There’s a saying, attributed to Henry Ford: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. more

June 1, 2011: Thanks to a stimulus grant, McCausland was able to make several improvements around town, including clearing standing water in ditches, park improvements, new equipment, and some utility relief for residents. Mayor Buzz Koehn said city officials recently learned more about how they could apply for grant funding and were now making long-term goals for city departments so they could be proactive in getting additional funding as it became available. more

Curiosity is one of my job requirements, so on occasion I try to puzzle out whether the mayors and council members I cover count themselves loyal to one political party or another. This rarely leads anywhere. Local politics is so inglorious, its conflicts so stale and petty, that it leaves very little room for the ideological grandstanding party politics requires. Guessing at partisan loyalties is a kind of parlor game apt to depend more on stereotypes than serious observation.    more

May 21, 1986: As a result of federal budget cuts, the Scott County Extension service was forced to eliminate one full-time position and cut hours for four others. Joe Hutter, chair of the Extension Council, said they were also looking at a possible relocation at a lower rent. The county Extension offices were currently located in the Bettendorf Bank building near Duck Creek Plaza. more

I had never seen a bison until Wednesday morning of last week, when I took a trip out to the Bill Cody Homestead. Scott County Conservation had kept bison at the Homestead until the last bull, Cinco, died in 2024. Now they have returned, thanks to a loan from a ranch in Maquoketa. more

May 12, 2021: Tensions within the Eldridge City Council exploded into public view, as council member Bruce Cheek accused city officials, including mayor Marty O’Boyle, of a lack of transparency, especially regarding a delay in city administrator Lisa Kotter’s annual review, as well as concerns over the police department. more

You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s something I had a lot of time to consider in March. more

In a concession to the current “literary scene,” I bought a copy of the novel Transcription by Ben Lerner in Iowa City last weekend. I read enough of what’s new at work that I try to keep to what’s old when I read for pleasure. But here was a novel about an interview gone awry. Just the thing, I thought. And it was short enough—130 pages, hardly a novel—that I could put it down in an afternoon, like a carafe of iced tea.  more

May 5, 1976: The City of Eldridge’s lawsuit against Caterpillar would move forward, as a judge rejected the company’s motion to dismiss. The $50 million suit followed Caterpillar’s announcement that it planned to voluntarily annex its Mount Joy plant into Davenport. more

I have my plants in the ground for the season, which is a kind of feat when you consider that I live on the second floor of an apartment building. I have limited myself to mint, parsley and thyme; I have also repotted rosemary that just survived the end of last summer and was slowly nursed back to health, indoors, last winter. All four are now enjoying springtime on my back porch. more

May 2, 2001: The North Scott School Board hired Dr. Timothy Dose to succeed Dr. Pat DeLuca as superintendent of the North Scott School District. Dose, who would be just the sixth superintendent in district history, had served as superintendent of schools in Monticello since 1993. “He is a proven superintendent. He possesses the qualities we want,” said board president Jack Hill. “Every step he progressed and moved up.” For his part, Dose was excited. “It is an opportunity for professional advancement and a good location for me. I’ll be 30 miles from my mother in Clinton and I have a brother in Bettendorf.”  more

It never ceases to amaze me how Lancer Productions takes my already high expectations and super-exceeds them every single time. more

Nothing in a childhood on the east coast can prepare you for a midwestern storm erupting out of a clear day. So much of Iowa is laid flat and so little of it built up that every storm is entirely in view, yet impossible to wrestle into your field of vision. more

April 25, 2001: Long Grove native Allen Johnson was nominated by the Bush administration to serve as the chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. A 1978 North Scott graduate, he had held a series of national agriculture posts and was currently serving as president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association. His appointment was praised by Sen. Charles Grassley. “With Al’s appointment, farmers can know they have a real friend in the USTR,” Grassley said. more

I drove from Eldridge out to West Liberty several weeks ago for a serious look at the Liberty Press. I had stood in its doorway with several mesmerized children for a letterpress printing demonstration at Christmastime. A few months later and I thought a sustained look backwards at little lead characters might prove a tonic for weeks spent slouching towards artificial this and digital that. more

April 16, 1986: Jim Tank, president of Central Trust Savings Bank, was recommending the sale of the bank to Banks of Iowa Inc., a statewide banking corporation based in Des Moines. Tank was recommending the sale as the best alternative to financial problems caused by the “seriously depressed economy of the area.” While staff had worked to shore up CTSB’s eroding capital over the last year, significant losses from loans had handicapped the bank’s earning power. As a result, no dividends had been paid, and the bank’s holding company had been unable to service a stock loan. CTSB suffered a $721,000 loss in 1985. The potential sale would end 87 years of local bank ownership in Eldridge, although stockholders would have the final say. more

This has been an interesting – and iconic – season for Lancer Productions. But it’s also been a weird full circle. more

Sometimes you have your week all planned out. And then other things get in the way. more

April 7, 2021:  Nearly 100 people gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony for the North Scott YMCA. North Scott School Board chair Joni Dittmer presented mayor Marty O’Boyle with a $400,000 check, representing the district’s share of the cost. In addition to city officials, school board members and contractors, students Keaton Braack, Blake Tyler, Grace Veach, Rylan Feist and Alec Harris were among those flinging dirt with ceremonial shovels. more

The first days of spring have roused Scott County wildlife, and completing our end of the bargain, we have begun to drop them dead on the side of the road. more