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More stories from: Mary Louise Speer
Bettendorf considers deer hunting advisory board
ARTICLE: Bettendorf city officials are exploring ways to address residents' concerns about deer in the city and improve the city's deer bow-hunting program.
Nov 16, 2009 | 11:55 pm | Loading…
PV students 'teach' robots to play ball
ARTICLE: Sixth-grader Diana Wu adjusted the angle of the NXT robot before launching it to hit a red ball onto a cardboard ski-ball course Sunday during a robotics skills demonstration.
Nov 16, 2009 | 2:30 am | Loading…
Homebrewers seek top 'MUGZ' honors
ARTICLE: Homebrewer Kurt Smelser of Bartonville, Ill., appreciates the looks he gets when people like his homebrewed beers.
Nov 15, 2009 | 2:30 am | Loading…
New kiosk simplifies searches at veterans memorial
ARTICLE: Veteran Greg Adamson of Bettendorf showed a young woman how to quickly locate the name of her father Wednesday at the Bettendorf Veterans Memorial.
Nov 11, 2009 | 9:00 pm | Loading…
Author attends prayer breakfast, tells of faith, hatred
ARTICLE: One son grew up wanted and cherished and tragically lost his life too early.
Sep 27, 2009 | 2:15 am | Loading…
Special night at Adler will honor Israel
ARTICLE: Voices will praise God together, shofar horns will sound and colorful banners will stream through the Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport during the 2009 A Night to Honor Israel fundraising celebration.
Sep 25, 2009 | 11:10 pm | Loading…
Q-C students gather for national prayer event
ARTICLE: Teenagers joined hands and bowed heads around Bettendorf High School's flagpole early Wednesday morning during the annual See You at the Pole day of prayer for students.
Sep 24, 2009 | 2:30 am | Loading…
Music, dance, food highlight Greek festival in Rock Island
ARTICLE: The high spirits of Opa! filled St. George Greek Orthodox Church Saturday during the Our Big Fat Greek Festival in Rock Island.
Sep 19, 2009 | 8:55 pm | Loading…
'Senior Shape Up' offers health advice, exercise opportunities
ARTICLE: Senior age residents visited Davenport's LeClaire Park Tuesday for the first Senior Shape Up for the Health of It event. It focused on Iowa Lt. Gov Patty Judge's "Your Heart is in Your Hands" challenge.
Sep 15, 2009 | 10:45 pm | Loading…
East Moline hosts Mexico Independence Day Parade
ARTICLE: Floats and walking units, garbed in green, white and red, filled East Moline's 15th Avenue Sunday as the first Mexico's Independence Day Parade got under way.
Sep 13, 2009 | 5:30 pm | Loading…
Rick’s House of Hope celebrates 10th anniversary
ARTICLE: Mary Jane Baker of Bettendorf brought her grandson, 9, to Rick's House of Hope a year ago so that he could cope with the death of his mother.
Sep 12, 2009 | 9:15 pm | Loading…
Crane & Pelican Cafe: Restaurant opens in historic LeClaire building
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - Riverboat Capt. Daniel Dawley and his wife, Sabina, might appreciate seeing their Victorian-era chandelier casting a warm glow in the Crane Room at the Crane & Pelican Café.
Sep 10, 2009 | 2:15 am | Loading…
NAACP members learn to work out conflict
ARTICLE: Pairs of children and adults laughed and twisted as they attempted to get free from ropes loosely binding them together during Monday's NAACP of Rock Island County's annual Labor Day Community Picnic at Sunset Park, Rock Island.
Sep 08, 2009 | 2:00 am | Loading…
Mississippi Valley Welcome Center bids adieu to longtime employee
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - Life at the Mississippi Valley Welcome Center is returning to busy mode after a summer affected by the closing of eastbound lanes on the Interstate 80 bridge.
Sep 06, 2009 | 7:35 pm | Loading…
Dancers evoke traditions at Powwow
ARTICLE: Kiowa Cheyenne Sierra, 10, danced around the arena at Black Hawk State Historic Site, rows of metal jingles attached to her orange dress resonating with each step. Rhythmic sounds of drums and chants spilled through the woods as Saturday's celebration of American native heritage continued.
Sep 06, 2009 | 3:25 pm | Loading…
Youngsters learn racing skills and to ‘Go fast’
ARTICLE: Age-wise, Alec Smith is only halfway to getting his driver's license. But he has a head start on his fellow 8-year-olds because he's already racing motorized go-karts on Friday nights at the Sprint Kart Speedway in Davenport.
