With RG magazine stating that his "music keeps you on your feet and not wanting to miss a single moment of magic," award-winning jazz pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum headlines a February 24 concert at Common Chord's Redstone Room in Davenport, the New York City-based artist a significant talent who, according to DownBeat magazine, "caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits."

Described by the New York Theatre Guide as “a terrifically entertaining time” and “a great big Broadway show that never loses its mind or its light touch,” the Elvis-meets-Shakespeare musical All Shook Up opens the Spotlight Theatre's 2023 season of musical extravaganzas, its February 17 through 26 run in Moline delivering hilarity, romance, and a batch of favorite pop and rock tunes including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “It's Now or Never,” and “Hound Dog.”

On February 19, a lauded singer/songwriter and gifted pianist/composer will combine their talents at Bettendorf's Rivermont College when Pippi Ardennia and Daniel Leahy perform as featured guests in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Series, their Pippi and Daniel Music jazz project delivering a post-Valentine's flavor accompanied by Edgar Crockett on trumpet and flugelhorn, John Miller on guitar, Manuel Lopez III on drums, and Zoe Rose and Carol Maloney on vocals.

Boasting works by more than a dozen gifted young artsist, the University of Dubuque hosts the locally produced International Photo Exhibit: Photos by UD Students, Staff, & Faculty through February 24, offering visitors an opportunity to travel abroad without leaving the comfort of the Bisignano Art Gallery.

To download a PDF of the puzzle, click here.

I'm often impressed upon my first glance at the set when I enter the Black Box Theatre: the opulent, creepy one of The Turn of the Screw; the enigmatic jumble of portraits and ripped flags for Assassins; the varying, multiple-locale settings for Little Women: The Musical. (This venue's crews find the most wonderful furniture and set dressing, too.) However, the set for playwright Lauren Gunderson's Natural Shocks, the Black Box's current production, blows them all away. I think I actually froze in astonishment.

My sincere apologies! In last month's article “Noble Lies Are No Excuse For Ignoble Acts," I carelessly, erroneously reported, “In nearly 100 percent of the cases to date, the punishment is far worse than the crime and severely disproportionate to rulings for far worse bad acts by BLM and Antifa rioters during their rampages just a year prior, where hundreds of police officers died with billions in damages.”

With the focus of its celebration a 1990 recipient of the United States National Medal of Technology – the highest national honor conferred for achievements related to technological progress – the February 23 program Birth of the Computer: The John Atanasoff Story will be held in Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall, offering attendees insight into the inventor of the electronic digital computer and his reported ties to the Quad Cities area.

[Publisher's note: This article was originally published at the Web site The Last American Vagabond on October 6, 2020, and is more relevant than ever today.] $6 billion in COVID-19 vaccine contracts awarded by Operation Warp Speed have been doled out by a secretive government contractor with deep ties to the CIA and DHS, escaping regulatory scrutiny and beyond the reach of FOIA requests.