We have been wearing masks for a few months, so let’s bring out our best masks for a Mask-erade Party! Big Swing Brewing Company (113 18th Street Rock Island) proudly presents 10 Days of Halloween, which kicks off this Tuesday Oct 20 and continues through Saturday Oct 31. Events will take place every day, like ‘Fright Nite Flicks with Hot Chocolate & Smores,’ ‘Halloweenie Pet Costume Parade,’ and even a ‘Spooky Dinner Party with Ghoulish Grub.’ The fun wraps up on Saturday Oct 31 with the ultimate Mask-erade Halloween Party. Enjoy great food, live music and even prizes for the... Read More

MOLINE, IL – A collaborative research paper about Quad Cities bicycle trails by one Western Illinois University graduate student and one alumna, along with their professor, has been projected to “make a major contribution to the field,” with its findings related to diversity among those who use the trails. Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA) graduate student Sadie Parker, of Redlands, CA, and RPTA alumna Haily Hinson, of Hohenwald, TN, are in the process of making edits to their paper, “Spatial Accessibility of Bicycle Routes in the Quad Cities: Impacts for Environmental... Read More

The Quad-Cities ranks number 79 among the top 150 best places to live in the nation, and the sixth most affordable, according to U.S. News & World Report. The report, released this week, represents a pretty good win in economic development. U.S. News analyzed 150 metro areas in the U.S. to find the best places to live, based on quality of life and the job market in each metro area, as well as the value of living there and people’s desire to live there. The report used 2019 figures, showing the Q-C with a 4.2% unemployment rate (it was twice that as of August 2020), metro population of... Read More

MACOMB, IL – Two members of Western Illinois University’s Housing staff have been honored at the national level for their work to make the University’s campus safer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assistant Director of Residence Life Jessica Butcher and Assistant Director of Residential Administration Bridget McCormick were honored by the Heroes Program of the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I). The program recognizes the leadership of campus professionals during times of significant challenge. Butcher and McCormick were nominated for the... Read More

Writer/Director/Producer Dan Partland will be guesting on the local podcast Weekly Wilson on Thursday, October 15th, talking about his documentary “Unfit.” “Unfit was the #1 rental on Amazon and brings together many of the nation’s leading psychiatrists to discuss Donald J. Trump’s mental health. Dan Partland has been a director/producer/writer of both documentary films & television for over 20 years. In the 15 years that the Emmys have recognized primetime nonfiction series, Partland’s shows have been nominated for best in class 5 times, and in 3 different sub-genres; Reality,... Read More

The Iowa Women’s Foundation (IWF) has announced 2021 Core Grant awards to United Way of the Quad Cities and Lead(h)er, for programs that help young girls and women. The grants are among $100,000 to 13 organizations across the state – raising the total granted to over $1.1 million since the program began in 1997. IWF works to improve the lives of Iowa’s women and girls. Grants are awarded to projects that focus primarily on serving the needs and aspirations of women and girls. Six specific areas have been identified as the most critical barriers for Iowa women and girls: employment, child... Read More

Second Saturday is Downtown Davenport’s NEW monthly party! Shop, stroll, find deals, grab a bite to eat and support local businesses! This month the event is having a FALL FEST! Crafted QC is leading the way, with lots of fun events and sales. As Crafted puts it in their e-mail about the event, “So, I admit it, I really like some of those Hallmark movies set in small towns. There’s always some sort of festival bringing everyone together. Hart of Dixie? Anyone? Everyone’s happy? So, gosh darn it, I found a vintage red truck, some hay bales, corn stalks, and made some fun... Read More

Storm hockey will not return to Moline’s TaxSlayer until at least fall of 2021. Due to restrictions on mass gatherings put in place by the State of Illinois as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Quad City Storm will be sitting out the 2020-2021 SPHL season.  The State is currently in Phase 4 of the “Restore Illinois” plan, which prohibits individuals from attending large gatherings without a proven vaccine or cure for COVID-19.  The current mandate would allow just fifty people to attend a Storm game. According to a press release just put out by the Storm: “We are incredibly... Read More

EAST MOLINE – Leaders of the hospitality industry across the Quad-Cities and Illinois are trying to put a positive spin on an economy devastated by coronavirus. Tuesday wrapped up a day and a half of meetings as Visit Quad Cities hosted the Illinois Council of Convention & Visitor Bureaus (ICCVB) for its fall conference at the Bend Event Center. “It was a great opportunity for Visit Quad Cities to host this event. We had 30 chief executive officers from around the state of Illinois,” Dave Herrell, president/CEO of Visit Quad Cities, said Tuesday, noting an additional 100 people who work... Read More

In a move that will devastate the lives of thousands of employees nationwide just before the holidays, the Moline Regal Cinemas, in addition to over 500 other theaters nationwide, will be closed down this week. The second-largest cinema chain in the United States, Regal Cinemas, which operates 543 locations in the United States, will be shutting down all of its movie theaters starting Thursday due a cascade of postponements for big-budget Hollywood films, most recently the James Bond title “No Time to Die” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The chain had shut down its operations nationwide... Read More