ON THE AIR AGAIN!

It’s exciting, and the timing is perfect since I love the sounds of Christmas. “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” is returning on Internet Radio as “Breakfast with Roger and Friends,” starting 6 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1. You can access it at peorialife.com and we feature the same crew including Alicia Butler, Steve Young, Mike Olson, Brian Hulin and Phil Salzer, with guest appearances by Norm Kelly, Jim Ardis, Mike McCoy, Jerry Brady and others. You’ll hear the best local news, sports, weather and the music of Christmas without all the many commercials you hear on AM and FM radio. Please join us . . . again!

INTERESTING READING

One of our first guests will be former Congressman and Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood. Ray will talk about his new book, “Seeking Bipartisanship,” written with Frank H. Mackaman, who heads up the Everett Dirksen Library. The book should be required reading for high school and college students interested in how our government works. It would make an excellent Christmas gift.

FINALLY!!!!!!!

After doing a lot of dancing for an abrasive and uncooperative state bureaucrat in Chicago, Melvin Murry finally received permission to open the Peoria Barber College at 1315 West Garden. Considered the oldest barber school in the nation since its founding in 1897, it was purchased by my father in 1953. At one time, he had 100 students learning the barber trade. Hundreds of barbers all over Illinois graduated from the school while thousands of others remember fondly, and some not so fondly, receiving haircuts at 422 South Adams. The Monroe family sold the school to Melvin in August 2014, but it took the state 14 months of red tape and bureaucratic hogwash to get it reopened. As one example of the silliness, a state bureaucrat refused to accept Mayor Jim Ardis’ letter of support as legitimate. The Mayor had to personally call the woman. She then demanded to know where Melvin got the money to buy the business. One wonders how she got a state job. Oh, that’s right. She lives in Chicago. Anyway, the barber school is open with seven students eager to become barbers. The lead instructor is Shon T. Allen of Decatur. An open house is planned in December.

LOOKS TERRIFIC

Congratulations to CEO Debbie Simon of UnityPoint Health-Methodist/Proctor for the new and shining exterior that’s been installed over the older sections of the hospital. It was badly needed for the Glen Oak Wing and a portion of the building completed in 1917. Looks great. I’m not sure planners and designers needed four signs with their new logo and the new name (ugh) plastered on the side. Methodist has been a part of Peoria since 1900, and there was no need for branding a new name. UnityPoint is about as warm and fuzzy as a porcupine. Can you imagine Caterpillar changing its name to Unity Tractor?

SPEAKING OF………

In the 1990’s many companies hit on hard economic times. Among those were local hospitals. To cope with decreasing profits, companies and institutions started laying off employees and/or offering early retirement packages. They rightly called it “downsizing,” which is what it was. That’s what Caterpillar is doing. That’s what the Peoria Journal did as well. It was comical when Phil Luciano called for Cat CEO Doug Oberhelman to give up his stock options, i.e. salary. However, I did some checking on the owners of our local newspaper, GateHouse Media. Two years ago, GateHouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and filed a plan for “restructuring” that included turning the company over to a lender group. That same year, GateHouse CEO Michael Reed reportedly received an $800,000 bonus while reducing staff and staff hours. Funny how we didn’t see any Luciano stories demanding that the CEO give up his salary and bonus. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as my mother used to say.

NUTTY LOGIC

One of the most popular sections of a newspaper is the editorial page with letters from readers. Many are well-written and many are not. Bradley University computer instructor Himat Batra falls in the latter category for blaming Republicans for the growth of terrorism in the world. I’m surprised he didn’t blame them for Hitler and for cancer. Himat Batra’s rambling diatribe defended ISIS while urging Americans to accept refugees from all over the world. Perhaps he can show how much he cares by accepting the first 10 or 12 to his home. Meanwhile, another liberal Bradley instructor appeared on WMBD-TV making legal statements about states’ rights regarding refugees. Her comments were talking points from MSNBC since she isn’t a legal scholar or instructor. She is, however, a bona fide liberal. Are there any conservatives on the campus?

CHRISTMAS WISHES

We close this exciting December column with Christmas thoughts for readers by Mary

Garren, titled “The Christmas Star.”

May the Light that shone from the Christmas Star,

On that night so long ago,

Fall on you this Christmas night,

And set your face aglow.

May it shine from your eyes.

May it rest in your mind.

May it burn in your Spirit bright.

May the Peace it spoke to a weary world,

Bring joy to your heart tonight.