The story of Mary Cutrufello is not exactly a rarity in the music business. It's the tale of an artist who draws a lot of attention from major labels, comes this close to achieving her dream of superstardom, and then watches in disbelief as the bottom falls out.
The city governments of Bettendorf and Davenport are both considering property-tax-incentive packages for business development, and they couldn't be more different. Bettendorf is considering giving developers the property taxes stemming from higher real-estate values for a commercial development to replace declining Duck Creek Mall, while Davenport is looking to give a $2.
The names have a fitting plainness: River/Gulf Grain and Builders Sand & Cement Company. These two industrial businesses occupy roughly 240,000 square feet on the Davenport riverfront east of the Government Bridge and, as their names suggest, don't provide much in the way of green grass, trees, or a river view.
Local hard-rock quartet Circle 7 has been testing itself over the past year. The band has been playing to small-town crowds unfamiliar with its sound and its work, played an acoustic set for the first time (at the Blackthorn Pub on New Year's Eve), and has spent time in the well-regarded Catamount studio in Cedar Falls, Iowa, recording a new record.
On Friday, December 20, agencies in Iowa that deal with the issue of affordable housing got word of a potentially devastating development: An application for federal funding covering the entire state except Des Moines somehow didn't arrive intact in Washington, D.
Under the guise of open public discussion, the City of Davenport is conducting a serious spin campaign. Last week's town-hall budget meeting was advertised as "an opportunity for the public to hear from city officials and staff about the operating and capital budgets of the city and an opportunity for public input on priorities for city services, infrastructure, and programs.
The big attraction at Saturday's show at RIBCO will be the Grammy-winning acid-jazz outfit Liquid Soul, but the opening act is a fresh breeze that should appeal to fans of both jazz and hip hop. The J.
Leslie Kee, the director of the Moline Public Library, traces talk about a new library facility in the city back to 1959. The topic came up again in 1963, and discussions have popped up regularly since then. In the early '90s, the city looked at 44 possible sites for a new library.
A handful of local bands have new releases, and they carry the distinct flavor of the past. One might say that time has stood still here in this part of the Midwest, but the current sad state of popular music – from the pop princesses and boy bands to nü-metal – makes each of these releases sound fresher than they might have in a different time.
Artist Luis Jiménez wants discussion. What he often gets is controversy. "I've always been surprised by it," Jiménez said in an interview with the River Cities' Reader. "I intend to create some dialogue.

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