Artists are creators. They are always making things, dreaming new ideas, and looking at the world differently. The works of visual artists stand out when displayed on a wall or as sculpture in galleries, museums or First Friday venues. Performance…
UAW targeting automakers’ two-tier wages. Abolition of the two-tier wage system at the “Detroit 3” car companies, raising all workers to the top scale, seems to be the top bargaining goal of the United Auto Workers in opening talks with…
‘Night Out Against Crime’ Aug. 4. Peoria’s registered neighborhood associations are working on taking part in the Aug. 4 National Night Out Against crime in their areas. “The purpose of Night Out is to promote neighborhood safety by hosting a…
Prediabetes is a major problem, affecting one-third of all adults in the United States. A preventive program can cut the risk of developing diabetes by half. Although medications can help some people with prediabetes, they are not recommended for most…
Dark underside of the Monsanto bid to buy Syngenta When agrichemical giant Monsanto, headquartered in St. Louis, made a $45 billion takeover bid to buy Syngenta, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, it seemed like a chemical tsunami. Between sales of…
Protesters shouted objections outside a payday loan store in Campustown when they were told Peoria has six times more payday loan stores per capita than Chicago. Organizers of the protest rally from Illinois People’s Action told the group that…
For more than 70 years, GED was synonymous with “second chance.” The high school equivalency degree provided an opportunity for thousands of school dropouts to regain their footing. With a GED, people could get better jobs, access to union apprenticeship…
Power brokers or power vacuum? BY BILL KNIGHT The increasing vibrancy of the Warehouse District is seen when crowds hear the Peoria Municipal Band play on Water Street, and the livelier downtown is showcased in Caterpillar’s Visitors Center or the…
BY CLARE HOWARD Les Cohen firmly believes part of the solution to Peoria’s combined sewer overflow problem lies in rethinking the notion of parking lot. He recently replaced the old asphalt lot at his building at 428 SW Washington St.…
A FITTING TRIBUTE A large crowd gathered at the remaining baseball diamond at Glen Oak Park Saturday, June 6, for the ceremony naming it Royce Elliott Field. Park board president Tim Cassidy and Mayor Jim Ardis were among Royce’s…
‘Tis the Season . . . for toxins Driving north on Knoxville Avenue recently, I spotted a seasonally ubiquitous and totally illogical sight: a man striding across a tiny swatch of turf grass near a strip shopping center. Marching across…
Talking about drugs’ side effects, the late comic Robin Williams said, “There’s a product called Olestra, which is a very strange thing. ‘Olestra? What is that?’ It’s said on the little side of the chips: ‘May cause anal leakage.’ That’s…
To the Editor: Dr. David Trachtenbarg’s recent column (“What’s the Evidence?” June issue) did a great job of laying out the dangers of burning coal as an energy source. I would like to add to that a bit and mention…
BY DR. BOB EASTON AND NANCY LONG Most Midwesterners don’t worship sacred cows–or do we? If we count the varieties of meat and dairy products that fill the shelves of our grocery stores and compare the percentage of food budgets spent on…
Trans fat ban; Koehler was right Illinois Sen. Dave Koehler should feel exonerated. Labels like “nanny state” were hurled at him years ago for his efforts to ban trans fat. It took the FDA a while to catch up with…
Shavua Tov! (Happy New Week!) I write this sitting in Jerusalem, looking out my window as the Sabbath has ended and the city is coming back to life after the 25 hours of quiet and calm that mark Shabbat in…
By Imam Kamil Mufti Ramadan is more than a time when we Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. It is a time to restore our connection with our Creator, and it is also a time to become closer to each…
Simplicity is often touted for reducing stress and enhancing calmness. Theoretically that’s valid, and wise souls try to live simply. Reality may vary. Consider technology that makes lives easier in many respects and more complicated in others, particularly for those…
The earth is changing. In fact, it is in a constant state of change. Tectonic plates slowly grind and move. Mountains lift in the Himalayas, and slowly wear down in the Appalachians. I’m now sitting in a cottage in…
July Fourth marks a special day for our West Peoria community and citizens. It is the day that each year the community opens its doors, streets, hearts and welcomes thousands to our community for the longest running Fourth of July…
