City Beat

When I decided to complete my education at Eastern Illinois University, I based that decision on three criteria: 1. EIU had a good journalism program. 2. Many of my friends were going there. 3. And, it had a reputation for being a party school. Well, my friends and I got a good education. And, we drank. We drank...
Read more »

About a month ago, I wrote about a change in Illinois law that would lessen the likelihood that municipalities would have to hold primary elections. Here’s how it works: Under the rules in effect for the two previous city elections, a primary was needed when there were three candidates for mayor and/or district council seats...
Read more »

Listen to talk radio these days, and one gets the impression that the Republican Party is the party of the working class. It is the Democratic Party that caters to the whims of the rich, liberal elites, they say. Listen to it long enough, and you might begin to believe it. But if you saw the...
Read more »

I loathe payday loan joints. The people who own them are the scum of the Earth. They prey on those in need. And I am sick of looking at them. I am sick of seeing them pop up, like malignant warts, all over Peoria, especially in the older sections of town, populated often where the most...
Read more »

You know, for a moment there last month, I had hope. The administrators who run Peoria School District 150 wanted to cut 45 minutes out of the schedule at all of Peoria’s primary schools. They also wanted to fire part-time teachers of music and art. The savings is about $650,000. They rushed to get the...
Read more »

According to an article that was carried by the Associated Press, Moody’s Investors Services doesn’t think much of the future of GateHouse Media stock. The agency cut GateHouse’s corporate family rating to “B2” from “B1.” Moody’s also “reduced its probability of default rating one notch” (whatever that means) to “B3” from...
Read more »

I listened to a hour or so of Sean Hannity on 1470 WMBD this afternoon as I ran errands before work. And as usual, I had to scratch my head at the man’s ability to pass off pure race-baiting as investigate political reporting. Good Lord. Were it not for the fact that I knew better, I...
Read more »

Try to contain your grief, Community Word readers. Red Zin, the upscale eatery in the Twin Tower’s building in downtown Peoria, is going to close. I know. I was stunned too. I think I’ve eaten there, oh, I dunno, three times in my life. The last time was some sort of political function. I...
Read more »

Much like baseball managers, city managers are hired to be fired. But unlike baseball managers, who often lose their jobs when expensive free agents hired by the owners, city managers are dismissed for reasons that often are not apparent. If the team’s losing and their play is stinking up the place, there’s no hiding...
Read more »

With the start of the new year, I thought it appropriate to take a look back as some of the news that caught my eye during 2007: The race to replace Congressman Ray: First, U.S. Representative Ray LaHood’s decision to retire caught everyone by surprise. He was one of the first GOP members of the...
Read more »