I don’t feel like writing anything funny today. Just not in the mood. For the second consecutive Friday, I, and millions of other parents across the country, have had to deal with a bunch of hysteria over kids allegedly threatening to shoot up schools. In fact, this week’s threat went nationwide, as a trend on TikTok calling for a National Shoot Up Your School Day swept viral with such speed that by Thursday afternoon, schools across the country were all sending out e-mails telling parents about it and saying they were stepping up security, and would understand if parents wanted to... Read More

In advance of tonight’s Moline City Council meeting, QuadCities.com has agreed to publish this guest editorial from Mike Wendt, 3rd Ward Alderman of Moline. Interested in contacting your alderman and telling them to vote NO to increasing your taxes? HERE is a link to all of the contact information for the Moline City Council. By Mike Wendt, 3rd Ward Alderman of Moline My fellow Moline residents, I wanted to give you an update on what is happening regarding your property taxes and the First Reading of the property tax levy ordinance that will occur on Tuesday November 9th and its possible... Read More

The Corridor Media Group, Inc., publisher of the weekly Corridor Business Journal (CBJ), will be launching a new Quad Cities Regional Business Journal (QCBJ) in the coming weeks. The new business journal will cover local and regional business news in the greater Quad Cities area including the counties of Rock Island, Henry, and Mercer in Illinois, and Scott, Clinton, and Muscatine counties in Iowa. The news content will be distributed through daily e-mail newsletters, a dynamic website and its flagship, a bi-weekly (26/annually) printed publication. The QCBJ newsroom will be led by Editor Jennifer... Read More

Diversity in the arts is the latest hot topic on the Quad-Cities arts scene, and it’s certainly a welcome one, as the discussion has long been overdue. There is a definite shortage of minority voices across the arts spectrum, and that needs to be corrected. The only way it will be corrected is by it being acknowledged and addressed. Some groups have certainly been doing so, and deserve credit for it. Tristan Tapscott’s The Mockingbird On Main has been one of the most forward thinking theaters on the subject, with casts and shows that have distinctly featured minority performers and... Read More

The following story is shared from WVIK News as part of QuadCities.com’s partnership with WVIK. To see the full story click here. Republican Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms is running for the Illinois Senate. Thursday morning he began a several-stop announcing tour of the new 36th Senate district. If elected, he says his focus would be on the economy and jobs. “More jobs, more rooftops. More rooftops, more retail. More retail, more income. And that’s how we do it. We need to generate new income for the state of Illinois, not continue taxing the existing people that are here, more... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Rock Island has stopped exploring selling off its water and sewer services to a private company. The city issued the following statement this afternoon: “The Rock Island City Council is suspending further exploration into the privatization of the City’s water and sewer utilities. The elected officials and staff of the City of Rock Island are continually looking for ways to provide high quality and cost-efficient services to its citizens.  For the past 18 months, the City has gathered information related to the potential privatization of the City’s water and sewer... Read More

EXCLUSIVE: Thurgood Brooks, who recently led the charge to pass The Resolution to improve relations between police and the Rock Island community, is considering a run for lllinois State Representative for the 72nd District, which includes the Quad-Cities. The current representative, Mike Halpin, announced today he would be leaving the seat to run for State Senate. Brooks, who was narrowly defeated in the Rock Island Mayoral election earlier this year, has been extremely active in the community, from his work as a football coach with Rock Island High School to his various charitable projects and... Read More

Will Iowa residents, schools and businesses be forced by the federal government to comply with mask mandates and other covid-19 restrictions? This is the big question as a battle royale shapes up between Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Biden administration’s Education Department, and the Iowa Supreme Court, headed up by a Republican judge who was appointed by Reynolds in 2018. This week, Iowa was nailed with a civil rights investigation by the Biden administration’s Education Department over Gov. Kim Reynolds’ move to ban mask mandates. The federal government investigation levels the charge... Read More

UPDATED: After a lengthy question and answer session with American Water, I still think Rock Island selling its water and sewer would be a horrible idea, and I think the Rock Island mayor and city council needs to stop being disingenuous about stringing the idea along and put it aside. After I’d previously written on the subject, I was happy to hear from Karen Cotton, Senior Manager, External Communications, for Illinois American Water. I understand it takes a good amount of courage and initiative to contact someone who has expressed a contrary idea, particularly one going against a goal... Read More

Hampton Township will have a pop-up vaccine clinic Tuesday at the township office, 209 19th St., East Moline. This is your shot to get vaccinated! Show up from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday. People 12-and-older are welcome. Pfizer first or second doses will be given. There will be another clinic Aug. 24. #vaccinateqc #VaxUpIL #EndthePandemic  Read More