Sep 01, 2009 | 2:00 am | Loading…
Princeton Days celebrated on land and water
ARTICLE: PRINCETON, Iowa - Carlie Mullins, 13, casually tossed a watermelon onto the dock as she and her aunt, Bambi Rankin, both of Princeton, completed the Kernan's Krazy Kanoe Race during Saturday's Princeton Days celebration.
Aug 29, 2009 | 10:00 pm | Loading…
Minister’s art reflects concerns about preserving architecture
ARTICLE: PRINCETON, Iowa - John Cunard recalls learning how to draw as a small boy while sitting on a pew during Sunday services. While his dad preached the young boy yearned to fill the empty expanse of paper with his own images and words wanting "to create or make a mark of my own," he said. "I'…
Aug 29, 2009 | 6:05 pm | Loading…
Niabi invites Quad-Citians to name pair of white buffalo calves
ARTICLE: The two white buffalo calves that arrived at Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Ill., about three months ago have special meaning to the Quad-Cities' American Indian community.
Aug 28, 2009 | 11:55 pm | Loading…
Children receive certificates of citizenship
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - Two-year-old Landry Ruehle clutched the certificate tightly and knew it was special, even though he couldn't read it.
Aug 27, 2009 | 9:55 pm | Loading…
‘Duck Days of Summer’ begin Friday in Princeton
ARTICLE: PRINCETON, Iowa - The river community of Princeton is trotting out a cornucopia of ducky activities for Princeton Days Celebration.
Aug 26, 2009 | 1:00 am | Loading…
Indian Summer Day: Drums, crafts highlight traditions
ARTICLE: Drummers gathered Sunday under a maple tree at Davenport's Fejervary Park, as they prepared to participate in an American Indian drum circle.
Aug 23, 2009 | 10:00 pm | Loading…
Davenport hosts Highland Games
ARTICLE: King Auberon knelt on the grass and bowed his head in a most unregal manner as he squirmed out of a heavy shirt of chain mail.
Aug 22, 2009 | 7:45 pm | Loading…
LeClaire ponders improving sirens
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - LeClaire city officials are looking at adding two sirens to make sure all residents who are outdoors can hear emergency warning sirens when severe weather threatens the city.
Aug 19, 2009 | 9:00 pm | Loading…
LeClaire might sell municipal sewer system
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - Exploring the possibility of whether to sell LeClaire's municipal sanitary sewer system is prompting city officials to take a hard look at why the city would sell the system and what conditions they might attach to a sale.
Aug 16, 2009 | 10:30 pm | Loading…
Habitat for Humanity thanks volunteers
ARTICLE: Sunday's little bit of rain couldn't dampen the spirits of people hanging out at the Habitat for Humanity Quad-Cities and Habitat ReStore picnic.
Aug 16, 2009 | 10:25 pm | Loading…
Illinois wins Tug Fest
ARTICLE: PORT BYRON, Ill. - In the latest chapter of the 23rd annual Tug Fest across the Mississippi River, Port Byron, Ill., is blazing proud after claiming a fourth-straight victory in Saturday's battle of the rope against rival river town LeClaire, Iowa.
Aug 15, 2009 | 4:45 pm | Loading…
Barge party celebrates river cleanups
ARTICLE: Twelve years of river cleanups, reforestation and educational seminars around the country hasn't diluted Chad Pregracke's enthusiasm for making a difference one river at a time.
Aug 13, 2009 | 10:05 pm | Loading…
LeClaire, Port Byron gear up for Tug Fest
ARTICLE: The 2,700-foot-long rope is coming out of storage this weekend for the 23rd annual Tug Fest between the river towns of LeClaire, Iowa, and Port Byron, Ill.
Aug 11, 2009 | 10:40 pm | Loading…
Black Hawk program expands trainees' education
ARTICLE: Construction apprentices will be able to earn a two-year college degree or certification while completing their on-the-job training, thanks to a partnership of the Illinois Laborers' and Contractors Joint Apprenticeship & Training Program and Black Hawk College.
Aug 10, 2009 | 7:45 pm | Loading…
260,000 visit this year's Mississippi Valley Fair
ARTICLE: The fairgrounds in west Davenport is quiet today as workers clear away the dusty - and sometimes muddy - footprints of an estimated 260,000 visitors to 2009 Mississippi Valley Fair.
Aug 09, 2009 | 9:55 pm | Loading…
Corps of Engineers offers bicycle tours of Arsenal Island
ARTICLE: For a unique view of the Mississippi River, and a history lesson to boot, all you need is a bicycle, a helmet and a reservation with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tour guide.
