Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Kid in yellow to girl in pink: "I'm gonna punch you in the gut." No joke.

Rescuing the Rescuers

Two Rock Island Firefighters in a small boat were pulled back to safety from the choppy waters around the Milan Steel Dam across the Rock River on Tuesday afternoon, September 23. The firefighters along with other emergency responders were searching for an unidentified 20 year old female last seen swimming near the dam who reportedly went under. Officials at the scene said they were switching from rescue operations to recovery, but the condition of the woman is still unknown.

Sk8

Armando Rosas Jr., 14, his brother Diego Rosas, 12, and their friend Juan Aguirre, 11, skateboard at an abandoned gas station near the corner of 5th Ave. and 11th St. in Moline on Monday evening, September 22. The spot is a favorite skating ground for the boys.

Robot!

Today I took some shots of the unveiling of a new surgical robotic system at a hospital. Cindy Sackfield-Deisenroth of Rock Island volunteered to wear this robot suit and point the way to the demonstration room. I submitted a different shot for the paper, but I still like this one too.

Arrowhead Ranch Round-Up

I went to this auction fund raiser for Arrowhead Ranch in Coal Valley, Ill., which is a residential treatment center for at-risk youth. Every year they hold this big auction to raise operating funds and people from around the Quad Cities come out to support them. There were a lot of interesting people looking at a lot of interesting junk.

River Trail

Yesterday on the second day of Maria's visit we rode bikes down the River Way trail from Sunset Park in Rock Island to downtown Moline and back. It was an extremely nice day and lots of interesting stuff to take pictures of on the way.

Chillin', Maxin' Relaxin'

Out for a Walk

Ted Butler, 42, of Madison, Wis. walks along 6th Ave. under the I-74 overpass in Moline on Monday afternoon, September 15. Butler is passing through the Quad-Cities on his way to New York City, walking across the country, a journey which he started in Santa Monica, Calif. in November 2007. Butler is using the walk to help promote his website, talkingaboutus.com, which advocates the importance of education and building a more participatory democracy.

Rain Video

Today, due to rain again, the event I was supposed to do a video on was canceled so instead of nothing, I made a little tribute to rain feature video for our website. Thanks to Andy Wicklund, I got to use a track by his band Dragon Fire Parade in the video. I think it turned out pretty well for a somewhat different online feature.

Watch it here.

More Rain

Tony (Right) and Tyler Harmon of Milan ride bikes through rain water flooding 3rd Ave. in Milan between 3rd and 2nd streets on Saturday afternoon, September 13. "My wife said there were puddles so we thought we'd go hit them with the bikes," said Tony Harmon.



Jake Montague plays with his dog Marley in the driveway of his home on 3rd Ave. in Milan on Saturday afternoon, September 13. Rain flooded sections of streets and basements around downtown Milan including this portion of 3rd Ave. between 1st and 3rd streets.

Rain

Today I had an assignment to shoot a 5 time state horse shoes champion but it was canceled due to rain; I found this out of course after I already left the office. It was supposed to be held at Edison Jr. High in Rock Island so I just stuck around and took pictures of football practice in the rain.

Storm Troopers like Bratwurst

Charles Packard of West Des Moines, Iowa finishes eating a bratwurst at the 26th annual Riverfront Pops at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport on Saturday evening, September 6. Packard dressed as a Storm Trooper along with others in conjunction with the concert which featured the music of John Williams performed by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra.