Cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the planet's “most prolific author of children’s horror novels,” Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine will discuss his illustrious and still-expanding body of work in Still Afraid of the Dark, a virtual February 24 presentation by Illinois Libraries Present being simultaneously hosted by the Rock Island, Silvis, and East Moline Public Libraries.
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A veteran standup comic who has worked and toured with famed artists including the cast of Impractical Jokers, comedy hypnotist Doug T performs as the latest guest in the "Laugh QC" Thursday Night Comedy Series held in the Mississippi Hall of the Davenport RiverCenter, his February 26 engagement delivering a raucously fun evening that, unlike other hypnotism shows, doesn’t come at the cost of your compromised dignity.
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On February 26, patrons of the Bettendorf Public Library are invited to brings their love of listening, curiosity, and the title of a musical piece they like to the program Music & Mocktails: Know Your Music with Tony Oliver, an interactive session featuring tasty beverages and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra percussionist speaking on rhythm, melody, harmony, and how the three shape your favorite music.
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With the presentation featuring rare filmed and recorded performances by one of the most iconic orchestras in history, Gates Thomas' program Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn will be delivered at the Black Hawk College Quad Cities Campus on February 27, the public invited on this unforgettable journey through an extraordinary body of American music.
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An engaging and fascinating exhibit developed by the Davenport venue's curatorial staff, the Putnam Museum & Science Center's Indigenous Roots of Mexican Americans will, through March 22, treat guests to artifacts and textiles from areas in Mexico that are housed together alongside some 250,000 objects from the Putnam’s collections.
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As expected, we did not see a whole lot of spending increases in Governor JB Pritzker’s state budget proposal last week. Last year, Pritzker said his budget limited discretionary spending to less than a one percent increase. The plan unveiled last week limits discretionary spending to less than a half a point increase.
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As I write this, Governor JB Pritzker is preparing to give his annual budget address. It’s an unenviable task. Earlier this month, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget released a report showing federal tax cuts caused a $587 million reduction in state revenues this fiscal year.
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Governor JB Pritzker announced a plan last week to “manage Illinois pension commitments through a set of proposals designed to build on the state’s recent fiscal progress and further reduce long-term risk for taxpayers and retirees.” The price tag, however, is already giving one legislative leader pause. And “fiscal progress” is not the reality when factoring in federal funds.
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On January 22, 2026, the Scott and Muscatine GOP county parties co-hosted a 2026 Gubernatorial Primary Candidate Forum live in Eldridge, Iowa. The event was the first of its kind in Iowa's history and the first time any substantive questions were presented to Republican want to be governor candidates in a primary race in more than 20 years.
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The ACLU's 63-page report released last month is a very valuable and exhaustive work product that every elected official who has an oath of office to uphold the state and federal constitution, and protect the governed who consented to have their rights protected, should read.
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What do you get when four young adults’ lives are entangled with one another, yet the full picture doesn’t come into focus until the final moments? You get word play, written by fellow Reader reviewer Alexander Richardson: a tightly woven one-act that asks its audience to lean in, listen closely, and trust the unraveling.
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A Tony Award winner hailed by Variety magazine as “elegant, acerbic, and entertainingly fueled on pure bile,” Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage opens the 2026 season at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, the comedy's February 27 through March 8 run treating audiences to a Broadway hit that, according to the New York Times, “delivers the cathartic release of watching other people's marriages go boom."
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The recipient of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama that, according to Intermission magazine, "cuts to the heart with a simply constructed story, understated humor, and dialogue unburdened by purple prose," playwright Eboni Booth's Primary Trust makes its Iowa City debut at Riverside Theatre February 27 through March 15, the work also hailed by The Daily Beast as "beautifully written" and "a 95-minute, intermissionless, buffed-to-gleaming jewel.”
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Director/choreographer Ashley Becher and musical director Ethan Hayward, alongside their wonderful crew and energetic, talented crème de la crème cast, elevate the solid script and score into the realm of delight.
