Almost three-fourths of UAW ballots cast OK’d T.A. with Cat. The United Auto Workers on March 13 started working under a new, six-year contract with Caterpillar Inc. after a ratification vote the previous day resulted in 71.5% voting union members…
Sierra Club, other advocates back foam packaging ban
The Sierra Club, the Illinois Environmental Council, Faith in Place Action Fund and other groups are supporting an Illinois House measure to phase out single-use foam food ware on Jan. 1, 2025. Introduced Feb. 13, House Bill 2376 would amend…
Conservation Voters score Rep. LaHood in the single digits
The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters last month issued its annual 2022 National Environmental Scorecard, and U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria) was given a 5%. This new scorecard considered 19 House votes and 23 Senate votes, including the clean energy…
Bill Knight: Prosperous nonprofits could help fill public coffers
After another light-hearted April Fools Day and the cheery promise of April showers’ importance to May flowers, the deadline for filing federal income tax returns (April 18 this year) can be a dark day, rekindling people’s resentment about taxes generally,…
Meet the candidates: CW Election Primer looks at 10 candidates for five seats on Peoria City Council
Ten candidates are running for the Peoria City Council’s five at-large seats in the non-partisan election April 4. Under Peoria’s system, voters casting ballots for these races have five votes to cast for the candidates. Voters may choose to cast…
The Watch: COVID Emergency Declaration coming to close; election April 4
Spring cleaning begins with updated contracts, budgets, reports and ordinance tweaks. Your representatives paved the way for a new hotel in Downtown Peoria and bridge projects in the county. And they heard concerns about a proposed CO2 pipeline that could…
West Peoria News: Thanks so much, Sharon, we’ll take over from here
Sharon McBride, a beloved West Peoria figure, has retired from writing this column after three decades. Her contributions to the community through her writing have been invaluable, and her passion for sharing its stories and events was evident in every…
Heat waves in Red & Black: CO2 pipeline for Peoria? Who Benefits?
Wolf/ADM (2022) wants to run a CO2 pipeline through Peoria and Tazewell Counties, route a trunk line to Peoria’s BioUrja ethanol plant, and possibly inject CO2 into the Mt. Simon Basin extending beneath your counties. For an antidote to Wolf/ADM…
Inland Art: Bradley International a remarkable exhibition on display throughout the city
The Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition is the second-longest running juried print and drawing competition in the country. It was established following WWII, where veterans were returning from Europe and the economy was improving. Ernest Freed realized that printmaking…
Nature Rambles: Skunk cabbage a stinky sign we are warming up for spring
March is one of those months that can seem to last forever. It can be a month where a waning winter reawakens, followed by a summer-like day of promise. From a weather perspective, it’s all over the place. The record…
Labor notes: Situation ripe for UAW workers at CAT to strike
A United Auto Workers work stoppage at Caterpillar Inc. is possible March 1, hours after the previous contract expires — the same day the UAW international runoff-election vote count starts — possibly resulting in more leadership changes. Affected are some…
Letter to the editor: Jan. 30, 2023: Martyr’s Day in India
Dr. Mandar Pattekar’s article in the last Community Word gave a good review of how indigenous and ancient traditions have been persecuted and all but wiped out around the world, especially under imperial regimes. The United States allowed slavery to…
Bill Knight: Bird flu and inflation has hatched excuses to jack up egg prices
Consolidating industries are apparently learning from other near-monopolies, and are using pretexts to boost prices — and profits — at the expense of consumers. An ag advocacy group, Farm Action, this winter wrote the Federal Trade Commission asserting that despite…
The Lion’s Den: Afrofuturism — The Final Frontier is only the beginning to a long voyage
When I was a kid, at 4 p.m. every Saturday, I made sure that I was in front of the television to watch one of my favorite shows of all time, Star Trek. So that we’re clear, I’m talking about…
Pleasant Valley schools a home away from home
People of a certain age may hear “Pleasant Valley” and think of the Monkees’ ’60s musical-comedy TV show, but Pleasant Valley School District 62 sees no laughing matter in meeting teaching obstacles some might feel are insurmountable (though it has…
West Peoria News: I bid farewell to make way for April
Two of my favorite days in 2023 appear in March. On March 12th, we will change to Day Light Savings time. (This year it seems to have been darker than other years.) Might just be because I have been stuck…
Arts Alerts: BU Homecoming Concert at St. Mark’s, Jazz Society at Trailside; new shows at Players, Cornstock; Art Guild camp registration open, vintage hats at Historical Society
ART • ArtsPartners of Central Illinois on Jan. 27 announced that Dr. Mae Gilliland Wright has accepted the position of Executive Director of the organization, following Jen Gordon and Suzette Boulais. Executive Director of Big Picture Initiative, the Peoria native…
Straight Talk: Rivermen, Bradley basketball on thin ice at Civic Center
The future of professional hockey in Peoria is being threatened by ASM Global, the people who manage the Peoria Civic Center. The ice-making equipment in the arena is 41 years old and needs to be replaced. That inevitable development was…