Along with the usual characters like Thomas the Train Engine, Elmo and Blue, you might see some familiar faces on PBS Kids. Local PBS station WQPT has debuted a new commercial playing between shows (technically called an interstitial) featuring a number of Quad-Cities kids doing a variety of activities during the past few weeks of coronavirus quarantine. “The idea for the spot came watching my neighbors’ sons riding their bikes on our frontage road,” said Lora Adams of WQPT. “They’re the only kids around and I saw them making their own fun as they played on their own.” With the commercial,... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – When the recent pandemic handed Leathernecks a challenge, they worked together to make an opportunity for one graduate student who was left without an internship. Western Illinois University recreation, park and tourism administration Master of Science candidate David Brodwyn, of Jamaica, was supposed to spend his summer completing his degree by doing an internship at Clemson Youth Learning Institute in South Carolina, teaching fly fishing, paddling and climbing. When COVID-19 shut that opportunity down a few weeks into the training, Brodwyn was left without a way to complete... Read More

MACOMB, IL – – Western Illinois University Instructor of Management, and doctoral student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Charlotte Sarah Shike, and WIU Assistant Professor of Accounting Jennifer McGarry are performing research to determine how small businesses have responded to the global pandemic and how this could be the key to bouncing back from COVID-19. Shike and McGarry, along with Franz Kellermanns, management professor at UNC Charlotte; Laura Madden, associate professor at East Carolina University; Emma Lloyd Best, assistant professor at Wake Forest University of... Read More

The German American Heritage Center in Davenport will be closed this weekend, August 1-3, due to a family emergency. All programming slated for the weekend has been canceled and will be rescheduled.  Read More

The Family Museum, 2900 Learning Campus Drive, Bettendorf, will save about $300,000 by closing two weeks in August, furloughing its staff, and leaving nine open jobs unfilled, among other budget cuts. The city-owned museum – which reopened May 22 after closing nine weeks due to Covid-19 — will be closed Aug. 9-23, due to a decrease in attendance and revenue since reopening. The decision by director Kim Kidwell was made with guidance from the city of Bettendorf administration and city finance department, to help ensure the future of museum programs and activities. “Just looking at our... Read More

MACOMB, IL – The Western Illinois University Black Alumni Committee will host its 28th annual reunion week, in a virtual format (Zoom), beginning Friday, July 31. The virtual event, featuring comedians, DJs, a reunion day party and a prayer service, will be held Friday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 2. Proceeds from tickets, which are $10 each for the entire weekend of events, sponsorships, and donations, will provide support for Black students at WIU. Tickets and sponsorships maybe purchased and donations may be made via Eventbrite at bit.ly/WIUBlackAlumniVirtualReunion. “We are asking all former... Read More

Could there be some hockey this year after all? Maybe, but it’ll be late this year. The league of the Quad City Storm, the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) today announced that it is targeting mid-to-late December for the start of the 2020-2021 regular season. “With the continued spikes in COVID-19 throughout the country and the challenges other sports are facing in their attempts to resume play, delaying our start to December gives us the best chance of completing an entire season with all 10 teams,” stated Commissioner Doug Price. “In addition, various state restrictions... Read More

MACOMB, IL — The Western Illinois Bachelor of Social Work program is one of 12 programs nationwide selected to participate in the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Policy Practice in Field Education Initiative. This initiative enables schools of social work to create integrative models that heighten the policy skill set of undergraduate- and graduate-level social work students, regardless of specialization. “These grants make it possible for future social workers to learn the importance of policies, legislation and regulation that advance social justice goals. We thank The New... Read More

MERCER COUNTY, Illinois—As school districts across the region consider how education will be delivered this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two largest school districts serving Mercer County students in Illinois will continue their pursuit to ensure every single student has access to technology. The Looser-Flake Foundation, a private foundation administered through the Quad Cities Community Foundation, is awarding $212,000 in grants to promote equity in access to learning through technology. This is not the first time that the Looser-Flake Foundation has provided technology support to... Read More

MACOMB, IL – For more than two decades, Western Illinois University’s annual spring performance of “The Vagina Monologues” has existed to serve two purposes: to stop violence against women and girls and to raise fund for the Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency (WIRC-CAA) Victim Services. Recently, WIU presented the WIRC-CAA Victim Services with a check for $1,270.50 from the Spring 2020 performance. “The Vagina Monologues” is part of V-Day, a global activist movement, stemming from playwright Eve Ensler’s award winning play and other artistic... Read More