Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will again present a series of outdoor presentations in the first month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly "Explore the River Series" programs that, from May 26 through June 27, will address such topics as raptors, barges, Modern Woodmen Park, and the historically wicked night spot that was Davenport's Bucktown.
Local history, 19th-century innovations, and figurative and literal harmony will blend at the German American Heritage Center on June 28 in the Davenport venue's Hamburg-on-Mississippi: Davenport's Germans & the Musical Mecca of the West, with Davenport native Gates Thomas delivering this latest presentation in the popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series.
Designed to bring some serious swing into the summer, the John Deere Classic returns to Silvis' TPC at Deere Run from July 1 through 5, with this professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, in its 55th year, enjoying coverage on the Golf Channel and CBS Sports, and featuring youth activities, clinics, concert events with international superstars, and a climactic awards presentation.
With guests of the German American Heritage Center invited to explore the powerful stories, struggles, and triumphs that shaped the fight for equality in our community, the fascinating traveling exhibition Davenport Civil Rights Movement will be on display at the Davenport venue from July 1 through 21.
Annual explosions of fun followed by literal explosions in the air will be taking place in Davenport's LeClaire Park, Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park, and Davenport's baseball stadium Modern Woodmen Park when the Quad Cities hosts its Fourth of July celebration Red, White, & Boom!, the bi-state July 3 event delivering a spectacular fireworks display over the Mississippi River as well as live music, food and beverage vendors, special presentations, family programming, and more.
In response to a question last week from my associate Isabel Miller, Governor JB Pritzker said he didn’t think a group of progressive legislators could pass their progressive revenue bills through both chambers by the end of the spring session.
Governor JB Pritzker last week squarely placed the responsibility for passing a Bears stadium bill on the team itself, and had some unsolicited lobbying advice for the Bears as he attempted to brush off his own session attendance issues.
Six days before the last day of the spring state legislative session, Senator Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, gave me two big reasons why it was so difficult to push a Bears stadium bill across the finish line. Cunningham, as you know, is the chief sponsor of the Senate’s Bears bill.
The 21st century is silly with a vast wealth of data for doing reliable research. Using advanced computer technology to access troves of rich data relative to climate, as well as volumes of historic climate data, we should be able to accurately draw useful conclusions on climate change. So where's the beef?
Important determination about city hired outside counsel's obligations to private citizens.
If you visit "David Ezra Sidran vs. City of Davenport, Iowa," you'll find the full text of Ezra Sidran's late May 2026 law suit against the City of Davenport and its elected leaders.
A powerful stage play inspired by the soul of Marvin Gaye that explores love, music, and the moments that shape us, the world premiere of Funky Soul enjoys a June 26 through 28 run at St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center.
A student-performed version of the Broadway classic whose original production earned five Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, The Music Man Jr. enjoys a June 26 through 28 run at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, the Young Footliters Youth Theatre presentation treating audiences to such timeless show tunes as “Seventy-Six Trombones, “Ya Got Trouble,” and “Till There Was You.”
Fiddler on the Roof is often considered one of the final entries in the Golden Age of Broadway era, a period defined by sweeping scores, big ensembles, and stories rooted deeply in character and community. Director Georgette Kleier’s production checks nearly every one of those boxes handily.
Because The Shark Is Broken is an insider look at the making of Jaws, it seems both fitting and somewhat ironic that the play and movie share the same villain.
The one-act version of a Tony-nominated delight the New York Times described as "a high-energy ... hymn to the glories of girlishness,” the theatrical version of a beloved Reese Witherspoon comedy enjoys a June 24 through 27 run with the Timber Lake Playhouse's Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr., a hilarious, tune-filled treat sure to demonstrate why Broadway World called the original show “a bright testimony to the power of women and importance of self-love.”
Hailed by Pitchfork as an artist who "has remarkable control over her voice, folding simple sentences like origami to reveal surprising detail," Canadian singer/songwriter Julie Doiron headlines a June 26 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, The Guardian adding that in her most recent album I Thought of You, Doiron's "smoky vocals blend hope with pain on this laid-back album of lost love and new beginnings."
Performing locally in support of their sophomore album Green Room and singles including "Games (Tonight)," "Better Than This," and "Strays," the sibling punk rockers of Radkey headline a June 27 concert at Rock Island's RIBCO, the young musicians praised by Atwood magazine for their “thick, slick rock and roll sound built on power chords and hypnotic vocal melodies.”
With the artists, according to WLUW, "bringing young, bright energy to the Chicago music scene," the alternative rockers of Neptune's Core headline a June 27 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the band's latest album Called Upon praised by Unclear Magazine as "a collection for growth, pain, joy, and everything in between."
Fronted by guitarist, harmonica player, and vocalist Eli Clark, who performs alongside bassist Johnny Parrish and drummer Jason Kadiwhompus, the acclaimed blues artists of The Other Brothers perform at Davenport's Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill on June 28, their exhilarating concert set co-presented by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society.
Bridging the 57th anniversary of the Stonewall riots with the 250th anniversary of the United States, flutist Paul Mizzi, Paul Mizzi – principal flutist with the Galesburg Symphony and professor of flute at Black Hawk College – will present the flute recital and celebration of queer composers Proud Americans at Davenport's Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities on June 28.
Thirty-one years after the franchise's debut, Disney/Pixar's latest animated comedy adventure is unusual in at least one regard: It's the first Toy Story that might be more fun to think about, and argue about, than actually watch.
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, June 18: Discussion of Toy Story 3, The Death of Robin Hood, and Leviticus, and previews of Supergirl, Jackass: Best & Last, and Lucky Strike, the latter a World War II thriller with Scott Eastwood and Colin Hanks. Their dads Clint and Tom just might have offered some advice about shooting a WWII film.
Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day is many things:but most of all, it's an excellent self-test determining just how jaded you've become.
Even in a sword-and-sorcery saga with considerable sci-fi elements, just how seriously are we supposed to take a movie whose protagonist goes by the moniker “He-Man”? Perhaps anticipating this question, the team behind the new Masters of the Universe has a locked-and-loaded reply: “Not seriously at all.” And when I say “not at all,” I mean Not. At. All.
With the latest Quad City Arts Center exhibition taking on a very specific theme, and a seasonally appropriate one at that, a pair of Midwestern artists currently have beautiful works displayed in Bicycle Worlds, the Rock Island venue treating patrons, from June 26 through August 7, to bike photography by Ken Urban and bike illustrations by Jeff C. Williams.
Colorful, playful, and delightfully goofy works will be on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through June 29, with the shared exhibition Butcher, Hymes, & Murtha showcasing new illustrations on shaped wood by Aaron Butcher and examples of fiber art by MaryKay Hymes and Diane Murtha.
Purchased in honor of the Figge Art Museum's late museum trustee, board president, and museum supporter Tom Gildehaus, the visitor favorite Corn Zone returns to the Davenport venue July 5 through September 27, its “corn field” installation of oversize blown-glass ears carefully suspended from the museum's ceiling with rope, and designed to explore the fragility of glass, the story of corn, and contemporary issues in farming.
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 July 5 through January 3, this arresting collection of works inviting audiences to reflect on the individuals who helped shape our nation’s history.
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Davenport's Figge Art Museum is hosting American Art talks throughout the month of July, and on Thursday the 9th, guests are invited to the John Deere Auditorium to hear from Chicago artist Sarah Ann Weber, whose work Their Perfume Lost is featured in the A Golden Age for Whom? exhibition currently on view in the Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery.
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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