Fine particulate matter pollution in Iowa exceeded national air quality standards at 34 locations during 2009, including six instances in Muscatine, five in Davenport and five in Clinton.

The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM 2.5 (particulate matter 2.5 micograms or less) is a 24-hour average of no more than 35.4 micrograms per cubic meter. The NAAQS represents the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's best estimate of the threshold for adverse health effects.

The 34 exceedances statewide for PM 2.5 compares to 25 instances in 2008 and 44 in 2007.

The Bi-State Planning Commission is updating its long-range transportation plan for the Quad Cities region and you can add your comments to the process by filling out a survey form and emailing it to the agency.

Two public hearings already have been held, but comments will be accepted until May 30. Click here to download a transportation survey form.

In preparation for updating the long range Bi-State transit plan, the agency conducted a survey of residents last summer. Click to download the survey.

Because of high fine particulate pollution levels today (Feb. 5) in excess of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health thresholds, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is recommending Iowans with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children limit prolonged outdoor exertion.

The EPA’s 24-hour health threshold for fine particles is 35 micrograms per cubic meter. As of noon Friday, fine particle levels averaged in the low 40s across Iowa, with readings of 44 in Davenport, 43 in Muscatine, 43 in Iowa City, 41 in Cedar Rapids and 43 in Des Moines.

February 1, 2010 by ggackle

Bettendorf alderman Greg Adamson spent just over $6,900 on his 4th Ward election campaign last fall to unseat incumbent Patricia Malinee, according to his state campaign report filed January 17.

The amount spent on the 4th Ward contest is believed to be a record for an aldermanic contest in the city.

The only thing I remember, well the first thing that comes to mind I guess, about Mrs. Nichol's sixth grade music class is the way she'd draw a circle on the blackboard and make me stand there with my nose in it for most of the period. I mean who cared about Saint Saens, whole notes, or the fact Anton Dvorak had actually been in Iowa?

January 21, 2010 by editor

The Davenport Cement Plant near Buffalo is one of 13 Lafarge North America facilities nationwide that will be required to upgrade its air pollution control equipment under an agreement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The consent decree announced Thursday (January 21) by the EPA requires the Davenport facility to install a dry absorbent addition (DAA) system to lower sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from its cement kiln.

Sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory illnesses particularly in at-risk populations including children, the elderly and asthmatics. The primary sources of SO2 emissions are fossil fuel combustion at power plants (66 percent) and other industrial facilities (29 percent), according to the EPA.

January 21, 2010 by bgierke

In the highly esteemed journal 'Nature' this week was a report of recent research indicating men have evolved more rapidly than women*. The study compared the Y chromosomes (the bit that makes a man male, (you know XY instead of XX) of chimps and humans.

Chimps are our nearest living relatives and over the last six million years our genetic codes have only diverged about 2 percent. Except the Y chromosome which is some 30 percent different. That's a big change in a relatively short period of time.

January 15, 2010 by editor

Despite adding a second hotel and collaborating with the city of Bettendorf on a $24-million events center, the Isle of Capri casino continues to lose gamblers.

Admissions to the riverboat casino in fiscal 2009 (ended June 30) totaled 1.25 million, a 28 percent decline from five years ago. Admissions are off nearly 40 percent from the riverboat's highwater attendance of just over 2 million admissions in fiscal year 2000.

The declining attendance appears to be continuing into fiscal 2010 with December 2009 admissions the lowest in the past five years and just 8,000 more than its sister casino, the Rhythm City in Davenport.

January 14, 2010 by bgierke

I can see a television when I shave in the morning and while I often watch CNN or the local news, sometimes I turn to Despierta America on Univision (must see!) or VH1 or a movie channel. While flipping through early on New Year’s Eve I found, in black and white on AMC, hay bales moving around a field to the tune of Three Blind Mice. Remember that one? The Three Stooges are awesome!

I couldn’t stop laughing and nearly cut myself. Wife rolled her eyes, tisk-tisked me, and asked when I was going to grow up. For the umpteenth time. She’s lost hope. Nyuk, nyuk. After she left though, I began to wonder about the evolution of humor. Later I googled the notion for a bit and found but turgid prose.