BETTENDORF, IOWA (March 3, 2023) — The Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) held the 61st Annual STEM Celebration on February 23, 2023.

The event celebrates and showcases the region's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) professionals, educators, and next generation of STEM professionals.

ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (March 3, 2023) — A $10,000 grant will allow Augustana College to increase access to gender-affirming voice therapy for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

Mary Lind, a 1972 communication sciences and disorders graduate, provided the grant that will expand access to low-cost individual and group gender-affirming communication therapy provided by Augustana’s Barbara A Roseman Center for Speech, Language, and Hearing.

MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (March 3, 2023) — A Grammy Award-winning singer found a new fan in Monmouth when Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice — the CNN documentary about the 1970s pop icon — aired a few years back.

Now, that avid fan — Monmouth College junior Ryan Bowman — is hoping to generate interest among his peers in the talented songstress, who recorded in diverse genres until her retirement in 2011 because of Parkinson's disease.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS (March 3, 2023) — State Representative La Shawn K Ford, Chairman of the Illinois House Appropriations Higher Education Committee, announced his proposal to provide Illinois public university students with free access to classes that prepare them for graduate-school tests and professional-licensing exams.

Rep Ford (D-Chicago), a former Chicago Public Schools teacher, said he will pursue funding in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget for the effort.