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

Moline’s Spotlight Theatre is putting the spotlight on a live online chat with Mara Davi today! At noon Friday, April 3rd, Artistic Director Sara Tubbs sits down (virtually) With Mara Davi and takes your questions live on the Spotlight Facebook page! Mara played the role of Maggie in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, in 2006. She joined The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway in 2007 succeeding Sutton Foster in the lead role of Janet van de Graaff. In 2008, she was featured in the premiere of the musical stage version of The Band Wagon at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. She was in New York’s... 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

Laura Fraembs wasn’t well-known to the general public outside of local media circles. She wasn’t on TV, or radio, and her picture rarely appeared in the newspapers for which she’d worked since 1981, The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, and then the Quad City Times. In fact, she hated attention and shied away from the spotlight. But Fraembs’ legacy of integrity and veracity, absolutely spartan work ethic, and dedication to the principles of journalism, made her a true star of local media and an irreplaceable part of the newspapers. I was very sad to hear about her passing... 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

On this day – National Theatre Day – I’m taking it back to September 11, 2001. I know, I know… but stay with me. I was involved with Tom and Shelley Walljasper’s studio and we were set to preview  a new musical version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on that fateful day and open the next day. I thought for sure we were going to close the show, or at the very least postpone the preview, but Tom made it very clear that what we are doing is an escape from what is happening outside. It was our job to do the show as planned, and let the 30, 40 people that were there get away from... 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

Spotlight Theater is putting the spotlight on actor/comedian Hal Lublin for an online chat 1:30 p.m. Friday. Producing Director Brent Tubbs sits down (on the internet) with Actor/ Comedian Hal Lublin for an hour-long conversation. One of the hosts of “Good Morning Night Vale”, “We Got This with Mark and Hal” and “Tights and Fights” on the Maximum Fun Network, Hal Lublin is an accomplished actor and improviser. Best known for his work as one of the core WorkJuice players in “The Thrilling Adventure Hour” and Steve Carlsberg on “Welcome to Night... Read More