Thanks to all who submitted images for the 2024 Spring Photo Contest!

More sports team stadium drama could be on the horizon as the Chicago White Sox are said, as of this writing, to be preparing to announce a significant private investment in a new South Loop ballpark. The ball club has already demanded a share of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority’s bonding authority, which the Chicago Bears claimed for itself in its entirety last week for its own stadium plan (to the tune of $900 million).

I was born on August 13, 1961. This was the day that construction of the Berlin Wall began. It was a symbol of the Cold War. It cast a shadow upon the first 28 years of my life, as prime-time news images were burned into my memory of daring escapes, and of East German citizens tragically gunned down by East German soldiers.

As 196 member countries prepare for the World Health Organization's (WHO) unveiling of its finalized proposed amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), much controversy and resistance is percolating.

Having risen to international stardom in 1987, when their version of "La Bamba" peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, the California-based, Mexican-American rockers of Los Lobos headline a May 3 concert event at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, their accomplishments including four Grammy Awards and 2018 induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.

With their April release Sundust lauded by The Old Grey Cat as "a tuneful treatise on the existential concerns pandemic life brought to the fore" and "well worth one's time," the indie-folk musicians of The Ballroom Thieves headline a May 8 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, their latest recording also praised by B-Side Guys as "a profound blend of indie folk and pop, exploring introspection, emotional resilience, and human connection."

A celebration of one of the most popular and influential recording artists of all time coinciding with the artist's record-breaking "Eras" tour, Burning Red: A Tribute to Taylor Swift will return to East Moline venue The Rust Belt on May 3, this exhilarating event "by Swifties and for Swifties" taking fans on a journey through all of Swift's own eras from her pop hits to folk, country, dance, and back again.

On May 4, San Francisco-based guitarist and composer Bill Orcutt lands at Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox to present his latest project: an all-electric Guitar Quartet performing the music from Orcutt's 2022 Music for Four Guitars, and an ensemble that Pitchfork lauded as “a rigidly structured quartet that weaves tiny rhythmic phrases into expansive tapestries."

With the singer/songwriter's March release Plunge lauded by Paste magazine as "mellow and moody, rife with vibrant chords" and the artist's "trademark, dreamy vocals" indie-rock and psych-pop musician Sam Evian headlines a May 5 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, Uncut adding to the Plunge praise by calling it "a loose, luscious listen, with a timeless sound."