History and Christmas buffs will be treated to a ho-ho-whole lot of entertaining factoids in a new virtual presentation on December 1, with the Davenport Public Library (in conjunction with the German American Heritage Center) hosting an online, holiday-themed treasure trove of world history in From Turkey to Germany and Beyond: The Legend & Celebrations of St. Nicholas Day.
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This feature lists all headlines with links to the articles by date/time published online by Quad Cities-area media outlets and the state-politics sections of the Des Moines Register and the State Journal-Register.
Visit QCAToday.com for a variation on this theme with curated-for-local-content, and categorized headlines from expanded sources.
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A special Zoom party hosted by the Davenport Public Library, the Figge Art Museum, and special guest “JAPANNA” Anna Ito, the November 211 Virtual Teen Anime Day will allow ages 11 to 19 to celebrate their love of the art through a live party featuring a trivia contest with prizes, greeting-card-making activities on Japanese calligraphy and creative-Zen meditation, group drawing activities, demonstrations, and much more.
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The first in a series of webinars devoted to exploring the benefits of nature in our collective health and well-being, the virtual presentation Nature as a Source of Healing will be co-presented by the Niabi Zoo and the University of Illinois Extension on November 19, the special hour-long program delivered by physician and noted author Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller.
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Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, noted area historian Sarah Uthoff will present the November 19 Zoom webinar Laura Ingalls Wilder, sharing insights and imaginings on the beloved pioneer and author best-known for her popular series of Little House on the Prairie children's books.
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On page nine of last week’s federal indictment of four people accused of conspiring to bribe House Speaker Michael Madigan with favors from ComEd is this heading: “Defendants and Relevant Individuals. ”But the first person listed is not one of the defendants. “Public Official A was the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” the list begins.
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With the announcement by Representative Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) earlier this month that he will not vote to reelect Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in January, the opposition numbered eight House Democrats, with at least a few more privately leaning their way. They’ll need 13 or 14 Democrats, depending on final general-election results, to deprive Madigan of the speaker’s gavel. So, they may need some help to get over the hump. And there’s one person outside the House who may have enough votes to tip the balance either way.
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The emotional investment of many Americans into the race between Trump and Biden would have shocked the drafters of the Constitution.
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Regarding the worldwide crisis brought about by governments' response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, for nine months the Reader has kept to our mission of providing news and information beyond what is delivered by both local and national corporate media. Alternative information and viewpoints are what we do, and COVID-19 is no exception. In fact, because of its importance to our bio-future and personal freedoms, understanding COVID-related issues deserves as deep a dive as we can muster.
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Illinois Democrats were hoping for some big election-night wins last week, but now everything has devolved into finger-pointing chaos. Governor JB Pritzker’s graduated-income tax proposal was in some doubt for a while. The governor’s campaign chose not to advertise early because of the delicacies of politics during a pandemic, so they passed up a chance at total dominance of the playing field during crucial months.
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Described by DC Theatre Theatre as “a magical experience” and by Goldstar magazine as “a fresh spin on Charles Dickens' beloved holiday tale,” playwright Paul Morella's one-man adaptation of the yuletime classic A Christmas Carol will be viewable from November 27 through December 13 in a virtual presentation hosted by Iowa City's Riverside Theatre, a production directed by the venue's co-founder Ron Clark and starring popular Iowa performer John William Watkins.
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With the production's proceeds benefiting The Actor's Fund's COVID-19 emergency-relief efforts, students of Scott Community College will, from December 4 through 6, offer a virtual presentation of the darkly hilarious monologue collection Rogues' Gallery by playwright John Patrick Shanley, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning author of Doubt, and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Moonstruck.
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Reviews by Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill (Pearson) Walsh, and Thom White.
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The recipient of four-star reviews from The Guardian, Metro, and Arts Desk magazine, playwright Adam Brace's one-woman drama Midnight Your Time will be available from November 13 through 22 in a virtual presentation hosted by Iowa City's Riverside Theatre, the entertaining and profound 30-minute monologue described by The Guardian as a work that “adapts so well for the screen that it could have been written for the medium.”
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Lauded by Variety magazine as “an actor gifted not only with exceptional range and depth, but with clear-eyed passion and intelligence,” nationally touring actor, singer, musician, and historic interpreter Darryl Van Leer serves as the latest guest in the University of Dubuque's Live(stream) with Heritage Center series, offering a preview of his stage performance The Norm of Greatness: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and sharing insights about the art and tributes he creates.
