The Western Illinois University Department of Art and Design will host a mini-ART sale from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today in the University Union’s Brattain Lounge. The event will include original pieces art for sale. A portion of the proceeds provides financial support for students. For more information, contact Professor Susan Czechowski at sa-czechowski@wiu.edu.  Read More

The Augustana College Department of Theatre Arts will present “One Flea Spare,” directed by Jennifer Popple, Thursday through Sunday, May 6 to 9, at Brunner Theatre Center, 3750 7th Ave., Rock Island. Darkly comic and deeply moving by turns, “One Flea Spare” is set in plague-ravaged 17th-century London, where social roles and the boundaries that describe them have turned upside down. The definition of morality is up for grabs. Upper and lower class are forced to live in quarantine together and the secrets and sins of the four shut-ins are laid bare. The social hierarchy collapses, and... Read More

In response to the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks, rocker Bruce Springsteen implored us to “Come on up for the rising.” In his 2015 musical “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda implored others to “rise up.” Goodwill and United Way in the Quad-Cities are both picking up the hopeful, aspirational “Rising” theme in two new initiatives, aiming for a better post-pandemic world for us all. Goodwill, the leading workforce provider in North America, on Tuesday announced a new, first-of-its-kind coalition called Rising Together, which will work to create an equitable economic recovery and provide job... Read More

Beware of downtown Moline on River Drive! If you’re going to work tomorrow or have someplace to be, you’ll want to avoid Moline’s River Drive just past the TaxSlayer Center as there’s a road closure on River Drive to 6th Avenue on both 15th and 19th Streets, snagging traffic up and causing major jams and delays. For more info, and up-to-date details, click here, and as always for news on traffic delays, check your free, fact-based local media, QuadCities.com!  Read More

Because of some experiences that Western Illinois University graduate student Aleezah Washington had during her undergrad years at WIU – some very good and some not-so-good at all – she was thinking of ways to reach out to other marginalized students, both current WIU students and prospective students. She reached out to WIU Student Legal Advocate Torrey Smith to talk and brainstorm. And with that, Washington’s vision to give students a voice, became “Western Unedited: Our Voice, Our Story, Our Time.” Washington, an MBA graduate student from Naperville and a graduate assistant... Read More

Two dozen Quad-Cities high-school recently learned many important things about their community and made decisions on grants that help serve those needs. Through the Quad Cities Community Foundation’s Teens for Tomorrow (T4T) program, the youth philanthropy group of students announced six recipients of the total of $10,000 in annual grants. They are: Dress for Success Quad Cities’ HireHER program, to support women on the job search — $1,300 Project Renewal Inc.’s Summer Youth Program 2021, to support positive educational, recreational, and social-emotional activities — $2,500 Tapestry... Read More

Take a hike! Do you want to? Well, check out QCTrails.org if you do. QCTRails is a free user-friendly, interactive, and mobile responsive website that serves as a comprehensive resource that highlights multi-purpose trails, parks, and side paths in the bi-state region. QC Trails is an exciting tool for encouraging and improving local outdoor physical activity throughout the year. Join us on Thursday, May 6th at 6:30 pm for a virtual presentation by Nicole Carkner from the Quad City Health Initiative and Bryan Schmid from Bi-State Regional Commission about QCTrails org. They will discuss how and... Read More

Star Wars fans can show their galaxy full of knowledge at the Rock Island Public Library’s “May the Fourth Be With You” online trivia game. The free event for all ages will be offered via Zoom from 5:30 to 6:30 pm on, you guessed it, Tuesday, May 4. Play solo or with a team and see how much you know about a certain galaxy far, far away. One lucky participant will win a Star Wars prize pack! To play, register at the library’s online calendar and the meeting link will be sent via email. For more news from the Rock Island Public Library, visit www.rockislandlibrary.org, follow the library... Read More

In addition to adapting to an unprecedented past 14 months due to Covid, the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) also spent the past year planning to transition to a new name, ImpactLife. The name – which became effective Monday, May 3 – represents the Davenport-based nonprofit community blood provider to 120 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Serving residents of 116 counties (88 of which are in the MVRBC service area), the organization also previously included Central Illinois Community Blood Center (CICBC) and Community Blood Services of Illinois (CBSI). In... Read More

The covid-19 numbers are thankfully going down in the Illinois Quad-Cities. Just a week ago, there was some talk about the Quad-Cities potentially being in danger of another lockdown due to rising numbers in its Region 2 spurred by skyrocketing numbers in the Peoria area. However, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said that numbers wouldn’t automatically trigger another lockdown and that they would be taken in a case-by-case basis and perspective. Today’s latest numbers from the Rock Island County Health Department show that Illinois-side Quad-Cities covid numbers are beginning to stabilize... Read More