Aug 09, 2009 | 2:00 am | Loading…
Rock the River notebook
ARTICLE: Event targets youth: Jeff Anderson, director of North American crusades for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said Rock the River targeted the 15-year-old "unchurched" youths.
Aug 08, 2009 | 9:30 pm | Loading…
Scott Community College celebrates new entrance
ARTICLE: Scott Community College's new entrance off U.S. 67 will ease the waiting time for students and staff at Belmont Campus.
Aug 05, 2009 | 7:25 pm | Loading…
LeClaire looking to keep open burning policy
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - LeClaire residents are still guaranteed the freedom to burn leaves and other yard waste materials that originate on their properties.
Aug 04, 2009 | 9:00 pm | Loading…
Bishop Hill comes alive at Folk Fest
ARTICLE: BISHOP HILL, Ill. - Sculptor Nabaa Khazal Shami illustrated the art of making shanashil, or wooden latticework screens, Sunday at the 2009 Midwest Folk Festival.
Aug 02, 2009 | 10:05 pm | Loading…
Martin Luther King center celebrates family with fun day
ARTICLE: Dancers of all ages danced to "Low," "She's a Brick House" and Michael Jackson songs Saturday during Family Fun Day at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island.
Aug 01, 2009 | 7:25 pm | Loading…
Arsenal reproducing cast-iron plaques of the Gettysburg Address
ARTICLE: The speech lasted only a few minutes. But Curt Lipovic and his team at the Rock Island Arsenal have taken great care and several months etching every letter and pouring molten iron into the molds needed to replicate the most famous 272 words publicly spoken in American history.
Jul 28, 2009 | 10:35 pm | Loading…
Bix liturgy highlights rhythms of life
ARTICLE: Jubilant jazz filled Davenport's First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, sweeping through the crowded sanctuary and escaping through the domed ceiling to parts beyond.
Jul 26, 2009 | 7:00 pm | Loading…
Jazz bands herald Bix
ARTICLE: Jazz is back in full Charleston swing at LeClaire Park and other Davenport venues this weekend during the 2009 Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival.
Jul 25, 2009 | 7:10 pm | Loading…
Bix Porch Party: Library has jazz start big weekend
ARTICLE: Strands of jazz drifted Thursday along Davenport's Main Street as Don Estes and the Prairie Ramblers entertained about 350 guests at the 22nd annual Bix Porch Party.
Jul 23, 2009 | 10:35 pm | Loading…
Journey of Hope cyclists make Davenport stop
ARTICLE: Cyclists making the Journey of Hope across the United States pedaled Wednesday into Davenport.
Jul 22, 2009 | 6:35 pm | Loading…
RI County Fair: Livestock featured on opening day
ARTICLE: The carnival rides sat silent and parking lot had plenty of open spots Tuesday as rains mucked up the opening day festivities at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds in East Moline.
Jul 21, 2009 | 7:10 pm | Loading…
Botanical center bugs Quad-City families
ARTICLE: Madisen Willard , 6, wrinkled her nose at the sight of small cups filled with dirt cake and decided making a spider of an Oreo cookie and licorice legs was more fun.
Jul 19, 2009 | 10:50 pm | Loading…
Rock Island County Fair takes on circus theme
ARTICLE: Corn dogs and zany clowns, carnival and rides, balloons and demolition derby, car races and 4-H judging. That almost sums up the 2009 Rock Island County Fair.
Jul 19, 2009 | 10:30 pm | Loading…
Habitat for Humanity ends family's wait for home
ARTICLE: JoAnne Long and her daughter, Tegan, stood, arms around each other, as Kristi Crafton welcomed well-wishers to Saturday's official groundbreaking for Habitat for Humanity, Quad-Cities, House No. 64.
Jul 18, 2009 | 8:35 pm | Loading…
Open Range opens in Bettendorf
ARTICLE: The Open Range doors swing open for business Sunday in Bettendorf, and the owners look forward to offering diners plenty of food, fun and fire water.
Jul 16, 2009 | 5:50 pm | Loading…
LeClaire considers selling sewer system
ARTICLE: LeCLAIRE, Iowa - LeClaire's municipal sanitary sewer system may be on the market soon as city officials debate the wisdom of keeping the system or accepting an offer from a private company.
Jul 14, 2009 | 9:10 pm | Loading…
Animals receive church blessing
ARTICLE: Lola, a 16-month-old miniature pinscher, excitedly wandered as far as her leash permitted while waiting for Sunday's Blessing of the Animals at First Presbyterian Church, Davenport.
Jul 12, 2009 | 9:00 pm | Loading…
