Author Archive for Roger Monroe

Good news and bad news

When it comes to Bradley basketball it seems to be good news, bad news. GOOD NEWS is new Bradley coach Geno Ford was able to retain Jalen Crawford, recruited by the fired Jim Les. The talented guard from Detroit played…

No idle threat

The news that Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman has written Illinois Governor Pat Quinn about the state’s burdensome tax on business should make a lot of people nervous. The tax was a typical Democrat response without serious consideration of potential damaging…

Peoria police deserve praise

Have you noticed how quickly Peoria police are capturing the bad guys? One robbery after another and one killing after another, police wind up nabbing the culprits. And folks, these are really bad, bad, people. Too many young thugs are…

Done deal?

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…

Merle’s parting shot

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!

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…

Bad news for Bradley fans

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?

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

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,…