An Augustana College graduate, former Moline teacher/coach, and Superintendent of Rock Island-Milan Public Schools takes part in a conversation about his recent memoir in From Dubuque to Selma & Beyond, a March 19 book talk with Dave Markward that finds the author, at the Rock Island Public Library Watts-Midtown Branch, sharing his personal journey of understanding racism in America.
Delivering a three-night mega-event that will also be broadcast on pay-per-view, the mixed-martial-arts spectacle Caged Aggression XXXIX: The Triad will take place at the Davenport RiverCenter March 20 through 22, with 68 supremely talented MMA greats facing off in the nightly battles "Origins," "Rising Warriors," and "Ascendance."
With his amazing feats of prestidigitation witnessed on America’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Masters of Illusion, and Penn & Teller: Fool Us, noted illusionist Leon Etienne brings his touring spectacle Magic Rocks! to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on March 22, a jaw-dropping, family-friendly stage spectacular featuring the world’s best illusions, award-winning sleight of hand, and hilarious comedy.
A fascinating exploration of both a well-known German-American blacksmith and a revolutionary addition to the transportation industry, Immigrant Innovators: The Fruehauf Trailer Company will be on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center from March 23 through June 29, the exhibit offering insight into the company’s origins, its development over the decades, and its ultimate downfall after the Fruehauf family’s involvement.
Presented as part of the Davenport venue's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, the German American Center's March 23 program Singing Wheels: August Fruehauf & the History of the Fruehauf Trailer Company will find August's granddaughter Ruth Fruehauf celebrating the exhibit opening of Immigrant Innovators: The Fruehauf Trailer Company, August's invention of the truck trailer having played a key role in transforming transportation in the 20th century.
Saturday March 8, 2025 the 6th Annual Oberholzter Awards were hosted by the Nahant Marsh organization at The Bend event center in East Moline, Illinois. This year's award winners are listed below along with more information about why each was nominated and chosen for the award.
Advocates say a major storm is brewing that could overwhelm the state’s child foster-care system. The problem is legal liability insurance, or, more specifically, the lack thereof.
In 2023, Dr Allen Diercks and former Scott County Supervisor Diane Holst enlisted Attorney Mike Meloy's expertise in a lawsuit to force transparency on the part of of our elected public officials with respect to the people's representation. I can't encourage and urge people enough to read the case documents for a great lesson in how government service is supposed to work according to law, but how said service often goes awry.
The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court decision and ruled that the public should have access to county-supervisor applications maintained by Scott County. (Full ruling available at IowaCourts.gov/courtcases/21492/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion.) The case involves the Scott County Board of Supervisors, which experienced a midterm vacancy in December 2022 when one member resigned.
The latest report from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability shows that spending on four “core” state services in the governor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget will be 9.1 percent less in real dollars than it was way back in Fiscal Year 2000. Those four core services are education, health-care, human services, and public safety.
Winner of five Tony Awards and one of the most memorable, iconic, and popular musicals of the last several decades, legendary composer Stephen Sondheim's Assassins enjoys a March 21 through 23 staging at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, a production performed by students in the university's Department of Fine and Performing Arts. A twisty, tuneful tale of famed and obscure killers (and would-be killers), the show was lauded by the New York Times for its “astonishing score” in which “sly distortions of familiar musical tropes approximate the skewed ways in which these characters hear everyday melodies.”
For those those who "aaaarrrrrr" ready for some hilarious, musical fun on the high seas, the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse will be staging the eagerly awaited return of the family comedy How I Became a Pirate from March 25 through April 19, this sublimely silly show adapted from the beloved children's book written by Melinda Long with illustrations by David Shannon.
A Tony Award-winning drama and the seventh play in author August Wilson's legendary 10-part series The Pittsburgh Cycle, Two Trains Running will enjoy a national-tour stop at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on March 26, this lauded production by The Acting Company and director Lili-Anne Brown treating audiences to the 1990 stage classic that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Reviews by Rochelle Arnold, Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Madeline Dudziak, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Mischa Hooker, Kitty Israel, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Roger Pavey Jr., Alexander Richardson, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill Pearson Walsh, and Thom White.
