily, circulation 4,000-5,999) for Ross Shinberg’s “Spartan Stunner!” about the North Scott volleyball team’s five-set win over Pleasant Valley. Judge’s comments: “Absolutely incredible intro that immediately pulled me in! Fantastic quotes throughout.” Second place in Best Feature Photo (Non-daily, circulation 4,000-5,999) for Noah Glasgow’s photo of Little Miss Pigtail Brenna Brown. Judge’s comments: “Great feature photo for the assignment! Nice close up portrait, with the little piglets included! Not too busy, which made for a great cover image. Another winner for photography and thinking to design. Congratulations on 2nd place!” Third place in Best Reporting on Local Government (Non-daily, circulation 4,000-5,999) for Noah Glasgow’s article, “Supervisors stall power plant.” Judge’s comments: “Excellent reporting, analysis of a complicated story with complicated components of government, ecology, energy and, yes, politics. Top-notch writing and storytelling; a smooth read doesn't slow itself down with government-speak or bureaucrat-ese.” Third place for Best Humorous Column (Daily & non-daily, circulation less than 5,000) for editor Erin M. Gentz’ s column “Women’s empowerment highlights first week as solo editor.” Judge’s comments: “Great take and excellent writing.” Third place for General Excellence (Non-daily, circulation 3,000-5,999). Judge’s comments: “Excellent coverage of local issue with well-written stories. Layout and overall design are good but some pages are too gray (needed some photos/art). Local school and parents must love this paper because of coverage. Excellent photos (more needed). Several tough issues were covered that opened doors to strong local opinions, but those were lacking on the 3 issues submitted.” Third place for Best Sports Photo (circulation 3,000-4,999) for Ross Shinberg’s photo of Brian Schubert at the state volleyball tournament. Judge’s comments: “Nothing beats the excitement of a coach revving up the crowd AND his team. What really makes this photo pop are the expressions of the players around him.” Third place for Best Agricultural Story (Daily & non-daily, circulation less than 6,000) for Noah Glasgow’s “The Pork Kingdom.” Judge’s comments: “Loved my visit to ‘Pork Kingdom’ led by Noah Glasgow. Engaging, fun ‘Pork Queen’ history up front followed by serious industry news. I’ll think about this story when I’m walking on a sidewalk. (If you know, you know).” Third place for Best Non-Profile Feature Story (Non-daily, circulation 4,000-5,999) for Erin M. Gentz’s “North Scott’s ‘dream house’ opens,” about the Regional Innovation Center. Judge’s comments: “This story could have been much shorter — BUT I am thankful that it was not. Well done.” Third place in Best Performing Arts Story (Daily & non-daily, circulation less than 5,000) for Erin M. Gentz’s “NS orchestra’s first symphony.” Judge’s comments: “Well written piece showing the hard work put into the program as well as what those who participate in said program get out of it. Nice job.” Honorable mention in Best Local News Coverage (Daily & non-daily, circulation 3,000-5,999). Judge’s comments: “Main story: top of fold. Put the meaty articles on the first 4 to 5 pages. Opinion page and good sports. Page one. Hall of Fame is an important community article.” The National Newspaper Association’s 140th annual Trade Show and Convention was held Sept. 17-18 in Detroit, Mich.  

Empower House prepares for annual Spooktacular 5K

Empower House is gearing up for its biggest fundraiser of the year, the Spooktacular 5K, supporting brain injury awareness.

A good lunch for a good price

Flannery O’Connor said that a good man is hard to find. In Eldridge, a cheap lunch is hard to find. Usually I pack my own, but when I am low on groceries or late leaving the house, I go out and buy something. Usually I want to spend my dollar somewhere local: put what comes out of Eldridge back in Eldridge. For a while I was picking up pizza from Hall of Fame on LeClaire Road. They had a slice deal at lunchtime that couldn’t be beat, but they wound it down sometime in the last few months. The Vault, located immediately behind the North Scott Press office, is old faithful. I often head there for a coffee instead of setting up a pot to brew, especially when the office is light on staff. Sometimes I tack a panini onto the coffee order at lunchtime. Much to my delight, there is a new lunch option now in town: Frank’s Hot Chicken and Smash Burger. Who is Frank? No idea, but he’s got good prices on good eats. A restaurant with the same name and, as far as I can tell, the exact same menu, opened in Iowa City in June. The best thing about Frank’s Hot Chicken and Smash Burger is the prices. With tax, my hot chicken sandwich with fries and a drink was $10 even. I added a tip. The pile of fries was generous and the drink 24 oz., Pepsi products. The sandwich was two large chicken tenders, dusted in a dry rub, served on top of a bun and coleslaw, and drizzled with “special” sauce. The sandwich is tasty, even if it was a far cry from “hot.” Not that it was cold —it was perfectly warm to the touch—it just wasn’t very spicy. Next time I will have to crank my order up to “superhot,” which is also an option. This is my sixth year in the Midwest and I still expect “hot” food to be, well, hot. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… The fries, tenders, coleslaw and so on are standard fare, but Frank’s is not demanding artisanal prices. In fact they’re not even asking fast food franchise prices: try getting a large meal at a fast food joint for $10 these days. You can’t. And Frank’s burger is a whole dollar cheaper, too. You can add various specialty toppings to your burger (cheese, bacon) or your chicken sandwich (honey butter, hot honey) for a dollar or two. Not so bad. The Eldridge crowds seem to have caught on to Frank’s. I popped in for lunch around noon and asked the owner if she had a moment to talk, but there was a steady stream of customers behind me. Some of them took their lunch back to work or the job site; others sat down to enjoy. You order at the counter and help yourself to a seat, fast-food style.  If you’ve heard about hot chicken and smash burgers and TikTok, well, it’s come to Eldridge. Frank’s may not be revolutionizing lunch, but it’s serving it well at good prices.

1976: Roy Keppy named 'Farmers for Ford' national leader

Sept. 23, 1976 • Eldridge farmer Roy Keppy was named the national chair of the Farmers for Ford Committee of Gerald Ford’s presidential campaign. Keppy personally met with Ford, as well as representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “It was a real thrill to meet the president,” said Keppy. “He was real easy to visit with. He really impressed me … I’m honored to be asked to assist in the election of President Ford.” Keppy, a nationally known pork producer, was recruited for the position by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. • Following a study conducted by Insurance Services of Iowa, the Eldridge Fire Department’s fire rating improved from seven to six, which would result in lower home insurance premiums for residents. The ISI said the rating increase was due to improvements to the town’s water system and the department’s purchase of a new pumper truck. The ISI fire ratings were on a scale of one to 10, with one being the best. A spokesman said the lowest currently held by any fire department in the state was three. The new rating put Eldridge in league with communities such as Davenport, Maquoketa and Tipton. • A dedication service was planned for the new sanctuary for Our Savior Presbyterian Church in Argo. The service would begin at the old Argo Presbyterian Church and move to the new building, which began construction in the fall of 1975. It featured sanctuary seating for 200, six classrooms, a kitchen, fellowship hall, and other church offices, including a pastor’s study and a secretary’s office. Our Savior was formed in 1971 when the Argo church and the Summit Presbyterian Church in rural Davenport combined. • Dr. Marvin Elliott was reelected chair of the North Scott School Board at the annual reorganizational meeting. Bob Carter was also reelected as vice-chair. The pair had recently been reelected in the uncontested school board election. • The North Scott volleyball team was currently ranked 18th in the state. They managed a “rugged” schedule for the week, defeating Camanche and Northeast before falling to Davenport Central. They also placed third at their own invitational. Gwen Tombergs was named “Player of the Week.” Sept. 24, 1986 • The race for Scott County Attorney was heating up, as Republican challenger Dave Millage accused Democratic incumbent William Davis of expanding the budget from $248,000 to $966,000 since 1978, a 300% increase. Davis countered by saying that many of the increased expenses were new state-mandated services required to be included in the budget. He said without those new expenses, the budget would have only increased by 64% over the same period. • The City of Eldridge committed funding to the city’s Economic Development Commission, as the committee moved towards attracting two potential new businesses to the community. One company could bring 52 jobs to the area; the other 17. • The North Scott School Board voted to spend just over $5,200 to hire an architect to provide preliminary plans for an indoor swimming pool and some remodeling at the high school, including moving the band and choir rooms to a new area. The architect, Richard Johnson, said it would take approximately 60 days to provide the drawings and other information, at which time the school board could decide whether to move forward with a bond referendum for the project. • Jenni Fitzgerald was named first-team all-state for softball, while Pam Leslie was a second team selection. Fitzgerald, now a freshman at Drake University, was also runner-up for Player of the Year, losing out to Davenport West’s Jodee Ogden by two votes. • The North Scott boys’ golf team set a school record for most wins in a season and were currently sitting on a 9-5 record. The team nipped Davenport North, 207-209, with Mike Schneckloth leading the way with a 40. They also beat Davenport Central and Western Dubuque in a triangular meet. “You know, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year,” said coach John McQuary.  Sept. 26, 2001 • Despite rumors sweeping through the community to the contrary, Steve Grolmus said plans for the new North Scott Foods store in Eldridge were still on track. A groundbreaking had tentatively been planned for August, but never took place, which led to the rumors. Grolmus said the initial bids for the project had been high and he and his investors were rebidding. There had also been a rumor that Mel Foster “pulled the land out from under us,” which Grolmus said wasn’t true, either. • With a bond referendum on the November ballot, the Eldridge Family Aquatic Center committee was launching an informational campaign to ensure voters were informed on the issues. The city was seeking the $3 million referendum for an outdoor swimming facility to be built on Buttermilk Road. The committee planned an informational meeting at the high school and planned to mail brochures to every household in Eldridge. • Rex Masterson was elected the new chair of the North Scott School Board, succeeding Jack Hill, who had served as chair for the last three years. Masterson had previously served as chair for eight of his 19 years on the board. Jerry Mohr was elected vice-chair. • An era was coming to an end in Walcott, as Billie Warnecke moved to close the Walcott Store. The store had been in the Warnecke family since the late 1930s, although the building was constructed in 1875. Billie and her husband Al took over the store in 1962 and all eight of their children, as well as some of their grandchildren, had worked in the store at one time or another. Al passed away eight years earlier and Billie had been running the store since then. She and the Walcott Economic Development Committee had tried to find a new buyer for the store, to no avail. Now, she was slowly selling down the store’s inventory as she moved towards closing. • Sarah Anderson and Mike Farley were crowned North Scott’s Homecoming royalty. As they walked the parade route, members of the football team collected funds that would be used to support the families of first responders to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. As for the game itself, the team narrowly missed out on upsetting No. 2 Bettendorf, falling 21-20. Sept. 28, 2011 • The Scott Emergency Communications Center was working through some growing pains as staff adjusted to a new software system. The $2.7 million system was adopted in the spring and was supposed to improve communication between jurisdictions. However, many problems persisted, including software glitches and connectivity issues. Although the SECC encouraged area departments to remain patient, that was running in short supply. “We will get there as a group,” said SECC director Brian Hitchcock. “Failure is not an option.”  • The Scott County Library launched a campaign to replace the aging Bookmobile, with Bill and Linda Tubbs donating a $50,000 lead gift. With the total project expected to cost about $330,000, the library would also be announcing $54,000 in additional lead gifts at an open house. The 15-year-old Bookmobile was reaching its end of life, and the new vehicle would feature ADA compliance, an onboard generator, heating and air conditioning, and computers that would be accessible to the public. • Joe Slater was elected chair of the North Scott School Board following the recent electoral shakeup. Outgoing members Sue Cannon, Krista Long and Tim Lane were honored with a cake reception as new members John Maxwell, Dennis Albertson and Joni Dittmer, and reelected incumbent Paul Dierickx were sworn in. Albertson was subsequently elected vice-chair. • North Scott area residents were lovin’ it as McDonald’s officially opened in Eldridge. The restaurant, which had been announced in the winter of 2009, celebrated with a ribbon cutting and donations to several organizations, including the North Scott Athletic, Music and Drama Boosters. On the first day, about a dozen people lined up outside and at the drive-thru in anticipation of the 5 a.m. opening. • North Scott’s “Beat Bettendorf” week yielded mixed results, as the football team fell 28-3 to the Bulldogs. However, the volleyball team picked up its first win against the Bulldogs since 1995 in a come-from-behind five-set thriller. “This was a really big game,” said senior Kerri Golinghorst. “Our goal is to win the MAC, and in order to do that, we had to have this game.” Meanwhile, at the MAC golf meet, Bobby Wolfe reigned supreme, carding a 148 to be named meet medalist. As a team, the boys rallied on Day Two to take fourth at the tournament. Sept. 22, 2021 • As the Amazon Distribution Center took shape in northwest Davenport, discussion was starting at the county level about additional development on farm ground. “There is a lot of demand and a lot of momentum right now,” said Roy Wennelund, sales representative for the Greater Davenport Development Commission, which owned the industrial park where Amazon was to be located. “We look at Amazon as a real selling point, too. We have a message to sell.” Scott County supervisors encouraged partnerships with smaller communities in the area, and also wanted to look at revitalizing old industrial centers, including the former Kraft plant in downtown Davenport.  • Scott County medical director Dr. Louis Katz expressed concerns about the spread of new variants of COVID, and asked schools to consider asking students to mask. “Maskless kids in schools, I find real scary,” he said, adding the exposure risk was high. He said he had already spoken with several area school board members, who had a wide variety of opinions, and the Davenport School Board recently voted to require masks in the classroom. • Eldridge native Beth Bader was set to be inducted into the Iowa Golf Association’s Hall of Fame. She had been scheduled to be inducted in 2020 until the pandemic forced the cancellation of the ceremony. Bader played on the LPGA tour for more than a decade, where she competed in 26 major tournaments. • Members of North Scott’s Homecoming Court included Mackenzie Bohr, Elly Carlson, Riley Collins, Ella McLaughlin and Kylie McCabe, and Tyson Haedt, Ollie Hughes, Ryan Campbell, Dane Treiber and Trey Fedderson. • The North Scott football team thrashed Cedar Rapids Xaivier, 20-8, in the non-district finale. The team moved into district play with a 4-0 record. “We knew going in that this was going to be a tough hitting football game,” said senior Ryan Campbell. “They are a powerhouse in the state of Iowa, and it’s always nice to come into someone else’s place and beat them.” Grayson Juel threw three touchdown passes, including one to Jakub Nelson on the game’s opening drive.    

Weighing fire department options yields clear winner

Let’s compare the two Fire Department proposals. The fire department is already operational. It has been a cost-effective solution for years. The members are highly trained and experienced and dedicated to serving Eldridge. There is some funding already approved to tackle the priority of completing the upstairs of the fire station so they can begin recruiting volunteers from outside the Eldridge community. There are no major governmental, liability, legal, or oversight complications with continuing to fund the EVFC. The city’s proposal demonstrates a rush to an option that is costly and complicated. The city is insistent on a 28E agreement which is not required, and which would involve establishing another governmental public body entity with all of its requirements, complications, and costly legal bills for a one-year time frame. That’s a lot of money to be expended and will provide no future value after the transition even IF the City is successful in establishing a municipal fire department. It is an absolutely unsustainable solution that benefits, not the residents, but the egos of some elected representatives and the pocketbook of the city attorney. The city’s time frame is not even realistic as negotiations have been ongoing for 15 months. How long would it even take to negotiate a 28E agreement? But the city continues to push this option as the ONLY option which it is not. Funding the volunteer fire department makes the most sense and could bring this fiasco created by the city to an end. Judith Gilbert Eldridge

Road, bridge closures ahead of Quad Cities Marathon

The 29th TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon weekend of events will take place Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27th. Holding the races means road closures and traffic adjustments in the Quad Cities starting Friday, September 25th. Click here for detailed maps of the race routes and the most up to date race information. Race [...]

Experts in AI sounding the alarm

I was going to write an article about Trump’s absurd $5,000 dividend check for every adult if the House and Senate remain in his clutches. Cost: $1.3 trillion. How this cannot be illegal, I don’t know. But much more pressing is the realization that experts in AI are sounding the alarm. AI could kill us all within the decade without significant roadblocks. I don’t know what to think, but it scares the hell out of me to think it could happen. Trump says it’s all a hoax. Much like climate change (only much more dire). Trump is a man with very little imagination. He is governed by a short list of "Yes" people who whisper sweet nothings in his ear, shaping his viewpoint. Along with his own thoughts, he becomes even more dangerous. There is very little that could surprise me from Trump. AI is out of the bottle, and the genie is not friendly. John DuFloth Eldridge

Health risks posed by power plant proposal

Data centers are a point of community discussion nationwide. While they are important for AI, cloud storage, surveillance and other computing, data and internet-based activities, they can stress community water and electricity supplies. This can lead to increases in electricity and water costs for residents, while the data centers receive tax breaks from state governments. Data centers depend on development of new power generation sources, such as CIPCO’s proposed Hickory Grove natural gas peaker plant just five miles west of Eldridge, three miles south of Donahue, and one mile east of Maysville. These types of power plants produce more pollution per unit of energy generated than baseline gas plants, and certainly more than renewable energy like wind, solar and battery. CIPCO also purchased two additional farms between Walcott and Eldridge for unknown purposes (data centers?). Gas plants pollute the air with nitrogen oxides (leading to ozone), particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. The pollutants are harmful to our health and worsen conditions like heart disease and asthma, while increasing the risk of premature death. Concerns exist for loss of prime farmland, noise and light pollution, and invigorating the greenhouse effect, resulting in the increasing likelihood of extreme weather events. Moreover, these plants cost more than renewables, a cost that would be passed on to us. Be aware and informed as to what is going on in the area and consider how this will affect your family and friends and impact the North Scott community. Ray Wolf Eldridge

