MACOMB, IL — The Western Illinois University School of Music will present the Faculty Chamber Music Series Concert I, featuring members of the Camerata Woodwind Quintet and The Hopper Jazztet, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Recital Hall. Due to the restrictions currently in place, there are no general admission performances in the COFAC Recital Hall.This performance will be broadcast on the School of Music’s YouTube Channel and Facebook page. PROGRAM: Divertimento for flute, oboe and clarinet, Op. 37 – Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) I.... Read More

Storm hockey will not return to Moline’s TaxSlayer until at least fall of 2021. Due to restrictions on mass gatherings put in place by the State of Illinois as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Quad City Storm will be sitting out the 2020-2021 SPHL season.  The State is currently in Phase 4 of the “Restore Illinois” plan, which prohibits individuals from attending large gatherings without a proven vaccine or cure for COVID-19.  The current mandate would allow just fifty people to attend a Storm game. According to a press release just put out by the Storm: “We are incredibly... Read More

Pack up your pup and join the Moline Parks and Recreation Department for a Howl-O-Ween Costume Contest at Greenvalley Dog Park (6009 50th Avenue Moline) on Wednesday October 7 from 5 – 6 p.m.! Dress up your pup (and possibly yourself) in their best costume to join the costume contest. Let your dog mingle in the dog park, visit with paw-some vendors, Rewarded Rescues and D.O.G & Friends, and take home a dog goodie bag. You must register each dog attending to receive goodie bags and/or participate in the costume contest. *Select your quantity of registrations before adding to cart* Register... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — Western Illinois University employees and retirees can help ward off the flu by taking advantage of a free flu shot drive-thru/walk-up clinic from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 in the Q-Lot on the WIU-Macomb campus. A flu shot clinic will also be held at the WIU-Quad Cities campus from 10 a.m.-noon in QC Complex, Building C, room 1418. Masks are required to participate. Please wear a shirt that will allow the vaccine to be administered in the upper arm. The McDonough County Health Department will administer the vaccines on the Macomb campus. Participants will need... Read More

“Scrooge was dead.” That’s how Donald C. Hepner started off a production of A Christmas Carol one night. And that one moment perfectly captures than man we all knew as “Hep.” You were never certain whether you were in on the joke or part of it. A standup comedian, gifted actor, personal friend  and mentor to many on the local theater and comedy scene, Hepner died of a massive heart attack Sunday night in his Moline residence. He was 79. He was an original dude, a great writer (his book “Reggie! Ringling’s First Black Clown” is FANTASTIC), and a fine performer... Read More

Bob Williams absolutely loved theater, Quad City Music Guild and his family – to the point where Music Guild and his family became one. In an unrelentingly awful year, which has seen the Prospect Park theater in Moline go dark for the first time since 1949, the Guild family endured another bone-crushing loss Sunday, as Williams (a veteran director) died suddenly from a massive heart attack at age 61. “We are all in shock. It will take some time for the loss to become real,” longtime Music Guild volunteer Cathy Marsoun said Sunday night. “Bob brought so much to Guild. First, his great theatrical... Read More

Originally scheduled for Saturday Oct 3, the Cruise Into Fall Event at the Moline Township Activity Center (620 18th Street Moline) has been moved to this Monday Oct 4. Bring your lawn chair and Blue Suede Shoes to this fun-filled Tribute to Elvis! From 4 – 5:30 p.m. Sloppy Joe baskets and desserts will be sold. Enjoy an amazing Elvis Show from 5 – 6:30 p.m., featuring Mike Clardie, formally with Coupe DeVille band. This performance will take place outside in the park. Mike has performed in Vegas and puts on a really good show. Enjoy some vocals by former Coupe Deville, Jim Clark. Take part... Read More

In a move that will devastate the lives of thousands of employees nationwide just before the holidays, the Moline Regal Cinemas, in addition to over 500 other theaters nationwide, will be closed down this week. The second-largest cinema chain in the United States, Regal Cinemas, which operates 543 locations in the United States, will be shutting down all of its movie theaters starting Thursday due a cascade of postponements for big-budget Hollywood films, most recently the James Bond title “No Time to Die” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The chain had shut down its operations nationwide... Read More

MACOMB, IL – To help Western Illinois University psychology transfer students to make ends meet, Psychology Professor Emeritus Frank Fulkerson has established the Frank Fulkerson Endowed Psychology Transfer Scholarship. Fulkerson joined the WIU psychology faculty as an assistant professor in Fall 1968, and was named department chair in the Fall 1976. “After I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from St. Louis University, I accepted my first academic position in the WIU Psychology Department in the Fall of 1968,” Fulkerson said. “It was a thriving, collegial Department, very welcoming... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – The sting of a single bee has elevated the graduate school project of a Western Illinois University alumnus into a home for an endangered species. Ross Smith received his master’s degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA) in 2018. For his final project, Smith transformed two underutilized baseball diamonds in Hampton, IL, into a prairie area for the Rock Island County Forest Preserve District, where he has been employed since 2015. “The baseball diamonds were underutilized, compared to neighboring diamonds and with the Dorrance Forest Preserve... Read More