This year’s Academy Awards air on the evening of February 26, a night likely be dominated by a certain musical that’s set in Hollywood. Earlier in the day, though, you can enjoy a completely different batch of tunes from California talents with the Quad City Arts Visiting Artists of Quinteto Latino, who perform at Davenport’s First Presbyterian Church that Sunday at 4 p.m. Based in the San Francisco area, this five-person ensemble is dedicated to showcasing the energetic rhythms of Latin American music through works both traditional and modern, and will no doubt deliver an electrifying performance in the hours before the inevitable love thrown toward La La Land. Which, if memory serves, translates into English as The The Land. (That faraway sound you hear is my collegiate Spanish professor cursing my name.)

Brand-happy though Hollywood is, it’s still rare when three high-profile franchise extenders all debut on the same weekend. Personally speaking, it’s even rarer when all three are follow-ups to movies I liked. (One of which, to be accurate, I only kinda liked.)

In its blatant attempt to revive a scare-flick “franchise” that couldn’t even produce a second sequel, director F. Javier Gutiérrez’s Rings probably won’t make 2002’s The Ring and its 2005 follow-up relevant again, but the results are better than I expected – by which I mean the first 10 minutes are actually pretty good.

It’s admittedly difficult to get your head around Illinois’ recently passed Future Energy Jobs Bill – a massive, long-gestating piece of legislation that touches on many aspects of energy policy.

Yet the legislation is worth exploring. It will be a major change in Illinois energy policy when it takes effect on June 1. And it’s an instructive study of the give-and-take of the legislative process – a case that was absolutely green and utility-friendly, but one that might not be nearly as kind to consumers as has been promised.