Gonna Be Gonna Be Golden

The entire North Scott girls’ tennis season built toward a pair of days like these. At the Mississippi Athletic Conference tournament last Wednesday and Thursday, the Lancers had their best tournament in program history. A runner-up team finish, wins in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles brackets, and every Lancer playing in two medal matches helped deliver results on momentum accumulated since the first week of August. “This was the first time that I know of that we returned every player in every bracket. I am so proud of how hard every girl has worked during this season and summer, and I was so proud of the entire team for getting second overall at the conference tournament,” Lancer coach Emily Jepsen said. “Day two was tough for everyone, and things didn’t go everyone’s way in their final matches, but overall, it was a successful day as a team.” Senior Maddy Jepsen and freshman Claire Jepsen have led the Lancers all season, and last week was no different. Maddy won the No. 1 singles bracket for the second year in a row, and she and Claire won the No. 1 doubles championship, continuing their unbeaten run together. The doubles match was the duo’s biggest test of the season. They played the Pleasant Valley team of Kaj Kabongo and Grace Hall, who placed fourth at the Class 2A state tournament last fall. North Scott won the first set, 6-3. But the Lancers dropped their first set of the entire season, 4-6, in the second. After initially going down 2-4 in the first-to-10 match tiebreaker, the Jepsen sisters rattled off eight points in a row to run away with the championship. Each of the final eight points was either a Pleasant Valley double fault or an unforced error. “I think we were just playing the points,” Claire said on the tiebreaker strategy. “It was good that we stayed together when we went down in the tiebreaker.” Her mother agreed. “During the second set, we lost some crucial points. I was nervous about the tiebreaker knowing that PV was feeling good after winning the second set,” Emily said. “Maddy and Claire stuck together during the tiebreaker and didn’t get down on themselves or each other, and they were able to pull out a big win with some great play from both of them.” This marks Maddy’s second MAC championship at No. 1 doubles. She won with Olive Khoury in the 2025 spring season. Maddy went back to work in the No. 1 singles final 30 minutes later. It was the same opponent as last year: Pleasant Valley’s Kaj Kabongo. While the result was the same — a straight-sets win — it was anything but straightforward. Jepsen led 6-1, 3-1, 40-30, but had to pause the match after her right leg cramped to the point of immobilizing her. She was granted a 15-minute medical timeout — and was close to pulling the plug. “It was bad. As soon as the game started at 3-1, I could feel my entire leg tensing up, and I couldn’t walk on it. It hurt really bad,” Maddy said. “It was hard on my forehand because I couldn’t bend my knee as much. It started spreading around as each point kept going. It was difficult to cramp, and it got to a point where I was ready to withdraw. I was really close. I decided to keep playing; I’m happy for the help I got.” With North Scott athletic trainer Tim Block needing to make his way over to the tennis courts from football practice, time was of the essence. “I was very worried at first. I was down coaching Claire and Tori (Samara) at their singles matches, and (assistant coach) Mike (Jepsen) calls me because Maddy is hurting,” Emily recalled. “Visibly, you could tell she was struggling with her legs due to the cramping, which she hasn’t experienced before. “I am so thankful that Darren Campbell came and helped her during that timeout, along with our athletic trainer. During a tennis match, you only get a certain amount of time to get any medical treatment. So, every minute was crucial. There was a very good chance she was going to withdraw because she could not use her leg due to the extreme cramping, and that would have been devastating because she was cruising in that match and deserved the win.” The parents of teammate Sloan Varner helped by making a pit stop for pickles. Adding Gatorade and quick physical therapy to the concoction got Maddy back into a position to continue playing. “I’ve eaten more pickles in the past 20 minutes than I probably have in my life,” Maddy joked. “I took so many shots of pickle juice, it was crazy. It was a lot, but I’m happy it got me through. I wanted to finish that match.” Jepsen closed that game out to get to 4-1, but Kabongo won the next two games as the Lancer senior’s mobility worsened. Jepsen battened down the hatches and stopped the slide, holding to 15 for 5-3. Then, she broke Kabongo to clinch the win. “Watching Maddy finish that match showed so much grit, strength and determination,” Emily said. “The crowd providing her with a lot of energy throughout was so important as well. Tennis meets aren’t typically loud, but that singles match definitely provided a different environment than what we are used to, and it was so helpful to have the crowd behind her.” The Jepsen sisters were the headliners, with Claire also getting third place at No. 2 singles. But all six Lancers contributed to North Scott’s 16.5 team points, which were two more than third-place Clinton (14.5) but shy of Pleasant Valley (24). Varner and sophomore Kelsey Clayton each walked away with a pair of silver medals. Clayton placed second at No. 5 singles, Varner placed second at No. 6 singles, and they paired together to be runners-up at No. 3 doubles. Seniors Victoria Samara and Ava Pins both made it to day two in singles and doubles. Samara placed fourth at No. 3 singles, Pins placed fourth at No. 4 singles, and they joined forces for a fourth-place finish at No. 2 doubles. “It’s been really fun getting to have this success at MAC. My freshman and sophomore years, we didn’t have as many returners,” Maddy said. “It’s good to have the whole team back and everyone being competitive with all these other teams. It’s really good because it shows all the work we put in.” “I think our team did really well considering we all made it to the second day, doubles and singles,” Claire added. “All of our players have confidence knowing they’ve beaten some players they lost to earlier in the season.” This tournament validated North Scott’s standing in not just the MAC, but in Class 2A. On Friday, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union rewarded the Lancers with a first-round bye in the team regional competition. North Scott will face the winner of Bettendorf and Davenport North in the semifinals on Sept. 30 at home. Then, the Lancers will need their biggest upset in program history to get past the 2A No. 7 Spartans in the top half of the bracket. North Scott will start that process by first trying to qualify as individuals for state. This year they must schlep up to Linn-Mar on Wednesday, where they will see the ninth-ranked host Lions, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Davenport North, and Dubuque Hempstead.

McFaddens celebrate golden anniversary Sept. 11

One former Wilton couple recently celebrated their golden anniversary and their unwavering love that has stood the test of time. Duff and Janet (nee Moeller) McFadden, of Johnston recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married Sept. 11, 1976, at Wilton’s Zion Lutheran Church by Pastor Garth Baker. Duff is a retired Army first sergeant, following 37 years of military service, and Jan currently works for the Iowa PBS foundation, and plans to retire in December, after 24-plus years. The couple have lived in San Diego, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; and Olympia, Wash., as part of his military service. They have lived in the Johnston area since 1998. Duff is a 1975 Wilton graduate, and Janet, a 1976 grad. They have two sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. “We are grateful for the love and support of our family and friends throughout the years,” the couple said.

Obituary: Patricia Hansen

Funeral services for Patricia Hansen, 89, of Eldridge, were held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at Cornerstone Church, Eldridge. A private family inurnment took place at the Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island. Family greeted friends on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to service time at the church. Patricia passed away on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Grand Haven Retirement Community Center, Eldridge. Patricia E. Moats was born on June 27, 1937, in Auburn, Ill., the daughter of Wilbur and Margarette (Pierce) Moats. She married Wayne R. Swearinger in Auburn on May 22, 1955; he preceded her in death in 1996.  She then married Wayne Hansen in Park View on Feb. 20, 1999. She worked at Mehta Tech, Eldridge, for over 30 years, retiring in 2002. She was a member of Cornerstone Church, Eldridge. She enjoyed quilting, Facebooking, spending time with family and friends. In her early years she enjoyed bowling and traveling. Those left to honor her memory is her husband, Wayne, of Eldridge, daughters, Catherine (Gary) Wood, Regina Woodard, step-daughter, Brenda Hansen, grandchildren, Rebekah (Wesley) Doering, Dana (Jessica) White, Jillian (Dave) Charlson, Devin (Crystal) White, Jack Tyler Woodard, great-grandchildren, Lucas, Kennedy, Ethan, Norah, Liam, Archer, Claire, Deacon and Max, a brother, Charles “Mike” Moats and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, sisters, Margarette Davis, Joann Moore, brothers, Wilbur “Sonny” Moats, Jerry Moats and Jesse Moats and son-in-law, Jack Woodard. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Cornerstone Church, Eldridge, and Empowering Abilities (HDC), Davenport. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.McGinnis-Chambers.com.   Custom obituary

Obituary: Beverly McCreary

Funeral Services and Mass of Christian Burial for Beverly “Bev” McCreary, 90, of Davenport, were held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, Davenport. Burial will be at National Cemetery, Rock Island Arsenal.  Visitation was from 9 a.m. until time of services at the church.  Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association or the church. Beverly died Monday Sept. 14, 2026, at MercyOne Genesis East, Davenport.  Arrangements entrusted to Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport. Beverly B. Gaudette was born on Sept. 12, 1936, in Amery, Wis., to Roy and Ann (Waldbillig) Gaudette.  She was united in marriage to James F. “Mac” McCreary on April 4, 1959, in Amery.  They celebrated 53 years of marriage at the time of his passing in 2012. Bev and James moved to Davenport in 1961 and were charter members of Our Lady of Victory, where she also enjoyed Bible study.  She began working at the former Montgomery Wards at Northpark Mall in 1974, continuing until its closure. She enjoyed walking the mall, playing cards, and traveling with her husband. As a member of the Chord Jewels, the wives organization of the Chordbusters, she helped with makeup, costumes, and sewing quilts for children in need. A talented seamstress, she made her children’s clothing when they were young. Survivors include her daughter Colleen (Bruce) Schwarz, Long Grove; sons Michael (Julie) McCreary, Davenport, Scott McCreary, Blue Grass; grandchildren Ashley (Mark) Abdon, Zach (Lindsey) Schwarz, Kasey (Cody) Driscoll, Molly (Joe) Tafta, Emma McCreary, Erika (Mackenzie Ruddy) McCreary, Noah McCreary, Adam (Kendra) Simpson, and Ryan (Kenzie) Simpson; great grandchildren Elijah, Aviana, Pete, Ada, Luke, Kennedy, Kinsley, Brynlee, Benny, and Juliet. Additionally, she was preceded in death by her sister Shirley Jones, brothers LeRoy and Duane “Dewey” Gaudette, daughter-in-law Laurel McCreary, and several step-siblings. The family extends their sincere thanks to the dedicated caregivers at Home Instead and the clinical staff at MercyOne Genesis East Medical Center for the professional care and comfort they provided. Online remembrances may be expressed by visiting www.hmdfuneralhome.com.   Custom obituary

View the Scott County Sheriff's report from the Sept. 23 NSP!

THURSDAY, SEPT. 10 9:54 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of a one-vehicle accident near Cadda Road and 280th Street. A vehicle driven by Erin Elise Oswald Sodawasser-Hermiston, 37, Donahue, was west/northwest on Cadda Road. Sodawasser-Hermiston reportedly lost control of the vehicle, which went onto the gravel shoulder of the road. She reportedly overcorrected, causing the vehicle to strike the ditch. FRIDAY, SEPT. 11 1:18 a.m. — Alex Patrick Doeing, 26, no address given, was charged with possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) – 1st offense and persons ineligible to carry dangerous weapons, following a traffic stop in the 5200 block of Elmore Avenue, Davenport. 2:43 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 600 block of Belmont Road. 2:53 p.m. — Taejon Jamarion McFulson, 22, no address given, was charged with escape of a felon, interference with official acts and 5th degree criminal mischief, following a report of a disturbance in the 1200 block of East Rusholme Street, Davenport. 4:14 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 500 block of North Main Street. 9:12 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a juvenile problem in the 100 block of Crest View Drive. 9:15 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 900 block of Wisconsin Street. 11:51 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 8200 block of Northwest Boulevard. SATURDAY, SEPT. 12 10:16 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 200 block of Walker Way. 12:52 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury near West 65th Street and Veterans Memorial Parkway. 4:50 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 21800 block of 282nd Avenue. 5:45 p.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 500 block of North Cody Road. SUNDAY, SEPT. 13 12:27 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 1200 block of Bridge Avenue. 1:16 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 2000 block of West 2nd Street. 3:07 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury in the 1500 block of West Pleasant Street. 7:30 a.m. — Deputies performed a welfare check in the 700 block of West Iowa 80 Road. 10:20 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 31500 block of 57th Avenue. 11:38 a.m. — Deputies responded to a fraud complaint in the 11300 block of 140th Street. MONDAY, SEPT. 14 3:43 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 5000 block of North Elsie Avenue. 8:32 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 26200 block of Scott Park Road. 10:07 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a missing person in the 100 block of Crest View Drive. 1:29 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury near Harrison Street and West Central Park Avenue. 2:10 p.m. — Deputies responded to a drug complaint in the 600 block of Belmont Road. 3:03 p.m. — Deputies responded to a drug complaint in the 600 block of Belmont Road. 4:32 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 3400 block of Middle Road. 5:45 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 2700 block of Magnolia Drive. TUESDAY, SEPT. 15 5:05 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 700 block of West Iowa 80 Road. 6:19 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury. 6:31 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 11700 block of 70th Avenue. 7:59 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 27000 block of Bluff Road. 11:56 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 4700 block of Devils Glen Road. Noon — Deputies responded to a report of an abduction/kidnapping in the 2500 block of West Central Park Avenue. 3:56 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with hit-and-run damage in the 5600 block of Fenno Road, Riverdale. An unknown vehicle struck a legally parked vehicle and left the scene. 4:29 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an animal problem in the 19600 block of 244th Avenue. 7:32 p.m. — Deputies responded to a vandalism complaint in the 500 block of North Cody Road. 8:46 p.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 6600 block of Brady Street. 11:15 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 300 block of Meuse Court. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16 12:02 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 300 block of West 65th Street. 3:26 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 700 block of West Iowa 80 Road. 9:52 a.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 500 block of Ripley Street. 12:55 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an assault on Grove Road. 2:06 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury near Marquette and West 6th streets. 3:06 p.m. — Deputies performed a welfare check in the 1000 block of South Main Street. 3:08 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 5900 block of Elmore Avenue. 3:39 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of an assault on Grove Road. 7:43 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury. THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 2:22 a.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 100 block of West 35th Street. 2:42 a.m. — Deputies performed a welfare check near West Mayne and South Mississippi streets. 8:21 a.m. — Deputies performed a welfare check in the 1700 block of Winding Hill Road. 1:54 p.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with personal injury in the 500 block of Belmont Road. 3:01 p.m.  — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 100 block of Manor Drive. 4:12 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 100 block of North 8th Street. 4:25 p.m. — Deputies responded to a weapons complaint near Main and West 12th streets. 4:27 p.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 5800 block of Elmore Avenue. 5:11 p.m. — Deputies responded to a trespassing complaint in the 11600 block of 140th Street Place. 9:02 p.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance on Park Crest Circle. FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 12:37 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 1600 block of West Kimberly Road. 7:58 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 600 block of Belmont Road. 8:52 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a juvenile problem in the 14200 block of Kruse Avenue. 9:42 a.m. — Deputies responded to a vandalism complaint near 240th Street and 145th Avenue. 9:52 a.m. — Deputies responded to the scene of an accident with property damage in the 600 block of Belmont Road. 10:41 a.m. — Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 400 block of Main Street.

Vollbeer and Leverenz shine in the rain

The North Scott boys’ golf team continues to play at an elite level — the rare times it is allowed to play. For the third time already this season, the Lancer golf team had a meet canceled on them. Last Friday’s Muscatine Invitational at Geneva Golf & Country Club got axed for the second time this year without a single golfer hitting a ball. “We drove all the way to Muscatine. We warmed up. We were about to tee off, and then they got a bunch of lightning in the area,” Lancer coach Mike Wuertz said. “It rained for 45 minutes, and they decided to call it after we sat around for an hour. Then, we had to drive back to Eldridge through the storm.” The only disappointing part of this fall for the golf team has been the weather. Rain and thousand-degree temperatures have been causes for cancelations this season, preventing the team from getting into any kind of rhythm or routine. “It’s been frustrating. The boys like to play. The meets are what they love to play,” Wuertz said. “We’ve still been having all of our practices, but it’s been frustrating.” Even last Wednesday’s Bettendorf Invitational at Palmer Hills Golf Course saw raindrops keep falling on their heads. The Lancers did some talkin’ to the sun, and liked the way they got things done. North Scott finished as runners-up to Pleasant Valley in this 13-team tournament, 282 to 284. Lancer juniors Andrew Vollbeer and Luke Leverenz tied with Spartan junior Michael Koury for first place with matching 3-under 68s. Vollbeer placed first, and Leverenz second, on cardbacks. “They were both really steady. They didn’t make many bogeys. Andrew made one, and Luke made two,” Wuertz said. “They avoided making big mistakes and hit a lot of fairways and greens. I think both would’ve liked to have putted a little better, but still a 68 is always a good score in high school golf.” Conditions for the meet were quite scoreable, despite the slow and soft greens and nobody getting much roll on their tee shots. It helped the next three Lancers, senior Griffin Frank, sophomore Michael Phillips and freshman James Vollbeer, all shoot 2-over 74s. “(Phillips has) been doing really well. After the first meet in Des Moines, he’s been in the mid-to-low 70s,” Wuertz said. “He’s been really consistent for us. He’s the most experienced kid, tournament-golf-wise, outside of our top three.” “James is pretty steady. He doesn’t hit it super far, but he hits it really straight. His short game is amazing, and he doesn’t make many mistakes. At Palmer Hills, he bogeyed the first three holes. Then, he played even par the last 15 holes. That’s really impressive. “Griffin has played a lot better. He and Max (McClintock) have been battling for the No. 6 spot in the lineup, and he’s been edging Max out in our qualifiers. He’s been able to play pretty well in the meets too. It’s big to have a sixth guy shoot a low score in case one of the other five guys don’t play well.” The confidence level in the Lancer camp is quite high at this point in the season. Entering this week, North Scott has the No. 1 combined adjusted average score in the state. It is lower than No. 2 Pleasant Valley by more than one stroke. The team hopes that its depth can shine over a two-day event, which it will put to the test on Friday and Saturday at the Mississippi Athletic Conference meet in Kewanee. Lancer senior Jaxon Adkisson is the defending individual champion. He and Leverenz are looking for their second individual MAC gold wins, and the team seeks its second overall championship in three years. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle themselves there. There is a bit more pressure,” Wuertz said. “We want to win the conference title like we did a couple of years ago. Last year, Pleasant Valley beat us by one or two shots. It will probably be that close this year. It’s good to simulate that pressure of what you’re going to see in the state tournament coming up soon.” North Scott got some good news on the state tournament front last week, too. Glynns Creek Golf Course was awarded one of four district tournament sites for Monday, Oct. 5. The team already felt confident about their chance of qualifying no matter where they played. This is the cherry on top. “I’m mostly just happy because we don’t have to travel very far,” Wuertz joked. “It’s nice to play your home course. It will be an advantage for us.”

Lancer volleyball posts winning week

North Scott volleyball got back to its winning ways last week, posting a 3-2 stretch to get itself back over .500 for the season. After taking care of business in a conference match against Davenport Central (25-12, 25-22, 25-17), North Scott split four games at the Benton Community Invitational on Saturday. The Lancers defeated the host Bobcats (21-15, 21-18) and 4A No. 14 Burlington (25-23, 23-25, 15-13) while falling to 4A No. 9 Bondurant-Farrar (21-13, 16-21, 13-15) and 5A No. 14 Iowa City High (15-21, 21-18, 10-15). North Scott’s win over Burlington was its third over a ranked opponent this season. In the series against the Grayhounds, it was the scarlet and silver’s 10th consecutive victory dating back to 2016. Individual statistics for Lancer volleyball matches dating back to Sept. 8 were unavailable as of Monday morning. The Lancers also boosted themselves to 3-1 in conference play with the sweep against the Blue Devils. 5A No. 8 Pleasant Valley, 5A No. 12 Bettendorf, Clinton and North Scott are all at 3-1 in MAC play, but everybody is chasing the new No. 1 team in Class 4A. Davenport Assumption is 4-0 with wins over the Lancers, Spartans, Davenport North Wildcats and Muscatine Muskies. Bettendorf hosted Assumption on Tuesday in what is likely the rest of the conference’s last chance to prevent an undefeated run by the Knights. Should the Knights fall, North Scott still has lots of work to do to potentially share the conference crown. In its final three MAC matches of the regular season, the Lancers will travel to Pleasant Valley on Oct. 6, host Bettendorf on Oct. 13 and host Clinton on Oct. 15. In the more immediate future, North Scott hit the road for a conference matchup on Tuesday at Central DeWitt for its lone game action of the week.

