Fran Riley, one of the most beloved members of the local media and a longtime favorite at KWQC-TV6, passed away Friday after a battle with prostate cancer. Riley had been retired from the local NBC affiliate since November, after a  25-year stint there, capping a 46-year career in broadcasting. Riley was especially admired and loved for his Fran Riley Features, which told stories about interesting area people and places in his singularly beguiling way. He was also a bright and sunny presence around the newsroom, always quick with a smile and hello and a kind word. The Boston-born-and-raised Riley... Read More

Rock Island, Moline, Davenport, Bettendorf and throughout the Quad-Cities, ice cream fans aren’t going to be able to get the malts, or get the shakes. Whitey’s Ice Cream, a sweet institution throughout the area, will be temporarily closing all their stores starting Friday. The announcement came today, via Facebook: “As of ‪Friday, April 3 at 10:00 p.m.‬ all Whitey’s stores will be closing temporarily. As much as we would love to stay open and continue serving the Quad Cities, we are closing out of an abundance of caution to ensure that our employees are staying healthy... Read More

QuadCities.com proudly presents the fifth installment of our newest feature, FUN10, a list of the top 10 things to do in the Quad Cities this week, and every week! Every Sunday, we’ll drop a new FUN10, to give you a head start on your week and a heads up on what’s going on over the coming seven days. Check out FUN10 every Sunday for the details on ten awesome events happening around town. It’s a cool read, and a great way to get started planning your entertainment for the week. Due to the cancellation of so many regularly scheduled events in the Quad Cities – with more coming in every... Read More

DAVENPORT — Like many of his fellow musicians who are airing videos on Facebook and working to raise money during the Covid-19 pandemic, Don Gustafson is using the social-media platform for good. The 49-year-old Davenport man makes his living as a full-time musician – as bassist in the Q-C band Funktastic Five, assistant music director at Davenport’s St. Paul Lutheran Church, and adjunct music teacher at Black Hawk College, offering private piano, guitar and bass lessons. In response to the coronavirus, which has closed bars and restaurants, and put musicians out of work, Gustofson... Read More

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” His voice, usually brash and loud, is quiet and cracked. “I mean, I’m depressed. Obviously, it sucks, because the money is a big thing. It’s not just me playing out. My wife is a waitress and bartender, and I’m a bartender a couple nights a week. That’s just extra. But we need it.” They have a couple of kids. They have five jobs between them. Or, well, they used to. Now they have one. His. His “day job,” he used to call it. Now it’s their only lifeline to an income that was way too small for them all to live on, but which now has to... Read More

Miss getting out on the dance floors at clubs? DJ Shane Brown, the man behind the boards at Billy Bob’s in the Rock Island District, as well as the former DJ for such hot spots as 2nd Avenue and the Stockade in the Village, has come up with a new mix for you to blast in the glorious realm of your own social distancing spot. Shane dropped the new mix this evening, which you can check out here, along with the following note, on his Facebook: “So here’s what I’ve been up to in the basement the past couple of days. This is, without doubt, the most ridiculous, silly, stupid mix... Read More

T.S. Eliot had it all wrong. In “The Waste Land,” the poet wrote “April is the cruelest month.” Well, five days before we can kick it into the dustbin of history, it’s safe to say that dishonor now belongs to March. At least March 2020, which has seen one bone-crushing loss after another for many around the world, me especially. Just one of the latest is from our beloved Quad-Cities theater community – of which I’ve been honored to share as longtime arts reporter for the Dispatch/Argus (and later Quad City Times), as well as piano accompanist and occasional stage performer. The singular... Read More

Facebook is intrinsically its own support group, albeit without donuts and coffee. Users routinely share (maybe too much) every aspect of their lives, and their friends respond in kind, with support, suggestions, challenge, or argument. Katie Young of Coal Valley — a married, homeschooling mom who’s already very busy juggling her nine kids — recently saw the need for another  group within Facebook, so she formed the QCA Love Thy Neighbor Coronavirus Support Group, to help others navigate these treacherous, uncharted waters in a surreal sea. Young, who’s homeschooled... Read More

Sunday, March 22, was an important day — and not only because it was the 90th birthday of legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, whose moving ballad “No One Is Alone” carries extra weight nowadays. In this crazy, continually changing time of Covid-19, this past Sunday was the first I can remember our church ever canceling its worship service. I have been piano accompanist at Davenport’s Zion Lutheran Church since 1999; performing each week and becoming close to many of its members have been highlights of my life. Among religious congregations nationwide that closed their doors,... Read More

Maybe he’s just bored and trying to entertain himself. Maybe he’s trying to bring a heapin’ helpin’ of the best medicine — laughter, my friends, laughter — to the masses during this trying time. Maybe a little of both. But regardless, local comedian Andrew King has started up a new show on YouTube to check out while you’re in self-quarantine. According to Andrew, from his Facebook: I put together this experimental thing. A curated Youtube playlist with schtick in between, because fuck algorithms! There’s no personality with that. Included are appearances... Read More