Local Specials

The  Keokuk National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than  600 Union and Confederate soldiers.

Most of the soldiers  were from Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

A total of 17 states  are represented in the cemetery, though, including Ohio, Alabama,  and Texas.

A  special ceremony was held to bring those soldiers "home."

Soil  was collected from all 17 states. It was spread on the graves so  soldiers could be buried under their native soil.

Most  people who come across an abandoned car or discarded washing machine  see a piece of junk. Matt  Myers sees opportunity.

"There's an old car parked behind  the shop here," Myers said at his studio, Black Toad Forge, which  is just west of Macomb.

"I  don't see that like most people,  who see an old car. I see it as a pile  of metal that I can cut  apart and turn into anything I want."

March 28 marked the six month anniversary for Roquette America locking out roughly 240 union workers in Keokuk.  Hundreds of people from throughout the Midwest met in the southeast Iowa city over the weekend to stand in solidarity with the union.  The event also served as a rallying cry for the working class.

Supporters  honked their car horns as more than 400 people marched along Main  Street in downtown Keokuk.

The  demonstrators marched from  the Keokuk Labor Temple to the intersection  of 14th and Main and  back, carrying signs and chanting.

Macomb, IL – When Western Illinois University engineering professor Rafael Obregon talks about his current project, he's reminded of the Wright brothers: "Before they were able to fly for the first time, there were a lot of trials that never [worked]."

Obregon's current project pairs him with a long-time collaborator, Dan Meyer of Innovative Design and Research Corporation in Rushville.

All aboard for a blues concert on an Amtrak train!

On the Friday of Mother's Day weekend, the lounge car of Amtrak's Southwest Chief was turned into a blues club for a few hours between Chicago and Fort Madison.

John Primer and Dan Beaver performed a show to promote the Simply The Blues festival in Fort Madison.

During this half hour documentary you'll hear from the musicians, passengers, and the man who came up with the idea for holding a blues concert on a train. The program also features a lot of music from the Simply The Blues Train concert.