When encountering thresholds, we often talk as if our work is that of successfully “passing through” them. We speak of “making healthy transitions.” We seek out advice and support as we decide which thresholds to lean into and which to…
Columns
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Coronavirus and climate crisis: a crosswalk
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
Parallels between the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are spooky. The surge of COVID patients pushed hospitals to the breaking point in New York and required refrigerated meat trucks to store bodies. It may yet overwhelm hospitals in states…
Serendipity | Day by day
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
Growing older doesn’t bother me as it happens with or without my approval. Favoring the more positive, romantic approach, I bought into the idea popularized by poet and playwright Robert Browning. In an 1864 published work, he wrote, “Grow old…
West Peoria News | Fourth of July parade canceled
by Sharon McBride • • 0 Comments
It has been a season of cancellations, and sadly I announce the cancellation of the 50th West Peoria Fourth of July parade, ceremony and festivities. Typically, the event attracts hundreds/thousands to our community and involves the efforts of many West…
The Lion’s Den | Let’s Examine the Wounds
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
I will admit that it has been somewhat of a challenge to write during this worldwide pandemic. As we continue to adapt to what ultimately may become the new normal, simple survival has taken precedence over most things. Our daily…
Straight Talk | Bel-wood / Heddington Oaks to close
by Roger Monroe • • 2 Comments
Peoria County’s nursing home, founded in 1848, is closing. County board chairman Andrew Rand and administrator Scott Sorrel made the announcement Friday, April 17. While it was a surprise to most taxpayers, county board members have been quietly evaluating the…
Bill Knight | Trump’s virtual campaign rallies
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
Sixteen years before Jonathan Swift published “Gulliver’s Travels,” the essayist and clergyman wrote, “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” Now, every afternoon, the world is awash in nonstop nonsense from a mental Lilliputian who sees himself as…
The Watch | Public meetings during the pandemic
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
At every government level — from Washington D.C. to Springfield to Peoria — COVID-19 is changing the subject, the format and the outcome of public meetings. When the Peoria County Board held its March 12 meeting, for example, Chairman Andrew…
Nature Rambles | Solace in nature
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
During this unprecedented time, when everything we seem to know is turned upside down, there are still many steadfast harbingers of reality in the natural world. The chorus of Robins and Cardinals still begin at daybreak even if we are…
Inland Art | John Phillips
by Paul Krainak • • 0 Comments
John Phillips began painting in earnest about the time that the medium was relinquishing its preeminent avant-garde station, leaving painters with the task of buttressing and re-defining the practice. Its formal contours had been turned inside out or neglected in…