A society blossoms in Peoria

Aged hands clasped the black leather-bound book as a thin-framed man walked along the bustling streets of downtown Peoria. His destination was the great archives at the Public Library. His mission was to preserve over 40 years of memories for…

West Peoria News for March

View the cityofwestpeoria.com for all information on snow issues. It has been listed here several times and also in the West Peoria News. You can reference whatever you need at the city website which is likely easier to locate than…

Theater roundup

  Peoria Players has given us the yin and yang of Weimar Germany with its recent offerings of “The Sound of Music” and “Cabaret.”  TSOM is all country, set in the Alps of Salzburg with singing nuns, children, true love…

Arts Beat for March

MUSIC March 1: Bradley Symphony Orchestra’s Music Scholarship Concert Series – Concerto Aria Competition Concert. 3 p.m. Bradley University’s Dingeldine Music Center. 677-2595. March 6: The Smokers. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen Music Café. 676-9668. March 7: Cousin Eddie. 8 p.m.…

Innovation inspiration

Imagination creates possibilities. As Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world.” Sadly much of our educational system was designed around a process…

Labor notes for March

Asbestos manufacturers try to evade liability. Taking advantage of the new Republican rule over Congress, the remaining firms that manufactured items containing asbestos – the cancer-causing substance that sickened thousands of shipyard workers, factory workers, construction workers and others, and…

Neighborhood Notes for March

‘Tireless’ cleanup launching. Peoria’s Tireless Committee, established with a $5,000 grant from Leaders Change Peoria to address tire abandonment in Peoria’s neighborhoods, is finalizing plans to recycle up to 22,000 tires per year and hopes to hold events on the…

Country music trend sparks pushback

Counting on Miranda Lambert’s Feb. 21 concert at the Civic Center Arena to feature some version of “Somethin’ Bad,” her hit duet with Carrie Underwood, is like hoping for comic Rodney Carrington to stroll over from his performance in the…

Still popular, Bro Country sparks pushback

Many Country music promoters and programmers may have noticed some reaction to bro country, but the pendulum isn’t yet swinging away from the popular style. “Swinging away from ‘bro country’? Highly doubtable – not yet anyway,” says Chris Michaels, program…

A historic District 150 event

Ejecting a coach or player from a basketball game rarely happens. But, it does happen. When a player is removed it’s because of a flagrant foul or unacceptable behavior. A coach is gone when he receives a second technical foul.…

Help the homeless

“… bring the homeless poor into your house.” – Isaiah 58: 7 February is Black History Month, so it’s tempting to see emotional objections to the Peoria Housing Authority’s investigation into relocating Taft Homes as racism. However, if giving the…

Garbage: A mirror reflecting who we are

There was a lot of enthusiasm several years ago about a music video produced by the Young Professionals Organization of Greater Peoria that tried to secure Peoria’s bid for 2013 All American City by organizing hundreds of 20- and 30-year…

Letters to the editor …

Westminster Presbyterian Church: Withdraw Request for Digital Sign    As both a member of Westminster and a West Bluff resident, I totally agree with the editorial (January 2015). The Church would fulfill a decades-long stated commitment to the area by…

American Muslims Who Made (Good) News in 2014

In the minds of many, there are widely held but oversimplified ideas of American Muslims. To correct the myopia created by media sound bites and humanize our people, I decided to introduce diverse American Muslims who made news in 2014:…