Tim Barnes is a former pastor who lives in Peoria and works for the International Association for Refugees, a not-for-profit based in Minneapolis. He wrote this piece after returning from a recent meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees…
Editor’s Note: Immigrants and refugee seekers have different rights. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, everyone has a right to seek asylum from persecution and violence. The UN states that “some mass displacements may…
A hospital stay shouldn’t put a patient at risk for cancer. But it can—if the menu includes hot dogs, sausage and other processed meat, which the World Health Organization has declared carcinogenic and placed in the same category as tobacco…
BY Eliida Lakota It is amazing to me the extent government officials will go to deny innocent people their constitutional rights –– people who are protecting their land and water. I attended the protest at Standing Rock and saw law…
BY JACKIE CORLETT The writer is founder and director of Motif Ltd., a fair trade company that operates a workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She divides her time between Bangladesh and Illinois. Motif products are sold at Global Village, a Fair…
“Data takes the emotion out.” The Rev. Marvin Hightower, president of the Peoria Chapter of the NAACP, said that in an article in the March issue of Community Word about clean syringe exchange programs. Research shows clean syringe exchange programs…
Is Andrew Johnson’s Past Trump’s Future? “I would impeach the President because he is such an infernal liar!” This remark was uttered not by a contemporary critic of Donald Trump, but by General Ulysses S. Grant of President Andrew Johnson…
BY RYAN HIDDEN Illinois state legislators are considering adult-use cannabis legalization. Some argue the reason to legalize cannabis is to raise revenue for the state. One estimate is the state could generate $350 million to $700 million per year with…
BY CHERYL BUDZINSKI Chairwoman, League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria Water Action Committee The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria believes a financial analysis that could lead to public ownership of a water utility is warranted. Our LWVGP…
Soil: Last Great Hope to Mitigate Climate Change BY DAVE BISHOP Dave Bishop farms organically in Central Illinois on PrairiErth Farm, a multi-generational, 480-acre operation that follows “regenerative farming” practices. Developing regenerative farming systems has been the mission at PrairiErth…
