Merry Christmas, from all of us at QuadCities.com! We wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe holiday! Enjoy the day with your loved ones…  Read More

John Taylor of Cambridge, Ill. – a local cultural guru behind Heartland Connections, the Levitt AMP Galva Music Series and the Ca d’Zan concert series – has been a busy Christmas elf the past couple weeks. He has helped produce several holiday videos featuring area musicians. A “Spreading Holiday Cheer” video from Heartland Connections is more than an hour long, and features performances of many musicians in Illinois and Iowa. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3-pohv2udk and https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandConnections/posts/3607327219492911. “Originally, I started... Read More

Forget Amazon and Walmart this holiday season, let’s rally around our small businesses! Join us for a new take on pop-up markets as we feature 30+ Midwest Makers and the Iron + Grain Boutiques in East Moline this season. Join the folks at Iron and Grain through Monday, January 4th for local small business shopping. Per the state of IL, masks are required at Iron + Grain and no more than 25 people will be allowed in at a time. Thank you to our sponsor, MetroNet. MetroNet is a customer-focused company providing cutting-edge fiber optic telecommunication services, including high-speed Fiber... 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

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

The Quad-Cities, and the entire state of Illinois, has been on Tier 3 mitigation rules since Nov. 20. Have things gotten any better since then? Are we making positive progress to possibly get out of the mitigation zone? Governor JB Pritzker has already said that Illinois will not leave mitigations at least until after the new year, regardless of numbers, as a preventative measure. But if things continue to go in a positive direction, could we see any leeway after New Year’s Day? Despite a lot of bad news in regard to covid overall statewide, some encouraging signs have been seen in various... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: At long last, an over $900 billion covid stimulus deal has been reached by Congress, and will be finalized and voted on within the next 24 hours, according to various reports. According to reporting from CNN, as well as direct video on CSPAN, YouTube and other sources, House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders have announced the deal will be voted on in the House tonight, and is expected to be passed by the Senate tonight or tomorrow and signed into law by the president by tomorrow at the latest, allowing direct stimulus payments and programs to go into effect immediately,... Read More

It’s Sunday, and QuadCities.com proudly presents FUN10, a list of the top 10 things to do in the Quad Cities this week, and every week! Every Sunday, we drop a new FUN10, to give you a head start on your week and a heads up on what’s going on over the coming seven days. Check out FUN10 every Sunday for the details on ten awesome events happening around town. It’s a cool read, and a great way to get started planning your entertainment for the week. FUN10 — ten ways for you to have fun in the Quad-Cities, this week and every week, running every Sunday, only on your site for fun, free, local... Read More

Goodwill of the Heartland on Friday announced a significant donation of $10 million from billionaire writer and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott as part of a generous gift presented to 384 organizations across the nation. This is the largest single gift to Goodwill of the Heartland in its 55-year history, the nonprofit said in a release. The investment comes at a time when more than 10 million Americans are unemployed and urgently need help finding their next jobs. This gift will enable Goodwill of the Heartland to expand and deliver its mission in the 19 counties that it serves (including the... Read More

The YWCA Quad Cities is celebrating a surprise holiday gift this week. It is among 384 charities throughout the United States that have received a donation from MacKenzie Scott, a 50-year-old American novelist, billionaire, and venture philanthropist. She has donated $4.1 billion to nonprofit organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and the YWCA is just one of two recipients that serve the Quad-Cities – the other is Goodwill of the Heartland. “These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others,” Scott explained in a Dec. 15 post on Medium,... Read More