Benjamin Leischner, executive director of the Quad City International Airport, is chairman of the new Illinois Airports Council. He and other airport leaders are praising a proposed amendment to Illinois Aeronautics Act, legislation that defines the role of the Illinois Department of Transportation when it comes to regulating aviation in the state of Illinois. SB-1764 works to streamline how commercial service airports in the state of Illinois receive federal money awarded by the FAA to airports, better defines allowable use of state money for the construction of public aeronautical facilities... Read More

Genesis Health Group will help speed up COVID-19 protection with a mass vaccination clinic to open March 23 for Genesis patients. As more vaccine becomes available, Genesis will consolidate its Iowa vaccination efforts into the former Dick’s Sporting Goods store at 5250 Elmore Ave., Davenport. The retail-sized clinic in the new location will allow Genesis to reach more Scott County patients in a shorter period. The vaccinations will be available by appointment only to eligible Genesis patients who reside in Scott County. Eligible populations are defined and guided by the Iowa State Health Department... Read More

Thursday, March 11, COVID-19 surveillance testing is underway at Western Illinois University and will continue as the semester progresses. Additional open appointment times may be added periodically for those who would like to be tested,but have not been selected as part of the surveillance test population. In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has added select dates for free test clinics on the WIU-Macomb campus, the next being March 11. Each week, approximately 700 students, faculty and staff* will receive an email encouraging them to get a free COVID test provided by Beu... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: More residents of Rock Island and Scott counties are eligible to receive long-awaited vaccines against Covid-19. The Iowa Department of Public Health has announced that beginning Monday, March 8, health care providers are now authorized to vaccinate individuals 64 years of age and younger with medical conditions that are or may be an increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19. Qualifying underlying conditions can be found on the Centers for Disease Control list of underlying conditions. The IDPH press announcement stated: “This announcement comes as several Iowa counties... Read More

The premiere of opera at Moline’s Bartlett Performing Arts Center again will be delayed, as Opera Quad Cities plans to postpone the tragic Puccini opera “Madame Butterfly” from this June to June 2022. “I think it’s just tough to foresee audiences. I mean, we don’t know what the vaccination rates are gonna be in the Quad-Cities. We don’t know if audiences are gonna feel fully comfortable,” opera conductor Nathan Windt said this week. “There’s just too many unknowns. The idea is that the main performance will happen next June,” he said of the need to postpone... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — COVID-19 surveillance testing is underway at Western Illinois University and will continue as the semester progresses. Additional open appointment times may be added periodically for those who would like to be tested,but have not been selected as part of the surveillance test population. In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has added select dates for free test clinics on the WIU-Macomb campus (see below). Each week, approximately 700 students, faculty and staff* will receive an email encouraging them to get a free COVID test provided by Beu Health... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — COVID-19 surveillance testing is underway at Western Illinois University and will continue as the semester progresses. Additional open appointment times may be added periodically for those who would like to be tested,but have not been selected as part of the surveillance test population. In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has added select dates for free test clinics on the WIU-Macomb campus (see below). Each week, approximately 700 students, faculty and staff* will receive an email encouraging them to get a free COVID test provided by Beu Health... Read More

During the COVID-19 pandemic, creative, intelligent people are being asked to find new ways to meet unexpected challenges. That was the case when West High School teachers Greg Smith and Jason Franzenburg received a request from TJ Schneckloth, Superintendent of Davenport Community School District, back in June 2020. At that time, Schneckloth needed a reliable source of face shields for District employees. Smith and Franzenburg, industrial technology instructors, teach Project Lead the Way Engineering and Career and Technical Education. “TJ was looking for an efficient, creative way to take care... Read More

By Craig Cooper The coronavirus sweeping across the globe may seem to be unlike anything most have experienced. But if you are 60 years old or older, mass COVID-19 vaccination efforts may seem vaguely familiar. You may remember another frightening and uncontrolled viral outbreak. We have been down this path before. There was danger in the water for parents and their children 60 years ago. The warm months of summer were polio season. Exposure to waters polluted by human fecal matter and ingested by others could be life altering and possibly deadly. Polio outbreaks were striking American children,... Read More

Teams were on the court of TaxSlayer Center warming up for the opening game of the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Championship basketball tournament last March 12. Within hours, our world changed. The following hours and days were globally historic. The balls stopped bouncing in the TaxSlayer Center because of a virus the world was only beginning to comprehend. Change and disruption continued in blurred days to follow. Scott Mullen, executive director of the TaxSlayer Center, said the arena was ready to host the Missouri Valley Women’s Championship a year ago when the virus rapidly... Read More