Archive for July, 2008

          Bradley University’s lifelong learning program has been awarded $100,000 by The Bernard Osher Foundation to expand programs for mature adults. As a result of the grant, the Bradley University Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR), now in its 14th year, will be renamed the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. “Our ILR has great potential...
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By Amanda Knowles During the summer months, the Peoria Historical Society (PHS) sponsors trolley tours throughout the area. The PHS has been offering historic trolley tours for over ten years, and they run from June 5 to November 1. Volunteers who have been certified by the PHS act as guides during the tours. According...
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Moments are flashes of time not precisely measured. Quick, often lasting just an instant, they can be incredibly valuable and important. Kim Keenan and Denise Urycki are passionate about them. They see “every moment and every person as an opportunity to learn or to teach. Each moment is purposeful. We strive to see...
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While the news media is heavily invested in telling everyone how terrible the economy is supposed to be, Peoria and central Illinois, for the most part, continues to roll merrily along. Caterpillar just announced a huge contract with the government, home sales are up, lines at many restaurants are common, and the medical community...
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The Chamber of Commerce presents itself as a civic group promoting business, but in aggressive campaigning against Democrats, lobbying against equal pay for women and consumer protection, and pushing for restrictions on victims’ right to a day in court, the Chamber shows another side. Of course, there often are conflicts between individuals and bureaucratic organizations...
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There it was, the Maharajah of Muck, the Sultan of swamp. This was not just any old turtle. A very special skeleton, this was a remarkable relic; an ambassador from antiquity. Sommer Park staff had discovered the remains of a very large and very ancient snapping turtle at the shore of a pond....
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I loathe payday loan joints. The people who own them are the scum of the Earth. They prey on those in need. And I am sick of looking at them. I am sick of seeing them pop up, like malignant warts, all over Peoria, especially in the older sections of town, populated often where the most...
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by Dolores Klein, Peoria, IL The bitter reaction to the 5/4 decision by the Supreme Court concerning rights of anyone held by our country, to be made aware in our courts of the charges against them, has made the point unassailable now that who makes further appointments to the highest court is of...
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This coming of age, a.k.a. turning 60, is complicated and requires considerable introspection. Looking inward is not difficult for me. My dear husband, who doesn’t share my need to multi-examine priorities, values, and life in general, once told me, “you can analyze the life right out of a situation.” Seemed harsh as he said...
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