To recognize and celebrate the achievements of women in the industry, Women in Construction Week was started as a national campaign held annually during the first full week in March. The goal: to promote the fearless females who have chosen the trades as a career path and emphasize the growing role of women in the construction industry. According to the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), women make up 9.1 percent of the U.S. construction workforce. This figure encompasses all positions held by women, including executive, administrative and other office positions. A much smaller... Read More

Camp Hertko Hollow has closed its offices through at least mid-April due to coronavirus concerns. Camp leadership sent out the following release today: Dear Friends of Camp Hertko Hollow, I’m writing to provide you with an update on Camp Hertko Hollow and how we are responding to COVID-19. In accordance with local, state, and federal recommendations, we will be closing our office beginning Thursday, March 19 through at least April 19th. During this time Deb Holwegner, Camp Director, and I will be working remotely. More importantly, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel our upcoming... Read More

Davenport’s German American Heritage Center is closing its doors through at least the end of March, due to coronavirus concerns. The museum sent the following release out today: Dear friends, The health and safety of our community and the German American Heritage Center volunteers, members, guests, and staff is our top priority. In the past weeks we have implemented sanitizing and cleaning procedures to keep our facilities a safe place to visit. But the time has come to temporarily close our doors to the public through Tuesday, March 31. This means we have postponed our Eiermarkt Spring... Read More

Illinois Youth Soccer has been working to stop the spread of coronavirus through youth soccer by cancelling events through, at least, April 15, with more cancellations potentially being announced. They’ve got the backing of one of the greatest soccer players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo. Today, Ronaldo issued a statement about the coronavirus through his instagram. The world-famous CR7, currently with Juventus, encourages fellow players and people to heed the advice of WHO and follow protocols and guidelines. The statement is as follows:  Read More

The Rust Belt has postponed their upcoming Smashing Pumpkins concert, due to concerns about coronavirus and the governor’s mandate. The following statement was released on their facebook page today: In light of recent events with Governor Pritzker announcing a mandated ban on events over 1000 and a requested ban on events over 250 in order to quarantine Covid-19, along with the CDC and the WHO’s recommendations, we will be rescheduling the Smashing Pumpkins show at Rust Belt that is currently scheduled for April 29. We are working diligently with the band’s team to come up with... Read More

A strong sense of altruism and a desire to help his community has driven Sean Counihan throughout his life, and it’s led to him receiving the 2019 Volunteer of the Year Award from Local Union 25 Plumbers and Pipefitters. Counihan will be honored for his community efforts in putting on multiple career fairs and outreach programs to help recruit students into the skilled trades during the Local 25 Awards Banquet in February. A third-year apprentice with Local Union 25, Counihan moved to Rock Island three years ago from Boston, where he was a transportation coordinator for special needs children.... Read More

Get ready for even more streaming and Blu Rays. The Moline movie theater is shutting down due to the coronavirus. According to an e-mail release sent out tonight, Regal Cinemas, which operates 543 locations in the United States, will be shutting down all of its movie theaters starting Tuesday due to the coronavirus pandemic. The release from the company states the following: “Starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020, all Regal theatres will remain closed until further notice as a precaution amid the current circumstances. It’s our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees... Read More

Effective March 17th, the Rock Island Parks and Recreation Department is temporarily closing the Rock Island Fitness and Activity Center to members and the public and suspending all scheduled programming including sports, special interest classes, fitness classes, and camps through March 29th. We are taking all necessary steps to protect the health and safety of our community by following the recommendation of health officials in order to prevent the community spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The office will remain open, and staff is working on rescheduling programs and activities if possible.... Read More

Finally! Here’s some good news! Quad City Arts is pleased to announce the 2020 Arts Dollars grant awards to 24 nonprofit organizations, totaling just over $85,000. Since 1979, Quad City Arts grants have provided funding for local artists and non-profit organizations to enrich the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts. Since 1990 alone, more than $1,000,000 has been awarded. Arts Dollars funds are generously provided by the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency. The Awards go to: Capacity-Building Grants: Quad Cities Woodturners Education... Read More

As part of the Rock Island Public Library’s commitment to work within health guidelines and help prevent or mitigate the spread of COVID-19,  all Rock Island Public Library locations will be closed to the public from 8:00 pm today, Monday, March 16 through Saturday, April 4.  At the present time, the library plans to reopen to the public on Monday, April 6. This announcement includes routes for our Mobile Library2Go, which will be suspended until the time being.  The book drop will also close for the duration. Please do not return your items to any library. As part of this process, all... Read More