'A lot of mud, for sure, but it was fun'

First, it was heat. Then, it was rain. Snow is not that far away. The weather can’t seem to get out of the way of this high school cross-country season, but North Scott’s runners are making the most of their miles. On a water-logged and mud-filled course at Scott County Park last Tuesday (Sept. 15), the annual Lancer Invitational tested runners’ resolve and put emphasis on placement over time. “One of the major goals was just to stay vertical the entire race,” Lancer coach Amy Knoche said. “At that point, you really have to throw the clock out the window. We knew times were not going to be a good indicator of how anyone ran, so the focus became competing for place and racing the people around you. “On a night like that, it’s about toughness, staying mentally engaged, and finding a way to compete regardless of the conditions.” Home course advantage played a role as the varsity North Scott boys’ and girls’ teams each claimed runner-up status, along with the junior varsity boys team earning first place. Six different varsity runners placed inside the top 10, starting with junior Natalie O’Flahrity (21:34.1 — 5th place) and senior Khloe Hamilton (21:46.9 — 6th) during the girls’ race. “It was a lot of mud, for sure, but it was fun,” O’Flahrity said. “We came in knowing that it was going to be muddy from the start, and we didn’t let that get in our heads. We just ran the race. The team has been working really hard, and I’m super proud of everyone for pushing each other.” The course itself was in fair shape until around 4 p.m., as the junior high runners were navigating the park, when rain started pouring down. Mother Nature let up at the start of the girls’ combined varsity/JV race an hour later. The damage was done, and it only got worse. “With roughly 450 (junior high) runners going over the course before the high school races even started, the course was already saturated. The course deteriorated pretty quickly,” Knoche said. “Each race after just compounded the problem. There was probably about 300 meters between the downhill and the major uphill that was just sheer mud by the later races. “Finding a dry line of grass to run on was nearly impossible. The kids also had to be really careful going around every corner because it was so slick that their feet could easily slide out from underneath them. By the time we got to the JV boys’ race, it was really messy. It definitely had an impact on the later races, but it also became one of those nights where you just had to embrace the conditions and compete.” Only one Lancer — junior varsity runner Michael Hames (22:44.8) — set a personal record at the meet, a fact that shows just how difficult the course was this evening. North Scott’s varsity boys nearly took the team title, missing by two points, 34 to 36, against Davenport Assumption. The Lancers had four top-10 finishers in senior Parker Hamly (18:10.5 — 3rd place), sophomore Bryton Dougherty (18:23.0 — 5th), senior Ben Clayton (18:27.7 — 6th) and sophomore Miles Unwin (19:00.7 — 10th). “We raced this course beforehand. I had a path planned out. That all went out the window,” Hamly said. “I was adding meters to my race to make sure I didn’t step in the mud. On ‘Doug’ (the Lancers’ nickname for the course’s biggest hill), it’s a pool. All mud. You have to hop side to side. When you cross, some tree sticks poke straight out. You have to bob and weave like it’s Mario Kart.” Even with careful feet, Hamly said he slipped once. Knoche said another varsity boy slipped twice. “On the boys’ side, we were really close to getting the win… You can’t help but wonder what the outcome might have been if they had been able to stay on their feet, but I’m still really pleased with how they competed and finished the race,” Knoche said. “On the girls’ side, we’ve been going back and forth with Bettendorf, so it was nice to come out ahead of them this time. “One thing that helped us is that we dealt with some pretty wet and miserable conditions on our summer trip this year, so our kids have already had some experience with persevering when things aren’t ideal. Nights like this aren’t about running perfect races or hitting certain times. They’re about finding a way to keep moving forward when things get tough, and I thought our kids did a good job of that.” With the home meet in the books, North Scott’s cross-country teams continued their trend of improvements over the previous season. Both the girls’ and boys’ squads have matched or bettered their team placement at every race this year compared to 2025. Despite losing senior captain Sophi Schneckloth to injury between seasons, the girls’ team evened out the injury scales and are picking up steam. “This season has been so fun,” O’Flahrity said. “Having Vivian (Ohsann) back has been great. Since she’s healthy now, she adds another layer to our team. Khloe is healthy again. Everybody is running super hard. It’s super fun to see everyone working their butts off. “I just hope to keep getting better and working hard. I want to make it to state this year; that is my ultimate goal. I have to keep pushing myself, too.” The boys’ team graduated two of its top three runners from a year ago, but has seen everybody on the team pick up the slack, including the underclassmen. “This has probably been the most fun season we’ve had, especially because everyone is doing great,” Hamly said. “Last year, we had Carter (Unwin) and Jack (McCarthy), and we lost them this year. But all of the sophomores stepped it up. Cooper Esch stepped up. Bryton and Miles, they all had great track seasons and it’s continued into cross-country.” Scott County Park may not have produced many personal records, but that likely won’t be the case this week at Dubuque Senior’s Jim Boughton Invitational. Last year, North Scott set a program record here with 21 PRs at a single meet. The team will have eight full days to recover and prepare for one of the quickest courses in the state. “Dubuque is a historically fast course for us, and it also brings some really good competition. I think that combination makes it a meet they really look forward to,” Knoche said. “I want them to go into it with no boundaries. Don’t put a limit on what you think you can do. I want them to be willing to push past that point where things get uncomfortable and trust the work they’ve put in. Their bodies are capable of so much more than they sometimes think they are. I want them to find that out at Dubuque.”

'All of our goals are still in front of us'

There is still no love lost between North Scott and Clear Creek-Amana. Friday night saw yet another physical and violent one-possession game played between these two non-conference rivals. For the first time, the Clippers sailed home with a gridiron victory. Clear Creek-Amana’s offense scored 23 unanswered points, and its defense held strong in the final minutes to sink North Scott 23-16 at Lancer Stadium, ending a five-game skid to the scarlet and silver. “I was proud of how we came out and played, especially after last week. I didn’t feel good about a lot last week,” Lancer coach Tony Stewart said. “This week, our guys responded better. We came out and battled and didn’t give up. We got a touchdown late. We have to clean up a lot still — mainly our discipline. We absolutely shot ourselves in the foot so many times. Not sure all of them were the right call, but either way we shouldn’t make it close.” North Scott got called for 10 penalties on Friday, and they rarely came cheaply. Infractions included one facemask, one roughing the passer, two pass interferences, two offsides, two holdings, and two personal fouls for illegal hits. Four of the flags came in the fourth quarter as Clear Creek-Amana turned a 9-0 deficit into a 23-9 advantage with seven minutes to play in the game. North Scott’s two best offensive plays came on the ensuing possession, which trimmed the deficit to seven. Junior quarterback Conlan Panther connected with senior Ryan Block on a screen pass, catch and run for 36 yards. Four plays later, junior Landon Gronewold won a jump ball against double coverage and jetted into the end zone for a 31-yard score. By stuffing multiple runs and using all of its timeouts, North Scott forced a Clippers punt with two and a half minutes to play. Needing to go the length of the field for a game-tying score, senior Ryder Maher caught an 11-yard pass on the first play of the two-minute drill. Maher was injured on the play and did not return. The Lancers suffered a sack on the next play, and threw three incomplete passes to end the game. “Ryder is such a tough kid. He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. One of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around. I hope it’s not a serious thing,” Stewart said. “(Maher’s injury) changes (the drive) a little bit. They’re making sure they don’t get beat deep. We don’t have any timeouts. We’re trying to get things out of bounds. Last play call might have been there, might not have. Part of it was desperation on fourth down.” North Scott had scored the first nine points of the game. The first two came on a safety by senior Aaron Bergfeld — his second career safety after recording one against Burlington last season. The Lancers, and Block in particular, capitalized on the gifted possession. Block returned the free kick to the midfield stripe. He had a 16-yard catch on the second play of the drive, and he later caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to put his squad up 9-0. North Scott’s defense held the Clippers down in the first half. In addition to the safety, junior Evan Kuhn came up with another huge play in the end zone, intercepting quarterback Texton Bolles for a touchback. Clear Creek-Amana scored its first touchdown of the game with 1:45 remaining in the first half. The Clippers got the ball back and went down the field, missing a chip-shot field goal at the horn. Out of halftime, the Clippers engineered an 11-play, 71-yard drive to take the lead, 13-9, at the 7:33 mark of the third quarter. They tacked on a field goal five minutes later to give themselves a touchdown cushion. Clear Creek-Amana had 301 yards of total offense compared to North Scott’s 198. “We knew they were going to get theirs at some point. They are an explosive offense,” Stewart said. “We did a great job of slowing them down. They found some holes and got some scores. On our end, we missed some things. Our first play of our second drive was right there. We just missed it to Gronewold on the sideline. If we hit him in stride, he probably scores. Then we’re talking a different ballgame. It’s a game of inches. We have to make plays.” At the end of its non-district slate, North Scott has played the toughest non-district schedule in Class 4A, according to BC Moore. This season it finds itself in unfamiliar territory, emerging from that gauntlet with a 1-3 record. For all intents and purposes, the season restarts this Friday. North Scott opens district play with a trip to Roger Craig Stadium to face winless Davenport West. The Falcons scored 20 total points across their four non-district games. “All of our goals are still in front of us. Zero and zero,” Stewart said. “Everybody has adversity. We’ve had quite a bit. We’re going to keep getting better. We’re going to find out who we are. “One thing that sticks with me: I have a pretty strong faith. Even though it’s tough, I know it’s going to be OK because of my faith. I think we have kids that are starting to believe that too. We’re not going to put so much pressure on ourselves. We’re just going to have fun and play football.”

MAC meets begin for North Scott swim team

The Lancer swim team hosted its first meet of the season last Tuesday (Sept. 15) against Clinton at the North Scott YMCA. Clinton won the meet 97 to 58 and had a River Queen finish in first place in all 11 events. The Lancers had six individuals finish in second place, headlined by two each from junior Olivia Durkin and sophomore Madyson Sparkman. Durkin recorded hers in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:25.90) and 200-yard individual medley (2:41.74) while Sparkman scored hers in the 50-yard freestyle (28.91 seconds) and 500-yard freestyle (6:26.83). Additionally, senior Madelyn La Plante earned a silver medal in the 200-yard freestyle (2:43.40) and freshman Jessenia Webb took second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:30.66). North Scott has two more home meets this season. One is on Sept. 29 for a triangular against Muscatine and Burlington, and the other is on Oct. 15 against Bettendorf. On Saturday, the Lancer swim team traveled west to Iowa City for the City High Little Hawk Invitational. North Scott received a handful of standout performances, starting with Durkin in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. In the breaststroke, Durkin turned in a 12th-place time of 1:23.83, which beat four rival swimmers. In the 200-yard medley, she beat four swimmers with her 11th-place time of 2:38.07. The best individual performance came from La Plante, who bested seven other swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke, taking home an 11th-place time of 1:18.25. Additionally, Sparkman swam to a 13th-place time of 1:15.20 in the 100-yard butterfly, completing her laps faster than three other swimmers. North Scott will take a break from tournament action this week. The team only has one event, a road dual at Davenport West on Sept. 22, on its schedule.

View the Eldridge Police report from the Sept. 23 NSP!

MONDAY, SEPT. 14 10:07 a.m. — Assisted another agency with a report of a missing juvenile in the 100 block of Crest View Drive. 10:40 a.m. — Report taken for an accident between two vehicles in the 200 block of South 1st Street. 2:05 p.m. — Report taken for an accident between two vehicles in the 200 block of South 1st Street. 3:27 p.m. — Michelle Riske, 65, of Bettendorf, was cited for operation without registration, following a traffic stop near East LeClaire and South Scott Park roads. 3:54 p.m. — Juan Garcia, 20, of Moline, was cited for operation without registration and speeding, following a traffic stop near West Torrey Pines Drive and Cypress Point Court. 4:11 p.m. — Complaint of a disruptive juvenile in the 200 block of South 1st Street. Handled by officer. 9:07 p.m. — Gregory Schmidt, 62, of DeWitt, was cited for operation without registration, following a traffic stop near East Blackhawk Trail and South 1st Street. 10:39 p.m. — Complaint of an injured animal in the 300 block of South 8th Street. TUESDAY, SEPT. 15 12:14 a.m. — Complaint of a suspicious vehicle in the 100 block of South 3rd Avenue. Handled by officer. 1:02 a.m. — Assisted another agency with a report of a burglar alarm in the 200 block of East Brownlie Lane. 10:51 a.m. — Complaint of suspicious subjects in the 100 block of East Iowa Street. Handled by officer. 1:17 p.m. — Complaint of a minor accident between two vehicles in the 100 block of South 3rd Avenue. The drivers exchanged information. Handled by officer. 2:42 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 900 block of West Pinehurst Drive. 6:04 p.m. — Complaint of fraudulent activity in the 100 block of Muhs Circle. Handled by officer. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16 10:03 a.m. — A juvenile was cited for person under 21 using tobacco/vapor product – 2nd offense, following an incident in the 200 block of South 1st Street. 11:32 a.m. — Travis Childs, 37, of Eldridge, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a probation violation, following an incident near North 1st and East Franklin streets. 1:27 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 200 block of East Franklin Street. 9:44 p.m. — Complaint of a disabled vehicle in the 3200 block of South Buttermilk Road. Handled by officer. 10:37 p.m. — Complaint of a suspicious vehicle near East Pinehurst Drive and Muirfield Circle.  Handled by officer. 10:39 p.m. — Complaint of a domestic disturbance in the 100 block of North 8th Street. Handled by officer. THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 7:23 a.m. — Complaint of a dog running loose in the 200 block of South 1st Street. The animal was returned to its owner. Handled by officer. 7:56 a.m. — Complaint of a disabled vehicle in the 100 block of North 8th Street. Handled by officer. 9:25 a.m. — Assisted a motorist with directions in the 3200 block of South 16th Avenue. Handled by officer. 11:34 a.m. — Benjamin Gless, 17, of Princeton, was cited for careless driving, following an incident in the 200 block of South 1st Street. 2:27 p.m. — Investigation started in the 500 block of South 5th Street for a sexual assault. 4:12 p.m. — Complaint of a disturbance in the 100 block of North 8th Street. Handled by officer. 5:12 p.m. — Erik Mattly, 52, of Bettendorf, was cited for operating a non-registered vehicle, following a traffic stop on Highway 61. 5:22 p.m. — Complaint of juveniles riding scooters in the roadway in the 500 block of North 3rd Street. Handled by officer. 8:41 p.m. — Complaint of suspicious subjects in the 400 block of North 5th Street. Unable to locate. Handled by officer. FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 4:22 a.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 900 block of West Maple Court. 10:04 a.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 900 block of Wiese Court. 1:24 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 400 block of West Pinehurst Drive. 3:02 p.m. — Steven Deloe, 70, of Preston, was cited for operating a non-registered vehicle, following a traffic stop near South 1st Street and Trails Road. 8:09 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 200 block of South 1st Street. 8:46 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 500 block of West Valley Drive. 10:36 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 900 block of Wiese Court. SATURDAY, SEPT. 19 5:24 p.m. — Removed debris from the roadway on Highway 61. Handled by officer. 7:22 p.m. — Complaint of a vehicle in a ditch near 155th Avenue and Slopertown Road. A tow truck was on the way. Handled by officer. 9:53 p.m. — Complaint of a suspicious vehicle in the 800 block of East LeClaire Road. Handled by officer. SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 12:06 a.m. — Report of an alarm sounding in the 1600 block of Leonard Court. Keyholder contacted. Handled by officer. 12:33 a.m. — Report of an alarm sounding in the 200 block of East LeClaire Road. Keyholder contacted. Handled by officer. 7:39 a.m. — Larry Boyd, 61, of Potosi, Wis., was arrested for OWI – 2nd offense, open container – driver, and no driver’s license, following an incident on Highway 61. 1:59 p.m. — Assisted Medic with an EMS call in the 500 block of Harry Herbert Drive. 5:06 p.m. — Complaint of a subject in the 700 block of North 1st Street being harassed. Handled by officer. 10:39 p.m. — Complaint of a dog bite in the 200 block of South 8th Street. Handled by officer.

Benjamin Morris pleads not guilty in Rock Island County child sex abuse materials case

Benjamin Morris pleaded not guilty to over 30 counts of child sex abuse felony charges in Rock Island Circuit Court on Tuesday morning.

Western Illinois University unveils new Emergency Operations Center

Sen. Dick Durbin joined Western Illinois University (WIU) school officials and Macomb community leaders for a ribbon cutting event inside the new facility.

Death Notice: Ralph Tuftee

A celebration of life for Ralph J. Tuftee, 71, of Eldridge, will be held from 10 a.m. - noon on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the fellowship hall at St. Ann's Catholic Church, Long Grove. Inurnment will be in St. Ann's Cemetery. The McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Home, Bettendorf, is assisting the family with arrangements. Mr. Tuftee died Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, at MercyOne Genesis, Davenport. Memorials may be made to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, Iowa City. Online condolences may be made at www.McGinnis-Chambers.com. A full obituary will appear in the Sept. 30 edition of The NSP. 

Davenport outlines process to fill vacant 2nd Ward alderman seat

The Davenport City Council outlined steps to appoint a new 2nd Ward alderman following Tim Dunn's resignation, with applications due Oct. 2.

Former interim Quad City Arts director enters plea in child sex abuse material case

Benjamin Morris appeared in Rock Island County Court this morning for a preliminary hearing on two additional counts related to child sex abuse materials (CSAM) that were added to the case. He waived formal arraignment and a formal reading of the charges and penalties. He entered a plea of not guilty and demanded a jury [...]

Rock Island man charged in fatal stabbing to remain in jail

A Rock Island man will remain in jail after allegedly stabbing a man to death early Sunday morning.

Former QC Arts leader pleads not guilty in child sex-abuse materials case

Former Quad City Arts director Benjamin Morris pleaded guilty Tuesday to dozens of charges involving the production and dissemination of child sexual abuse material.

Bettendorf Public Library Creation Studio continues growth with $35,000 donation

Bettendorf Public Library's Creation Studio received a $35,000 donation, allowing for upcoming additions and upgrades.

80 veterans arrive in D.C. for 67th Honor Flight

News 8’s Joe Habersham joins local veterans on the 67th Honor Flight of the Quad Cities and just arrived at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

This 'fire amoeba' pushes the limit of what's possible for complex life

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Outsider farm owners are an issue in the governor’s race. Here’s what experts say.

Iowa gubernatorial candidates Zach Lahn and Rob Sand both have said corporate or out-of-state ownership of Iowa farmland is a problem. But ag land researchers say corporate ownership often has direct ties to Iowa.

Meeting some of the veterans joining the 67th Honor Flight of the Quad Cities

As veterans take off for this year's Honor Flight, News 8 caught up with the flight director to hear what it means to him to continue this mission.

Quad Cities leaf collection guidelines, dates

The Quad Cities area provides free leaf collection during the fall season. Here's what residents should know.

Dubuque City Council passes temporary moratorium on hyperscale data centers

The Dubuque City Council approved a temporary six-month moratorium.

St. Ambrose named 2nd Most Innovate School by U.S. News & World Report

St. Ambrose University has been recognized as one of the Midwest’s leading universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, earning the No. 2 spot among Most Innovative Schools in the Regional Universities (Midwest) category. St. Ambrose was recognized with these rankings: The rankings show St. Ambrose University’s focus on academic [...]

