Waiting for the elevator inside the south entrance lobby to the first-floor Barrel House pub currently being renovated in downtown Davenport, one is greeted by semi-finished renovations and a large flat screen showcasing over a dozen tenants' brands with a presence in the three-story building.
For Steve Geifman and his family, who acquired the 272,000-square-foot structure on 6.25 acres at the corners of Third and Fourth Streets and River Drive in downtown Davenport for just over $3.5 million, transforming this massive space isn’t just a real estate deal; it’s the next chapter in his century-old family's legacy.
In a virtual presentation on November 12, the Silvis Public Library invites participants to engage in an important and thoughtful conversation with the acclaimed author, educator, poet, and cultural organizer whose work will be explored in Words, Power, & Community with Dr. Eve L. Ewing, an exploration of race, education, identity, and community hosted by Illinois Libraries Present.
With his new comedy special Say It Ain't So! now streaming on YouTube, touring standup Dale Jones brings his energetic comedy stylings to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Rhythm Room on November 14, the funnyman's credits including wins at the Comedy 10K, Laughlin, San Diego, and Antelope Valley Comedy Festivals.
With the program blending environmental history, Indigenous perspectives, and the spirit of firsthand travel, Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa will be presented at Davenport's German American Heritage Center on November 15, this latest event in the venue's popular "Kaffee und Kuchen" series revealing how Iowa’s landscape still echoes with the stories of its past.
Four House Democrats who were instrumental in drafting and circulating a letter last week that successfully called for a new Illinois House speaker issued another letter the next day aimed partly at the now-departing chamber leader and his internal organization: Back off.
A few weeks ago, Governor JB Pritzker told reporters that negotiators are closer than they’d ever been to a deal with the Bears to stay in Illinois. The Bears are threatening to decamp to a wasteland in Northwest Indiana’s dirty energy and industrial corridor.
There are five supervisor seats on the county board, and elected supervisors serve four-year terms. This year, there are three open seats, and two of the three incumbents are running again, as Ross Paustian did not run again. Only one of the two incumbents, Jean Dickson, responded to the questionnaire. Supervisors are paid $45-50,000 annually plus health and retirement benefits. Five of the seven candidates vying for the three seats participated this year. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
The incumbent Scott County Treasurer, Tony Knobbe has served since 2023, and last fiscal year was paid $102,313 plus benefits. Knobbe is not running for re-election and there are two candidates for a single seat that has a four-year term, Greg Guy and Samuel Samara. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
According to the Scott County, Iowa Recorder's Office's web page, "The Recorder's Office was created by the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa in 1839."
The incumbent Recorder, Rita Vargas has served since 2002, and last fiscal year was paid $102,313 plus benefits. Vargas is not running for re-election and there are two candidates for a single seat that has a four-year term, Tony Paone and Michael Wulf. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
Lauded by the George Street Playhouse as a work in which the author's "wit, warmth, and clever storytelling are on full display," playwright Joe DiPietro's comedy An Old-Fashioned Family Murder wraps up the 2026 season at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, its November 12 through 22 run treating audiences to what Broadway World called “an uproarious new farce" in which "DiPietro pours every possible Film Noir detective cliché into a mixing bowl. The result is delicious."
Winner of four 1968 Tony Awards, including Best Play, and hailed by the New York Daily News as "a stimulating, funny, imaginative comedy," Tony and Oscar winner Tom Stoppard's Hamlet "companion" Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead opens the 2026-27 mainstage season at Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center, the New York Times adding that this long-lauded work is "very funny, very brilliant, very chilling."
From November 12 through 15, magic, mystery, and adventure will take center stage at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, when William Shakespeare's The Tempest enjoys a student-acted production freshly adapted by Sunil Malapati, PhD, professor of chemistry at Clarke University.
With their beloved musical adaptation a perennial Madison Square Garden event from the show's 1994 debut through 2003, Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens' and Alan Menken's A Christmas Carol will put the "hum" in "Humbug!" from November 11 through December 29, this delightful holiday fable the first production in the 50th-anniversary season at Rock Island's venerated Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse.
