River Action hosts its eighth-annual event promoting recreational water trails, canoeing, kayaking, and safe paddling, with participants invited to spend the day paddling from five launch sites along the Mississippi River.

Your article on education funding was one of the most thorough and accurate analyses of the funding problem and the competing bills that I’ve seen.

The only quibble I had with the piece was the reference to a “poison pill” in the budget requiring school funding to be “evidence-based.” Although that provision was included in the budget bill that ultimately passed the General Assembly (see page 433 of the PDF version of the enrolled SB6), that identical language was included in the Republicans’ “Capitol Compromise” budget proposal, SB2214, which the Democrats had no hand in drafting. I’d refer you to page 533 of that bill for the reference to “Evidence-Based Funding.”

Polyrhythms hosts a tribute to “The Jazz Professor” Bill Bell – the accomplished jazz musician, longtime educator, and former East Moline resident who passed away in March – with free weekend performances by local and national musicians and dancers, including the Sunday headliners of 2 Brown Sisters.

The music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton elevate this story of a fading diva to an almost operatic level, and Quad City Music Guild is currently presenting the Sunset Boulevard musical with Broadway-worthy sets, costumes, and performances. Bravo!

While I’m generally averse to movies whose only apparent goal is to make audiences feel like crap, I’d almost make an exception for Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, a relentless bummer so well-executed that I found myself riveted even when I was aching to flee.

Amidst growing outcry against civil asset forfeiture, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Justice Department’s new directive focused on increasing the practice.

Frequently, these What’s Happenin’ articles end with quizzes. But in a cheeky change of pace, we’re gonna start with one: Who, or what, are Supersuckers? (A) Characters on an animated Nick Jr. series; (B) Multi-colored, discontinued Willy Wonka candies; (C) Popular rock and cowpunk musicians; or (D) My bosses for letting me run quizzes in lieu of actual editorial content?

The answer, as the band’s many fans know, is “C.” Unless this is the last week you see quizzes in these pages, in which case it’s “D,” and my bosses have clearly had enough.

The battle plan to kill the Democrats’ education-funding-reform bill (Senate Bill 1) that was plotted before Governor Bruce Rauner’s infamous staff purge in early July – and which still appears to be mostly operative – actually anticipated low special-session turnout, because there likely wouldn’t be much of anything to vote on. Rauner’s folks figured that the Democrats would wait a while before lifting the parliamentary brick off the education-funding-reform bill – the better to foment a crisis atmosphere as the clock ticks down to schools reopening after summer break.

So legislators not showing up for session will likely only amplify the governor’s contention that the majority party isn’t interested in preventing a crisis and funding schools.