The cannabis industry’s trafficked workforce

For people who had spent their lives farming, the ad was a lifeline: “Farmwork in New Mexico, legal work authorization card required.”It was fall 2020, three years after Mark and Mary (not their real names) first moved to the United States from eastern China. Laid off from their jobs a few months earlier, they were desperate for income, living in a cramped Monterey Park, California, apartment that they shared with four others.For over two decades in China, alongside their day jobs, they had cultivated peanuts, rice and sweet potatoes on two acres in an undeveloped agricultural part of the country. The crops helped keep their six children fed. But as their own parents aged and their children got older, they wanted a steadier future.The ad, on a popular job posting site for Chinese-speaking migrant workers, didn’t specify what kind of farmwork they’d be doing, but the line about paperwork made it sound legitimate. They called the number listed in the ad, and the details sounded promising: $200 a day for eight to 10 hours of “flowering trimming,” with food and accommodation provided. A few days later, they received a text message showing the location: Farmington, a sleepy oil-and-gas town of 46,000 people on the edge of the Navajo Nation. It is the largest city in the Four Corners, the area where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet, and it is one of New Mexico’s major towns.In the first week of October, the couple began the 740-mile, nearly 12-hour drive east. As they neared Farmington, they watched the sun bear down on Ship Rock, an escarpment rising 1,400 feet above the rugged high desert, visible for 50 miles in almost every direction. Beneath the watchful gaze of the winged, cathedral-like pinnacle, the San Juan River trickled through a dry, khaki-colored valley past stony mesas and rolling hills.When the couple arrived at their destination, a pink, two-story motel, Mary told High Country News and The Economic Hardship Reporting Project that a middle-aged Chinese-speaking man took their car keys and confiscated their phones. Mary and her husband were put into separate rooms. Some had been converted into a makeshift processing facility, with the mattresses stashed in the bathroom and the dresser drawers emptied out. The doors were kept locked or guarded, according to legal documents, and Mark, Mary and the other workers were told to sit on an upside-down bucket beside heavy-duty black trash bags stuffed with lime-green marijuana plants.Mary remembered the plant’s distinctive odor. The work left her nose swollen “like an elephant” and she spiked a 100-degree fever. Mary’s assignment was to cut the leaves from the plants’ buds with scissors from 7 a.m. or earlier, until 10 at night, working almost nonstop, according to legal documents. She was denied medication, and when she tried to stop work, she was forced to continue, a civil case she and others filed later stated.Mark and Mary had unwittingly walked into the shadowy fringes of New Mexico’s brand-new legal cannabis industry — and the early days of a network that sought to use Chinese immigrants as labor on the farms that supplied the growing demand for the drug.New Mexico, which legalized the adult use of weed in 2021, began its first licensed sales in 2022, and currently sells at least $35 million every month. Colorado and other states in the region have also legalized the plant’s use over the past decade and a half. At the same time, cannabis entrepreneurs started to see the potential for an unexpected workforce: Chinese immigrants. With youth unemployment hovering around 18% in China amid the postpandemic economic downturn, over 60,000 Chinese migrants crossed the Mexican border into the U.S. from 2021 to 2024.When law enforcement tried to rein in illegal weed operations like this one, the workers became the focus of their efforts. Despite the efforts of social support groups, the trafficked immigrant workers ended up bearing the brunt of the punishment for the very system that exploited them.Late on the afternoon of Oct. 8, 2020, a local passerby noticed that a man was moving marijuana plants from a vehicle into a room at the motel. A strong smell of weed was emanating from cars in the parking lot with California license plates. Shortly after that passerby dialed 911, police arrived at the motel room and knocked on the doors.The workers opened the doors. “At first, I felt like I was finally rescued,” Mary said. But that quickly changed: The officers escorted the 16 workers out of the rooms, then instructed and gestured for them to sit or kneel on the ground, according to police dashcam video included in court filings against Mary. Some held their hands behind their heads, and as they waited over two hours to be transferred to the San Juan County Adult Detention Center, a policeman who spoke some Mandarin Chinese arrived and asked if the group knew what they were cutting. Everyone shook their heads.After approximately five days of detention, Mary and the workers were advised that they couldn’t leave San Juan County pending trial, according to charging documents. She stared at the legal papers and tried to make sense of letters she did not understand.A few days earlier, I’d been in Farmington, running down rumors about illegal marijuana grows involving hundreds of Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico. I collected notes on ads for investment opportunities and jobs, describing a marijuana operation on tribal land as “undoubtedly a golden opportunity.” I ran into Chinese-speaking workers in mobile home parks and half-empty strip malls in and around Farmington. Outside a motel, I stopped to talk to a Chinese-speaking man about to light a cigarette — one of Mary’s co-workers, it turned out. We stayed in touch, and after he was arrested alongside Mary, he shared his charging documents with me, clearly confused.In the wake of the bust at the Farmington motel, law enforcement intended to shut down the entire operation. More than 1,000 Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants were employed by the sprawling enterprise at its peak, Navajo Nation police said.Given the high-profile nature of the bust, local law enforcement took the stance that anyone, at any level, involved in illegal cannabis growing was culpable. “You can’t say you don’t know what’s going on,” one of San Juan’s top police officers told me at the time. “We will charge them. And we will prosecute them.”This is not a new — or uncommon — approach. Since 1979, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has offered grants to fund cannabis eradication. Success is often measured by tracking seizures and destruction, with state and local agencies presenting the number of weapons seized and the amount of product destroyed. That leads law enforcement to focus on the physical operation rather than its finances and leadership. It’s easier to find the workers, laboring in the fields and hoop houses, than it is to catch the financial backers and often-digital systems used to bring in laborers under false pretenses. The legalization and decriminalization of cannabis has also reduced interest in prosecuting those behind the business.This means that the harshest consequences often fall on those who were least responsible. In early November 2020, a few weeks after local law enforcement targeted the Farmington motel, federal officers from the FBI and the DEA raided Diné politician and entrepreneur Dineh Benally’s farms on the Navajo Nation. They found dozens of Chinese workers, who were underdressed for the cold weather and half-asleep among the plants inside the heated hoop houses. The workers were searched and bused to a nearby high school, where the gym and classrooms were arranged for interrogation.None of the farm’s operators or backers were arrested at the time, however. By the time law enforcement arrived, they were long gone. The charges against the 16 workers who were picked up at the motel weren’t dropped until late November, over two weeks after the bust. Yet they were clearly not the ones running the business, and at least some of them had no idea the work they engaged in was illegal.Although law enforcement hadn’t arrested the operation’s leadership, I wanted to know just how dozens of Chinese-speaking workers had ended up in this remote part of New Mexico, a state with few Chinese communities.Some of the workers I spoke with mentioned a “Mr. Lin.” I tracked the phone number on the Chinese-language investment ads — as well as various speeding citations and calls to local and tribal police — to Irving Rea-Yui Lin, a Taiwanese American entrepreneur based in Monterey Park, California. He agreed to meet me at the lobby of a two-star motel on the eastern end of Farmington. Solid and slightly hunched at 5 feet, 7 inches, Lin, then almost 70, resembled any nonchalant grandpa you might run into at a park in China.Around 2018, he told me, he began exploring investment opportunities in cannabis and met Benally. In early 2020, Lin brought Benally to Los Angeles’ suburban Chinatown and served as translator as Benally discussed cannabis investment in the Navajo Nation.“(Benally) said they were a sovereign nation with their own regulations and licenses, which was similar to China’s ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement in Hong Kong,” Lin recalled. Around 100 people showed up at the meeting room. “The pandemic made it a golden opportunity.”“We started doing whatever we could,” Lin recalled. Cannabis is strictly illegal in almost all of East and Southeast Asia. And in the U.S., Asian Americans are more likely to believe that marijuana legalization makes communities less safe and to show less support for it than other ethnic groups.In spite of that, Benally and Lin’s strategy seemed to work. Some people invested tens of thousands of dollars — their life savings — after Benally promised that it was legitimate. Posts showed up on WeChat groups and in classified ads in Chinese-language newspapers through job agencies, offering job opportunities in “New Mexico flower trimming,” “weeding on Indian Reservations” and “building greenhouses and pipework on the Navajo Nation,” according to court filings.Lin made it clear in repeated interviews with me that he was well aware of the nature of the plants involved — he knew it was marijuana — but that he saw it as part of a long tradition of surviving by using loopholes in the legal system. “Just like how I made money in New York 40 years ago: always going through Pian Men,” he said, using a common Chinese phrase that literally means “side gates”— unofficial, higher‑risk ways of earning money by working off the books, hustling in cash‑only side gigs or trading in gray‑market goods when you can’t get a regular job.“The tendency to find side gates is a natural one,” Lin added. For first-generation immigrants, “many methods were unconventional, and jobs and gigs were also intrinsically unconventional. Over time, no matter what, it was all side gates. It becomes a habit.”Lin himself survived on these side gates: After graduating from college in Taiwan, he became a seaman on the Pacific route from Taiwan to San Francisco, where he first dreamed of immigrating while gazing at Oakland’s bustling harbor. In his sailor’s cabin, he studied English and read computer science textbooks between his onboard duties. He developed a plan: “Come to the United States, take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), study computer science, and get a job at IBM,” Lin said. But he needed money to cover his tuition and expenses at a computer science master’s program in New Jersey, and so he was drawn in by ads shared by job agencies in Manhattan’s Chinatown. There, he found his first job as a warehouse manager, earning $220 a week, or over $10,000 a year.After graduating, he dabbled in other businesses, including information technology, nickel mines, gold mines and real estate. He was once the leader of a coalition of Chinese IT entrepreneurs, he told me. Chinese people on the East Coast called him “President Lin,” he said. But his reputation was tarnished by at least one copyright lawsuit against his company in the late 1990s, and his other ventures were short-lived successes, forcing him to roam the fringes of American society and reestablish himself in LA’s suburban Chinatown.The workers at Benally’s operation, he said, were doing much the same. Cannabis cultivation operates nationwide: It’s seasonal, labor-intensive and easy to staff informally through brokers. New Mexico is not the only place it has surfaced; in recent years, raids in California, Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Maine have uncovered similar recruitment and trafficking allegations.Lin shuttled more than 100 workers from Los Angeles to New Mexico, sometimes for a fee, he said, and offered services to transport up to 20,000 marijuana seedlings in his 12-seat van. He profited from the business, he admitted. Meanwhile, workers and investors lacked the inside information he had.New Mexico has a long history of trafficked workers, but the systems set up to help the victims, who often spoke Spanish, struggled to support those affected by Lin and Benally’s operation. Lynn Sanchez, director of the human trafficking outreach department at The Life Link, a Santa Fe-based nonprofit that connects crime victims with legal, economic and housing support, first met Mary and other Chinese workers shortly after the raid on the Navajo Nation. She and a few social service providers waited at the high school where the workers were bused. They brought Spanish- and English-language pamphlets, since law enforcement had told her about providing services to “displaced farmworkers.”She was surprised to learn that all the workers were Chinese. With an FBI agent translating, Sanchez tried to explain what Life Link could offer. But initially only eight of the nearly 60 Chinese workers Sanchez spoke with that day accepted Life Link’s prepaid debit cards, clothing, food and other essentials. The agent, she recalled, shook her head and snapped: “They don’t want help; they just want another job.”A public defender later called her. The public defender, Nicole Hall, had seen a stack of case files about the 16 workers picked up at the Farmington motel, with misspelled Chinese names. “Something was wrong,” Hall later told a reporter. “And none of these people should be going to jail.”Sanchez followed up with Mary and the other 15 workers at the two hotel rooms in Farmington they shared. “I don’t know what they were eating or how they were surviving, but it looked like they’ve been through an awful lot,” Sanchez told me.The migrant workers found the place they’d ended up disorienting. Outside, the San Juan River Valley looked tranquil in the shifting pink-orange light of a sunny late afternoon.“You don’t see the world the same way when you’ve been psychologically overwhelmed like that, to be their age, to be taken at gunpoint to jail, and then to be told you have to stay here, in this climate that was really very anti-Asian,” Sanchez said. “And if they’re stuck in New Mexico, they’re stuck on a whole other planet.”The workers’ mug shots had been published by local outlets and republished in China; the anti-Asian hatred that spread during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic further made them a target. While waiting for their hearings, many stayed inside, afraid to be seen, afraid to ask for help.After the charges were dropped in late November 2020, many of the workers used state funds for crime victims to return to Monterey Park. They found a cold welcome: Few employers would hire them once news of their suspected involvement in the black-market marijuana industry got out in Chinatowns in the U.S. and in China. At least three workers said that they’d received random phone calls that warned them not to seek help or cooperate with law enforcement. “There was a sense that someone was following us,” Mary told me.Some of them were desperate to take any opportunity that came their way. Hoping to save money and buy medication for his daughter in China, who suffered from a serious heart condition, a man in his 50s immediately took on a job transporting marijuana plants, according to Sanchez and Lin. In late 2021, he was pulled over while driving a truckload and was arrested in Oklahoma. He then spent around a year and a half in immigration detention centers in Colorado and Texas. During that time, his daughter died.The other workers were due to receive checks that covered their lost wages in New Mexico. Sanchez decided to deliver them in person instead of mailing them. She repeatedly visited Monterey Park, a low‑rise, predominantly Asian suburb where Chinese restaurants, storefront churches and employment agencies share the same strip malls. She walked along streets where employment agency windows were filled with ads for working-class jobs. Workers were lined up at the door, sometimes out into the street.Sanchez realized that Mark and Mary’s experience wasn’t an isolated one. According to one estimate, around 2.5 million Chinese migrant workers had immigrated in recent decades, many passing through Monterey Park, driven by political suppression and economic distress. “Monterey Park was packed with a dense mass of Chinese men looking for work,” one of the other Life Link employees told me. “And some would end up in New Mexico.”Sanchez soon learned that Mary no longer felt safe in Monterey Park. She offered Mary and other workers the chance to relocate to New Mexico. Mary and her husband were among the first to say yes. Life Link helped them apply for affordable housing, rent assistance and health care. Sanchez connected Mary and the others with legal partners, including the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and the Human Trafficking Legal Center of Washington, D.C., to apply for T-visas, which are reserved for trafficking victims and have an annual rejection rate as high as 40%.Sanchez also hired her organization’s first Chinese-speaking employee: Yuxi Qin, whose father was one of the workers arrested in Farmington. Her father accepted Life Link’s assistance and moved to New Mexico, and after Qin saw his relocation and recovery, she began to help Sanchez with the growing number of Chinese-speaking clients.“The illicit cannabis industry brought migrant workers from China, a place that we’d never expected to see in New Mexico,” Sanchez said. She acknowledged that it had been a learning experience; next time, she hoped, nobody would fall through the cracks. “There is much more to do.”At the same time, some law enforcement agencies wanted to focus on the people behind the illicit cannabis trade. Like Sanchez, Kevin McInerney, a commander at California’s Department of Cannabis Control and one of Sanchez’s West Coast partners, had spent time strolling around Monterey Park. Following the lead of a Chinese-speaking anti-trafficking investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor, McInerney would sit at an unpretentious joint that served classic Northern Chinese dishes or stop by the employment agencies to read the job postings taped to the doors and talk to laborers waiting on the street for rides to worksites or to the airport for out-of-state work.“They were picked up during the days, dropped off, and then ended up in the day-rental converted apartments, where multiple people slept in the same room, with their belongings in a separate place,” McInerney said. The workers seemed more like victims of the system than criminals. He began to have second thoughts about local news clips showing police officers busting into residential shacks and handcuffing workers at marijuana farms. The visuals fit into the conventional logic of dealing with drug crimes, but left him with a lot of questions.In 2022, California’s Department of Cannabis Control started an anti-trafficking and worker exploitation effort, he said, to “investigate the recruitment pipeline funneling migrant workers into cannabis” and “shift the culture of law enforcement.”“That’s been a struggle, not just here,” he said, due to the lack of resources for the time-consuming work of investigating the people behind the recruitment, transportation, housing and coercion.The kind of thing that Lin and others allegedly engaged in is particularly hard to tackle. Labor advocates and investigators have come to realize it is a type of “affinity exploitation.” Operators recruit newcomers through the same language and social circles that immigrants rely on to survive, turning those same trusted networks of trust into a funnel for fraud, coercion and sometimes forced labor. And once they’re involved, the people themselves become a part of the supply chain. Without stability, legal experts explained, people can be exploited by every aspect of their basic needs.“Cannabis entered and operated within this existing infrastructure,” said Erika Moritsugu, former deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander senior liaison at the White House, in an email. The New Mexico case caught her eye after she learned about it through “community partners on the ground” and “field colleagues in government.” She met with eight of the Chinese workers over a video chat in 2021.But law enforcement’s growing awareness of the role — and the power — of the illicit operations’ backers lagged behind the fast-moving business. Lin emerged from the Navajo Nation bust relatively unscathed, except for, he said, the visit a law enforcement officer made to his hotel in Farmington. And he quickly returned to corralling new investors for new projects that his partners were starting in Oklahoma.The winter following the bust, I watched him pitch a group of 20 or so at a Chinese community center in Los Angeles County. The attendees sat at a safe social distance from one another, wearing masks or plastic face shields. The flyer they held promised “Legally licensed, completely transparent! The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a turning point to the industry! A senior expert explains!”As he took the stage, Lin urged people to join him in investing in cannabis in Oklahoma and promised them a fortune.“The return on investment is higher than 1,000%. Finance one greenhouse, and you’ll walk away with $300,000.” Lin wandered around in the room with a mic in his hand, gesturing like a stand-up comedian. Once investors put in the funds, he said, “our professional team will take care of the rest.”Lin said that much of the demand for marijuana grown in Oklahoma came from out-of-state buyers because it was so costly to enter the state-sanctioned cannabis industry. “Running a dispensary is very expensive, and we reduce their cost,” he added.Transporting marijuana products across state lines is a federal felony offense, but Lin didn’t make that clear to his potential investors at the seminar or the workers he and his partners hired from job agencies.Lin obtained a permit for a marijuana farm in Waterflow, an unincorporated community between Farmington and Shiprock, that was issued by New Mexico’s Cannabis Control Division in December 2023. (The license for NNK Equity LLC was revoked in August 2024, after a compliance check determined that the grow had exceeded its allotted plant count.) He also reconnected with Benally, with whom he claimed to have cut ties after the Farmington hotel bust.He told me that he had helped to bring workers to Estancia, New Mexico, 45 minutes southeast of Albuquerque, for a year. Benally had established cannabis grows there.The operation in Estancia proved to be a turning point for how law enforcement officers in New Mexico dealt with the workers they found. David (not his real name), a sturdy 20-something-year-old cattle rancher from the dry grasslands of northwestern China, was one of those who ended up working in Estancia. His spouse lived in the U.S., and in 2023, he sold his cattle, left China and entered the U.S., walking across the Mexican border to reunite with his spouse. Drawn by the hope of earning at least $4,500 a month, he booked a flight from New York, where he was living, to Albuquerque. There, he and another young Chinese man were picked up by a car bound for Estancia.“I was in what seemed like a complete wasteland,” David told me. “Without a single light bulb in sight. And you wouldn’t even know if you were being sold to anyone.”David said the farm had around 60 employees, all Chinese-speaking, in an isolated environment: one locked gate, dogs as guards. Workers worked long hours, and he wanted to quit on the second day, but his request was denied. And without a car, leaving felt impossible.On the morning of the third day, as he ate breakfast and prepared to work, at least 100 officers arrived at the gate, David remembered. Two armored vehicles entered. A truck with a large antenna came in, he said, and a trailer with porta-potties followed. Three helicopters circled overhead. This time, law enforcement was ready: Through loudspeakers, David recalled, officers made announcements in Mandarin Chinese, saying they were from the New Mexico attorney general’s office.“Don’t panic, we’re here to search,” one of the loudspeakers blasted. Workers emerged from hoop houses, crouching and covering their heads. Officers checked their documentation. A bus arrived for anyone who wanted to leave. Most decided to keep working until payday, but six workers boarded it, including David.Law enforcement connected them to Lynn Sanchez and Life Link. David was initially skeptical of Sanchez and her organization. But Mary told him, “Lynn is kind-hearted and genuinely here to help you,” David recalled.On Sept. 27, 2023, Mark, Mary and 13 other Chinese migrant workers who were arrested in Farmington filed a civil lawsuit against Lin, Benally and others they alleged had trafficked them. McInerney told me the workers’ progress — finding stable housing, legal support, a clearer path to immigration relief — offered a model: Treat trafficked workers as victims first, and use that stability to build cases that target networks rather than individual laborers.When I asked Irving Lin for comment on the civil lawsuit, he claimed that he “has a clean background” and merely served as an interpreter for immigrant workers. He felt betrayed by his own people and claimed, inaccurately, that the workers were able to get green cards. “Again, it’s all through side gates,” he said.His obstinance reminded me of a conversation we had just before Lunar New Year in 2021. He recalled that after he started dabbling in the marijuana industry in 2018, his wife often told him: “I’m sure you’ll be arrested one day.” One of his daughters would say, “Daddy’s crazy.” “But Daddy is creating something,” Lin would snap back.“Marijuana would devalue if we don’t move fast, given the wave of legalization in many states,” Lin said. “I’m no longer young. Time is limited. And I might not be able to do this in another three or five years.”He faced new pressures as the legal system turned its focus to him and the other business operators. In 2024, Benally’s cannabis license in Estancia and Lin’s in Waterflow were revoked, and Lin was arrested in late 2024. On Jan. 23, 2025, after more than five years of federal investigations, the FBI arrested Dineh Benally, and the two men were detained without bail as they face federal charges. Benally pleaded guilty to 15 felonies tied to his operations on the Navajo Nation and elsewhere in New Mexico, including “unlawfully employing illegal aliens” and “conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens.” He faced a mandatory minimum of 15 years and could be sentenced to life. Benally did not return a request for comment.Lin was charged with three counts of drug conspiracy, manufacturing marijuana and possession with intent to distribute. After he was booked into a county correctional center, according to New Mexico court documents, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While being transferred between jails and medical care, he continued to assert his innocence and requested English-Chinese interpretation in court. In December 2025, Lin passed away in custody. The official cause of death was heart failure; a representative of his estate filed a wrongful death case in state court. Lin’s family and lawyer did not return requests for comment.Law enforcement’s efforts to prevent future operators from repeating Lin’s activities face new challenges. In March 2024, Los Angeles County proposed creating a workers’ resource center — a hub for accessing physical and mental health services, transportation and housing navigation, immigration and employment-rights training, wage-theft clinics and other support in Chinese — in Monterey Park. The plan required at most about $2 million per year, a fraction of McInerney’s total budget. Due to a lack of funding, the plan is on hold.Some of the people trafficked to work on Lin and Benally’s farms will bear the consequences forever, such as the worker who lost his daughter. He still travels between California and New Mexico looking for work. Others, though, have begun to find their footing. Almost all the other workers who had filed suit obtained T-visas. And Mark and Mary have built a quiet life in Santa Fe, in an apartment across the street from the visual art exhibition Meow Wolf. Early in the morning, before the tourists, college students and young professionals trickle in, the couple plays badminton in Meow Wolf’s parking lot. They checked out the exhibition once but weren’t impressed by its colorful mosaics and other dazzling features. They left immediately; they preferred nature, they said, and would drive up to the Santa Fe Mountains, where the high desert opens into a sea of aspens and ponderosa pines. They dream of opening a dumpling restaurant, or perhaps a health center based on traditional Chinese medicine.“People like them used to feel like they were fish, always swimming aimlessly to find gigs in job agencies and floating around the United States,” Qin said. “They have become trees, started to take root, and are flourishing in New Mexico.”Copublished by The Economic Hardship Reporting Project and High Country News.This story was produced by The Economic Hardship Reporting Project and High Country News, and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Third-party data breaches rose 60% in a year. Most vendor reviews still happen once.

