Five days of outdoor fun will be on hand when East Moline's Rock Island Country Fairgrounds hosts the annual Rock Island County Fair July 15 through 19, offering patrons mornings, afternoons, and evenings filled with carnival rides, games, food vendors, animal shows, racing tournaments, 4-H events, live music performances, and exciting happenings scheduled for the nights' grandstand entertainment.
Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will present a series of outdoor presentations in the second month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly programs that, from July 8 through August 2, will address such topics as the music of local jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, the Hauberg Estate, the Hennepin Canal, and even the Channel Cat series itself.
Inviting guests to explores sites worldwide, share the beliefs of young worshippers, and view images, artifacts, and stories from more than two dozen sites and across various faiths, Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center, from June 14 through September 1, will host the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis's traveling exhibit Sacred Places, allowing patrons to explore the significance and insights provided by the locales of its title.
Amassed over four decades by a pair of noted printmakers and educators, the fascinating works found in German Expressionist Prints from the David & Sarojini Johnson Collection will be on display in Davenport's German American Heritage Center from June 21 through December 14, this showcase of arresting pieces held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's companion exhibit Fever Dreams: German Expressionism.
An engaging and fascinating exhibit developed by the Davenport venue's curatorial staff, the Putnam Museum & Science Center's Indigenous Roots of Mexican Americans will, through March 22, 2026, treat guests to artifacts and textiles from areas in Mexico that are housed together alongside some 250,000 objects from the Putnam’s collections.
No amount of media manipulation of election coverage, past or present, can restore the trust that has been lost relative to the security, fairness, and authenticity of U.S. elections, especially in the last decade. The election bureaucracy, in full cooperation with mainstream media, have maintained a pathological denial and suppression of widespread irregularities, including compelling supporting evidence, dooming its credibility going forward.
The City of Rock Island is set to experience significant economic growth with the anticipated Milan Bottoms development that includes a new Nature's Treatment of Illinois (NTI) cannabis dispensary, truck stop, car wash and franchise restaurant. The 10-acre development is at the northwest corner of Interstate 280 and Highway 92, across from Bally's Casino. The new businesses to be constructed at these four previously industrial and commercially developed and occupied parcels has spurred considerable recognition and new found stewardship for the adjacent, surrounding, city-owned 500-plus acres, including an easement prohibiting development in the to be designated wetlands.
The Friends of Milan Bottoms (FMB) are a group of local individuals and organizations who are against locating a truck stop and cannabis dispensary on a specific 10-acre site adjacent to vital wetlands. We are not against Puffing and Pumping. However, locating those businesses there will cause extreme noise and lighting that will destroy the largest Bald Eagle winter night roosting area in the Lower 48 States and jeopardize the long-term health of our area’s only real touch of wilderness, as well as pose a potential drastic risk for oil/gas contamination over the decades.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating an oil spill that entered the West Nishnabotna River from a truck stop near Avoca. The spill follows a complaint of discharged petroleum at the same Eagles Landing Flying J Truckstop from this spring that the DNR was still investigating and working to help clean up when the June 24 spill was observed.
Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation love to cite the GAO. Since the dawn of DOGE, they have increasingly styled themselves as watchdogs against wasteful government spending. And in the process, they frequently turn to Government Accountability Office reports to criticize government spending. Why wouldn’t they? The GAO, along with inspectors general, are the ultimate pros at finding waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.
Kitty: I just want to start by saying that Harmoni Eiland is such a strong lead.
Mischa: Absolutely!
An Elizabethan classic that spans numerous genres and offers its actors a wide variety of complex and thrilling roles, William Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra enjoys a July 12 through 20 run in the great outdoors of Rock Island's Lincoln Park, this meaty and juicy entertainment having previously lured to the stage the legendary likes of Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins, and Judi Dench.
Nominated for seven 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the basis for 2020's popular Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, the Broadway hit The Prom enjoys a Quad City Music Guild staging at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium July 11 through 20, this hilarious and touching show inspiring the New York Times to rave, "With its kinetic dancing, broad mugging, and belty anthems, it makes you believe in musical comedy again."
Praised by Variety magazine for its “charming score that suits the quirky material” and Time Out NY for its “expertly constructed and emotionally satisfying tale of self-liberation in the face of limited options,” the Broadway sensation Waitress enjoys a July 11 through 27 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, serving up an evening of comedy, drama, romance, and Sara Bareilles compositions that made NBC New York rave, “It's easy as pie to fall for Waitress.”
