Bring your pup for a dog-gone good meet-up with other pups on National Dog Day, Thursday, August 26. From 8:30 to about 9:30 am, library staff will be hanging around the Eleanor Wallace dog run to offer a story, craft, and a treat for all very good dogs, Free, no reservation needed. Hasselroth Park is at 28th Street and 78th Avenue West in Rock Island. It’s next to the Alan Campbell Sports Complex.  Read More

BREAKING NEWS: According to several reports, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will announce early Thursday a covid-19 vaccine mandate for all school employees in K-12 and higher education facilities statewide, with potential further mitigations and possible virtual learning plans looming. All educational system employees will be mandated to get the covid-19 vaccination or submit to regular testing for covid, reports say. Sources also say that there is a potential that Illinois schools could go to a hybrid model or full virtual learning if covid-19 numbers do not improve. Already, several schools,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate, and Governor JB Pritzker will announce it, and possibly other statewide covid-19 mitigations, in a press conference tomorrow (Thursday), several sources are saying tonight. The mask mandate is expected to apply to anyone over the age of two, regardless of vaccination status, echoing the same mask mandate brought back to Chicago two weeks ago, and to Cook County surrounding Chicagoland last week, as reported by QuadCities.com. QuadCities.com had previously reported this afternoon that new mitigations were being considered... Read More

By unanimous vote, Monday night the Rock Island City Council passed “The Resolution,” an initiative to improve police and community relations in Rock Island. Thurgood Brooks (former Mayoral candidate and one of the authors of “The Resolution”) presented his revised initiative to the Rock Island City Council during the public comments section of the meeting. The presentation highlighted the progress of this initiative to the Rock Island City Council and residents. After several rounds of discussion with city officials since June 2020, “The Resolution” was adapted and revised... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said today “greater mitigations” are coming if covid-19 numbers continue to spike massively in the state. Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 4,451 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 40 related deaths Wednesday, that news following the state hitting its highest one-day total in covid cases since late January and its highest week for infections in months last week. “If we are not able to bring these numbers down, if hospitals continue to fill, if the hospital beds and ICUs get full like they are in Kentucky... Read More

For the past seven years, Sherry Ristau has focused on transforming the Quad Cities Community Foundation. After Friday, when she leaves as president/CEO, the 60-year-old will focus on transforming herself. “When I arrived in the Quad-Cities, I was welcomed as the new leader of this organization with overwhelming warmth and openness. That’s a testament to the good will of this community, but it speaks to something else equally important for our future: our willingness to embrace change and the chance to improve—to transform ourselves for the better,” Ristau said in a blog post Tuesday. “This... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law today sweeping new programs to overhaul the state’s mental health care system, including groundbreaking new laws regarding sending mental health professionals to 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 calls. Under the new law, the Community Emergency Services And Support Act, Illinois is just the third state in the nation to now require insurance to cover mental health disorders and substance abuse issues. It also requires officials receiving 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 calls involving mental health issues to include not just a police response but response from a... Read More

Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series will host a little bit of Ireland during a three-day residency with singer Paddy Homan. Homan, from Cork, Ireland, is a Chicago-based traditional Irish Tenor and professional speaker who since his arrival in Chicago has brought his talented voice and quick-witted Cork humor to hundreds of stages and venues in the Chicago area, the Midwest, New England, California, and Hawaii, as well as in Ireland. Paddy is a frequent keynote speaker in senior living retirement communities where he presents on the role of music in supporting seniors at home and in their... Read More

Rock Island Public Library children’s librarians will continue to show up at our Longview Park Library2Go bookmobile stop from 2:30 to 3:30 pm on Wednesdays in August for Full STEAM Ahead. Stop by for some fun with our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) kits. Miss Ranell will bring a new kit each week. This event is great for grades K-6! (Wednesdays are early dismissal days for Rock Island-Milan School District #41.) For more information, see www.rockislandlibrary.org.  Read More

Rock Island, Illinois – The Augustana College Department of Theatre announces its lineup of productions for the 2021-22 season, which will include more performances than in previous years. Main stage productions take place in the Kim and Donna Brunner Main Stage Theatre and are directed by Augustana College professors. Studio productions are largely student produced and take place in the Heidi Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre. The Augustana College Department of Theatre Arts offers a major and minor in theatre arts with a choice of emphasis in performance, musical theatre, design and technology... Read More