Melita Tunnicliff opened an e-mail sent by an old friend Wednesday at work, not exactly sure what its attached video contained. When she watched a heartfelt, personalized video from the legendary actor Dick Van Dyke, wishing her family a merry Christmas and happy 2021, she could hardly believe it. Tunnicliff screamed with joy at her desk at LeClaire Community Library. “It was a real surprise,” she said Thursday morning, Christmas Eve. “It was Dick Van Dyke in the present day because of his age. He looked up and said Scott and Melita, and I said, oh my God!” “I made everybody come over... Read More

Public education and religious freedom have long been big issues, up to the present day. And the latest documentary from Moline-based Fourth Wall Films explores a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case relating to the Amish community. “The Amish Incident: Wisconsin vs. Yoder,” produced by award-winning and Mid-America Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, will be presented on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. for a special free online screening via Facebook. A Q&A session with the Rundles and Dr. Shawn Peters, author of “The Yoder Case,” will follow the film. Viewers can attend the... Read More

A cool quarter-million dollars sure sounds like a nice Christmas present. Katie Wilson and her team at Davenport-based TapOnIt, a messaging technology company, are certainly celebrating the hard-won gift. The five-and-a-half-year-old firm – which Wilson founded with her sister Sara Castillo — was recently awarded a $250,000 Innovation Acceleration Propel fund award by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board. TapOnIt provides a platform that enables businesses to reach, engage and convert opted-in customers through personalized multi-channel messaging, known as TapOnIt Technology.... Read More

The new Raccoon Motel bar and live-music venue plans to open St. Patrick’s Day 2021 at the old Abernathy’s in downtown Davenport, with live music starting in early summer, one of its partners said Wednesday. John McDermott, a Quad-Cities commercial lender who’s friends with original Raccoon Motel music booker Sean Moeller, is partnering with Moeller and Eric Swanson to resurrect the Raccoon – which operated from March 2017-August 2019 at 304 E. 3rd St. (now Devon’s Complaint Dept.), averaging about 150 live shows a year. The new Raccoon already has been selling some new hoodies, stocking... Read More

Eleven cultural organizations and three artists in the Quad-Cities were among those to receive a share of $7 million in new grants announced Tuesday by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. A total of 267 cultural organizations and 152 artists serving 118 Iowa communities will get funding, made possible by the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, on Dec. 2. The department launched the Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program the same day and received more than 550 requests totaling more than $36 million by the Dec. 11 deadline. The list of recipients includes some of Iowa’s... Read More

They say “hindsight is 20/20.” Well, most of us would like to put 2020 in the rear view mirror, but the Figge Art Museum wants you to reflect a bit before you do. The landmark facility at 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport, is highlighting this crazy year in a new exhibition opening on Wednesday, Dec. 23. “2020 Vision: You Are Here, You Are Not Alone” will be installed in the Figge’s second-floor Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery and will provide several chances for visitors to participate and contribute in person or from home. It will offer an opportunity to think, reflect, and create... Read More

Hannah Holman, principal cellist with the Quad City Symphony, got an early Christmas present this month – the keys to the historic Deanery at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Davenport. She’s had a longtime dream to start a new music school, which she did online in September, and she is Executive Artistic Director of the Quad City Music Academy. Following months of negotiations between the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s Vestry and her academy’s Board of Directors, Holman now has a 15-year lease on the 90-year-old building and the QCMA will rename it The Deanery School of Music. “It’s so... Read More

The long awaited “Save Our Stages” bill is part of the $900 billion that’s expected to be approved by Congress, providing economic relief to those affected by Covid-19. Congress has agreed to a new bipartisan relief package that allocates $15 billion in funding to independent movie theaters and concert venues. According to USA Today’s Nicholas Wu, the relief package incorporates the Save Our Stages Act. First introduced by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota over the summer, the act calls for six months of financial support to “keep venues afloat, pay employees,... Read More

Mic Seifert, a veteran physical education teacher in Davenport, has exercised a new muscle this year he never thought he had before – computer literacy. Like all teachers nationwide, Seifert, 47, was forced by the Covid-19 pandemic this past spring to come up with virtual content for his classes at Madison Elementary School. He’s in his 22nd year of teaching and virtual fitness lessons have become an international viral sensation. His YouTube channel, P.E. with Mr. S, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/c/PEwithMrS/videos. Since May, Seifert has made 40 videos, and already the channel’s... Read More

Curt Roseman loved history and made history in the Quad-Cities. More importantly, the 79-year-old Moliner, who died Dec. 13, made history come alive for so many others. A prolific writer, historian and university professor who taught around the world, Roseman died at UnityPoint Health – Trinity Rock Island, with his loving wife Elizabeth by his side. There will be a gathering of friends and family to celebrate his life at Moline’s CityView Celebrations at Trimble Pointe in the future, when we are able to do so safely. Cremation will take place at Trimble Crematory, Moline, under the direction... Read More