“Lights, camera, action!” is how many think of a film director, but put yourself in Aaron Warr’s place and that image might change. His film, “College Debts,” will have its world premiere right here in River City 7 p.m. Aug.…
Arts Beat
Stage highlights for the next few weeks: MUSIC July 31: Nathan Taylor and Friends. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen Music Café. 676-9668. Aug. 1: Blues Expression. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen Music Café. 676-9668. Aug. 2: Peoria Municipal Band, with percussion soloist…
Placemaking Peoria
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…
Labor Roundup
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…
Neighborhood Notes
‘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…
What’s the Evidence?
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…
Environmental News Briefs
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…
Dozens protest outside Campustown payday loan store
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…
Opportunity for GED lost for thousands of people last year Local advocates fight to restore access
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…
More questions than answers
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…
Rethinking a lot . . . a parking lot
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.…
Straight Talk
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…
Living near Edwards coal-fired power plant worse than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day
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…
Health benefits of a plant-based diet
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!)
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…
Ramadan: Muslim holiday of fasting, reflection and kindness
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…
Serendipity
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…