Based on the Oscar-winning modern classic that stands as one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, Disney's Frozen enjoys a Quad City Music Guild presentation at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium November 13 through 22, this magical family enchantment a three-time Tony Award nominee hailed by The Guardian for its "theatrical razzmatazz" and "sense of a real, beating heart in the relationship between the two tortured sisters."
A Grammy-nominated rock outfit composed of Jay Buchanan, Scott Holiday, Dave Beste, and Michael Miley, Nashville's Rival Sons headline a November 12 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, hit songs from their eight-album-and-an-EP repertoire including "Nobody Wants to Die," "Too Bad," "Shooting Stars," and the chart-topping "Do Your Worst."
Continuing the 2026-27 season of area visits in the Quad City Arts Visiting Artists series, contemporary Americana songwriter and musician Jenn Jeffers, working under her nom de plume Dusky Waters, performs public concerts on November 12 and 13, the talent lauded for work that bridges the rich musical traditions of the South with a modern, genre-defying sound.
Hailed by Rock and Roll Globe as "one of the most renowned alternative rock bands of the past three decades," the talents of Everclear – led by vocalist, guitarist, and founder Art Alexakis – return to East Moline to headline a November 13 concert at The Rust Belt.
Bringing the Purple Rain era to life complete with dazzling costumes, ticklish props, and the concert's very own Morris Day (facsimile), The Prince Experience lands at Davenport's Capitol Theatre on November 13, tribute artist Gabriel Sanchez and his ensemble thrilling crowds nationwide with their renditions of "Purple Rain," "Let's Go Crazy," "Kiss," and other timeless classics.
Formed in 2015, based in central Iowa, and drawing influence from such legendary artists as Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels, and Hank Williams Jr., the country ensemble Tyler Richton & the High Bank Boys enjoy a November 13 headlining engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the group boasting more than 50 years of combined experience and shared stages with the likes of Tracy Byrd, John Michael Montgomeru, and Craig Morgan.
Whatever else there is to say about writer/director Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus Zero, you gotta give the film credit: It sure knows how to make an entrance.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too. Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again
Thursday, November 12: Discussion, again, of Godzilla Minus Zero (Mike finally saw it), plus Wild Horse Nine, Possible Love, Jimmy, and The Cat in the Hat. Also previews of Victorian Psycho, How to Rob a Bank, and Ebenezer, the latter a take on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Finally. We were worried Hollywood would never get around to that one.
Along with Manhattan's skyline and the Statue of Liberty, few images more indelibly, succinctly suggest New York than the face of John Turturro.
I may not have been wowed by Clayface, but it's hardly a disappointment, and also a decent amount of fun.
Now playing at area theaters.
Speaking about and signing copies of her new book The Couple with the Pitchfork: American Gothic from Easel to Icon, renowned American-art and cultural historian Wanda Corn makes a special appearance at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on November 19, the event also featuring Dr. Ranelle Knight-Lueth, director of the Grant Wood Catalogue Raisonné project.
An arresting and thought-provoking group show featuring 38 pieces of art made by 27 Midwestern artists whose work explores the many forms our “monsters” can take, The Monster Under My Bed will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through December 4, this exhibition designed to demonstrate ways in which creativity can help us give shape to experiences that are difficult to put into words.
Guests of the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery are invited, from November 6 through December 28, to celebrate the creativity and artistic talents of the UD community in the exhibition Campus Creatives: Creative Celebration Faculty & Staff, its collection of arresting works showcasing the talents of nearly two dozen gifted participants.
Timed to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States' Declaration of Independence, the Figge Art Museum exhibition Connie & Michael Roberts: Portrait of America will be on display in the Davenport venue's Lewis Gallery through January 3, this arresting collection of works inviting audiences to reflect on the individuals who helped shape our nation’s history.
From now rhrough January 3, masterworks on loan from Wichita, Kansas will be presented throughout the Figge’s Art Museum's Linda and J. Randolph Lewis Wing, with the exhibition Art Bridges: Ulrich Museum of Art presented through the Art Bridges Partner Loan Network – an art-sharing initiative that connects museums across the country.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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