Hailed by the New York Times for being an "old-fashioned British style of farce with an elaborate plot and dizzy characters," the golf-themed comedy Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway enjoys a July 10 through 20 run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, the praise continued by ChicagoCritic deeming it "perfect family fare" and the Chicago Sun-Times calling the play "a riot of a hilarious show."
With their 2024 debut LP Miss Missed Connection the winner of the South Arts Jazz Roads Award and, according to The Grateful Web, boasting "infectiously fun songs that invite crowd participation," the touring pop, soul, and New Orleans brass talents of Sweet Magnolia headline a July 13 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their songs hailed by Glide magazine as "unapologetically sassy, infectiously fun, and bold."
A lauded talent whose music incorporates elements of folk, bluegrass, and gypsy jazz, West Virginia sensation Sierra Ferrell headlines a July 14 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, her 2024 recording smash Trail of Hours the winner of the 2025 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, with Ferrell herself receiving Grammys for Best Americana Performance, Best American Roots Performance, and Best American Roots Song for “American Dreaming.”
With their most recent, critically acclaimed album Good Together nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, the pop, rock, folk, and alt-jazz musicians of Lake Street Dive headline a July 15 concert at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, their new recording hailed by AllMusic as "a record that feels convivial and breezy, showcasing their warm group harmonies and a nice balance of stylistic influences."
Having sold almost 10 million copies worldwide of their 11 studio albums including their 2003 double-platinum breakthrough The Beautiful Letdown and 2009's Grammy Award-winning Hello Hurricane, the alt-rock musicians of Switchfoot bring their national tour to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on July 15, the band revered for their exhilarating live performances resulting in more than 5 million concert tickets sold in more than 40 countries around the world.
Touring in support of his fall release Hundred Mile Wilderness that the SMCC Beacon said "manages to pack a folk-rock, foot-stomping punch," singer/songwriter and former Ghost of Paul Revere frontman Griffin William Sherry headlines a July 16 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, his 2024 recording also hailed by Medium as "one of the best albums to come out of the New England region so far this decade."
If the sure-to-be-boffo global box office for Jurassic World Rebirth can be trusted, we real-life humans apparently haven't gotten close to bored with dinosaurs. Not all of us anyway.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again.
Thursday, July 3: Discussion of F1: The Movie and M3GAN 2.0; a review scoop on the debuting Jurassic World Rebirth; and an analysis of the New York Times' 100 best movies of the millennium voted on by critics, show-biz folk, and the public. No segment next week, so the guys will reunite - and chat about Superman - on July 17. Happy 4th of July!
Why F1: The Movie debuted on June 27 rather than over Father's Day weekend is frankly baffling, given that I can't remember the last time a film was so objectively, overwhelmingly, a Dad Movie
With 28 Years Later, we appear to be exiting the realm of realism and entering the land of the mythic, and I'm not sure that, inspiration-wise, trading George A, Romero for J.R.R. Tolkien is any kind of upgrade.
Honoring 25 years of creativity, mentorship, and youth expression through Quad City Arts' Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship Program, the 2025 Metro Arts Showcase will be held at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on July 15, the night celebrating the organization that has empowered young creatives through approximately 113 community-based projects including murals, mosaics, films, and more.
With the exhibition made possible through generous funding from Art Bridges Foundation, and with KLJB FOX 18 serving as media sponsor, the fascinating collaborative exhibit CHAIN RE·AC·TION will be celebrated at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on July 17, with community partners, mural artists. and the public joining together in conjunction with the art experience's continuous cycle of inspiration, reflection, and response.
On July 24, art collectors David and Sarojini Johnson will join artist Joseph Lappie at Davenport's Figge Art Museum for an incisive and engaging discussion on Fever Dreams: German Expressionism, exhibition featuring German prints. the arresting current exhibition featuring loans from the David and Sarojini Johnson Print Collection.
Bringing together the compelling works of mother and daughter artists Sandra Louise Dyas and Jamie Elizabeth Hudrlik, the arresting exhibition Double Vision will be on display at Dubuque's Voices Studios through July 26, this showcase of talent a powerful visual dialogue that spans generations, mediums, and personal histories.
A celebration of work completed by graduating seniors in the Department of Digital Art and Design, the DART '25 Senior Thesis Show will be on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery through August 1, the exhibit boasting a variety of pieces in illustration, animation, digital painting, motion graphics, and digital artwork, and displaying the wide range of skills students cultivated during their time at UD.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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