On Thursday,  June 15, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the following news release:

"Rhythm City Casino Permit

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; the State Historical Society of Iowa; and the city of Davenport, has issued a permit to relocate the Rhythm City Casino riverboat to an area upstream of their current location on the Mississippi River in Davenport., Iowa.

Last month, the public got a peek at four finalists for the design of the Interstate 74 bridge over the Mississippi River, and it was an important milestone. For the first time, people could actually visualize what the new bridge might look like, eight years after it first became one the area's top transportation priorities.

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack arguably made his poorest political decision last Friday, when he vetoed a bill that would have strengthened the rights of property owners. House File 2351 provided for new restrictions on governments using eminent domain to condemn private property for economic-development projects, whether public or private.

The River Cities' Reader launched its new Web site last week, and we hope that it's a visual improvement. But we're most interested in it being an interactive improvement. Our goal from the outset with this Web site has been that it will be a space for the community to gather and discuss community and cultural issues.