The Quad City International Airport is getting a $2.8 million boost from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program. The program, funded under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020 (CRRSA), awarded $2 billion total to U.S. airports. This funding will continue to offset lost revenue and provide operational and payroll support. The Q-C airport previously received $8 million from the CARES Act. “As a facility that supports nearly 500 jobs, nearly 100 of which are employed directly by the Metropolitan Airport Authority,... Read More

Obituary for Jennifer (Jenny) McNeal of East Moline, IL QuadCities.com does not usually publish obituaries, but makes occasional exceptions in special cases where we have a close relationship and feel a strong desire to share a story of someone who touched our lives in a profound way. Today, I mourn the loss of my beloved sister, Jenny McNeal, who passed away this past Friday evening. I’ll begin by including the family’s officially released obituary to facilitate you quickly learning the general details about her and her upcoming service. Jennifer Joy McNeal, 74, of East Moline, IL,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: A Rock Island person is the first to be infected with the new, more deadly strain of the South African COVID-19 variant Thursday, Illinois Department of Public Health officials announced tonight. The variant B.1.351, was found in a Rock Island resident, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. It’s not yet known how the person contracted the disease. “We expected to see more cases of variants detected in Illinois, including the B.1.351 strain,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike in a release. “These variants seem to spread more rapidly, which can lead... Read More

Imagine someone you love. Someone who truly has impacted your life. Someone you can’t imagine life without. Now imagine life without them. Imagine how devastated you would be, how drowned in sadness you would feel. I see people expressing this feeling every day on social media. People who have lost loved ones to covid. Their posts are heartbreaking. They exude sorrow and helplessness, as they struggle against the fact that someone who meant so much to them, who was so much a part of their world, is now gone. Many of these people are older. Many are parents, who were the foundation to their... Read More

When you allow people with less intelligence and common sense to think for you and inform your decisions, the results are seldom good. And that’s why Iowans — and those traveling through Iowa in the Quad-Cities and throughout the state — need to ignore the abysmal advice of short-sighted Governor Kim Reynolds and trust scientists and their own common sense and good judgement in regard to covid. Over 5,000 people have died in Iowa since the pandemic began, 60 percent of those in the last three months, according to the Iowa Department of Health. Sixty percent. Over the last three... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: In the wake of Governor Kim Reynolds’ decision on Friday to eliminate any state requirements to wear masks and limit public gatherings to stop the deadly spread of covid-19, new numbers were released today showing Iowa as one of the least safe states in the U.S. in regard to covid-19. The website WalletHub, aggregating data from across all 50 states, showed Iowa as last in the country in vaccination rate, next-to-last in terms of death rate, and with an overall rank of the seventh worst state in the U.S. in regard to covid safety for visitors and residents. Given we live in... Read More

Because of predicted cold temperatures, the weekly Covid vaccine clinic run by Rock Island County Health Department for Tuesday, Feb. 9, will be inside the TaxSlayer Center, 1201 River Drive, Moline. Vaccine distribution priority groups are Phase 1A and Phase 1B in Illinois, and the health department typically has a Tuesday drive-through clinic at Greater Quad City Auto Auction, 4015 78th Ave., Milan. Those seeking their first dose may visit the RICHD Facebook page or website at 10 a.m. each Friday for a link to reserve an appointment. Those seeking their second dose may visit the same sites... Read More

As part of the national rollout to vaccinate Americans against Covid-19, many staff of the Davenport Community School District (DCSD) will receive the vaccine soon to help protect students and others with whom they interact. From Tuesday, Feb. 2, through this Thursday, and again Feb. 9 through Feb. 11, DCSD employees will receive the vaccine. The vaccination clinic will be held from 3-8 p.m. at the Achievement Service Center, 1702 N. Main Street, Davenport. This measure is necessary to accommodate the return of students to their classrooms in the coming weeks, with the state requirement for 100-percent... Read More

Did you know heart disease is the #1 killer of Americans? Join us Thursday, February 18th at 6:30 pm on Zoom for our February Heart Month program, “Learn the Numbers: Signs of Heart Attack and Effects of COVID on the Heart.” Presented by Dr. Rafat Padaria, Cardiologist with Cardiovascular Medicine, P.C. Registration is required to receive Zoom meeting details. Register here: https://bit.ly/dpl-learnthenumbers Keep up with our virtual programming on our Virtual Branch Calendar of Events at https://davenportlibrary.libcal.com/calendar/virtual. This event is FREE and open to the public.... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — Beginning the week of Feb. 1, Western Illinois University will begin COVID-19 surveillance testing and continue as the semester progresses. Additional open appointment times may be added periodically for those who would like to be tested,but have not been selected as part of the surveillance test population. Each week, approximately 700 students, faculty and staff will receive an email encouraging them to get a free COVID test provided by Beu Health Center. According to Executive Director of Auxiliary Services and Risk Management Joe Roselieb, the University is using the... Read More