A new indoor theme park is coming to Bettendorf this fall! According to a press release sent out today from Jester FEC, the Lexington, Kentucky company has purchased the former Schnucks and Marshalls stores at Bettendorf’s Duck Creek Plaza on Middle Road and will be building a new indoor theme park there this year, with a fall 2023 opening date slated. The company’s sixth large-scale indoor theme park will include go karts, bowling, miniature golf, laser tag, large kids’ zone, and more. The name of the spot is to be determined but, given that the owner has several other theme parks by the... Read More

Un-ironically, I spent a Taco Tuesday at Verde a contemporary Mexican restaurant located off the foot of the Iowa side of the New 74 bridge. Verde opened close enough to 2 years ago. The dream child of Chef Connor Larson, has been growing legs and learning how to not crawl but run in this shaky economy. While other restaurants have been forced to shutter doors, take days off, and change business models. Verde seems right at home, offering a smaller more intimate relationship with its customers; seriously customers? I question my use of the word here, customer. No I’m not breaking a... Read More

This is a grown man burger. This burger isn’t for you youngsters. This burger takes years of experience to really appreciate. This baby is thicccck. This burger has taste and hits all the notes those youthful burgers just can’t reach. The cheese, smelty and perfect. The bun, it’s like biting into a pillow of heaven or kissing that girl at the end of the bar with a few extra curves. The meat, smashed, juicy and delicious, those ironically are the same words typed on the butt of that girl at the end of the bar. Man the late 90s were different. Where can you get this magical... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – One candidate will interview Friday, Jan. 6, for the position of Western Illinois University Director of Institutional Research. Alan J. Simmons, research director for the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield, will be on the Macomb campus Friday, Jan. 6. An open session, in person and over Zoom, will be held from 1:20-1:50 p.m. in Stipes Hall, room 120. The Zoom portion of the meeting can be found at wiu.zoom.us/j/99535751534. Simmons has served as the research director for the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University... Read More

QUAD CITIES, Iowa / Illinois—Since taking over as director of the Mercer County Mental Health Action Program (MHAP) one year ago, Krissy Dixon, RN, has seen just how needed her team and the services it provides are for students and families at Mercer County and Sherrard schools. That team—Dixon herself and two highly skilled full-time mental health case managers who help connect students to the support they need—exists thanks in no small part to the Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation, which made a three-year, $156,000 grant to MHAP last year. “Because of Looser-Flake, what we have right... Read More

The United Way QC Born Learning Academies are weekly one-hour sessions, held in-person at Fillmore Elementary. They will take place each Monday from 4:30-5:30pm beginning on January 23rd and ending on March 6th. Child care is provided. Space is limited so please register by January 16th: http://bit.ly/BL80  Read More

What did Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) do with her final vote as a member of congress? She used it to help her constituents, delivering on a big bill to help out the Quad-Cities region. Bustos, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, cast her final vote as a Member of Congress to deliver more than $66 million for local projects in communities across Northwest and Central Illinois. In a major funding package for Fiscal Year 2023, Bustos built on her track record of delivering for the district by securing significant investments in health, workforce development, rural communities... Read More

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced that the collection of artifacts and papers from her years in office will be archived in a joint partnership with the nonpartisan Dirksen Congressional Center and Illinois College. Bustos is also establishing the Callahan-Bustos Family Endowed Scholarship Fund through a gift to the college, which will provide scholarship funding to students pursuing work for the public good. “As an alumna of Illinois College and longtime partner to the bipartisan Dirksen Congressional Center, I am proud that my work will benefit the students and scholars of both respected... Read More

As restaurants struggle to reinvent themselves, The Half Nelson reimagines the world around it. Walking in you’ll see a world transformed to a time when things bamboozled you. I feel completely underdressed! Maybe I should be wearing a nice suit and slick my hair back with some Dapper Dan. Whatever the case, the Half Nelson is bringing the 1920’s to the 2020’s with a little style and panache. I wish I could say that I found this time machine located in Downtown Davenport towards the end of 2nd Street. Instead, I was invited and treated by Chef Philip Pridemore. This Chef... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – – Joseph Roselieb, executive director of auxiliary services and risk management, has been named the interim assistant vice president (AVP) for Facilities Management at Western Illinois University, effective January 1. Additionally, Ted Renner, deputy director of Facilities Management, has been named the temporary interim director of Facilities Management, effective January 1. Roselieb has served as the executive director of auxiliary services and risk management since 2020, where he was responsible for the general oversight of auxiliary services, safety initiatives,... Read More