December and early January was Christmas Bird Count time in Central Illinois. The Peoria Audubon Society coordinates three counts in the region. One in Peoria, one near Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, and another in Chillicothe. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC)…
Columns
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Can Illinois teach the Duck to fly?
by William Rau • • 1 Comment
Yes, and fast — but a reprise first. California’s “duck curve” in January’s column exposes the misfit between nukes and renewables. The duck curve shows how increasing solar output would replace midday fossil generation until solar output bumped into (in…
Inland Art | Picture a tropical paradox — South Beach style
by Robert Rowe • • 0 Comments
Anastasia Samoylova has made quite a splash in the international photography scene since leaving Peoria and relocating to Miami Beach. A book of her eerily serene yet troubling photographs titled FloodZone (Steidl, 2019) depicts a beautiful but unsettling vision of…
Art Alerts
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
ART Distinctive creations by the late Brian Kjellenberg are on exhibit now through April 8 in the Hartmann Gallery at Bradley University. Titled “Playful Nostalgia,” the show by the award-winning area artist, who worked with students at BU’s Sculpture Lab,…
West Peoria News | Get excited, and ready to help, for Fourth of July
by Sharon McBride • • 0 Comments
Plans, meetings and efforts are underway for West Peoria’s big 50th Fourth of July event. For you who have participated in the past and newcomers to our community, this is a large opportunity to show the many outsiders that West…
Serendipity | Reading, remembering greetings from past make memories last
by Sandra Dempsey Post • • 0 Comments
Concerning behavioral response to cards and papers, genetics doesn’t necessarily determine whether someone is a saver, a read it and toss it, or creative blend of both. I don’t know if one inherits such traits, or if they just happen,…
The Lion’s Den | Gordon Parks provides perspective through a uniquely qualified lens
by Daniel McCloud • • 0 Comments
“I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social change wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera,” Gordon Parks. These are the words of Gordon Parks,…
Straight Talk | Strange announcement: Unity Point negotiating with Carle Health
by Roger Monroe • • 3 Comments
In a letter to employees and a news release to the media, Unity Point Health CEO and President Clay Holderman, announced that the Iowa-based health system had entered into discussions with officials at Carle Health that could see Peoria’s Methodist…
Bill Knight | Future of campaign finance reform in Illinois as dark as money involved
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
In the spring of 1996 Kent Redfield was a 47-year-old political science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he wrote a report for the Illinois Campaign Finance Project (ICPR) outlining dozens of ways to change how candidates raise…
The Watch | Peoria City Council review finds $4 million, County board mulling new election systems
by Terry Bibo • • 1 Comment
Peoria City Council wrestled with its 2022-2023 biennial budget — and each other — during special meetings this fall. On Oct. 26: Peoria Township officials asked for a tax increase, but didn’t get it. City Manager Patrick Urich said recovery…