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Updated: Wednesday, February 18
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Sharing his musical gifts in a pair of 45-minute performances plus a full-length concert evening at Davenport's TMBC Lincoln Resource Center, acclaimed pianist Barron Ryan returns to the area for Quad City Arts' 2025-26 Visiting Artists Series, this lauded musical sensation hailed by Kensington Concert Series director Gary Payne for the "emotive quality of his playing," and the musician recognized as one of Smithsonian magazine's 10 “Innovators to Watch."
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With Art Garfunkel himself giving the production five stars and quoted as saying “What a great show,” the touring sensation The Simon & Garfunkel Story comes to Davenport's Adler Theatre on February 25, The Stage adding that the multi-media musical is "authentic and exciting," and West End Wilma labeling it "as good as perfection."
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Performing in support of his most recent album Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute to Bill Withers, lauded blues and soul artist Kevin Burt performs a special February 25 concert sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, the event taking place at Rock Island's Hauberg Civic Center, and Burt's new album praised by Rock & Blues Muse as a work that “hits the highest marks on all counts – phrasing, soulful delivery, musical accompaniment, and genuine conviction.”
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Touring in support of their forthcoming album The Long Surrender, the group's tenth full-length recording set for release on March 27, the alternative, Americana, and Christian rockers of NEEDTOBREATHE headline a February 26 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, accolades for the popular, Grammy-nominated act including a Billboard Music Award nomination for Rivers in the Wasteland and no fewer than 15 wins at the GMA Dove Awards.
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Grammy nominees whose accolades include a Country Music Association Award and an Academy of Country Music Award citation for Vocal Group of the Year, the chart-topping touring artists of Sawyer Brown headline a February 27 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, the group's 45 years of performance boasting such career highlights as a Star Search championship win and three number-one singles on the Billboard Hot County Songs chart.
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Adapted from the iconic book the New York Times deemed an "extraordinary work" and a "document of horrifying reality [that] possesses literary quality," the 1973 television-movie version of Go Ask Alice enjoys a special February 23 screening at the Rock Island Public Library's downtown branch, the film detailing the life of a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of self-destructive escapism.
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Because the experience felt so unusual, I actually checked my archives to make sure, and it was true: This past Thursday-through-Saturday marked the first time since pre-COVID that I viewed six new big-screen releases over the course of three days.
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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, February 19: Previews of How to Make a Killing, Midwinter Break, Psycho Killer, and I Can Only Imagine 2, and discussion of "Wuthering Heights," "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," "Crime 101," "Cold Storage," "The Moment," and GOAT. Six reviews. You know what that means, right?! (Cue the guys' favorite Lightning Round sound effect.)
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I had so much fun at Luc Besson's garish vampire yarn that I can easily imagine watching it again, this time with more than the one friend who joined me, and with all of us preferably looped out of our minds. That way, we'd at least come close to approximating Besson's vibe.
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Now playing at area theaters.
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With the artist exploring art's role as a record of his own humanity and his fascination with how discarded material can tell the story of one’s life, John Hunting Hansen's exhibition Toil is on display through February 27 at St. Ambrose University's Catich Gallery.
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With the exhibition's trio of artists three hoping that viewers will take some time to look for joy in their work and enjoy a diversion from the tension happening around us, Mutschler, Quick, & Westphal will be on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through March 2, the showcase of Midwestern talent featuring photos by Pete Mutschler, folded paper by Rebecca Quick, and serigraphs by Keosha Westphal.
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In celebration of National Quilt Day on March 16, Davenport's Figge Art Museum will again showcase a number of colorful and hand-crafted functional artworks in the March 3 through 8 Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild Display, with a special reception for the exhibit's gifted artisans scheduled for March 5.
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With the works of both Iowa-based artists boasting vivid colors and expressive storytelling qualities, the dual exhibition Laber & Mullins will be on display in Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through March 20, this showcase of local talent boasting evocative, thrilling paintings by Phillip Laber and Rachael Mullins.
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Always an eagerly awaited series at the Figge Art Museum, the latest incarnation of Young Artists at the Figge will be on display from through May 24, with the Davenport venue celebrating the accomplishments of budding creative talents whose works will be showcased in a continuing series of individual exhibitions.
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