BREAKING NEWS (UPDATED): Illinois will be moving back to Tier 3 mitigations starting Friday, closing up restaurants and bars to indoor service, severely curtailing all businesses in the state, shutting down sporting events including youth sports, and more. Governor JB Pritzker announced the move in his coronavirus update at 2:30 p.m. today. “With COVID-19 spread now exponential in every region of the state, our statewide positivity rate at record highs and hospitalizations already surpassing our Spring peak, all 11 regions will move into Tier 3 effective November 20 at midnight,”... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds just announced sweeping new rules to mitigate the spread of covid-19 in Iowa taking place at midnight which will impact all state bars and gathering places, eliminate all sporting events under high school age, and severely limit the number of people able to gather together. In a press conference shortly after 6 p.m. tonight, Reynolds said that starting at midnight tonight, the following mitigation rules will be in effect: When in an indoor public space and unable to socially distance, masks are required to be worn by all, and masks will be required to be... Read More

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker sounded a somber and sometimes irritated note during his daily press conference on covid-19 today, warning “we’re in for a very difficult few months” and saying we might very soon get to a point where he has “no other choice than to have a mandatory shutdown.” “What will it take to make this real for you?” Pritzker said. “Do we have to reach a positivity rate of 50 percent like we’re seeing in Iowa today? Are you waiting for your health care workers to get sick to a point where you don’t have enough staff in the local... Read More

The Rock Island-Milan School District is going to Full Remote Learning through January 18, the district just announced. The shift is due to the skyrocketing numbers of covid-19 in the area. The Quad-Cities is the seventh-highest hot spot for new covid cases in the United States. District superintendent Dr. Reginald Lawrence II posted the following on the RIMSD 41 website Friday night: Since our transition to blended learning on Oct. 19th, we have consciously followed the advice and recommendations of the national and local public health experts. The alarming rate at which the COVID-19 virus is... Read More

The Quad-Cities has exploded into the top 10 worst covid outbreak spots in the nation, according to data from the CDC, the New York Times reported today. According to the data, the Illinois/Iowa Quad-Cities is now inside the top ten most rapidly spiking hot spots nationwide, roaring from number 13 to number 7 in just two days. Illinois and Iowa hold 12 of the top 15 spots in the country, with Cedar Rapids holding at number one. In his media address yesterday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said that the rapidly spiking numbers statewide — with numbers in some regions doubling daily — could... Read More

UPDATED — The Illinois Quad-Cities could see another mandatory stay-at-home order as soon as next week if numbers in our region continue to soar. The Quad-Cities has exploded in its number of cases and is now inside the top ten most rapidly spiking hot spots nationwide, sitting at number 7 today, according to CDC numbers. In his media address today, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said that the rapidly spiking numbers statewide — with numbers in some regions doubling daily — could lead to another statewide mandatory stay-at-home order similar to the one imposed in the spring,... Read More

The Quad-Cities is one of the top 15 places where covid cases are increasing the fastest in the United States, according to new statistics released today. Among metro areas with at least 50,000 people, the Iowa/Illinois Quad-Cities ranks number 13 among the fastest risers, almost doubling its number of cases within the past week, from 1,476 to 2,922. According to a report in the New York Times today, the daily average of new COVID-19 cases in the country this past week has gone up 64 percent in two weeks, hitting 116,448 today. Helping to spike the numbers were a one-day record of 131,420 cases... Read More

With all of the election stress this week, we could all use some GOOD news, am I right? And every month, we at QuadCities.com, along with our media partners at KWQC-TV6’s “Paula Sands Live,” present What’s The Good News, a look at some of the awesome people and positive news happening around the area! So, what’s the good news for November? Here ya go… Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series Takes On An Online Educational Tone Quad City Arts has launched its new collection of online educational materials for the 47th-annual Visiting Artist Series that’s designed to help people during... Read More

EXCLUSIVE — Illinois Quad-Cities businesses have been notified by the state to begin preparing for a shutdown and covid mitigation procedures beginning Wednesday, multiple sources who asked not to be identified told QuadCities.com today. The sources are all local small business owners, and were notified last night so they could begin preparing. An official announcement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will be forthcoming Monday. According to the sources, there will be a number of mitigation actions put in place, including no indoor dining, limits to the number of people gathered in any... Read More

To celebrate Halloween, I’m dropping multiple columns for your laughs and enjoyment. Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday! Do ghosts fart? Ever walk into your house after you’ve been away, or walk into a room and notice a strange smell? Of course, once you do, you have to try to find it, to try to get rid of it, because who wants a strange smell in their house? I’ll usually look for some dropped food or something behind or under furniture, and sometimes that’s the case. Some bit of stray potable that tried to escape and sadly discovered its motion was limited to whatever got it... Read More