Michael Carton, director of education and outreach for WQPT (Quad Cities PBS), is in his fourth year of teaching computer coding classes to area K-3 students. But since last spring, it’s been very limited because of Covid restrictions. Carton is happy, however, to be among seven Q-C STEM professionals and one technical organization to be honored by the Quad City Engineering & Science Council (QCESC) at its 59th-annual STEM Celebration on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The awards pay tribute to and recognize engineering and science professionals and educators whose outstanding achievements... Read More

EXCLUSIVE: The beloved former president/CEO of Ascentra Credit Union, Dale Owen, died in November 2020 at 52, but his wide-ranging generosity and large legacy will live on in a new fund established by the Quad Cities Cultural Trust. While battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Owen in 10 months worked to raise $500,000 from 11 local lending and banking institutions, including Bettendorf-based Ascentra. Together, those participants agreed to rename this project The Dale Owen Art and Culture Match. It will match every $1 given up to $500,000 to support art and culture programs in the Quad-Cities through... Read More

If you’re sick of being stuck at home, want to help support a new local nonprofit, and some Quad-Cities businesses – and have a chance at winning $500, well, Annette Clevenger has got a deal for you. She is founder and CEO of Narratives QC, a new organization that provides life skills coaching to at-risk young adults (ages 17 to 24) to empower them to find their path and purpose. “Our mission is to change the culture of the Quad-Cities by changing the trajectory of the next generation,” according to the group, which you can find at Narrativesqc.org. Clevenger – a Rock Island native who’s... Read More

Shakti Butler, PhD, a dynamic filmmaker and visionary educator in the field of social and racial equity, will provide the keynote address for the 17th-annual Ambrose Women for Social Justice Conference on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Butler’s keynote, “Framing a Racial Justice Foundation,” begins at 3:30 p.m. via Webex. It is open to the public; viewers should click here to join the Feb. 23 keynote. On Feb. 24, “Healing and Radical Imagination,” an interactive workshop is designed to encourage open conversation and exploration of first steps to begin working towards healing... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! For the past 10 years, Molly Durnin has worked as a full-time touring musician, but 2020’s Covid pandemic put a stop to that – as it’s decimated the careers of so many artists nationwide. “It was the worst year of my life,” the 32-year-old Moliner said Friday, noting her gigs were shot for most of the year, between mid-March and the fall. “It left me completely... Read More

Paul Rumler, president/CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber, is among concerned local leaders who want the state of Illinois to consider another public institution to replace Western Illinois University on the Moline riverfront. “The best intentions started with great promise, and then in the last few years, it’s fizzled,” he said Friday, noting negatives in WIU enrollment, marketing and change in leadership. There have been well-publicized discussions among Western’s Board of Trustees, dating back two years, and faculty senate, questioning the value of the Moline campus, he said. “You’ve... Read More

Sharon Glassman is fondly remembered as a quiet, thoughtful person who worked at the International Harvester Plant in East Moline. She possessed a cheerful, kind-hearted sensibility that shone through whenever she spoke. Her husband, Kenneth Glassman, was a welder at Johnson Sheet Metal whose iron-clad work ethic instilled within him a sense of duty and purpose. Together, the Glassmans found their passion in helping individuals and families better themselves however they could — they each worked hard throughout their lives, and eventually amassed a modest estate through prudence. Before they... Read More

Just over six weeks into his new job as Western Illinois University president, Guiyou Huang wrote to Gov. JB Pritzker this past Tuesday, Feb. 16, about ongoing discussions regarding a potential transfer of the WIU Quad-Cities campus in Moline to another state institution. To date, Western has not been included in the discussion, he noted, copying Moline Mayor Stephanie Acri and Quad Cities Chamber president/CEO Paul Rumler. Acri responded that she’s had concerns about the impact of WIU in Moline and she’s scheduled to meet again with Huang on March 2. “In our conversation in my office this... Read More

St. Ambrose University senior Tyler Hughes made his full-length directing debut in the middle of a global pandemic, with another tense story of international crisis. “Two Rooms” by Lee Blessing – a love story of Lainie and Michael, married American educators working in Lebanon during the mid-1980s – features four student actors and was filmed earlier this month, to be streamed this weekend. After Michael is kidnapped by terrorists, Lainie returns to the United States to seek out help from her government to have Michael rescued, only to be stonewalled by the American policy that states:... Read More

Charlotte Boyer, a 17-year-old junior at Rock Island High School, will be featured as one of the contestants in Season 20 of NBC’s “The Voice” singing competition, which begins airing Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. “It was a very long process and I was lucky to even be a part of it all,” Charlotte said this week of her auditions in October in Los Angeles. “I’m not sure what the number was, but there were a lot of auditions, a lot of people that did try out. I was one of the few that got lucky.” “My mom submitted a video of me to the website and I guess someone found it, and I was... Read More