The Watch | No secret City wants to stop violence
Farewell to elections expert Tom Bride, who should get a patience award for months of listening to misinformed citizens gripe about voter fraud. Peoria City Council On June 28, Mayor Rita Ali presented an overview of Safety Network’s efforts to…
Labor roundup | Peoria Public Schools negotiations messy
Bargaining between teachers and Peoria Public Schools broke down last month, as the Peoria Federation of Teachers ended negotiations with District 150 by requesting federal mediation. “The PFT is pushing proposals that will better the school district and better the…
What are the odds this is COVID-iocy? New BA.5 variant may be most contagious as diligence in fight wanes
What’s worse than being sick and tired is being dead. It’s OK to be curious or concerned about monkeypox, an emergency. But it’s far less contagious than COVID-19 (only about 12,000 monkeypox cases have been reported, and no deaths). And…
The Lion’s Den: Art imitating life as life imitates art like a Mockingbird
I made a trip to the Mississippi Delta last month. During the seven-hour drive, I had the opportunity to listen to the story of Anthony Ray Hinton on the radio. Anthony Ray Hinton was a Black man falsely accused of…
Straight Talk: Under lights, City gets it right; School Board in wrong fight
Give credit to the majority members of the Peoria City Council. As we reported last month, members blocked an alleged effort by Mayor Rita Ali and City Manager Patrick Urich to quietly slip under the radar screen a payment of…
Dash of devotion
The free meals at the South Side Mission feed poor souls every day. But what’s been cooking in the kitchen nourishes the hearts and minds of a ministry of culinary artists. Chef Chris Franzoni has been devoted to teaching aspiring…
Have a beer, and a smile
No matter the job, sometimes you know: “I want a beer.” Beer’s not therapeutic or medicinal, of course (although maybe there’s some study that Ivermectin taken daily with a case of beer reduces awareness of strokes). I’m no expert (you’re…
Magic of brewing = alchemy of beer
Novelist Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and at a time when we marvel at images from the James Webb space telescope, much less cryptocurrency, it’s understandable to take for granted how beer is…
Real Talk | Peorians: Prepare for victory
Bearing witness to many of our challenges as of late, Peoria seems to be at a crossroads. A hot topic polarizing our community as of late is community crime and violence. Peoria is pushing records in shooting deaths per capita…
The Lion’s Den | U.S. Colored Troops true American heroes from front to back
The film “Glory” tells the story of the all-Black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in the northern states during the Civil War. What is not…
Straight Talk | Chaos, conflict in River City? Plus, anyone see Mike Pence?
Are you old enough to remember the song, “Ya Got Trouble (right in the River City),” from “The Music Man”? Robert Preston sings, “Friend, either you’re closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge or you…
Peoria County Courthouse briefs
Judge rules County must use outside counsel in Thomas case Judge James Mack on June 27 granted a motion to disqualify the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s office from representing the County Board in County Auditor Jessica Thomas’ lawsuit because the…
IDOT study: Train service to Peoria feasible
Passenger train service could return to Peoria, according to a 60-page feasibility study from the Illinois Department of Transportation released on July 21. The Peoria-to-Joliet route, with four stops between, is estimated to cost $2.54 billion, and the project could…
Editorial | COVID is far from over, cuz, no matter how we’re living
I had to attend a funeral recently even though the guest of honor was not one of my favorite people. News of his death shook me up even less than hearing Roger Ailes had died. In 30 seconds I slipped…
OpEd | ‘Fight the Bite’ of West Nile Virus
By DIANA SCOTT In Public Health we’ve talked a lot about different infections the past few years, but not much about West Nile virus (WNV). With summer still here in central Illinois, we now have WNV in mosquitoes and the…
In Trouble, 1960’s
Sometimes girls got in trouble. Nancy took to the trampoline every lunch hour Slapping herself down in a full frontal flop. We all knew What she was trying to do. Peggy stayed in high school Until she was asked to…
Survey shows surge in mental health issues around the Peoria area
Mental health problems are on the rise in the Tri-County area. According to the 2022 Community Needs Health Assessment survey, the percentage of people describing their overall mental health status as “good” fell 73% in the past six years, while…
Environmental News & Notes | Supreme Court limit on EPA tied lobbying
Among several controversial rulings this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 restricted the federal government from regulating carbon emissions from power plants. However, Illinois may not be affected much because of state statutes, especially the Clean Energy Jobs…
Bill Knight | ‘Embers’ ignites career in comics
Kevin Knox is a 57-year-old Peorian working as an engineer for Caterpillar, and he’s been a writer whose literary fiction has been published in small magazines such as Fear & Trembling, Haruah, and Bewildering Stories. And now, in a comic…