Columns

Nature Rambles

What we fear It was a sickening site, lying on the side of the road — the freshly dead body of a black rat snake. Tire tracks coming off the pavement, onto the road shoulder to hit the snake, then…

West Peoria News

West Peoria had a very successful Clean Up Day on a very nasty, wet last Saturday in April. Twenty-two volunteers received 170 loads of junk and 29 pallets of electronics recycling at a cost of approximately $1,350 to the township.…

Bricks & Mortar

In 1916, the Board of the National Duroc-Jersey Association made the decision to construct an office building at the corner of Monroe and Fayette streets. A nationwide design search was started in early 1916 for a 40-by-100-foot project with nationwide…

Arts Beat

MUSIC June 1: Ratt at 8 p.m. Limelight Eventplex. 693-1234. June 2: “Broadway Jazz Night” featuring Stephanie Aaron, 8 p.m. at the Waterhouse. 494-9100. June 2: Chicken Shack Blues. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen. 676-9668. June 2: Cousin Eddie “Live at…

LaHood

It’s time to raise the nation’s D+ infrastructure grade In his address to Congress, President Trump described a future in which “crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our beautiful land,” and…

Monroe

Caterpillar rumor It’s only a rumor. These days everyone repeats rumors especially if it’s about President Trump, someone in his family, or someone in his administration. However, this rumor is about Caterpillar and its announced plan to move some 200…

Last month, Rev. Hightower wrote about the Civil Rights Act signed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act signed in 1965. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected president, and Sen. Mitch McConnell said, “We are going to do all we…

Nature Rambles

Planning for Pollinators Bumblebees buzzing amongst the white clover on the front lawn is a childhood memory that many of us share. Today, children have another memory that will follow them into adulthood. They hear the scientific data that warn…

Serendipity

People of certain age, confident I qualify, are advised to engage in health promoting tasks and behaviors for body and brain. These encompass a wide variety, including interaction with others; volunteering; healthy eating; learning new skills; spirituality; walking and other…