BY GEORGE HOPKINS In the year 120 BCE, the Roman Senate banned actors from holding elective office, according to Mary Beard, in her magisterial book S.P.Q.R: The History of Ancient Rome (2015). So why this odd footnote to history? It…
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Presidential candidates: On food, farming and climate change The differences between the candidates on food policy is enormous even though neither has a well-articulated, comprehensive plan that adequately addresses the issues. Access to sustainably raised local food should be a…
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Letters to the Editor Vote YES on Schools The Peoria County Schools Facility Sales Tax is about Stronger Schools, Stronger Students and a Stronger Economy. The sales tax is a way to provide better school buildings and create new jobs…
OP-ED
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THE FUTURE OF FOOD: A VIEW FROM THE FARM By Dave Bishop This article has been reprinted with permission from GeneWatch where it was originally published by Council for Responsible Genetics. To find the original and other articles of…
Arts Beat
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MUSIC Nov. 1: Reel Big Fish, with Masked Intruder, Stacked Like Pancakes. 7 p.m. Limelight Eventplex. 693-1234. Nov. 4: Dexter O’Neal & Funk Yard Live at the Five Spot, 5:30 p.m. Contemporary Art Center. 674-6877. Nov. 4: Derel Monteith. 8…
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AFL-CIO adds opposition to xenophobia to campaign issues. Racist xenophobia isn’t exactly a workplace issue, but the country’s top labor federation has added it to campaign issues this election. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre (himself a political refugee, at…
Poetry of Hiroshima memories and the happiness of Central Illinois dirt
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When Aozora “Zoe” Brockman’s first book, “The Happiness of Dirt,” was published in 2011, this is what Illinois Poet Laureate Kevin Stein wrote: “In an era when most stand sorely distanced from the planting, tending, and harvesting of our food,…
Elder Care Concern: Boredom
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BY DAVE WEIMAN Last month I wrote about loneliness, one of the three plagues that affect the well-being of elders. This month I want to address one of the other plagues, boredom. Next month I’ll discuss the third plague, helplessness.…
First-hand account: Car buyers beware
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BY ELAINE HOPKINS If you bought a new vehicle recently, here’s a word of advice: check to see whether it has a spare tire. Many new car models now lack a spare tire, and some don’t even offer one as…