This feature collects articles published online by Quad Cities-area media outlets and by CapitolFax.com and the state-politics sections of the Des Moines Register and the State Journal-Register.

In a brief break from its fall residencies with lauded musicians, Quad City Arts' Visiting Artists Series welcomes best-selling author, award winning documentarian, and longtime history enthusiast Rick Beyer for an area stay November 5 through 9, with the widely acclaimed creator of PBS' The Ghost Army a frequent guest on CBS News, MSNBC, CNN, the Discovery Channel, Fox News, and NPR.

A day-long celebration of deaf culture filled with entertainers, activities, and an evening Redstone Room concert, the November 2 event Experience Deaf QC will showcase the talents of, and opportunities for, those challenged by disparate degrees of hearing loss, with showcase guest Aarron Loggins familiar from performing the National Anthem and “America the Beautiful” at this year's Super Bowl alongside Gladys Knight.

Debuting just in time for Halloween, the professional dancers of Ballet Quad Cities stage choreographer Deanna Carter's adaptation of Bram Stoker's horror classic Dracula on October 19 and 20 at Moline's High School's new Bartlett Performing Arts Center, with the notorious count of Dracula Unleashed! portrayed by international dance star Domingo Rubio and performances preceded by the debuting vignettes of Halloween IV: The Prom.