Many organizations still treat continuous risk monitoring as an advanced and optional part of GRC. When managing third-party risk, security questionnaire-based procurement and point-in-time vendor reviews are still the norm.Modern vendor ecosystems are complex, and risk changes faster than traditional review cycles can keep up. Information from the last review goes stale fast, creating visibility gaps that leave you vulnerable to security and compliance risks. The impact is not theoretical anymore: Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 48% of breaches involve a third party, up 60% from the previous year. As a result, implementing continuous risk monitoring has become the expected baseline in third-party risk management (TPRM).In this guide, Vanta, an agentic trust platform, breaks down:How continuous risk monitoring bridges the visibility gapWhat effective monitoring looks like in practiceThe biggest limitation of point-in-time risk monitoringFor many organizations, risk management has become a compliance-driven exercise. During procurement, teams rely on certifications and assessments like SOC 2, ISO 27001, or security questionnaires to evaluate vendor risk. While these provide useful assurance, they reflect point-in-time evaluations, not the vendor’s real-time security posture, operational maturity, or evolving risk exposure. A vendor can appear compliant on paper and still be a security liability.As third-party incidents continue to rise, the limitations of static documentation and cyclical reviews are harder to ignore. According to SecurityScorecard’s 2026 Supply Chain Security Trends report, 86% of leaders express concern about supply chain risks.The same report found that 67% of organizations still rely on point-in-time security audits to assess third-party threats, which makes the evaluation somewhat biased.The hidden cost of point-in-time vendor risk monitoringThe cost of point-in-time assessments isn’t limited to data breaches. You also face compounding issues, such as:Delayed incident responseOperational disruptionEscalating remediation costsIncreased regulatory scrutiny or even penaltiesReputational damageRegulatory penalties and legal liability can be severe if you fail to demonstrate adequate third-party oversight. Continuous monitoring is mandated by several key regulations and standards related to information security, financial services, and data privacy. For example, breaching the GDPR will result in a fine of up to 20 million euros or 4% of your global annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.Can continuous risk monitoring bridge the visibility gap?Continuous monitoring replaces point-in-time visibility with ongoing oversight. This is made possible by leading GRC tools and solutions, which are designed to gather and analyze risk data from internal systems, external intelligence feeds, compliance repositories, and vendor ecosystems.Instead of static data, continuous monitoring surfaces continuous risk signals that represent current exposure. Common signals include:Vendor breachesCommon Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) affecting vendor systemsCredential leaksFourth-party risk indicatorsCompliance and audit lapsesExpiration of key certifications and attestationsThat flow of information helps TPRM programs move from periodic review cycles to always-on visibility, so you address threats and vulnerabilities as they emerge.Move away from spreadsheets for continuous monitoring to workFrom an operational perspective, many organizations struggle to integrate continuous monitoring because they layer it onto spreadsheet-based risk management and tooling built for periodic assessments, rather than rebuilding their processes around live risk signals.“Teams remain stuck using spreadsheets because they are familiar, not because they work the best,” says Connor Snyder, GRC subject matter expert at Vanta. “For many organizations, their priority is still to focus on manual static evaluations instead of centralized continuous monitoring. The need for more mature and automated approaches to TPRM has never been more urgent.”Continuous monitoring shouldn’t be bolted onto an existing TPRM program. Rebuild your operations with workflows for ownership, alerting, remediation, and exception management built around continuous risk signals.The upfront investment in continuous monitoring is a common concern for many teams, as the ROI and savings can take time to materialize. However, the long-term benefits are tangible and come from reduced manual assessments, efficient and reliable evidence collection, consistent prioritization of high-risk vendors, and shorter review cycles that would otherwise consume significant staff hours.Core components of continuous risk monitoringEffective continuous risk monitoring is a product of governance and tooling. These components will shape your program:Integrations: Continuous oversight depends on integrations with your technology stack, including ticketing systems, cloud providers, and vulnerability scanners. Integrations provide the data needed to detect changes across vendor ecosystems and surface emerging third- and fourth-party risks.Defined KRIs, risk appetite, and tolerance levels: KRIs, risk appetite, and tolerance levels allow you to evaluate risk signals and standardize treatment.Risk scoring and prioritization: Build scoring methodologies into the program so you always know which risks need the most attention.Event-based escalation: Automated escalation processes surface risk events to relevant stakeholders based on defined triggers.Alert contextualization: Because an automated environment can lead to several alerts, your GRC tooling should be configured to distinguish between routine updates and exceptions. Apply the “so what?” test to determine what needs surfacing—examples of material impact include financial loss, reputational damage, and project delay.Ownership and remediation tracking: Assign a specific owner and remediation time frame to every risk in the continuous monitoring loop.Response plans for high-risk events: Define targeted actions owners should take during high-risk events, such as incidents and control failures.A single source of truth: Move away from scattered evidence and multiple versions of risk registers as they’re not compatible with continuous monitoring. Maintain a central dashboard with all risk information for shared context and decision-making.What continuous risk monitoring in TPRM looks like in practiceThe most notable shift with continuous TPRM is the switch from periodic to near-real-time oversight. In mature programs, risk detection is driven by live security signals, and response and remediation follow simultaneously. Questionnaires and compliance-based security artifacts are still present, but they’re treated as supporting evidence during audits instead of primary assurance tools.With ownership and remediation embedded into day-to-day workflows, the human role shifts from manual coordination to strategic oversight, exception management, and risk validation. When risk events occur, escalation triggers automatically and routes to the owners. They can then begin remediation, with its progress visible centrally.Remember that automation only does the detection and routing; it doesn’t replace human judgment.“A common misconception in TPRM is that continuous monitoring can completely replace the need for more traditional vendor due diligence and periodic point-in-time reviews,” Snyder says. “In reality, continuous monitoring serves as a valuable tool to provide external risk signals, but it does not remove the need to still validate internal control effectiveness, governance processes, contractual obligations, or regulatory compliance.”Additionally, AI complements continuous risk monitoring by accelerating due diligence. AI can review questionnaires and security documentation during onboarding, then support ongoing monitoring by analyzing risk signals and flagging changes to the security posture. This reduces manual effort while retaining consistent oversight as vendor ecosystems grow.The differences between point-in-time and continuous risk monitoring are summarized below: Vanta ‍Best practices for continuous risk monitoring and TPRMContinuous monitoring delivers the most value to your TPRM program when you follow these best practices:Integrate continuous monitoring across the vendor lifecycle: Embed continuous monitoring from initial onboarding through ongoing management and offboarding to maintain an auditable trail of risk signals.Implement tiered vendor monitoring: Apply monitoring at different intensities based on a vendor’s criticality and risk exposure. High-risk vendors get granular oversight, and you stop spreading resources evenly across vendors that don't need it.Regularly fine-tune risk scoring models: Revisit vendor scoring logic and thresholds and adapt them to any changes in your risk landscape and business priorities.Validate inherited trust from critical vendors: When your organization relies on controls implemented by a critical vendor, you must periodically verify that those controls remain effective. Don't solely rely on initial due diligence or continuous monitoring to validate critical assurances.To have a supportive setup for continuous risk monitoring, you first need a top-rated risk management platform to enable real-time oversight and build governance practices around it.This story was produced by Vanta and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

LeClaire Wine Stampede returns Saturday to benefit Humane Society of Scott County

The second annual LeClaire Wine Stampede will take place Sept. 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. along Cody Road, offering regional wine tastings and adoptable kitten meet-and-greets to benefit the Humane Society of Scott County.

Meet the future of the LA Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony

As the classical concert season ramps up, two of America's finest orchestras will soon be led by new conductors when Daniel Harding takes over in Los Angeles and Elim Chan leads in San Francisco.

Quad Cities Go Red for Women Luncheon to be held Oct. 21

The American Heart Association will host its annual Quad Cities Go Red for Women on Oct. 21 in Bettendorf to raise funds for scientific research and spread awareness about the leading cause of death in women.

Brain fog, daydreaming, low energy, and other signs of cognitive disengagement syndrome

Cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) is a set of symptoms marked by frequent daydreaming, brain fog, slow processing speed, daytime sleepiness, and low energy. In the mid-1980s, clinicians and researchers started documenting this neurodevelopmental pattern. Back then, they called it “sluggish cognitive tempo.” In 2023, it was renamed as cognitive disengagement syndrome. The new name highlights the symptoms a person experiences. The old term, with the word “sluggish,” made it seem like a personal fault — like laziness. Signs of CDS often show up in childhood. But you can experience symptoms in adulthood as well. The syndrome shares many symptoms with ADHD, particularly the inattentive type. In fact, 25% to 40% of kids and teens with ADHD and 46% of adults with ADHD also experience CDS symptoms.But it’s important to keep in mind that CDS and ADHD are distinct, says Melissa Miller, PhD, a pediatric psychologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who studies CDS.“ADHD is represented by this external distraction … kind of like your brain’s noticing everything all at once,” she explains. “Whereas for individuals with CDS, they might be internally distracted. So, distracted by their own thoughts, excessively daydreaming, or almost just having a blank mind at times.”And while you might have difficulty sustaining attention with ADHD, with CDS, you experience “more of slow processing or even a lower alertness to even get started on a task,” Miller says.This overlap between ADHD and CDS symptoms can be confusing. Below, Understood breaks down which symptoms are associated with CDS, how they can affect daily life, and how it’s different — but connected — to ADHD.Signs and symptoms of CDSThere are both cognitive and motor symptoms of CDS in kids, teens, and adults, according to Nicholas Fogleman, PhD, a child clinical psychologist and director of the University of North Carolina ADHD Program.These CDS symptoms can show up in school, work, or home life and include:DaydreamingFogginess or mental confusionDrowsiness or daytime sleepinessLow activitySlow processing speedAsking people to repeat questions or losing your train of thoughtDifficulty following instructionsNot engaging in or withdrawing from social interactionsPoor school or work performanceNot completing home chores and tasksFeeling like you’re dragging yourself along all dayHigher likelihood of internalizing conditions, like depression and anxietyDaydreaming is the symptom people most often think of when it comes to CDS. That’s because with CDS, you’re often distracted by your own thoughts. Completing tasks can take longer because of frequent internal distraction.Another hallmark symptom of CDS is drowsiness. “We see that there’s a lot of daytime sleepiness, especially difficulties in the morning,” says Miller. “I’ve also heard from parents before describe differences in kids with CDS taking a really long time, for example, in the shower, because it’s an ideal place to daydream.”Another common symptom of CDS is slow processing speed. That’s when someone needs a lot of time to take in, make sense of, and respond to information. And this is where the old term “sluggish cognitive tempo” came from. If you have CDS, it can take a few repetitions to understand instructions. Or it may take longer to complete tasks.Symptoms of CDS depend on the person, though. “Just like ADHD, we know that not everyone with ADHD is the same and what they experience is not always the same,” says Miller. “And I think the same thing is true for CDS.”CDS vs. ADHD: How are they different?Symptoms of CDS may sound similar to ADHD, especially the inattentive type. But you can have CDS without having ADHD, and vice versa.Here are some important differences between CDS and ADHD. It’s important to note that there is still significant overlap between CDS and ADHD, such as executive function challenges. And some people with ADHD (especially the inattentive subtype) may have symptoms of both CDS and ADHD.CDSInternal distraction, like daydreamingLow energySlow to start a taskInternalizing problemsADHDExternal distraction, like getting distracted by things in your environmentHyperactivity, restlessness, impulsivityDifficulty starting, maintaining focus on, and finishing a taskExternalizing problemsTo highlight their differences, Miller points out how CDS and ADHD might show up in a classroom. A teacher may notice that a student with ADHD is looking around the room instead of focusing on their assignment. “Whereas someone with CDS might look like they’re working on their assignment, but they might just be staring at it,” Miller says. “So they’re not distracted by things around them, but they’re … on the same problem for 10 minutes.”CDS can also mimic other health conditions outside of ADHD, including the following:Autism and AuDHD: CDS is a symptom pattern that people with autism or AuDHD can experience, but having these symptoms does not give you an autism diagnosis. Autism involves other traits that CDS doesn’t include, like repetitive behaviors and ongoing challenges with social communication.Burnout: Burnout, a state of exhaustion that comes from nonstop stress, is usually a temporary change in cognitive engagement, specifically towards work, school, or other activities like caregiving. CDS symptoms are not specific to certain contexts.Perimenopause or menopause: Brain fog is a common symptom of CDS as well as perimenopause and menopause. However, the brain fog associated with perimenopause and menopause happens during a specific period of life when hormone levels change. Brain fog with CDS can occur at any age, usually starting in childhood. Why CDS isn’t an official diagnosis yetAlthough the symptoms associated with CDS have been identified by scientists and clinicians since the mid-1980s, there’s no official diagnosis for it in the DSM-5. That’s the reference book used by clinicians to officially diagnose a patient with a psychiatric condition. And that’s because for a long time, CDS symptoms were thought to be part of ADHD.In more recent years, CDS has separated from ADHD. A review of the research around CDS has added evidence that CDS is its own condition.In the meantime, researchers are trying to better understand the underlying cause of CDS. And clinicians can still evaluate for CDS alongside ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other conditions with similar symptoms.How to treat cognitive disengagement syndromeIt’s not yet possible to get an official CDS diagnosis. Because CDS symptoms have been associated with ADHD in the past, and because there’s no official DSM-5 diagnosis, some health care providers may be unaware of the differences. Working closely with a psychologist, counselor or therapist, or psychiatric practitioner to explore CDS is a great first step.Research around treatments specifically for CDS is limited. There’s some thinking that certain treatments for ADHD may benefit individuals with CDS. But support for research is limited.Fogleman notes that sleep interventions and environmental strategies at home and school can help you manage CDS symptoms day to day.There are practical steps you can take:Allow extra processing time to reduce pressure while completing tasks.Use visual timers or verbal prompts to gently re-anchor yourself or your child to the task at hand.Explore informal school and work accommodations to allow for extra time, repeating instructions, and changes in work volume.Work with a mental health professional to manage anxiety and depression symptoms.Miller adds, “Having a routine in the morning where you’re up, alert, and getting active right away, as well as mindfulness interventions,” can help with CDS symptoms.This story was produced by Understood and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

