Davenport has a glorious history of birthing newspapers - 150 in 171 years. Yet even the mud-caked, hand-cranked press of the old Daily Gazette, which fell off the gangplank into the river, could have printed a clearer picture than the Quad-City Times as to what Davenport citizens will lose if their council eliminates all four standing committees.

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society has announced the lineup for the 2007 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. The organization will celebrate its 23rd annual festival with a lineup of blues legends and up-and-coming stars. More than 17,000 people are expected for the festival, which runs from Friday, June 29, through Sunday, July 1, in Davenport's LeClaire Park. The event is one of the longest-running blues festivals in the country. The complete schedule is available at (http://www.mvbs.org) . Headliners include Robert Randolph & the Family Band; blues-harp artists Mark Hummel, James Harman, and Paul Oscher; and Little Charlie & the Nightcats.

 

Juliet Goodfriend The "real" world can teach you about marketing, or annual reports, or human resources. The real world can't teach you much about literature, or philosophy, or art.

Juliet Goodfriend thinks that higher education and corporations put too much value on those real-world skills, and not nearly enough emphasis on the liberal arts. In her words, there's too much focus on "professional training at the loss of real education."

Radical Turf presents Showcasing acts from around the United States (including a number of Quad Cities-area contributors), Hello Future? is the latest compilation from Radical Turf, the label of local musician and producer Jeff Konrad. Touted as a "grab bag" of electronic-oriented music, Hello Future? is just that: There are some treats that are keepers and some that will stay in the bottom of the bag.

"The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we as a people are inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings." - John F. Kennedy

 

The basis of any democracy is accountability. It likely follows that a democratic government is one that is accountable to the people - and that means being open to the public. Evidently, the Bush administration skipped class the day that basic lesson was taught.

The American Bass Anglers will hold a regional championship in the Quad Cities this year. The event takes place from September 27 to 29 at Sunset Marina in Rock Island. Debra Talley, national marketing director for the American Bass Anglers, was in the Quad Cities on February 14 to tour the area and discuss tournament logistics. Pre-tournament fishing will begin on September 23, with official weigh-ins and banquets on Saturday, September 29. Approximately 500 anglers will fish the Mississippi River over the spring and summer to practice for the regional event. The economic impact of this event is estimated at close to $1 million. 

 

Local blues band

1. Ellis Kell Band

2. Electric Leroy

3. Shane Johnson

 

Local country band

1. Dani Lynn Howe Band

2. Jim the Mule

3. A Fifth of Country

 

Local jazz band

1. Josh Duffee & His Orchestra

1. The Tritones Jazz Ensemble

3. Craig Bentley Jazz Trio

 

Local rock band

1. Crossroads

Rachael Mullins - The work of two artists now showing at the MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery in LeClaire could easily be called The Old World Made New and All Creatures Great & Small.

Robert Irving III Keyboardist Robert Irving III, Miles Davis' musical director for most of the 1980s, will be performing a concert and leading a workshop on Sunday, February 18, at Davenport's River Music Experience.

Both the workshop and evening performance - organized by Polyrhythms - will feature Irving with saxophonist James Perkins, drummer Ernie Adams, and bassist Marlene Rosenberg.

The Davenport city leadership is receiving strong objections from the community regarding the elimination of regular standing-committee meetings by folding them into the bi-weekly Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting. How responsive it will be to the collective opposition to this serious degradation of the public process remains to be seen, especially since it tends to conduct far more business behind closed doors these days.

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