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5-year picture of MidAmerican Energy profits, electric sales

on Fri, 08/19/2011 - 21:16   by Editor

A five-year comparison of MidAmerican Energy financials shows a steady decline in profits, but the privately owned utility still earned a healthy 11.03 percent return on equity from its Iowa electric operations last year.

The utility has avoided seeking an electric rate increase since 1996 and has agreed not to increase rates through 2013 under a deal with the Iowa Utility Board (IUB).

Lee Enterprises said to be seeking debt exchange

on Fri, 08/12/2011 - 01:26   by Editor

The Wall Street Journal is reporting Lee Enterprises (owner of the Quad City Times) is asking its lenders to exchange senior debt for debt with higher interest rates and later maturity.

The plan, according to the Journal, would give Lee more time to refinance its more than $1 billion in debt which comes due in April 2012.

Under the exchange, creditors Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Monarch Alternative Capital, could end up owning about 13 percent of Lee, according to the Journal.

Used car firm moves to new site without promised landscaping

on Thu, 07/28/2011 - 01:52   by Editor

A used car firm -- which gained reluctant approval to relocate to a highly visible site in downtown Bettendorf -- has moved to the new location without completing any of the landscaping which was part of the development's site plan.

Premier Picks Auto Sales was forced to leave its location in the 1400 block of State Street because of the new Interstate 74 Bridge and related downtown street improvements.

Developers seek tax rebates for LED light assembly venture

on Fri, 07/22/2011 - 21:18   by Editor

A Florida-based firm now seeking nearly $1 million in state and local incentives for an LED light assembly plant in Bettendorf proposed a similar facility less than a year ago in Ulster County, New York.

That project in Kingston, New York never materialized. The light assembly plant there would have been housed in a vacant IBM facility now being redeveloped. State development officials turned down his request there for financial support.

PV school district wants land swap with city for future school site

on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 20:18   by Editor

The Pleasant Valley School District wants to buy land to swap with the City of Bettendorf for a future elementary school along Forest Grove Road.

The school board Monday (7/18) approved a contract to buy 19 acres of land for $583,000 contingent on swapping that property for 15 acres of land the city recently purchased as part of a new 92-acre park north of Forest Grove Road and east of Middle Road (just south of Interstate 80).

Lee Enterprises faces delisting from NYSE as pressure mounts on debt restructuring

on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 02:26   by Editor

Lee Enterprises -- parent of the Quad City Times -- is again facing delisting from the New York Stock Exchange while pressure mounts on the newspaper chain to refinance its more than $1 billion in debt.

According to an article by Bloomberg Thursday (7/14), Lee is in talks with creditors Monach Alternative Capital LP and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The newspaper publishing group reportedly is offering higher rates and equity interest in the company to refinance its debt, according to Bloomberg.

Gambling admissions continue 11-year slide; off 43% from peak

on Fri, 07/15/2011 - 22:19   by Editor

Gamblers frequenting the Isle of Capri Casino in Bettendorf fell again in 2011, continuing an 11-year decline.

Admissions to the riverboat casino totaled 1,145,848 during the fiscal year ended June 30, compared to 1,149,086 admissions during fiscal 2010.

While admissions declined, revenues for the Bettendorf casino increased slightly from $78.34 million in 2010 to $78.48 million in the latest fiscal year.

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