MUSIC
Sept. 11: Limelight Eventplex presents “redneck rock band” Blackjack Billy, known for their 2013 hit “The Booze Cruise,” with opening act the Joe Stamm Band. (309) 693-1234.
Sept. 20: Peoria Symphony Orchestra presents guest violinist Sarah Chang at a Civic Center Theater performance to feature Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Dvorak’s Violin Concerto. (309) 671-1096.
Sept. 23: Limelight Eventplex presents Cody Canada and the Departed, a “red dirt/Southern rock band,” with opening act Craig Gerdes. (309) 693-1234.
Sept. 26: Bradley University presents “Beyond The Headlines: Haiti in Music,” 7:30 p.m. in the Dingeldine Music Center. 309-677-2650.
THEATER
Sept. 5-7 and 10-14: Peoria Players Theatre presents “Ragtime,” (309) 688-4473.
Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 17-20: Eastlight Theatre presents “Young Frankenstein,” a regional premier. (309) 699-7469.
Sept. 25-Oct. 5: Bradley University Theatre presents “Spring Awakening,” a rock musical based on a controversial 1891 German play banned for a time because of its frank portrayal of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. (309) 677-2650.
Sept. 25-27 and Oct. 2-4: Eureka College Theatre presents “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” (309) 467-6363.
Sept, 26-Oct. 5: Illinois Central College presents “Avenue Q,” a two-act musical satirizing the issues and anxieties associated with entering adulthood. (309) 694-5136.
Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 2-5: Corn Stock Theatre Winter Playhouse Season presents “Bare: The Musical,” a contemporary rock musical following a group of teens coping with issues of identity, sexuality, and religion at a co-ed Catholic boarding school. (309) 676-2196.
LABOR
Bakery Workers look to future: Organizing is key to the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), which lost its Peoria local when Hostess shut down during a 2012 strike, says union president David Durkee. BCTGM already has wins at TastyKake, Weston, Bimbo and most Hostess plants, according to Durkee.
For Steelworkers, one lockout stops, another starts: Honeywell locked out members of Steelworkers Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Ill., but two days later the union settled a new contract with the PTC plant in Alliance. Honeywell, which said it will operate the plant with salaried personnel and scabs it brought in last month, made a take-it-or-leave-it offer identical to a previous, rejected, offer. Job security, safety and health care issues remain unresolved, said Local President Stephen Lech, who said Steelworkers offered to keep working during negotiations, but Honeywell opted to lock out its work force.
Ironworkers aid workers left jobless when contractor closes: Hudsonville, Mich., Ironworkers are trying to find jobs for non-union colleagues stranded when a large non-union contractor shut down in July. Lamar Construction abruptly closed July 9, throwing 280 employees out of work.The Ironworkers, whose East Peoria Local 112 has more than 500 members, is working to place the laid-off colleagues.
Mass. charter school teachers join Teamsters: About 80 teachers and staffers at a charter school in Marlborough, Mass., this summer voted to unionize with Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, the union’s first charter school group in the nation. Teachers contacted the union because of lack of job security. Most charter schools, like Peoria’s Quest Charter Academy, hire teachers on one-year contracts.
Letter Carriers to Postmaster General: Go: The National Association of Letter Carriers say that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is so focused on cutting service, including Saturdays. The union blasted Donahue’s dismantling of the USPS, closing regional hubs like the Regional Encoding Center in Peoria, where 250 jobs were lost. “It’s up to us to save the Postal Service, just as we have always done,” NALC president Fredric Rolando said.
(News briefs courtesy of The Labor Paper in Peoria)
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
As the Neighborhood Alliance’s Evonne Fleming prepares to head from Peoria to Richmond, Ind., for the 2014 Regional Neighborhood Network Conference (RNNC) Sept. 11-13, 2014 – where about 400 people are expected – she reminded Community Word readers that the Neighborhood Alliance meets at 5 p.m. every 3rd Monday at Advanced Medical Transport, 1718 N. Sterling Ave.
The 14th annual Central Illinois Black Expo 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at Civic Center Exhibit Hall B & C.