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! If it wasn’t for a man who later became WQPT-TV general manager, National Public Radio (NPR) likely would never have started. This past week, NPR celebrated its 50th anniversary. Jerrold Sandler — who died in Moline Feb. 24, 1995 at age 64, from a heart attack after cancer surgery – got public radio added to the mission of the then-new Corporation for Public Broadcasting... Read More

At Deere & Company’s world headquarters in Moline Thursday morning, Dr. LaDrina Wilson recalled the wisdom and importance of the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That’s a key concept behind the new “Rise United 2030” campaign launched Thursday by United Way Quad Cities. Wilson, the founder/CEO of Iman Consulting, is one of three chairs for United Way’s 2021 Community Campaign, with Caitlin Russell, Senior Vice President at Russell, and Chad Everitt, Managing Director at Deloitte. The campaign tri-chairs will formally kick off fundraising efforts in August,... Read More

There’s finally some momentum in a good direction in regard to covid-19 in the Illinois Quad-Cities, Region 2 and the state in general. Positivity rates for coronavirus cases were the lowest they’ve been since March, at 3.3 percent. Statewide, over the past week an average of 72,613 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered daily, bringing the total number of people vaccinated statewide to 9,450,418, according to the Illinois Department of Health. At this point, 4,145,711, or 32.54% of the total population of the state, has been fully vaccinated. Over half of Illinois residents... Read More

In response to the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks, rocker Bruce Springsteen implored us to “Come on up for the rising.” In his 2015 musical “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda implored others to “rise up.” Goodwill and United Way in the Quad-Cities are both picking up the hopeful, aspirational “Rising” theme in two new initiatives, aiming for a better post-pandemic world for us all. Goodwill, the leading workforce provider in North America, on Tuesday announced a new, first-of-its-kind coalition called Rising Together, which will work to create an equitable economic recovery and provide job... Read More

In addition to adapting to an unprecedented past 14 months due to Covid, the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) also spent the past year planning to transition to a new name, ImpactLife. The name – which became effective Monday, May 3 – represents the Davenport-based nonprofit community blood provider to 120 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Serving residents of 116 counties (88 of which are in the MVRBC service area), the organization also previously included Central Illinois Community Blood Center (CICBC) and Community Blood Services of Illinois (CBSI). In... Read More

Solar energy is coming to the Quad Cities International Airport by late this summer. Solar panels affixed to the terminal roof and a new carport structure will provide a clean, renewable energy source for the airport, and a covered parking option for nearly 200 spots in the short-term lot – at no cost to the Moline airport. Two additional electric vehicle charging stations will be added to the existing three once the project is completed. At the time of this announcement, only 20 percent of public U.S. airports are using solar power. “We are fortunate to have this opportunity to bring a clean... Read More

The newest Quad City Arts’ Art at the Airport exhibit is all in the family — paintings by Kristin Quinn of Davenport, with ceramic creations by her sister, Megan Quinn, of Rock Island, on display through June 30. Megan Quinn is a professor at Augustana College in Rock Island, while Kristin Quinn is a professor at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. Megan is a ceramic artist, and Kristin is a painter. The two sisters grew up in a family of five children with parents who were educators, and their dad was a physicist who specialized in optics and provided access to visually stimulating... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – With a series of gifts to Western Illinois University’s Great River Teacher Corps (GRTC), the Tracy Family Foundation of Mt. Sterling, IL, is continuing its support of the program which adds quality teachers to the region. WIU’s GRTC program began in 2018, and celebrated its first graduate in May 2020. The program provides scholarships to students studying teacher education at Western, who will work in west central Illinois schools after graduation. “The Tracy Family Foundation wants west central Illinois’ schools to inspire life-long learners, leaders... Read More

Enjoy the fun of Cinco De Mayo on Uno De Mayo! Ganzos, 3923 N. Marquette, Davenport, is hosting a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta and 5K on Saturday, May 1st, 2021! See all that they have planned for this year at www.ganzos.com/cinco/  Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – Three Western Illinois University faculty members, a WIU administrator and a University committee have been recognized with the 2021 WIU President’s Excellence in Diversity Awards. “It is an honor to recognize our colleagues across the University for their efforts to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion on our campuses and in our local communities,” said WIU President Guiyou Huang. “I have witnessed the commitment and dedication of our talented students, faculty and staff, as well as our partners in our local communities to create, support and lead... Read More