Author Archive for Community Word Staff

Real Talk

The legacy of Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama. President Obama said her entire name when he thanked her for taking on a role that she hadn’t wanted or bargained for during his farewell address in Chicago. It’s true, she…

Inland Art

For more than a decade, Joe Richey has been a force to be reckoned with in the arts in Peoria. Most readers know him as the co-director of the Prairie Center of the Arts along with his wife Michele Richey.…

Arts Beat

MUSIC March 3: Preston Jackson & Friends “Live at the Five Spot.” 5:30 p.m. Contemporary Art Center. 674-6877. March 3: Nathan Taylor & Friends. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen. 676-9668. March 3: “Get the Led Out” Led Zeppelin tribute. 8 p.m.…

Labor Roundup

AFSCME tries to restart bargaining. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has now given three budget addresses, but he clings to anti-worker demands and refuses to resume negotiating with the state’s largest public employees union, the American Federation of State, County and…

The Art of Channy Lyons Chandler Lyons Wildemuth was every bit as formidable as her name. Like Walt Whitman, she contained contradictory multitudes. She was a writer, an historian, an arts and animal lover. She was both warm and stern,…

Open Letter to Peoria Dear Mayor Ardis and Peoria City Council Members:  Peoria should become a sanctuary city. There are two compelling factors why we should; the first is moral. Contrary to what some fake news sites indicate, sanctuary cities…

Letter

Six Brockman Women Travel to Women’s Rally for Rights On Jan. 21, six women from my family, aged 16 to almost 60, joined with 500,000 others from across the nation to march in Washington, D.C. We marched in solidarity with…