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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Trudging toward spring, one item at a time. Peoria City Council Council met Jan. 10 with public hearing to annex 9601 N. Allen Road. Ron Holohan, Treasurer of Dunlap Library Board spoke to concerns regarding Peoria annexation of property parcels…
More than 91% of employees at the Peoria Public Library are living “paycheck to paycheck,” according to a survey of staff this winter. What’s arguably worse for them — and maybe embarrassing for the City of Peoria and taxpayers –…
“This second exhibited selection of work from the collection of John and Jeff Heintzman brings together meditative, spiritual and playful qualities of the gesture, marks made and accentuated by the artist’s hand. These works not only perpetuate the impulse to…
I have been threatening to break up with a bad girlfriend for years. She takes more than she gives, hurts people with impunity and has little empathy for those she maims or kills. Our years together have been thrilling. Once…
Recently we visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in New Mexico near Albuquerque and perused the exhibition on the Ancient Puebloan culture and history. We learned about the massive destruction of the Native Americans by successive waves of colonizing nations…
