In 1932, during the heights of the Great Depression, a businessman named Herbert Taylor was urged by the creditors of the Club Aluminum Company in Chicago to take over the management of the company and save it from bankruptcy. Despite holding a secure job with the Jewel Tea Company, and being in line to be its president, Taylor took an 80-percent cut in pay and loaned his own money $6,100, to give the aluminum company some operating capital. more

May 22, 2019: Eldridge police were hoping drivers got the message after issuing 49 traffic tickets in a week on Pinehurst Drive. After receiving complaints from residents about speeders along the street, the department stepped up patrol in the area. more

With adult children in Seattle, Des Moines and Madison, we observed a quiet Mother's Day compared with years past when the kids were at home and our parents were alive and well just 30 minutes away at Maquoketa. Those were the days. more

May 16, 1984: A new soccer team in Eldridge was playing in its first season with the Quad-Cities League. North Scott United was organized by Leon Labovitch of Long Grove, a native of Leeds, England. Other members of the team included Tod Konrad, Shane Cline, John Hall, Mike Kurylo, Kevin Riley, Jim Hamann, Farzin Varziri, Craig Kindl, Bill Freund, Nick Rizzo, Jack Keppy, Eric O’Shaughnessy and Tom Tank. more

Friday afternoon we were at Fillmore Elementary School in the Ridgeview section of Davenport, just south of Interstate 80 off of Division Street, for the sixth and last of Rotary club president Tracy Lindaman's "Pay It Forward" days. more

May 12, 1999: Rumors of violence caused more than 100 students to leave North Scott High School early. Principal Nick Hobbs stressed that the administration had no reason to believe there were any actual threat. “We have nothing concrete, in terms of what the rumor was, or who started it. We have nothing concrete as to whether or not a threat was actually made against somebody.” Hobbs said many schools had been dealing with unspecified threats in the wake of the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, which was causing national tension. more

A group of good-hearted volunteers in the Quad Cities is welcoming refugees and putting into practice the Biblical injunctions, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4: 9) and "I was a stranger and you invited me in." (Mt. 25:35). more

May 1, 1974: A 21-year-old Bettendorf man was seriously injured after he stopped to help another driver change a flat tire along Highway 61 near Interstate 80. A southbound vehicle veered off the roadway, pinning the man between it and the disabled vehicle. The man was taken to Mercy Hospital, where one of his legs had to be amputated. more

Thank you to readers who said they appreciated last week's "Impressions" which explained the difficult choices in the Israeli-Hamas War – thanks largely to the teaching pastor, the Rev. Peter Pettit, of St. Paul Lutheran. One reader wrote, "Thanks for your explanation of the Israel/Hamas war. I didn't understand what was going on, but your article helped me to grasp the problem." more

April 24, 1974: North Scott teachers were preparing to enter contract negotiations with the district and asked for a $1,000 pay increase, to $8,400 for the 1974-75 school year. Jack Dudley of the North Scott Education Association said the district had not kept pace with the cost of living. Dudley said the average teacher was paid $10,290 in the last school year, which worked out to about $4.82 per hour, assuming a teacher only worked eight hours per day during the nine-month contract period. Starting sweepers at Caterpillar earned $4.95 per hour. more

Lancer Productions’ presentation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” opens this weekend, and I have much to report. more

The images are grim, and the April 10 first-person report from the Amnesty International fieldworker inside Gaza is sickening: more

April 18, 1984: Doug Otto was hired as the fourth superintendent in North Scott’s history. Otto was currently serving as the superintendent at Rockridge, Ill., and would replace Robert “Bear” Stevens, who was taking a position as superintendent in Glenbard, Ill. more

When I was sitting court-side at Vibrant Arena March 15 before the UNI women's game tipped off in the Missouri Valley Tournament, I watched the three-member officiating crew – all women – go through their pre-game warmups and made a mental note of how seriously they were taking their responsibilities. more

April 14, 1999: Mel Foster Co. purchased 100 acres over four tracts of prime development land, known as the Muhs property, for $1.6 million. A fifth tract of land, containing a farmhouse and outbuildings, was purchased for $316,000 by Norman and Lois Muhs. The property was located west of Mel Foster’s Townsend Farms addition. The North Scott School District said it was interested in purchasing 20 acres for new athletic field and a possible new elementary school, and the city of Eldridge was also interested in five to seven acres for a new park. more

I have worked with many employees at the Eldridge post office in my 53 years at The NSP, but no one cared more about service than Lisa Williams, 57, who died all too soon on March 26. She saw many changes in her 25 years behind the counter and sorting mail before she suddenly was not there in 2021, taking a medical retirement. No offense to others who have worked there since, but it hasn't been the same.  more

April 3., 1974: The Donahue American Legion Post No. 532 honored Vietnam veterans with a ham supper. Veterans in attendance included Merle Wiese, Dale DeCock, David Thode, Richard DeCock, Allen Schnoor, Dennis DeCock, Kenneth Glover, Darrell Thode, Arnold Adams, Gerald Murphy and Ronnie Madden. more

Rules are racing. more

The Eldridge-North Scott Chamber of Commerce is what it is – a force for bringing people together and creating community – largely because of the efforts of Carolyn Scheibe who served as executive director for 15 years, retiring in 2016. Sadly, Carolyn died March 22 at age 70 after an extended illness. more

March 27, 1974: The North Scott School Board reviewed bids for the construction of a new junior high building. The low bids totaled $1.9 million for the 88,000 square foot building. Superintendent Melvin Heiler said the bids were higher than he would have liked, but there had been price fluctuations and concern over materials shortages in the months leading up to the bidding process. more