A music lover’s guide to Hamburg: The places that tell the city’s story

Germany is full of famous musical cities, but few feel as connected to the rest of the world as Hamburg. Its waterfront setting along the Elbe River, a portal to the North Sea, has long made the city a place of constant exchange, a harbor where visitors and artists from around the world connect.Perhaps that’s why the Beatles famously drove to Hamburg in August 1960. The band loaded their guitars, drums and amps into a minibus towards the sea, then swung them from a crane onto a Netherlands-bound ferry and motored the last stretch via mainland Europe’s highways. They made their worldwide debut in Hamburg’s Reeperbahn entertainment district, and those early gigs helped them forge the music-industry connections needed to become breakout stars.Even before rock ’n’ roll, music has for centuries defined Hamburg’s contemporary culture. Its sea-shanty traditions go back to tunes like “De Hamborger Veermaster,” an 1850s classic translated to mean “Hamburg’s four-master”—a type of large, four-masted ship that would have been seen sailing in and out of port. In the same decade, Hamburg-born pianist Johannes Brahms began his journey to becoming one of the most ubiquitous names in classical music.And in January 2027, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall marks its 10th anniversary. Over the years, it’s helped make Hamburg’s skyline instantly recognizable to music lovers with its shimmering, wave-like architecture.Here, Hamburg Tourism explores the city through the lens of musical and cultural landmarks. Christian Brandes // Mediaserver Hamburg The Elbphilharmonie represents the latest chapter in Hamburg’s music historyThe Elbphilharmonie opened in 2017 and is unmissable on its perch above a former warehouse in Hamburg’s HafenCity district. Its undulating glass facade rises like a wave above the Elbe as a newly iconic landmark that houses one of Europe’s most talked-about concert halls.In January 2027, the Elbphilharmonie will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In the years since its unveiling, over 7 million people have attended more than 6,400 concerts and performances inside. Some 29 million visitors have stood on the Plaza, its public viewing platform 11 stories above ground, to gaze upon the panoramic view of Hamburg’s port.Alan Gilbert, chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, has conducted in Hamburg since 2001 and calls the city his “musical home.” He credits the concert hall with giving Hamburg a new musical dimension.“It created a new kind of resonance and dimension for the city,” he says, comparing its cultural presence with landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House, the Palais Garnier in Paris and even that city’s Eiffel Tower.Simply getting to the concert hall is part of the experience. Visitors enter the red-brick warehouse building at street level and take a long, curved escalator toward the upper part of the building. Gilbert describes the journey as “entering a portal into another world.” Thies Rätzke // Mediaserver Hamburg The Grand Hall seats more than 2,000 people, though Gilbert describes it as “a very intimate experience.” He says the farthest seats are only about 30 meters (approximately 33 yards) from the stage, and the building’s vertical design brings the audience close to the musicians. The walls are textured and designed to distribute sound around the room, which gives the space “spectacular acoustics.”Gilbert recently brought the Royal Swedish Opera, where he serves as music director, to the Elbphilharmonie for the first time. He describes the hall as acoustically “very transparent,” its design amplifying every note with clarity.“Sometimes musicians can be a little intimidated because they can hear themselves so well,” he says. “It sounds the way you play. So if you make a beautiful sound, it sounds beautiful.”Programming for Elbphilharmonie’s 10th anniversary season is now underway. It centers on American music, since the U.S. celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2026.Seven major U.S. orchestras will perform 13 concerts during the 2026/27 season, including the New York Philharmonic in its first Elbphilharmonie appearance since the hall opened. The season will also bring a five-day festival curated by American folk scholar and performer Rhiannon Giddens, along with concerts commemorating the birthdays of composers John Adams and Steve Reich, as well as jazz legend John Coltrane.The anniversary celebrations continue into January, when the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Hamburg electronic band Meute join forces for a gala concert on Jan. 11.“It’s a fun time to make music in Hamburg,” says Gilbert. Matthias Plander // Mediaserver Hamburg Hamburg’s composers get their own quarterBefore Hamburg had the Beatles and the Elbphilharmonie, it had Brahms, Telemann, C.P.E. Bach, Johann Adolf Hasse, Gustav Mahler, and Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.The KomponistenQuartier in the Neustadt district brings the stories of these composers together in six small museums around Peterstrasse.The Brahms Museum is located near the site where the composer was born, so visitors get to feel a physical connection to the Hamburg of his childhood.The Laeiszhalle preserves an earlier era of concert lifeA few blocks from the Elbphilharmonie, the Laeiszhalle takes visitors back to an earlier era of Hamburg’s concert life. The grand hall opened in 1908 as the Musikhalle, then took the name of shipping magnate Carl Laeisz.The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra still performs here, along with visiting musicians and ensembles.Visiting both halls provides two very different views of Hamburg’s musical life. The Laeiszhalle has the grand architecture and formal atmosphere of an early 20th-century concert hall, while the Elbphilharmonie is a glass-and-steel landmark built for a new century. Konstantin Beck // Mediaserver Hamburg In Hamburg, young musicians still aspire to be the next BeatlesHamburg continues to be a place where young bands start their careers, like the Beatles did back in 1960. The city is home to over 100 music clubs and popular festivals like the Reeperbahn Festival, which has brought music to life every September since 2006.To walk through the same footsteps as John Lennon, head to the Reeperbahn district in Hamburg’s St. Pauli neighborhood. A plaque at the address Grosse Freiheit 39A marks the former site of the Star-Club, one of the venues where the Beatles played during their Hamburg years. Jimi Hendrix and Little Richard also performed at the same location before a fire destroyed the building in 1987. Matthias Plander // Mediaserver Hamburg Music spills into Hamburg’s nightlife sceneAnother early Beatles club still stands today—Indra Musiklub still presents a full lineup of rock shows, comedy nights, disco parties and themed nights where tourists and locals alike are entertained.And when visitors are ready to experience Germany’s famous nightlife, they head to Uebel & Gefahrlich, a concert club inside one of Hamburg’s enormous World War II air-raid shelters. The massive concrete bunker has been transformed into an urban oasis rising above Feldstrasse. There, friends can gather in a public rooftop garden draped with spilling green vines, or the trendy Reverb by Hard Rock hotel.The dance club can be found on the bunker’s fourth floor. Inside, a thousand people can gather for musical parties that are silent to the outside world thanks to the venue’s protective, one-meter-thick walls. Lisa Knauer // Mediaserver Hamburg Musical influences are even found in Hamburg’s shops and marketsMusic tourism in Hamburg doesn’t officially stop at the concert hall. A recent Oxford Economics study found that musical attractions brought 914 million euros in visitor spending to the city. It’s also estimated that, for every euro generated by the music industry directly, about 67 cents reaches other businesses and shops throughout the region.For instance, a stop into the Hamburg Fischmarkt on a Sunday morning will bring visitors back to Hamburg’s working waterfront and the sea-shanty tradition behind songs like “De Hamborger Veermaster.”Visitors also like to visit Hanseplatte, a record store devoted to music from Hamburg. Its shelves are a good place to pick up records by local artists to take home as musical souvenirs.A few minutes away, Groove City specializes in soul, hip-hop, jazz and Afro music. For a broader selection, Michelle Records has been selling new and secondhand vinyl and CDs in central Hamburg since 1977.Hamburg’s musical history stretches from Brahms to the Beatles, bunkers and beyondA few days in Hamburg can take you from Brahms to the Fab Four, from a historic concert hall to a bunker club, and from a Sunday morning at the fish market to a concert overlooking the harbor.The city’s musical history runs deep, but its connection to the wider world is what keeps the scene moving forward, even today.As Gilbert puts it, in Hamburg, “the feeling of possibility is very powerful.”This story was produced by Hamburg Tourism and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

MercyOne Genesis to host 6th annual Gather for the Cure Oct. 18

Gather for the Cure will be held at Scott County Park in the Whispering Pines Indoor Shelter beginning at 2 p.m.

Gather for the Cure raises funds for MercyOne Genesis breast center

MercyOne Genesis and the MercyOne Genesis Foundation are marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month by hosting the sixth annual Gather for the Cure on Sunday, October 18, from 12 – 2 p.m. at Scott County Park, Whispering Pines Indoor Shelter, 18850 270th Street in Long Grove. Attendees can connect with others facing breast cancer and hear [...]

The end of homework? Teachers grapple with cheating in the age of AI

At the beginning of each new class, Al Rabanera lets his students know that he knows they’re using AI.“I’m not going to pretend like you aren’t,” he tells his students. “I know it’s readily available for most of you, if not all of you.”A math teacher at La Vista High School in Fullerton, California, where he works with students as old as 19 who are struggling to get enough credits to graduate, Rabanera has watched AI creep into homework assignments over the past few years as students use powerful tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to race through assignments.It has forced him to change his approach.He has stopped sending home problems that can be lifted wholesale into an AI chatbot and pasted back into an assignment. Instead, he builds lessons around what students actually care about, creating, for instance, a unit on buying a car that weaves together calculating interest rates and monthly payments with learning about credit scores. He has replaced rote problem sets with one-of-a-kind poster projects and in-class design challenges.When Rabanera assigns practice, he often has students devise their own word problems around personal interests to prove they understand the underlying concepts. Courtesy of Al Rabanera He’s hardly the only one scrambling to try something new: Nationwide, teachers at all levels are rethinking, scaling back or, in some cases, abandoning homework altogether as evidence mounts that students who outsource their assignments to AI aren’t just submitting work that isn’t theirs, The 74 reports. They’re surrendering the cognitive struggle that makes learning stick and makes homework, well, work.New large-scale research suggests that teachers’ fears are valid. A recent study led by Sina Rismanchian of the University of California, Irvine, analyzed 3.2 million student math problems on the digital ALEKS platform over a decade and found that after ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, high school students spent 31% less time on word problems — the kind easily copy-pasted into an AI — compared with graph-based problems that required a hands-on interaction with the platform. College students showed a 27% decline.When students were tested under proctored conditions with no access to AI, the copy-paste behavior vanished. And when researchers examined whether students had actually retained anything, they found that the odds of correctly answering AI-susceptible word problems fell by 25% in the post-ChatGPT years.“Students are using AI a lot,” Rismanchian said in an interview. For those who do, “it’s coming at a cost for their learning outcomes.”The College Board last fall reported that the percentage of high school students who said they use AI tools for schoolwork grew from 79% in January 2025 to 84% in May 2025.In a recent survey, 37% of K-12 principals said students were using AI for homework help, slightly higher than the percentage who said students were using it to help draft essays.John Singleton, an associate professor of economics at the University of Rochester and a co-author of the study, said the finding “certainly requires a rethinking of what the object of homework is.” For him, assigning short writing assignments to his college students is “insane these days, because you’re going to get back 25 AI-generated short essays, and so it’s really not gauging comprehension. It’s not even doing the work of forcing the student to engage with the material, because they can put it into the AI.”Conscientious instructors are drafting AI policies that they post to class syllabi, he said, “but I think the temptation is there.”Talking to colleagues, Singleton said, “Everyone feels sort of bewildered about whether they’re doing the right thing.” Moving toward presentations and oral exams make sense, but giving up traditional writing assignments as a way to assess student thinking, he said, “is too bad, in some ways.”The irony of this moment is that AI was supposed to offer students a powerful tutoring tool, capable of explaining concepts, adapting to individual learners and helping them work through difficult material at their own pace. Instead, many educators say, for a significant share of students it has become the most efficient cheating device ever invented.“There’s a zillion people that are trying to come up with these guided learning environments and Socratic tutors and stuff like that,” said Justin Reich, director of MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab and host of the AI-focused podcast “The Homework Machine.” “And I’m just like, ‘Guys, you’re putting the “Carefully teach me this stuff” button directly next to the “Do everything for me” button.’ ”Reich has spent years studying why students cheat. When they’re being honest, they typically tell researchers that the assignment didn’t seem worth their time, or that they ran out of time. They felt pressure to perform or, in many cases, they found themselves stuck on a problem with no other help in sight.“What’s new now is that, with all the gen AI stuff, the cost of taking a shortcut is zero,” said Eric Cosyn, a researcher who co-founded the ALEKS platform.Ashley Kannan, who has taught eighth-grade U.S. history for 30 years in Oak Park, Illinois, said that if schools continue to go down the same path of assigning work and expecting students not to be tempted to take shortcuts, “the war is over — we’ve lost.” Classrooms, he said, will be left in “a race to see who can plagiarize and cheat the best, and who has the resources to do so,” a dynamic he calls a losing bet for everyone.Start your homework in classIn interviews, many educators and researchers were quick to point out that AI didn’t invent academic dishonesty.Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success, a research and school reform project, has been tracking student cheating behavior for two decades. Long before ChatGPT, she said, copying a classmate’s homework was consistently the most commonly admitted form of academic dishonesty.The group’s latest academic integrity study, drawn from nearly 30,000 high school students, shows that this pattern still holds: 32.7% of students reported copying someone else’s homework at least once in the past month, a figure almost identical to the share who reported using AI as an unauthorized aid: 32.8%.Students, Pope said, are simply swapping out one shortcut for another.“This sort of hand-wringing that AI is changing homework like never before is a little bit off,” she said, “because there were high amounts of copying and cheating homework long before.”All the same, Pope’s team has surveyed more than 100,000 students since November 2022, and the results are unambiguous: They’re using AI to do homework. Many don’t frame it as cheating, making the case that consulting an AI is no different than asking a parent, calling a tutor or typing a question into Google. Echoing Reich’s findings, she noted, “Some of them are saying it’s another piece of technology that helps us when we’re stuck.”Teachers, naturally, see it a bit differently. A Challenge Success survey of 678 faculty and staff members found that the most pervasive concern, raised by about 58% of respondents, wasn’t cheating itself but the erosion of critical thinking. Teachers complained that students aren’t developing the intellectual stamina that hard problems require. “If school is about skills and not content,” one teacher wrote, “ChatGPT takes away critical thinking skills at a time that we are supposed to be teaching those skills to the students.”Pope said her group is hearing from teachers that they’re afraid to send homework home “because it’s even more clear that there’s this ‘Easy’ button, and students are not having the productive struggle that they need to really learn the material.”She recommends rethinking homework, starting with what she calls a homework audit — a systematic review of assignments to ask whether they actually require a student to do the intellectual work required. Teachers should also be able to tell if the work was done by the student or by AI.“Start your homework in class,” she advised. “You will get a really good picture of who understands what you’re asking and who doesn’t by looking around and seeing what happens in the first 10 minutes — one kid is done and one kid is still stuck.”Kannan, the Illinois history teacher, has landed on a similar idea, built around conversations. He still assigns a version of the same paragraph students have long written to identify a historical figure and place them in context — but the process now unfolds through one-on-one conferences rather than solo writing. Because of the conferences, the writing looks different.The goal, he said, is to locate the assignment “in the hearts and minds of a student” rather than in a generic prompt that AI can complete on command. “I think that there’s a way to personalize rigor,” he said. “When students, when young people feel that something is personal to them, they do come alive.” Courtesy of Ashley Kannan Kannan said this kind of individualization isn’t new — special education teachers and speech-language pathologists have practiced it for decades. “All I’m suggesting is that there are pathways that we know work. Why not bring it into the mainstream classroom for every student?”‘How this could this stronger?’Researchers are also grappling with the limits of what they can measure. Self-reported cheating data, as Rismanchian’s paper notes, is “the least reliable way to measure anything.” In his own earlier research on 70 undergraduates, more than half of students who were directly observed relying on AI denied using it. “We were actually observing this copy-pasting behavior,” he recalled.A group of McGraw-Hill researchers co-authored the Rismanchian study, and Dylan Arena, the publisher’s chief of data science, said solving the AI cheating problem has two prongs: Better detection helps, but it’s insufficient without a cultural shift inside classrooms. Students who believe their sole obligation is to produce a completed assignment, he said, will always find the path of least resistance.“There are kids who are here thinking, ‘I need to punch my ticket, I need to get this thing done,’ ” Arena said. “What’s the most expedient way to do that? Hand it over to this tool.”But he suggested that something deeper is actually happening as AI colonizes students’ thinking: They’re losing their tolerance for “not knowing” something at any given moment, for what he calls the productive discomfort of sitting with a hard problem before the answer becomes clear. “It used to be that we would spend weeks not fully understanding something, and we would read, and we would write, and we would talk, and we would try, and we would write drafts — and they wouldn’t be quite right. But there is now an expectation that I either instantly know what I should do, or I should turn to a tool.”A few teachers are experimenting with a more informal version of that transparency, built on relationships rather than documentation.Kannan described pulling aside a student last year whom he suspected, based on months of conversation, of leaning on AI for most of his schoolwork. “I knew that because I was taking the time to talk to him,” Kannan said.Rather than report the student, he asked him to run his own writing through the same chatbot he’d been using, in a bid to “reverse-engineer” and improve it. “Let’s actually ask questions to ChatGPT about how this could be stronger? How is this weak?”Kannan has since built that move into his regular teaching: After students draft work with AI’s help, he sometimes has them ask the tool to critique the output, with students in effect “co-designing” assignments rather than simply handing them to a chatbot and turning in whatever pops out.In the absence of such guidance, he said, students will do what they must to complete assignments. He recalled a student who’d been assigned an essay on the American dream by an English teacher. “There was really no instruction as to what that was, and she said, ‘I carried on a conversation with Gemini about what the American dream was, and that helped me understand it more.’ Given the demands of what the student was facing, she used AI as a partner, as an opportunity.”Tom Loveless, a longtime education researcher who has studied homework, noted that teachers have been assigning less homework for at least a decade — and that the rise of AI might reduce it further if teachers lose confidence that take‑home work is genuinely done by students. But it could also work the other way: If teachers believe that AI is a kind of all-purpose helper, they could actually assign more homework because they believe students “are going to be helped out and kind of semi-tutored,” he said.Many school districts are trying to reframe the relationship between students and AI from the ground up. The Laguna Beach Unified School District in California, working with researchers at Stanford, found that AI policies had generated a culture of suspicion in which teachers spent their energy trying to catch cheaters — and students felt guilty for using AI.Michael Morrison, the district’s former chief technology officer, called it “the absolute worst culture that I can think of.”In response, the district developed an add-on tool for Google Docs called AI Trust You, which asks students to disclose exactly how much and in what ways they use AI on a given assignment — a kind of nutritional label for AI-assisted work. Surveys suggest students generally use it honestly because the tool gives them something they didn’t have before: a sanctioned way to tell the truth.Michael Keller, Laguna’s director of social-emotional support, noted that the district is already rethinking homework altogether for high school students, since 70% are athletes who devote an hour or more each day to practice and training.He sees the AI initiative as part of a broader commitment to treating students as full partners in their own learning. Monitoring how students are using AI, he said, is not the point. “We really view it as our moral obligation to make sure that we put trust and supportive relationships as the foundation to their learning experience,” he said.For MIT’s Reich, transparency is necessary but not sufficient. The deeper challenge is motivational. “Kids are just natural boundary pushers,” he said.And though they may not be able to articulate this, “the boundaries are what make them feel safe and loved and cared for.”The problem, Reich argues, isn’t that students are weak-willed or morally deficient. It’s that the incentive structure of homework — grades for completion, not for thinking — has always been fragile. AI has simply exposed that fragility.“It’s not like homework is perfect,” he said. “Any teacher will tell you that some of the assignments are dumb or don’t work. But across the tens of millions of minutes of stuff that we ask kids to do in the afternoons, some of it’s got to be useful. And if we turn that spigot off, there’s just going to be less learning.”This story was produced by The 74 and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

