March 27, 1985: The school day at North Scott High School on March 19 got off to an interesting start. A man was parked in the parking lot, sitting on the hood of his car and wrapped in a blanket. As students began to arrive, he dropped the blanket and sprinted around the parking lot in his undershorts shouting, “Look, Captain Naked!” He drove off but was later apprehended by Eldridge Police. “It was so nice out that morning that I just felt I owed the students a moment of joy before they went to class,” he reportedly said. On recommendation of school officials, he was not charged with disorderly conduct or indecent exposure, but he was banned from school property. The individual was not named, but it was noted he was a recent North Scott graduate. more

March 19, 1975: Eleven-year-old Patrick Richards was safely in the United States after his family was evacuated from Ethiopia. Patrick and his parents, Arthur and Patricia, had been living near the city of Asmara, where Arthur worked for a top-secret satellite communications post. A civil war broke out in the country. Arthur was injured and airlifted to a military hospital in Frankfort, Germany. Patrick and Patricia were able to pack a few belongings before taking shelter at a military base in Asmara. They then flew from Addis Ababa to Athens to Rome before joining Arthur in Germany for a week. Now, Patrick was set to spend the rest of the school year with his grandmother, Mrs. Jessie Richards, in McCausland. He was enrolled in the sixth grade at Virgil Grissom Elementary School. Patrick vividly recounted his recent adventure to The NSP. more

March 13, 1985: North Scott High School principal Ed Fischer announced that he would step down after 21 years at the school, effective July 1. Fischer said that he had mixed emotions about leaving, and that he had no solid future plans yet. He added that a factor in his deciding to step down was that his children were grown, and he was no longer tied to the school. more

It was a new experience for me and the North Scott Orchestra on Feb. 25. I’d never been to an orchestra concert, and they’d never publicly performed a symphonic piece. more

March 6, 1985: The North Scott girls’ basketball team qualified for the state tournament for the first time in the program history, upsetting Bettendorf 47-36 in the regional championship. “It gives me great satisfaction to have the girls’ basketball team following in the footsteps of our volleyball and cross country teams,” said athletic director Craig Hintz. “It’s a real feather in our cap to be just one of four teams to compete in the first-ever five-on-five state basketball tournament.” more

March 1, 2000: Sean Stender capped his undefeated season with a state title at 189, becoming North Scott’s first wrestling champion since Dave Kluever in 1971. Kyle Billups (125) and Greg Green (135) both finished fifth. more

Originally published, Feb. 19, 1975. more

Feb. 19, 1975: The Park View Water & Sanitary District was set to get state funding to assist with its planned $150,000 water treatment facility. Bids for a 10-acre lagoon treatment system were set to go out in the spring. District officials were also waiting to hear if they would receive federal funding for the project. more

Have you ever opened a brand-new Word document, only to feel frozen, not only by the possibilities, but by the overwhelming blankness of it all? more

Feb. 12, 1975: Members of Eldridge United Methodist Church planned to hold a service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the opening of their new, permanent worship center. Church members had been meeting in the basement of the Eldridge Cooperative Company building. more

Feb. 10, 2010: North Scott superintendent Jeff Schwiebert suggested that when the combined student populations at Ed White and Alan Shepard reached 850, the district should consider building another elementary school. The current enrollment was 794, including 75 sixth graders from Ed White who were currently attending classes at the junior high. more

Lancer Productions’ Children’s Theatre is always fun, but this year, they’re going big. For the first time since 2022 and Disney’s “Frozen Jr.,” they’re staging a full-scale musical. more

Feb. 2, 2000: Slagle’s Supermarkets Inc. accepted the City of Eldridge’s $752,000 offer to purchase the building that was formerly home to a grocery store. The city intended to lease the building to the Scott County Library as the new headquarters in Eldridge. more

Jan. 26, 2000: North Scott superintendent Pat DeLuca recommended a study committee be established to conduct a needs assessment for a pool in Eldridge. “I’ve heard talk about an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a competitive pool, a diving pool. I think we should go through the needs assessment before we make any recommendations,” he said. The needs assessment would also include focus groups of residents. more

Jan. 16, 1985: Moline native and world-renowned drummer Louis Bellson and the Northern Illinois University jazz ensemble played a concert in the North Scott Fine Arts Auditorium. The North Scott jazz bands served as a warmup act. The students also had the opportunity to attend workshops with Bellson and members of the NIU band during the day. more

Jan. 12, 2000: Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who was seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency, made a campaign stop at the Davenport Municipal Airport. He joined by Sen. Charles Grassley and former candidate Elizabeth Dole, who had both endorsed Bush. more

I’m not a big fan of winter, but I’m especially not fond of that immediate period between Christmas and New Year’s. By the time you read this, my tree and the rest of the holiday accoutrements will be shoved back into the storage room. And with all the days off, I tend to sort of wander around, vaguely wondering what day of the week it is while listlessly shoving stale Christmas cookies in the general direction of my face. more

Thanks to the 123 letter writers and guest columnists on our 2024 NSP Opinion pages. more

Jan. 1, 1975: The Eldridge City Council voted to renew the city’s intent to annex portions of rural land. This was in response to reports that Davenport was looking to push for annexation to its northern borders. Eldridge was looking to annex land in Lincoln and Sheridan townships. more

Former NSP owner Bill Tubbs’ Impressions column appeared for 53 years on this page. Bill passed away Sept. 20. Here’s an excerpt from Dec. 25, 1974. more