UPDATED: After a lengthy question and answer session with American Water, I still think Rock Island selling its water and sewer would be a horrible idea, and I think the Rock Island mayor and city council needs to stop being disingenuous about stringing the idea along and put it aside. After I’d previously written on […]
EXCLUSIVE: There’s been a wellspring of controversy over the past few months as the Rock Island Mayor and City Council have contemplated selling the city’s water and sewer systems to a private company, American Water. On July 26, American Water gave a presentation to the city government officials pitching them the potential sale. After that, […]
EXCLUSIVE: Rock Island Mayoral candidate and community organizer Thurgood Brooks lost in a surprisingly close election to incumbent Mike Thoms earlier this year. Since then, Brooks has been working to put together a commission to increase communication between law enforcement and citizens, working on various community initiatives, and contemplating his political future after an impressive […]
On May 12, the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation awarded $10,000 to Rock Island High School entrepreneurs at the Final Pitch night in the RIHS Auditorium. 5 student teams presented their products or services to a panel of judges in hopes of winning 3 different awards: Best Pitch, Best Business Potential, and Best Business Model. The […]
BREAKING NEWS: In a surprisingly clean-fought yet vigorously challenged campaign, Mike Thoms has won re-election for Mayor of Rock Island over energetic and impressive challenger Thurgood Brooks. According to official results, Thoms won 52-48 percent with a little over 5,000 votes cast. This is Thoms’ second term. He won over a number of challengers in […]
I got two election fliers in the mail the other day. Being that we’re only a few days away from the April 6 election, and the mayoral race in Rock Island is, from most reports, closely contested between incumbent Mike Thoms and challenger Thurgood Brooks, this is not surprising. But what has been pleasantly surprising […]
When Jack Cullen first visited Rock Island in 2008, to look at Augustana College, he fell in love with downtown. After he graduated from Augie in 2013, downtown is one reason he decided to settle in the Quad-Cities. Come April 1, the enthusiastic 30-year-old (who grew up in Madison, Wis.) will return to Rocktown as […]
In partnership with the City of Rock Island, the Quad Cities Chamber has hired Jack Cullen for the new role of Downtown Rock Island Director to provide place management services for the historic riverfront business district. According to Kyle Carter, vice president of place management for the Chamber, focused placemaking efforts are vital to a […]
Rock Island Mayoral Candidate Thurgood Brooks has released an ambitious 100 Day Plan which he will be striving to achieve in his first 100 days in office should he be elected over current Mayor Mike Thoms in the April 6 elections. The plan is as follows: To hear Brooks talk about elements of his plan […]
Imagine it’s Super Bowl Sunday, pre-covid. You’re in your home, minding your own business, watching TV, having a couple beverages with a number of friends, having a good time. Across the street, you see lights on in your neighbors’ houses. You see cars out front. They have guests too, and all of you are enjoying […]
