Editor’s Note: At the end of this letter is information from the police incident report, Gannett Corp. and the Rev. Marvin Hightower, president of the local chapter of the NAACP. I am a 51-year-old African American man, and I have…
Author Archive for Community Word Staff
Nature Rambles | Early cicadas
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
During the second week of June, I heard a noise from the canopy of the woods that I haven’t heard for some time . . . “weee-eeeerrr” repeated at regular intervals. Then it dawned on me –– It is a…
Labor Roundup | July 2020
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
Two Cicero workers died, two fired after complaining of safety at bakery. Two workers at Bimbo Bakeries in suburban Chicago died due to COVID-19 shortly after two others were discharged following public complaints of inadequate safety measures. Gerardo Mello and…
Straight Talk | Loss of another Peoria icon
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
Peoria lost another leader with the death of Ray Becker, the city’s greatest builder of buildings. One of the few advantages of being old is I don’t have to dig through newspaper files or view news videos to talk about…
Bill Knight | Being coroner during COVID-19
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
It’s common to praise first responders, especially in the pandemic. What of “last responders”? Coroners. On Illinois’ deadliest day in the global coronavirus outbreak, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood reflected on first realizing the potential challenges ahead. Months ago, the…
Reflections From The Clergy | Ramadan amidst COVID-19; a blessing in disguise
by Community Word Staff • • 1 Comment
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on humanity at large, people of all backgrounds and walks of life. This encompasses faith communities worldwide. Being cut away from worship places is not an easy task for any faith community, although…
Science Briefs | June 2020
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Green economic recovery from COVID-19 Companies worth more than $2.4 trillion are calling for a green economic recovery from the global pandemic, according to Bloomberg Law. Two-thirds of these 150 companies signing a statement calling for a green recovery are…
Lester Mason’s life sentence under review as COVID-19 targets prisons
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
Lester Bobby Mason, 76, has been asking for a sentencing review and clemency for nearly 40 years. He now has that opportunity. He was sentenced to natural life in prison with no chance for parole under the now-widely discredited three-strikes…
Serendipity | Day by day
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
Growing older doesn’t bother me as it happens with or without my approval. Favoring the more positive, romantic approach, I bought into the idea popularized by poet and playwright Robert Browning. In an 1864 published work, he wrote, “Grow old…
Labor Roundup | June 2020
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Meatpacking plants must remain open despite COVID-19 sickening workers. The virus forced some plants to close, but they reopened under an order from President Trump using the Defense Production Act. Employers haven’t properly safeguarded workers with the tests, protective gear…