Just 13 months after famed aviator Charles Lindbergh visited the Quad-Cities, Charles Lindberg was born Sept. 11, 1928 in Rock Island. He received his bachelor’s degree from Augustana College, where he was debate team captain, in 1950. Charles and his younger brother Peter (a 1961 Augie alum) would profoundly influence the private Rock Island school for years to come, including a new $18-million center for health and human performance that’s now going up — to help prepare students for growing career fields. While site work for the 52,000-square-foot Peter J. Lindberg, M.D., Center for... Read More

Rock Island Library is offering curbside service! The Rock Island Public Library will introduce contact-free curbside pick-up for library materials beginning Tuesday, May 26. There will be no public access to library buildings during this phase of the library’s gradual reopening plan. Curbside pick-up will be available during limited hours by appointment only at the Rock Island Public Library Downtown and Southwest locations. Materials must be requested in advance, either through the Library’s online PrairieCat catalog, or with staff help via phone, email, and Ask a Librarian chat. Library... Read More

EAST MOLINE, Illinois (May 2020) — Earlier this month, the Rock Island County Fair Board voted to cancel the 2020 Rock Island County Fair, originally scheduled for July 14-18. “This decision was made for the health and safety of our fairgoers, exhibitors, participants, volunteers, staff and animals. It was not made lightly,” said Gin Wray, fair manager. “We are devastated to cancel a family-fun event that has taken place in our community for 150 years but look forward to using this as an opportunity to strengthen our offerings for the 2021 RICO Fair.” Last year marked the official 150th... Read More

Tonight the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation Facebook page will announce the RIHS Top Ten, Austin Academic Achievement Award Department winners, and the RIMEF Scholarship recipients! The 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗙 𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔 & 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 video will be posted to this page at 6:30pm this evening. It’s a celebration of academic excellence at Rock Island High School! For more information, check out the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation Facebook page.  Read More

It’s not in a dancer’s nature to sit still. So it makes sense that even though Ballet Quad Cities (BQC) had to cancel the rest of its season because of the Covid-19 crisis, the professional company keeps moving forward. Students in the BQC School of Dance are continuing their lessons online, through Zoom, and students have submitted their own videos for a new collage. Artistic director Courtney Lyon (who recently received an Iowa Arts Council emergency relief grant) has choreographed, taught, and edited a new piece with three dancers on Zoom. And executive director Joedy Cook and artistic associate... Read More

Rock Island Public Library Buildings are still closed for the Governor’s Executive Order but the Library Services Go On in a Virtual Way. Late last week, the Illinois Governor revised and extended his Executive Stay-At-Home executive order to May 30. For details, see this page from the Illinois Department of Public Health As a result, all Rock Island Public Library buildings remain closed until further notice. The library is working on a phased plan for re-introducing library services to our community, which includes a gradual reopening. This gradual reopening will most likely include... Read More

Boetje’s really knows how to cut the mustard. The world-reknowned Rock Island mustard company once more won the gold medal in the 2020 World Wide Mustard Competition. Boetje’s announced the honor on their blog: “We are very excited to announce that Boetje’s Mustard has once again received a gold medal in the annual World Wide Mustard Competition! This year we entered and won gold in the Deli/Brown category. “The description for this category, according to the official entry form, is: ” This mustard is usually tightly-grained or coarse and is the crowning touch to a corned... Read More

The curtain isn’t closing at Rock Island’s Circa ’21 Dinner  Theater, it’s only temporarily shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, according to Brett Hitchcock, director of audience development, the show WILL go on! “Circa ‘21 will absolutely be reopening!” Hitchcock said in an e-mail. “We have no plans to close for the remainder of the 2020 season.  At this point we have no idea when we will reopen because, like every business in Illinois, we are waiting for the Governor to give us the ok to open. Sometime in the middle of June would be the earliest... Read More

Whatever artwork you have felt compelled to create during this time of uncertainty, Quad City Arts wants to share it with the public at a time when they hope to be able to gather socially again to celebrate the power of creativity.    All artists residing within a 250-mile radius of the Quad Cities are invited to submit up to two artworks of any medium created during the Quarantine period which began in March 2020, for a juried, group exhibition in Quad City Arts’ Rock Island Gallery from January 29-March 19, 2021. There is NO entry fee.  Timeline:  Friday, January 1, 2021: Entries... Read More

Rock Island Milan School District 41 has been doing an awesome job in helping to feed kids in need during the covid break — feeding both their minds and bodies. The district announced today that since March 23 they have served more than 13,000 meal kits to our students. That equates to more than 39,000 individual meals (based on the three-day meal packages in the kits). The next meal distribution dates will be Monday, April 27 and Thursday, April 30. While schools are closed, RIMSD #41 is offering a DRIVE THROUGH pick up meal service for ALL STUDENTS (PreK – Grade 12) who live in the... Read More