States urge schools to use AI, but leave teachers on their own to stop cheating

Paige Wyatt heard plenty from administrators about using AI to generate lesson plans at the school where she taught high school English.Her students used AI to cheat so frequently she resorted to spending her own money on detection tools. Yet she never got help with what she really wanted: how to effectively catch and stop the cheaters, some of whom were very clearly just copying and pasting from Google’s AI summaries.Teachers like Wyatt consistently identify cheating as a major concern in the AI era, and 70% of teens report using AI for schoolwork, a Common Sense Media survey published last month found. But that concern is getting little recognition from states. While at least 13 states have passed laws about AI in education, the laws most often direct state agencies and districts to create their own AI guidance, meaning lawmakers have frequently absolved themselves from making tough decisions.Meanwhile, roughly three out of four states have published information to help guide AI use in education. But a Chalkbeat review found these documents tend to skirt the issue of cheating, offering little in the way of concrete steps to halt or deter students from offloading work to AI. Instead, they dedicate more real estate to AI literacy and ways teachers can use AI for efficiency.All of that beating around the bush has left educators and districts to their own devices to come up with ways to deter and catch AI-enabled cheaters. It’s become an exhausting endeavor that hasn’t turned up any definitive solutions, educators and researchers said.There’s no surefire way to detect AI-generated content. Nor is there an agreed-upon definition for cheating: Can students use AI to outline an essay but not write it? Can they use it to copy edit? Some states have crafted acceptable use policies which make some, but not all, of these distinctions.Wyatt quit her teaching job last year. She didn’t leave solely due to AI, but its impact on her work was a factor.“We really need real consequences,” she said. “We need workshops for teachers to detect cheating. We need workshops for kids.”Most of the nation’s 10 largest school districts are developing or have developed more specific policies to try to prevent using generative AI to cheat. But it hasn’t always been easy: New York City delayed the rollout of its AI guidance for months amid fierce backlash, before announcing a new policy this week. Half of those districts explicitly discourage using AI detection tools.Many of the official responses might underscore the urgency of the problem without helping to address it, which could only increase teachers’ anxiety.“I think the situation teachers are in feels bad, and feels like they ought to have a solution now that they don’t have,” said Justin Reich, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the host of a podcast about how AI is shaping K-12 education.Letting AI ‘run amok’ could ruin student learningHistorically, state policymakers haven’t rushed to create laws governing new technology and education.States didn’t really start to adopt computer science requirements until the 2010s. And while the iPhone launched a smartphone revolution in 2007, the first state restrictions on cell phone use in schools didn’t come until 16 years later, in 2023.States may be moving faster when it comes to mainstream generative AI, which took off with the advent of ChatGPT in late 2022.“Folks can’t just hope this will pass. This is a major change, and students are already using it,” said John King, former U.S. education secretary and current chancellor of the State University of New York system. “This isn’t tomorrow’s problem. This is today’s problem.”The District of Columbia and at least 37 states have issued recommendations for public schools about AI. Their documents range from short webpages to Illinois’ 400-page behemoth. Many define different types of AI, stress that any AI use should still be led by humans, and link to outside resources — some of which have been developed with the support of big AI companies. Chalkbeat But they often devote just a page or a few paragraphs to academic integrity.The documents also seem light on actual guidance and don’t include many citations, Reich said. That’s because there’s little evidence to show how effective AI tools are in the classroom, or what policies would effectively stop cheating.“If you just let this run amok in secondary schools, all kinds of learning activities will stop,” he said. “We do not know what to do. There’s no evidence-based policy. There’s no basis for development and professional development. Like we’re just making stuff up.”More than a third of states urge schools not to rely solely on tools that promise to detect the use of AI, citing studies showing they are not effective and incorrectly flag genuine student writing as AI.But many states then offer little else other than acceptable use policies. In California’s case, the state offers a list of questions for districts to mull when making policies around integrity in addition to an acceptable use policy.In the absence of hard and fast rules, teachers have reported requiring students to complete more graded work in class, using pencil and paper.Christopher Harris, the director of the school library system for the Genesee Valley BOCES, a regional district in western New York, wants educators to go further than that and reconsider how they measure learning. Writing may be less of a valid tool to assess if students are learning, now that AI “can suddenly write anything.”He said students could submit an oral assignment, or teachers could focus on the learning process more than the product by asking students to explain how they respond to feedback when developing a project or presentation.New York is one of the 13 states that hasn’t published AI resources for educators. Harris’ library system has been developing resources about AI for the state’s educators using grant money.“I really wanted to help teachers understand they can’t control what kids do with AI,” he said. “The only control they have is their agency in developing assignments.”Adopting AI policies not straightforward for school districtsSara Brescia thought she had a no-brainer policy proposal for her fellow Manassas City Public Schools board members: adding AI misuse to the district’s code of student conduct.The policy she proposed for the district in northern Virginia — a hotbed for the data centers AI relies on — would prohibit students from trying to pass off AI-generated content as their own. It specified that AI could only be used with a teacher’s permission, and required students to cite AI use. Students would be punished, up to and including with expulsion, for violating any of those provisions.But other board members voted her idea down in late July. Lisa Stevens, another school board member who is also a teacher according to her LinkedIn page, worried the policy would add a burden onto teachers without giving them any tools to identify AI-generated work.Brescia is skeptical about the value of those tools.“We do not have a comprehensive approach,’’ she said. “We have the student code of conduct that says nothing.”Wyatt said when she left the classroom, students were only becoming more fluent in methods to cheat. They were finding tools like QuillBot to disguise AI-generated writing and make it sound more like student writing.She’s open to going back to the classroom, if she gets more administrative support to help detect the kind of AI misconduct that felt out of control when she left.“As a community, we need a support network,” she said.This story was produced by Chalkbeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Is perimenopause causing your anxiety?

Perimenopause — literally meaning “around menopause” — describes the years leading up to menopause. People often talk about how difficult menopause is, but perimenopause can be just as challenging. For many people, perimenopause and anxiety come together in a way that makes life feel more stressful. In one study, over half of perimenopausal women experienced anxiety.You may be at especially high risk for developing anxiety during your perimenopause years if you don’t usually live with symptoms of anxiety. This can be a confusing and even frightening experience, but it should go away with time. Therapy and, sometimes, medication can help you get through the worst of it and stay grounded during your perimenopause years, Rula reports.Key TakeawaysPerimenopause is the transitional time before menopause. For many people, it comes with an unexpected rise in anxiety.Even if you’ve never experienced symptoms of anxiety before, the hormonal shifts and life changes of perimenopause can make you feel more anxious than usual.There are ways to manage perimenopausal anxiety so you don’t have to wait it out alone.What perimenopausal anxiety feels likeAnxiety during perimenopause can be distressing, overwhelming, and even frightening. Especially if you’re not somebody who typically feels anxious, these new feelings can be confusing to deal with. It’s hard to know what symptoms and experiences are “normal” parts of perimenopause and what might be signs of a deeper underlying condition.Common anxiety experiences and symptoms that people report during perimenopause include:Nighttime anxiety and insomnia: You might find yourself lying awake for hours, unable to turn off your thoughts. Even if you fall asleep, you may wake up in the middle of the night with your heart pounding for no particular reason.Morning anxiety: You might wake up with a pit in your stomach, like something bad is about to happen or you’re forgetting something crucial — even if there’s nothing specific causing it. That sense of dread can make it hard to start your day.Social anxiety: You might feel nervous about being around people, even with close friends or in situations that used to feel easy. Things like small talk, social events, or even texting someone back might feel oddly overwhelming or emotionally draining.Excessive worrying: You might feel like your mind is constantly racing and jumping from one worry to the next. You might overthink your decisions, replay conversations repeatedly, or feel like you’re waiting for something bad to happen — even if everything seems fine on the surface.Anxiety or panic attacks: You might experience sudden waves of anxiety that come on without warning. These can include chest tightness, difficulty breathing, dizziness, or a feeling like you’re losing control or even about to die.Physical symptoms: Perimenopausal anxiety doesn’t only affect how you think or feel — it can show up in your body too. Some common physical symptoms include muscle tension, jaw clenching, rapid heartbeat, headaches, digestive issues, and even feeling shaky or lightheaded.How perimenopause symptoms cause anxietyMental health challenges are a common part of perimenopause. This includes anxiety, as well as other mental health symptoms, like depression and mood swings.Not everyone experiences increased anxiety during perimenopause. One review found that women who had lower levels of anxiety before menopause were most likely to experience heightened anxiety during perimenopause.On the other hand, women who already had higher levels of anxiety before perimenopause weren’t as likely to experience a dramatic shift. Their anxiety levels stayed chronically high. (This particular study — as well as most others on this topic — unfortunately only included women, not other people assigned female at birth. There needs to be more research to understand how perimenopause affects people of different genders, including trans men and nonbinary people assigned female at birth.)There are a few different reasons, both biological and environmental, why anxiety might get higher during perimenopause. These include:Hormonal changesOne of the main changes that happens in your body as you enter perimenopause is fluctuations in estrogen levels. It’s unclear how dropping estrogen levels directly cause anxiety, but unstable estrogen can affect your body’s ability to manage cortisol, a stress hormone. This can physically increase the sensation of anxiety and tension that you feel.Life changes and challengesPerimenopause also often comes at a time when other life changes are happening. For example, children may reach adulthood and “leave the nest.” Parents may start needing more care, which leads to additional caregiving duties.Approaching menopause can also be a period of loss and emotional adjustment. You may need to grieve the fact that you’re no longer in your childbearing years. Some women feel less attractive or feminine during perimenopause.All of these factors can contribute to anxiety during this time of life.Other physical symptoms of menopauseOn top of the hormonal changes, you may also experience other uncomfortable physical symptoms during perimenopause. These can include:Hot flashesVaginal drynessWeight gainSleep difficultiesThese symptoms can be uncomfortable and stressful to live with, which can put you at higher risk for anxiety.Effects of living with perimenopause anxietyPerimenopause anxiety can affect many parts of daily life. You may have trouble focusing at work, keeping up with responsibilities, or feeling present in relationships. Even simple tasks can start to feel more overwhelming than usual.Sleep problems and constant worry can also leave you feeling drained. Over time, this can affect your mood, energy, confidence, and overall quality of life. Some people start avoiding social situations or feel frustrated because they don’t feel like themselves anymore.The good news is that support is available. Therapy, lifestyle changes, stress management skills, and medical treatment can all help you manage symptoms and feel more grounded during perimenopause.How to cope with anxiety during perimenopauseFor many people, perimenopausal anxiety goes away once they reach full menopause (typically defined as 12 months without a period). But many people go through the hormonal changes of perimenopause for years before reaching menopause. And if other factors — like life challenges — are contributing to your anxiety, or if you’ve developed an anxiety disorder, these feelings may not go away on their own.You don’t need to suffer through perimenopausal anxiety without support. There are many things you can do to cope with these feelings now, whether or not they go away with time.1. Practice relaxation techniquesIt’s important to be able to calm your body’s stress response and activate your parasympathetic nervous system. This can counter the physical effects of anxiety and let your body know you’re not in danger.There are evidence-based ways you can do this. For example, progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves tensing and releasing your muscles one group at a time. This can help reduce physical tension and send calming signals to your brain. Deep breathing, grounding exercises, and guided imagery can also help regulate your nervous system when anxiety feels overwhelming.2. Focus on a healthy lifestyleYou don’t need to do a total overhaul of your life to support your mental health during perimenopause. Small changes can still make a big difference. Focus on living an overall healthy lifestyle that supports both your physical and mental well-being. Daily habits like moving your body, cutting back on caffeine and alcohol, and eating nourishing foods can all help stabilize your mood and energy levels.Sleep is especially important. Trouble sleeping is common during perimenopause, and it can feed into anxiety. Try to create a calming nighttime routine and avoid stimulating activities before bed.3. Connect with othersSocial anxiety, in particular, can make it hard to reach out to your friends and loved ones. But maintaining connection is one of the most important things you can do for your mental health. Connecting with others can also remind you that you’re not alone in what you’re going through. Other people in your life may be experiencing similar hormonal or emotional changes and can relate in ways that feel comforting and normalizing.Even if it feels hard to do so, try to reach out to supportive people. This might mean spending time with trusted friends, joining a support group for people going through perimenopause, or simply talking with someone who listens without judgment.4. Practice self-reflectionEspecially when anxiety is new or unfamiliar, it’s natural to feel like something is “wrong” with you. But anxiety is often your body’s way of responding to stress, grief, or change. Self-reflection can help you figure out what you’re really feeling beneath the surface.Taking time to reflect on the meaning behind your emotions can be powerful and healing. You can do this through journaling, talking to a therapist, or just giving yourself time and space to be honest with yourself. Naming what’s going on doesn’t always make it go away, but it can reduce the power it has over you.5. Get treatment for anxietyIf your anxiety is persistent, interfering with your daily life, or making it hard to cope, it’s time to get professional support. There’s no shame in this, regardless of whether your anxiety is a temporary part of perimenopause or if it’s developed into something more long-lasting.Therapy is one of the most effective ways to treat anxiety. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you identify unhelpful thought patterns and change the behaviors that keep you stuck in anxiety. Other types of talk therapy, like acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), are also effective options. Some people also benefit from medication to help manage symptoms while they work through the root causes of their anxiety symptoms.6. Consider psychiatry or medication supportSome people benefit from working with a psychiatrist during perimenopause — especially if anxiety symptoms feel severe or hard to manage. A psychiatrist can help you explore whether medication may help reduce symptoms like constant worry, panic attacks, sleep problems, or physical anxiety symptoms.Medication isn’t the right choice for everyone, but it can be an important part of treatment for some people. A psychiatrist or other medical provider can help you understand your options and decide what feels right for you.Clinician’s take“Simple practices — like reducing screen time, practicing deep breathing, or incorporating mindfulness before bed — can greatly improve sleep quality and reduce anxiety. A consistent nighttime self-care ritual can help reset your nervous system, making it easier to manage the emotional ups and downs of perimenopause with more resilience and balance,” says Ashley Ayala, LMFT.This story was produced by Rula and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Your employees have caregiving responsibilities. Is your small business prepared?

Many employees are also caregivers. They may be caring for children, aging parents, spouses, or other family members while also managing their jobs. For a small business, where one unexpected absence can affect the entire team, employees' responsibilities can quickly become a scheduling and management issue.Small businesses typically don’t need a complicated, lengthy caregiver workplace policy, but relying entirely on informal arrangements can create confusion. For example, a manager might allow one employee to work remotely during an emergency while telling another to take the day off. Beyond confusion, there are also legal implications: Federal law generally does not make caregiver status a protected category. However, treating caregivers differently because of characteristics protected by federal employment discrimination laws can create legal issues, while state or local laws may provide additional protections.For an employer, such as a small business, the goal is to understand which rules apply and set clear expectations for employees and managers. Keeping your employees and your business protected is key to a legally safeguarded business. Rocket Lawyer discusses how companies can approach creating a caregiving policy.How to fix informal flexibility before it becomes a problemDifferent-sized companies require different policies. But even if a small business doesn’t need an in-depth policy of a giant corporation, it still needs a framework in place. Deciding what workplace flexibility means before an urgent request arrives can be crucial to the business's operationWhen creating your policies, consider common situations:An employee needs to leave early because childcare suddenly falls through.Someone needs a different schedule while caring for a parent.Another employee asks to work remotely for several days because a spouse needs help after surgery.An employee needs to stay home to care for a sick child.If employers and managers handle every situation from scratch, employees tend to receive different answers to similar requests. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommends that employers familiarize managers with work-life policies and apply them consistently.A basic flexible work policy typically addresses who can approve schedule changes, whether remote work is available, how employees should report unexpected absences, and when to review temporary arrangements.Know which leave rules apply to your businessDon’t assume every family leave policy you hear about applies to your company—or that being a small business means no leave laws apply.For example, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act generally covers private employers with 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. Eligible employees of covered employers can receive job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons.That means a microbusiness (1–10 employees) generally will not be covered by the FMLA solely as a private-sector employer. However, state and local leave requirements may have different thresholds and protections. Other employment laws may also apply, depending on the circumstances. That's why it's important to check the rules where your employees actually work rather than relying only on federal requirements.Questions to Ask About Caregiving in Relation to Your WorkplaceBefore creating new policies, look at what your business already does in practice. The goal is to identify where employees or managers might be left guessing.What happens when an employee has an unexpected caregiving emergency? Who should they contact, and what options can managers offer?Are similar requests being handled consistently? Could two employees asking for comparable flexibility receive very different answers?Do our written policies match what we actually allow? If remote work or schedule changes happen informally, should we clarify those expectations?Which leave and employment laws apply to us? Are there state or local requirements that apply even though federal FMLA requirements may not?What to Do NextReview what you already offer. Review your attendance, time-off, remote-work, and scheduling practices, and identify unclear expectations.Create a simple process for requests. Decide who employees should contact, what information they need to provide, and who approves these temporary changes.Train anyone who manages employees. Managers should understand your policies and know when a request needs additional review, not just an immediate yes or no.Check the rules that apply to your team. Find out what questions to investigate, or talk to an attorney about federal, state, and local requirements affecting caregiver leave and workplace flexibility.While you cannot plan for every caregiving emergency, clear, consistent expectations can give employees flexibility while helping your business stay prepared.This story was produced by Rocket Lawyer and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Student Hunger Drive marks 40th year with goal of 1 million meals

Quad City students kicked off the 40th annual Student Hunger Drive at River Bend Food Bank in Davenport, aiming to collect 1 million meals for people facing food insecurity.

Where young adults are house hunting

Rising home prices, combined with limited housing supply, have made it challenging for young adults to enter the housing market. According to a May 2026 Pew Research Center survey, nearly 9 in 10 younger Americans say it is harder for them to buy a home than it was for their parents. Nonetheless, younger buyers continue to aspire to homeownership, navigating an uneven landscape of affordability and opportunity. In some states, adults under 35 account for more than a quarter of mortgage applications. In others, that share is less than 15%.To determine where younger Americans are most actively pursuing homeownership, SmartAsset analyzed mortgage applications in each of the 50 states over the preceding year using data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calculating the share of applications filed by buyers younger than 35 relative to all applicants. The results offer a look at where the next generation of homeowners may be gaining the strongest foothold.Key FindingsYounger Americans may be more likely to pursue homeownership where housing costs are lower. In each of the four states with the highest share of mortgage applications from adults younger than 35, the typical home value is less than $300,000: North Dakota (No. 1), West Virginia (No. 2), Nebraska (No. 3) and Iowa (No. 4).Texas leads by total number of applications. While it only ranks No. 18 overall for the share of mortgage applications from adults younger than 35, the Lone Star State had the highest total number of such applications, 259,737.Price may be less of a deterrent to younger Utahns. Among states where the typical home value exceeds $500,000, Utah is the only one where adults younger than 35 account for more than 21% of mortgage applications.Young Delawareans lag in pursuit of homeownership. Delaware ranked No. 50, with adults younger than 35 accounting for just 13.4% of mortgage applications in 2025. SmartAsset SmartAsset How States MeasureAlabamaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22%Number of applications by under 35s: 51,932Typical home value: $236,705AlaskaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 24.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 5,440Typical home value: $390,107ArizonaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 17.1%Number of applications by under 35s: 61,242Typical home value: $423,746ArkansasPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22.4%Number of applications by under 35s: 30,266Typical home value: $222,300CaliforniaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 14.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 170,434Typical home value: $776,233ColoradoPercent of all applications by under 35s: 20.2%Number of applications by under 35s: 59,493Typical home value: $543,271ConnecticutPercent of all applications by under 35s: 18.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 25,376Typical home value: $441,466DelawarePercent of all applications by under 35s: 13.4%Number of applications by under 35s: 7,406Typical home value: $405,836FloridaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 14.8%Number of applications by under 35s: 159,429Typical home value: $376,504GeorgiaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 17.9%Number of applications by under 35s: 92,511Typical home value: $333,559Hawai‘iPercent of all applications by under 35s: 13.6%Number of applications by under 35s: 5,285Typical home value: $830,219IdahoPercent of all applications by under 35s: 20.1%Number of applications by under 35s: 20,382Typical home value: $477,506IllinoisPercent of all applications by under 35s: 21.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 99,120Typical home value: $290,210IndianaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 76,028Typical home value: $256,584IowaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 25.6%Number of applications by under 35s: 31,666Typical home value: $234,891KansasPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 25,209Typical home value: $246,369KentuckyPercent of all applications by under 35s: 24.8%Number of applications by under 35s: 47,476Typical home value: $232,231LouisianaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.2%Number of applications by under 35s: 35,607Typical home value: $214,727MainePercent of all applications by under 35s: 19%Number of applications by under 35s: 11,807Typical home value: $412,608MarylandPercent of all applications by under 35s: 16.6%Number of applications by under 35s: 43,894Typical home value: $431,934MassachusettsPercent of all applications by under 35s: 17.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 42,812Typical home value: $661,755MichiganPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 94,242Typical home value: $263,590MinnesotaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 24.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 50,992Typical home value: $350,891MississippiPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22.9%Number of applications by under 35s: 26,255Typical home value: $194,242MissouriPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.1%Number of applications by under 35s: 63,203Typical home value: $265,398MontanaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 20%Number of applications by under 35s: 8,345Typical home value: $467,919NebraskaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 25.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 19,947Typical home value: $279,080NevadaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 16.6%Number of applications by under 35s: 23,517Typical home value: $447,225New HampshirePercent of all applications by under 35s: 18.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 11,758Typical home value: $510,709New JerseyPercent of all applications by under 35s: 16%Number of applications by under 35s: 59,260Typical home value: $571,373New MexicoPercent of all applications by under 35s: 24%Number of applications by under 35s: 19,504Typical home value: $317,474New YorkPercent of all applications by under 35s: 18.9%Number of applications by under 35s: 81,235Typical home value: $510,449North CarolinaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 19.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 107,640Typical home value: $337,273North DakotaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 28.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 6,551Typical home value: $286,406OhioPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22%Number of applications by under 35s: 114,730Typical home value: $244,844OklahomaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 38,723Typical home value: $221,765OregonPercent of all applications by under 35s: 16.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 27,275Typical home value: $501,661PennsylvaniaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 18.6%Number of applications by under 35s: 93,107Typical home value: $286,387Rhode IslandPercent of all applications by under 35s: 17.8%Number of applications by under 35s: 8,575Typical home value: $504,793South CarolinaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 20.1%Number of applications by under 35s: 58,977Typical home value: $305,174South DakotaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 25.1%Number of applications by under 35s: 7,390Typical home value: $319,255TennesseePercent of all applications by under 35s: 20.8%Number of applications by under 35s: 71,613Typical home value: $334,075TexasPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 259,737Typical home value: $302,187UtahPercent of all applications by under 35s: 23.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 40,765Typical home value: $540,993VermontPercent of all applications by under 35s: 19.3%Number of applications by under 35s: 4,285Typical home value: $394,227VirginiaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 18.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 74,338Typical home value: $414,320WashingtonPercent of all applications by under 35s: 19.9%Number of applications by under 35s: 64,236Typical home value: $604,087West VirginiaPercent of all applications by under 35s: 26.5%Number of applications by under 35s: 16,133Typical home value: $174,876WisconsinPercent of all applications by under 35s: 21.7%Number of applications by under 35s: 53,076Typical home value: $333,909WyomingPercent of all applications by under 35s: 22.9%Number of applications by under 35s: 5,745Typical home value: $363,685MethodologyHome Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) snapshot data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was analyzed for 2025, the most recent year available. For each state, the number and share of conventional mortgage records involving applicants younger than 35 were calculated by combining the under-25 and 25-to-34 age categories. The data reflects HMDA-reportable mortgage activity submitted by covered financial institutions and includes applications that were originated, denied, withdrawn, incomplete or otherwise resolved; cash purchases are not included. The typical home value in each state was sourced from Zillow’s Home Value Index for all homes using April 2026 data. Source data providers are not affiliated with, and do not endorse or sponsor, this study or its findings.This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

