Hold on to your hats! Jason Platt is back, with a brand new book for tweens, Middle School Misadventures: Operation Hat Heist! The book is the second on Little, Brown for Platt’s Middle School Misadventures series, and is available in online bookstores worldwide. The book follows a boy, Newell, on the cusp between tween and teen years, navigating his way through the strange and funny misadventures of junior high. It’s an evolution of Platt’s popular long-running comic strip Mister and Me. For more info from Jason, check out our conversation on the podcast QCUncut. Fans can also... Read More

Opera Quad Cities is having to watch their butterfly fly away into next year. The local arts group announced tonight that they must reschedule performances of Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly to June, 2021. Performances will remain at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center in Moline. More details will follow. Opera officials posted on Facebook: “The coming months will be difficult ones for all performing arts organizations. Our hearts go out to all of the artists impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic. Soon….music and the arts will be celebrated like never before!!” For more... Read More

The Planet is returning to local airwaves — along with one of the original voices of its galaxy. Dave Levora and Darren Pitra will return to the morning radio airwaves 5:30 to 10 a.m. Thursday on 93.9 FM with a new alternative rock format replacing that station’s eclectic Jack format. The alt rock playlist will echo that of Planet 93.5, the popular station that drew strong numbers during the alternative rock-ruled ’90s. Levora was recently fired from his gig as morning guy at WOC-AM, Pitra had been a free agent since being let go from Townsquare Media in 2016. Levora worked for... Read More

What kind of music do you like? Who are your favorite singers? What’s your favorite song? When I was younger, particularly in high school and early college, I was inclined to judge potential friends and girlfriends in large part on their musical and pop-culture tastes. Yes, I was an entertainment snob. Hard to believe, I know. It was always kind of a loaded question, and sometimes a question to ask when you were loaded, but it tended to have grand implications for the way I would look at that person going forward, in a way perhaps small and insignificant, or a way much more significant. It... Read More

Local author Connie Corcoran Wilson is being honored among some pretty elite company. The area scribe’s novel Khaki=Killer, third book in The Color of Evil trilogy, was named one of the 100 Best Indie Novels in a competition sponsored by “Shelf Unbound” magazine that drew more than 120,000 entries. All three books in the series can be purchased from Amazon in both paperback and e-book versions. The books are currently being considered for feature films. Wilson recently completed screenplays of each and an agent has been pitching them around Hollywood to good reception, Wilson says. The... Read More

The dance has ended, for this year, at least. Ballet Quad-Cities, the only professional dance company in the area, has canceled its season. Ballet Quad-Cities CEO Joedy Cook released the following statement this evening: Greetings and good wishes for health and safety to all of you in this difficult time. For the safety of our community, dancers, staff and other team members we are cancelling the rest of our season, which includes The Sleeping Beauty and Ballet Under the Stars*. This was a heart-breaking decision, but have no fear – Ballet Quad Cities is made up of people that are resilient,... Read More

Earth Week is here! With the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day being Wed., April 22nd, the Faith Leaders Caucus of Quad Cities Interfaith, along with Living Lands and Waters, the Environmental Forum of PACG and others challenge you to help us plant 1000 trees in the QCA now! Red Oak, Burr Oak, White Swamp Oak and Persimmon tree saplings are available on a first come, first served basis. (See attachments above for information about each variety). The public is reminded to wear masks and use safe physical distancing when picking up their saplings. Even if you can only take one tree – please come and... Read More

Although more than 60 years have passed since the first National Library Week celebration, the original goals of celebrating libraries, promoting reading for leisure, improving incomes and health, and developing strong and happy family life are still relevant today. National Library Week began Sunday, April 19, and though the celebration looks different than in any previous year, the goal is the same: to educate about what libraries offer, and to inspire use. Due to social distancing restrictions, this year’s theme has shifted to “Find the Library at YOUR Place.” That theme recognizes the... Read More

If, like Brick Tamblin, you love lamp, or, if you just love lamps, Rock Island shop Skeleton Key Art and Antiques has got something to light up your life. As previously reported here on QuadCities.com, the once hidden hobby of Lamp Aficionados displaying their amor for the luminous decor has been illuminated in the mainstream during this time of covid sequestering. Probably because we need lamps now more than ever, and it’s only appropriate we show our love for our lampy partners. Brandy Clark VandeWalle, owner and operator of Skeleton Key, and such a tease, wantonly dropped a whole buncha... Read More

The discussion over mental health challenges can be a difficult one. Admitting concerns can be daunting and treatment options and social stigmas surrounding the issue are often intimidating to those suffering from this disease, as well as those whose lives are touched by those suffering. The issue of mental health and the facilitation of discussion about its perspectives is the driving force behind the inspirational book “Courage To Rise Above,” by Quad-Cities author Jennifer Sergeant. Sergeant’s book, which is available at the Davenport Book Rack store as well as online at all retailers,... Read More