Their most recent recording S'only Natural lauded by The Soundboard as a "classy, brandy-sipping funk album" and by It's All Dead as "a romantic blend of current dance beats and crooner swing," the indie-pop talents of Hellogoodbye headline a March 18 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, It's All Dead adding that the group's critically acclaimed release is "soft, restrained, and bursting with energy all at once."
Popular touring artists and two-time winners of the Scottish Live Act of the Year Award, the Celtic rockers of Red Hot Chilli Pipers play Davenport's Capitol Theatre on March 20, the group's hits including popular covers of Queen's "We Will Rock You," Coldplay's "Clocks," and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."
Touring in support of their fifth album The Macks Are a Knife that, according to East Portland Blog, finds its musicians "more playful and conversational ... but also tighter and more intentional than ever before," the independent rockers of The Macks headline a March 20 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, this Portland, Oregon-based outfit also lauded by London's ClashMusic.com as "a must-check for those who like their rock n’ roll dangerous."
Praised by AllMusic for their “intriguing and quite effective blend of hard melodic rock with progressive rock tendencies and awesome vocal arrangements,” the musicians of the iconic rock ensemble Head East bring their "Flat as a Pancake 50th Anniversary Tour" to Davenport's Adler Theatre on March 21, performing cuts from their 1975 album debut 14 years after being inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame.
Described by the Examiner as “a band unlike any other” and by Blurt magazine as “a hybrid of Idris Muhammad, George Clinton, Ohio Players, and Earth, Wind & Fire,” the tightly-wrapped funk, rock, and R&B musicians of Here Come the Mummies headline a March 21 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, their infectious grooves leading The Bob & Tom Show co-host Bob Kevoian to call one of their concerts “the most fun I've had in 20 years.”
Bong's latest may not be Parasite, but the writer/director's adaptation of Edward Ashton's 2022 novel Mickey7 is still an almost overwhelming amount of fun.
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, March 12: Discussion of Mickey 17, In the Lost Lands, and The Rule of Jenny Pen; previews of Novocaine, Black Bag, Opus, and The Day the Earth Blew Up; and reminscences on that Tom-and-Jerry cartoon that ended with the characters' suicide pact. Oh, Looney Tunes!
So. Who won Best Actress?
I'm kidding … although the answer to that question did come later than I would've preferred.
I may not have understood all the machinations involved in bringing our aquatic hero back safely, but I believed that Last Breath's helmer and cast knew what they were doing, and in the end, that was far more important.
Now playing at area theaters.
The event taking place in conjunction with the venue's current Myrlande Constant: DRAPO, an opening celebration for the exhibition will be held at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on March 20, with artist and scholar Dr. Petrouchka Moïse – assistant professor at Grinnell College and cultural and community-based digital curator at Grinnell College Libraries – presenting a history of Haitian Drapo and its connection to Constant's art practice.
A wide and beautiful variety of artistic media will be showcased in the latest group exhibition at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center gallery, with Davis-Salazar, Weiland, & Regional Woodturners, through March 21, boasting new paintings by Katrina Davis-Salazar, sculptural ceramics by Brant Weiland, and 20 works by nine of the region’s best woodturners.
A fascinating and absorbing collection of abstract art is currently on view in the Black Hawk College ArtSpace Gallery, as gifted Midwestern artist Kent Broadbent showcases recent works in New & Improved, the fascinating pieces on display through April 4.
Boasting large woodcut prints and charcoal and pastel drawings of a dying willow tree from her yard in Dubuque, the arresting, fascinating exhibition Louise Kames: I Don’t See Anything That’s Not Beautiful – on display through April 6 – will be showcased in the Gildehaus Gallery of Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the artist focused on creating works that explore the beauty of natural decay, the line between life and death, and what remains after.
Notable and engaging works by 10 artists from Iowa and Illinois will be housed in the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through April 29, with Moline's airport showcasing floral paintings by Kathleen Rietz, landscape paintings by Evan Ventris, and 19 works by eight of the region’s finest woodturners.
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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