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COVID cases have risen once again in Illinois, and Phase 3 mitigations are in place. It's not exactly a safe time to be doing business, but Ragged, which has kept its best interests in mind as well as those of their patrons, has decided to go ahead with its Black Friday Record Store Day sale. "We had thought about canceling it," says staff member Jon Burns, "but our customers go wild for Record Store Day, so we figured we'd give the people what they want."
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Belarusian synthwave unit Molchat Doma has taken a series of interesting turns in their ascent to their current status as the reigning kings of their would-be niche strain of dour, '80s-inflected goth-pop.
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Continuing the musicians' season-long celebration of composer Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and piano soloist Marian Lee will deliver a moving performance of the third Masterworks program Beethoven Symphony No. 3, a tribute to Beethoven's boundary-breaking composition Eroica available for home viewing (and listening) on December 6.
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New Standards Men are a pair of "lapsed Iowans" based in Denver. Their album I Was a Starship finds ex-Dubuquers Drew Bissell (bass, electronics) and Jeremy Brashaw (guitar) joined by Michigander Ike Turner (drums) and two more un-lapsed Iowans: the venerable Bob Bucko Jr. of Dubuque on sax and synths; and Lee County's Luke Tweedy, who added synthesizer in addition to recording and engineering the album at his own Flat Black Studios in Iowa City. The three extended tracks are a wholly Midwestern creation but sound unearthly in origin, like a fading transmission from space, a slow and lonely echo that rises to a rumble and dies out.
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The Bettendorf-based project Pulsing makes some sort of case for the continued relevance of Game Boy tones transplanted into other musical contexts – in this case, a strain of electronic weirdness that falls somewhere between dungeon synth and sludge metal.
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This morning, a New York Times article stated that eBay has seen a 215-percent increase in the sales of chess sets and accessories since the October debut of Netflix's limited series. If it's indeed true that The Queen's Gambit is responsible for the uptick, I wouldn't be surprised if similar sales spikes are soon reported for mod mini-dresses, digital compilations of '60s pop hits, and boyfriends who look like Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter movies.
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A trio of acclaimed, art-themed films will be screened free to members of the Figge Art Museum on December 4, with the Davenport venue hosting John Deere Auditorium screenings of 2007's My Kid Could Paint That, 2006's The Rape of Europa, and 2013's The Show That Shook the World.
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Even in its one-joke way, the premise sounded promising: a high-school slasher flick in the guise of a body-switching comedy. (Or perhaps it's the other way around.) Unfortunately, though, the mild fun of writer/director Christopher Landon's Freaky pretty much ends with its set-up, and once that central conceit is established, what transpires is so oddly dull that it's like being disappointed by the same movie twice. I was hoping for Halloween meets Freaky Friday. What we get is closer to Prom Night meets Vice Versa.
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Is it possible that, in our pandemic era, the cineplex experience won't be saved by young audiences for presumed blockbusters that may or may not open, but rather by dedicated groups of older moviegoers who are happy with simple stories well and elegantly told?
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Now playing at area theaters.
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Delivered by curators Joshua Jackson and Vanessa Sage, a virtual, members-only tour of the new exhibition Haitian Masterworks will be presented on December 3, with participants given insight into the works selected and the history behind them – a collection focusing on prevalent themes in Haitian art including spirituality, transformation, the natural world, everyday life, and Haitian history.
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Gifted artisans who have original works for sale in the Figge Art Museum's Museum Store will be celebrated during the Davenport venue's virtual Explore the Store event on December 3, with participants having to chance to meet (online) Sally Gierke, who fashions woodland creatures of clay while creating in her portable tent known as a yurt.
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Delivered by curators Joshua Jackson and Vanessa Sage, a virtual, members-only tour of the new exhibition Haitian Masterworks will be presented on December 9, with participants given insight into the works selected and the history behind them – a collection focusing on prevalent themes in Haitian art including spirituality, transformation, the natural world, everyday life, and Haitian history.
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A series of arresting, colorful, large-scale paintings is currently filling the gallery at the Quad City Arts Center, with the Rock Island venue, through December 11, hosting Jaclyn Garlock: Extraordinary Women – depictions of life-sized women engaging in non-salaried work from cooking to laundry to volunteering … and enjoying themselves as they do it.
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Presented by the area nonprofit Living Proof Exhibit, an organization that celebrates the creative spirit of those impacted by cancer, the eagerly awaited annual exhibition A Visualization of Hope will bring messages of strength and resilience to Davenport's Figge Art Museum October 3 through December 13 (with the exhibit's virtual programming beginning September 24), with Living Proof Exhibit's collection boasting beautiful and evocative works by cancer survivors living within a 200-mile radius of the Quad Cities.
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