Next time you hop on Amazon to buy something online, consider keeping your money in the Quad-Cities. That’s the thrust of a new campaign from the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, which has launched “Keep It QC,” to bring awareness to the power of doing business locally. According to Chamber representatives, buying local has many tangible economic benefits for the region, in addition to helping area businesses rebound faster from the financial impact of Covid-19. “Keep It QC is about educating members of our community about why buying local should be the first choice every time,” Erin... Read More

I’m sick of the politics. I’m sick of the politicians. With more people struggling than ever, with more businesses closing, with the covid numbers increasing yet again, just like the scientists predicted (amazing how you can listen to intelligent, learned people and get accurate predictions on what’s likely to happen, isn’t it?), IT’S TIME TO PASS ANOTHER STIMULUS BILL TO HELP PEOPLE STRUGGLING FROM COVID. I wrote another story today, one of probably over 100 this year, about a business closing down due to covid. This time it was Big Swing, in downtown Rock Island,... Read More

What year is it? There are scores of protests over racial injustice and civil rights. There’s rioting and police brutality. A global pandemic kills tens of thousands of Americans. A bitter presidential election featuring a former vice president. Debates over law and order and the limits of free speech. Of course, you could be talking about this year, with its collision of cataclysmic crises. But that also summarized 1968, which also featured the shocking assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, which fed into the massive violence in Chicago during the August Democratic... Read More

Got a perfect pupper? A great good boi? A darn awesome doggo? QuadCities.com wants to feature your dog in our new Pupper Of The Week feature! Just send a picture of your pet with their name, your name, and a sentence or two about them and we’ll post their pic and story on QuadCities.com. Message your doggo pics and info to Sean@QuadCities.com. And get ready to check out some cool doggos on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com! This week’s pupper is Mabel, the pupper of Molly March Wilkison! Molly says about her doggo: This is Mabel, my gentle giant. She’s... Read More

The Putnam Museum & Science Center’s virtual Mad Scientist Ball, on Saturday, Oct. 17, raised $26,735, with donations still coming in. “I am THRILLED with the success of the event,” Nisha Ladlee, the Putnam’s vice president of development, said Monday by e-mail. “Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. Eric Sorenson was a phenomenal emcee and Emily Calandrelli was wonderful as our celebrity guest. This was the Putnam’s first time holding a virtual fundraiser and we are grateful for the support from our community locally, but also to those who tuned in and supported from different... Read More

We’re all hungry for some peace, calm and normalcy. The recent announcement of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize rang true to regional artist Cecile Houel, who is passionate about diversity and justice. Her portraits of Nobel Peace Prize laureates have been extended at the Beréskin Art Gallery & Academy, 2967 State St., Bettendorf, through the end of the month. She will offer a free tour of her exhibit Friday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Houel – who is based in Fort Madison, Iowa – will speak about her work on this collection, covering the following topics: Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Society, researches... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a weekly look at a personality, place, trend or topic of interest to the Quad-Cities. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com. I know it’s faintly ridiculous to watch so much film and TV on my iPhone, but life in pandemic-plagued 2020 has glued me to the really small screen to an unprecedented degree. It’s pretty much my lone companion before falling asleep every night, and due to the seemingly inexhaustible smorgasbord of content on Netflix (my go-to app), I’ve been binge-watching a lot. It’s provided... Read More

2020 has certainly been a life-altering, challenging year, but Freddy Allen is getting by with a little help from his friends. The 50-year-old Davenport jazz pianist and singer has been a professional musician for 37 years, performing all over the globe. Spending most of his career in Chicago, Allen moved to Davenport three years ago to be close to family and become a part of the vibrant music scene in the Quad-Cities. He hopes to travel and tour with his music again as soon as the pandemic is over. On Saturday at 7 p.m., Allen is launching a series of online concerts, “Freddy and Friends,”... Read More

This weekend, YouTube and the National Independent Venue Association are doing an awesome thing for local music venues nationwide, and I’m sure many of you have heard about the star-studded Save Our Stages Fest. It’s the kind of huge, publicity-grabbing event that gets a ton of attention with people in markets across the country. Which is a good thing, because it’s for a good cause, and it needs to get in front of a large group of people to make that positive impact. I do not begrudge that at all, and I wholeheartedly encourage people to check it out, and any other event of that... Read More

The Quad-Cities ranks number 79 among the top 150 best places to live in the nation, and the sixth most affordable, according to U.S. News & World Report. The report, released this week, represents a pretty good win in economic development. U.S. News analyzed 150 metro areas in the U.S. to find the best places to live, based on quality of life and the job market in each metro area, as well as the value of living there and people’s desire to live there. The report used 2019 figures, showing the Q-C with a 4.2% unemployment rate (it was twice that as of August 2020), metro population of... Read More