There are issues flying under the radar in our neck of the woods. Last year, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern launched a corporate merger under the purview of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), a totally autonomous federal agency. As a result, the two railroads will triple their traffic through eastern Iowa – mostly crude oil from Canada headed for refineries in Mexico. As the regulatory process continues forward, not nearly enough Iowans are aware of the proposed merger. Further, I do not believe the railroads are too strong to resist. more

Since the 2020 election, it got harder to vote in Iowa, relative to other states, according to a new study. more

If, as a junior reporter on my first weekly newspaper in the UK (The Stourbridge County Express), I had harboured any anti-monarchy thoughts – which I did not – at the end of the Seventies, then these would have been knocked out of me quickly as I entered our profession. more

There was a milestone in Quad-City journalism this week. The Tubbs family, owners of three area newspapers, sold them to a Wyoming man named J. Louis “Louie” Mullen. more

Last year, generosity in America reached new heights. That’s one way of looking at the data recently published by the Giving USA Foundation in its annual report on national philanthropy. The researchers found that total charitable giving was up 4 percent from 2020 to 2021, hitting a record $485 billion. more

Editor's note: The NSP received this news release from Happy Joe's corporate headquarters in Bettendorf, which we thought would be of interest, since Happy Joe's last week closed its stores in Eldridge and Maquoketa. more

Editor's note: Johnny Gosch, the paperboy whose disappearance in Des Moines 40 years ago this week made national news, grew up in Eldridge and attended Ed White Elementary School. more

Scott County Board Chairman Ken Beck sent this letter to the federal Surface Transportation Board objecting to the Canadian Pacific rail merger. more

Out of 15 candidates for statewide and federal office who spoke at the Iowa State Fair, the one remark from a politician that I agreed with most came from a surprising source: perennial third-party candidate Bryan Jack Holder. more

So Iowa is the most Midwestern of places, The Washington Post discovered. Who’da thunk? more

This may come as news to Sen. Chuck Grassley and many of his fellow Republicans:  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a law enforcement agency. So is the Internal Revenue Service. more

On page 7A, Mark Ridolfi reports that The North Scott Press was assessed $116.05 from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship for public records related to complaints of herbicide drift from owners of oak trees in and around Scott County. Fees for accessing public records which belong to the people is a hot topic which is addressed below by Margaret Johnson, executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board. more