As I write this column January 18, discussions are taking place between retiring Peoria County Administrator Patrick Urich and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. Don’t be surprised if an announcement is made within days that Urich is the city’s choice for…
Author Archive for Roger Monroe
Merle’s parting shot
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
Merle Widmer has retired from the County Board, but not from politics. Everyone who knows him, and I do, knew he would not go quietly. After a big time losing effort to slow down, if not stop the downtown museum,…
Stop the presses!
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
The sleuths at the Peoria Journal have uncovered another major crime! While there are murders on the streets and alleys of the city, drug deals almost in the open, fights among teens at Peoria High, and muggings of shoppers, the…
What a thrill for George Shadad and family
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
Former State Senator George Shadid and his wife, Lorraine, traveled to Washington D.C. for the Judicial Committee hearings for their son, Judge Jim Shadid. If that wasn’t a big enough thrill, they were then invited to the Oval Office to…
Bad news for Bradley fans
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
The popular and legendary Bradley basketball coach, Joe Stowell, has been fired by WMBD’s general manager, Mike Wild. Stowell will no longer be heard doing games with Dave Snell. Wild, who has a history of firing people, dumped Stowell in…
Peoria hospital for sale?
by Roger Monroe • • 2 Comments
EXCLUSIVE For writing a column in a monthly newspaper I’m proud of the scoops I’ve had over the years. This column was the first to predict a federal judgeship for Judge Jim Shadid and the first to forecast that Chillicothe’s…
RIP Woodruff High School 1937-2010
by Roger Monroe • • 5 Comments
Woodruff High School is dead. Its execution was ordered by District 150 board members David Gorenz, Laura Petelle, Debbie Wolfmeyer and Linda Butler. As a physician, Gorenz lost “the patient;” Petelle, the attorney, pulled the plug; Wolfmeyer, a school secretary,…
Mad Dog returns
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
Greg Maddox, one of the greatest pitchers of modern day baseball, got his professional start playing for the Peoria Chiefs at the old Vonachen Stadium on Nebraska Avenue. And thanks to that Vonachen, as in Pete, the “Mad Dog” is…
Happy birthday
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
On numerous occasions I’m reminded by other people what a great man my father was. Recently, I received an invitation to appear as a guest on the cable program, “Neighborhood Views,” from the host, Lorraine Carter. Lorraine said she not…
New radio station coming to town
by Roger Monroe • • 0 Comments
A new radio station will soon be on the air in central Illinois. It’ll be the voice of Illinois Central College on FM 90.7 and will primarily serve the students and faculty. A high ranking school official told me the…