Even though it's the second-oldest festival in The District of Rock Island - it's now in its 10th year - Gumbo Ya Ya is still serving up new things as it brings a belated Mardi Gras to the Quad Cities. The most notable addition this year will be a lot more food.
Blues Highway: New Orleans to Chicago by Richard Knight 304 pages Trailblazer Publications $19.95 This book is written primarily for jazz and blues enthusiasts who might be interested in what it would be like to spend three weeks touring what author Richard Knight calls "Blues Highway," the New Orleans-to-Chicago path (that includes the Quad Cities) where much of jazz and blues originated.
• Employees of the company that manages the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre for the City of Davenport are being investigated by the Davenport Police Department for "potential criminal activity related to the misappropriation of funds," according to a May 24 press release.
• Potential Scott County voters have until May 25 to register to vote for the June 4 primary election. To register, you can visit the Scott County Auditor's Office at the Scott County Courthouse weekdays from 7:30 a.
It's pretty amazing that a central-city natural area that was largely abandoned to the vagaries of the free market for more than seven decades has survived by accident. But that's the story of Schuetzen Park, located south and west of the Fejervary Park on Davenport's near west side.
Back in 1996, MidCoast Fine Arts exported its "art-in-the-empty-storefronts" model from the Rock Island District to downtown Davenport with the Art Under Glass program. Rotating juried exhibits of local and regional art have filled the empty storefronts of the Redstone and the Parker buildings on 2nd Street ever since.
• The Mississippi Valley Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) has been awarded funds to refinance homes purchased on contract, which commonly have high interest rates and balloon payments due in a short period of time.
Deep down, Bill Salier argues, nearly everybody's a conservative. You might claim to be a Democrat or a moderate, but really, on the issues that matter, you're a conservative, believing in "individual accountability, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency," to quote one of his brochures.
After three years, Hornucopia might finally be done answering the question: What kind of music is it again? "We spent the first couple of years explaining what it was," said Jennifer Fowler, executive director of The District of Rock Island.
• The Quad Cities area appears to be the starting point for a series of pipe bombings across the western United States. On Friday, pipe bombs were found in rural mailboxes in Anamosa, Dubuque, Eldridge, Farley, and Tipton, Iowa, and in Elizabeth, Morrison, and Mount Carroll, Illinois.

Pages