79% of workers have entered sensitive info like logins into AI

Corporate America has been gung-ho about AI, but it hasn't brought all employees up to speed on how to use it safely. The result is that many employees may be playing fast and loose with company data.Nearly all (89%) workers have entered company data into AI. Sometimes that's just a workplace address or phone number, but 79% have entered especially sensitive information, such as HR data, logins, and API keys, or customer/employee personally identifiable information (PII).It's ok for some workers to enter some of this information into some types of AI tools. But doing that comes with certain risks that leadership teams and employees should be aware of. Zapier surveyed 1,005 U.S. workers at companies with 500 or more employees to understand how business data is being handled in the age of AI.Key findings:31% of workers say they enter login credentials or API keys into AI50% of workers have ignored their workplace's AI restrictions36% of workers aren't fully confident they know what's ok to share with AI31% of workers say they enter login credentials or API keys into AIMost of us know not to keep work passwords on a sticky note on our desks. And yet, the vast majority of people have entered sensitive information into AI. While not all that information is confidential, 79% of workers have entered everything from customer or client names to login credentials, financial data, and Social Security numbers. Here were the most common culprits:Employee info, like performance reviews or salaries: 37%Customer or employee PII, like IDs and Social Security numbers: 36%Customer/client names, email, and contacts: 36%Login credentials and API keys: 31% Zapier The problem here is that this sensitive information is highly valuable to companies, customers, clients, and hackers. This is a known risk: hackers are using company-created AI agents to steal logins and other sensitive information.Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents said they were worried about their organization experiencing a problem—like data exposure, compliance problems, or improper use of sensitive information—due to employees' AI use. And those concerns are far from unfounded.The point isn't that sensitive data can never be used with AI. Many employees need it to do normal, legitimate work. The point is that data shouldn't be poured into unsecured AI tools or accessed through AI under circumstances where access should be narrow, logged, and governed.50% of workers have ignored their workplace's AI restrictionsWhen companies provide AI licenses to staff, they should have clear governance policies explaining which tools to use, what's allowed, and what happens when people decide the rules are more of a suggestion than a requirement. If there aren't any consequences for ignoring company-provided accounts, some employees will predictably wander off into the wilderness of personal tools.Around 1 in 4 (26%) workers say their organization restricts or blocks certain AI tools, but they've used a personal device or account to access the tools anyway. A similar percentage (24%) says they've tried to get around AI blockers with other workarounds, such as copying data into a personal tool or using a different browser. Zapier Not everyone using their own AI account for work is trying to perform a workplace heist. In many cases, they simply dislike the tools they were given. Among people using personal AI accounts for work:53% say they prefer their own tools' interfaces or experiences39% say it's too difficult or slow to get an employer-provided tool35% are infrequent AI users and don't see the need for a work account33% say their employer's AI tools don't fit their needsBut around 2 in 5 (43%) of people using personal accounts say they want to keep their AI usage private from their employer.36% of workers aren't fully confident they know what's ok to share with AIThe majority (85%) of employees say they usually consider whether information is safe before entering it into AI, which suggests most people aren't blindly firing off Social Security numbers into ChatGPT. More likely, many simply don't know what's safe, what's risky, and what their company would like them to stop doing immediately. Someone who doesn't know what an API key even is probably won't hesitate to drop it in an AI chat.More than 1 in 3 (36%) workers aren't fully confident they know what's acceptable to share with AI at work, and—as we saw—even more are sharing sensitive information with AI tools that may not be safe.The good news: training helps. The majority (82%) of people who feel fully confident about what's ok to share with AI tools received formal training on AI use for work. That's compared to only 46% of people who aren't very sure—a pretty stark difference.But training alone isn't enough if people continue to share unsafe information or actively work around AI restrictions. Organizations need governance baked into their AI systems from the start, not smeared on later like decorative frosting over a structural crack. That means policies, approved tools, access controls, monitoring, guardrails, and workflows that make the safe path the easy path.How companies can build strong AI governanceCreating new guidelines takes time and effort. But companies can start improving governance now with a few practical moves.Don't assume your staff completely understands AI governance and safety. Start with the basics when hiring new employees and building training procedures. Explain how your team uses AI, which tools are approved, and exactly what kinds of data can and cannot be used. ("Use your judgment" is not a policy.)Learn how your staff uses AI and ask if they have the right tools to do their jobs. Audit AI usage where appropriate, or simply ask employees how they use AI day-to-day. What works? What slows them down? What are they solving with personal tools that the company should probably know about? The shadow workflow is often just an unmet need with a burner account.Look for guardrails you can add to your existing workflow before building everything from scratch. There are likely checks and balances you can introduce into the tools employees already use. Find tools that can analyze text in real time and evaluate it for common security risks, including PII, prompt injections, or toxic content.Humans are going to be human, so there's no way to eliminate every possible security risk on your team. But you can make the secure path the easy path. When AI workflows are built on a governed infrastructure, employees don't have to choose between the tool that works and the tool IT approved.MethodologyThe survey was conducted by Centiment for Zapier. The survey was fielded between May 13, 2026, and May 21, 2026. The results are based on 1,005 completed surveys. To qualify, respondents were screened to be U.S. workers at companies with 500 employees or more. All work at companies that have provided employees with paid plan access to AI tools or services for business tasks (including but not limited to ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude for Business, OpenAI/Anthropic/Google Cloud APIs, etc.). Data is unweighted, and the margin of error is approximately ±3% for the overall sample with a 97% confidence level.This story was produced by Zapier and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over deadly 2019 Easter bombings

The Islamic State group-inspired attacks were among the deadliest in Sri Lanka's history, killing 42 foreigners.

67th Honor Flight takes off Tuesday

The group includes five Korean War-era veterans, along with service members from the Vietnam and Cold War eras.

Healthy Teeth for Life. What Older Adults Need to Know

(NAPSI)—As people live longer and keep more of their natural teeth, maintaining good oral health becomes an increasingly important part of healthy aging. While oral health problems are not an inevitable part of getting older, changes in health, medications, and physical abilities can affect the teeth and gums. These may include dry mouth, receding gums, and difficulty brushing or cleaning between the teeth.  “Growing older doesn’t mean losing your teeth or accepting poor oral heath as inevitable,” said Nadia M. Fugate, DMD, Delta Dental of Washington’s associate dental director. “With preventive care, good daily oral hygiene and regular dental visits, many people can maintain healthy teeth and gums throughout their lives.”  Because of better dentistry and overall oral health, older adults are retaining their teeth for much longer and that makes preventive and restorative dental care so much more important.   Why oral health can change with age Older adults can face several oral-health challenges: Dry mouth: Some medications reduce saliva production. Saliva helps protect teeth, so dry mouth can increase the risk of cavities, particularly on exposed tooth roots. Root decay: Receding gums can expose the roots of teeth, which are more vulnerable to decay than enamel. Gum disease: Plaque buildup can cause inflammation and contribute to gum disease. Certain health conditions, including diabetes, may increase the risk or severity of periodontal disease. Changes in dexterity or mobility: Arthritis, limited mobility, vision changes or other physical or cognitive challenges can sometimes make brushing and cleaning between teeth more difficult. Changes in health or medications: Dentists need to know about medical conditions and all medications and supplements a patient takes because they can affect oral health and dental treatment.   What older adults can do every day Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and clean between the teeth daily using floss, or a water pick, or floss holder. Regular dental examinations and professional cleanings can help identify oral health concerns early, when they may be easier to manage and treat.  For people experiencing dry mouth, staying hydrated and discussing the problem with a dentist or physician can help. A dentist may also recommend additional fluoride protection for people at increased risk of tooth decay.   Talk with your dentist as your health needs change Most older adults can continue receiving care from their regular dentist. What matters most is keeping your dental team informed about changes in your health, medications and ability to manage daily oral hygiene.  If medical conditions, medications, mobility or cognitive changes begin to affect your oral health or dental care, talk with your dentist. Your dentist can adapt care to your individual needs and, when appropriate, coordinate with other health care professionals or recommend additional resources or specialized care.  Don’t hesitate to ask questions or discuss any concerns about comfort, accessibility, medications or changes you’ve noticed in your mouth. Dental care can be individualized as your needs change over time.  For more information about dental care for seniors, check out the Delta Dental Knowledge Center: https://www.DeltaDentalWA.com/Knowledge-Center/Dental-Health-For-Seniors. Editors Note: Content is approved for Washington state publications only. Word Count: 494        

Rock Island man sentenced to 38 years over child porn, sex abuse crimes

A Rock Island man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child sex abuse materials and sexually assaulting a person.

The fall reset is real: Families are back to busy

The shift from summer to the school year can happen almost overnight. Early wake-ups, packed calendars, homework, errands and extracurriculars leave families with less downtime and more to keep track of.A new survey fielded by Morning Consult on behalf of Shipt finds that 60% of parents say the transition to fall routines feels overwhelming. The pressure shows up in unexpected places, from last-minute shopping trips and rushed dinners to bigger household expenses and time-consuming hosting duties.Here are some of the ways families are adjusting as summer gives way to the busy months ahead.The shopping list keeps growingBack-to-school shopping may peak before the first day of school, but it doesn't end there. New needs continue to pop up as families settle into the school year. Families make recurring trips to replenish school supplies, lunch and snack items and personal-care products.The Shipt survey found that despite planning ahead for the return to school, unexpected purchases still come up. Seventy-one percent say that no matter how early they start, they always end up buying something at the last minute. The reasons?37% say they simply forgot something22% say the supply list changedThe other unexpected culprit that causes extra stress for parents? Growth spurts. As families transition out of summer sandals and into everyday shoes for the fall, kids may suddenly need a new size. According to the survey, 70% of parents say their child has outgrown their shoes over the summer without them realizing it.That last-minute scramble makes a busy time of year even harder: 56% say it added stress to their household, while 33% of parents say fitting errands around shifting schedules is one of the most stressful parts of a typical fall week.The dinner rushThe summer weekdays of leisurely barbecues and extended outdoor dinners become harder to squeeze in once the kids are back in school and extracurriculars. Dinner has to fit into a shrinking window between school, work, after-school activities and bedtime.That’s why meal planning can be key for busy families this time of year.KPMG’s Consumer Pulse Survey 2026 of 2,297 consumers found that 48% of respondents plan simpler meals with fewer ingredients and quicker prep. Having a few quick dinner options already prepared and at the ready for busy weeknights not only takes some pressure off mealtime, but it also helps parents avoid the dreaded “what do you want for dinner?” debate.Budget pressureThe fall season is not only back-to-school time. It is also the start of after-school sports, football season, and with Halloween looming it’s the beginning of the holiday season, too. All of these activities and events mean one thing: more spending.The KPMG consumer survey found that average back-to-school spending per child is expected to reach $324 this year compared with $294 last year. This comes at a time when 37% of consumers say they are stretched thinner financially than last year.Budget strain doesn’t ease as the season goes on. Whether it’s hosting the soccer team dinner, throwing a college football watch party or inviting neighbors over for Halloween festivities, hosting can be costly, stressful and time-consuming.Finding ways to lighten the loadConvenience is not just about “saving time” but about giving people the opportunity to spend it the way they want to.For some families, that means using tools that shift recurring tasks out of the busiest parts of the day, from same-day grocery delivery and meal-planning tools to digital calendars and automated reminders. The goal is less about doing everything and more about making room for what matters most.The Shipt survey also found that 60% of parents who host these fall events say they have spent more time prepping than actually enjoying the event. With already-tight schedules leaving little time for planning and last-minute preparations, more than half (57%) have realized they forgot something only after guests arrived.The fall reset doesn’t end when school begins. It takes time for families to find their rhythm amid earlier mornings, busier days and more responsibilities. Rather than chasing a perfect routine, small adjustments can make the season feel a little more manageable.Methodology: Morning Consult online survey of N=3,056 U.S. parents who are past-12-month same-day grocery delivery users, fielded June 22 to 25, 2026. Data are weighted to be representative of this population.This story was produced by Shipt and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Keeping first responders connected during wildfires

When a wildfire starts, conditions can change in minutes, and first responders need a reliable communication system to keep up.During wildfires, first responders put themselves in harm’s way to contain fires before they spread. Firefighters, emergency managers, members of law enforcement and other personnel on the ground rely on those communication connections to coordinate resources, share information and respond to changing conditions.AT&T’s wildfire response efforts, including support delivered through FirstNet — a nationwide public safety broadband network established by Congress — provide insight into how telecommunications companies support first responders and work with public safety agencies to maintain connectivity when traditional infrastructure is compromised.Wildfires are becoming more frequentIf it seems like wildfires are happening more often these days, that is because they are. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that wildfires are increasing in both frequency and severity. According to NASA, extreme wildfire activity has more than doubled worldwide, while wildfires in the U.S. have been getting larger.In the western United States, the wildfire season has extended from about five months in the 1970s to more than seven months today. Although wildfire activity often peaks in August, the threat can extend well beyond the summer months.The increasing number of wildfires puts an enormous strain on first responders. That is why it is vital that they have the resources they need to communicate while fighting fires.Why reliable communication mattersWhen an extreme event like a wildfire occurs, action needs to be taken immediately. Local officials need a coordinated emergency response, including firefighters and other emergency personnel. These responders need to be able to share information about fire conditions and changing hazards in real time, providing valuable details to multiple jurisdictions.Communication from these on-the-ground responders helps officials coordinate resources and aid in making evacuation plans. If communication is disrupted, lives could be impacted.“Wildfires can move quickly, disrupt power and communications, and place significant demands on first responders and local communities,” said Corey Anthony, Senior Vice President of AT&T Network Operations.The Los Angeles wildfires in 2025 damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 structures, making it one of the most destructive fires in history. Sixteen-thousand first responders and recovery personnel were involved in the disaster response, an example of why communications infrastructure is so important during a wildfire.But maintaining connections during a wildfire is not as simple as keeping a cell tower online. Fire, power outages, damaged infrastructure and difficult terrain can all create challenges for the networks that first responders rely on.What can disrupt communications during a wildfire?Telecom companies make significant investments to withstand natural disasters and other environmental factors, but Mother Nature sometimes has its own plans. A wildfire doesn’t have to topple a cell tower to disrupt communications. Because networks rely on interconnected power and infrastructure, damage anywhere along the chain can still knock out service. Wildfire conditions can affect communications in a variety of ways:Physical damage to network infrastructure, such as fiber or other backhaul disruptionsLoss of commercial power or planned utility shutoffs, requiring a reliance on backup power solutionsDifficult or unsafe access to damaged equipmentRemote terrainAs fires spread, telecom companies and public safety agencies must work together.“Wildfire response often takes us into remote, rugged and rapidly changing environments, where power may be unavailable and traditional communications infrastructure may be damaged or inaccessible,” said Chris Stratmann, Associate Director, FirstNet Response Operations Group (ROG), AT&T.How telecom companies coordinate with public safety during a wildfireWhen infrastructure is damaged during a wildfire and traditional connectivity methods are no longer an option, backup communications solutions can be deployed to ensure there is no gap.In 2022, on an extremely hot, dry day, a wildfire broke out near a remote area outside of Boulder, CO. Because it began near the National Center for Atmospheric Research office, it was dubbed the NCAR fire.Within two hours of first responders’ arrival on the scene, Boulder city officials received word from the incident command center that first responders on the ground were having trouble communicating by phone or text. In response, a small, portable cell site was brought to the area, restoring connectivity within minutes. These portable cell sites are dedicated to public safety and are available exclusively to public-safety agencies 24/7 at no cost.“By coordinating closely with federal, state and local agencies and deploying satellite-enabled portable communications assets, telecommunications response teams help first responders maintain critical connectivity throughout response and recovery,” said Stratmann.Once a communications need is identified, the next challenge is determining how to provide and maintain connectivity in a dangerous, difficult environment.How communications companies help maintain connectivityWhen a damaged or inaccessible cell site can't provide coverage, a SatCOLT (Satellite Cell on Light Truck) offers a temporary connectivity solution. These deployable assets can also provide power and Wi-Fi to ensure the latest information is getting to public safety officials and local residents.The Ross Fire in north Texas began in late August 2026 and was contained weeks later. To address communication needs, additional tools beyond a SatCOLT, including portable generators, a CRD (Compact Rapid Deployable) and a 14-foot Wi-Fi charging trailer, were deployed to the scene.Maintaining connectivity during a wildfire is only part of the challenge. Once the fire is contained, communications teams must also assess damage and help restore the services communities depend on.What happens after the fire?Depending on the severity of the wildfire, getting infrastructure back up and running following a wildfire may take several days, weeks or even months to restore regular service. In the case of the wildfire that destroyed Los Angeles County neighborhoods, fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt one year later.Following major natural disasters like wildfires, the telecom industry works to provide resources to affected communities, offering a range of support during recovery. This includes shipping new devices and batteries to those impacted and providing mobile charging stations in affected regions while crews are working to repair infrastructure and restore full service.As wildfires become more frequent, reliable communication is more important than ever. When public safety agencies, first responders, and telecom providers work together and have resilient communications infrastructure and safeguards in place, emergency personnel can stay connected when it matters most.This story was produced by AT&T and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

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