Anastasia Samoylova has made quite a splash in the international photography scene since leaving Peoria and relocating to Miami Beach. A book of her eerily serene yet troubling photographs titled FloodZone (Steidl, 2019) depicts a beautiful but unsettling vision of…
ART Distinctive creations by the late Brian Kjellenberg are on exhibit now through April 8 in the Hartmann Gallery at Bradley University. Titled “Playful Nostalgia,” the show by the award-winning area artist, who worked with students at BU’s Sculpture Lab,…
Plans, meetings and efforts are underway for West Peoria’s big 50th Fourth of July event. For you who have participated in the past and newcomers to our community, this is a large opportunity to show the many outsiders that West…
Concerning behavioral response to cards and papers, genetics doesn’t necessarily determine whether someone is a saver, a read it and toss it, or creative blend of both. I don’t know if one inherits such traits, or if they just happen,…
Illinois unions active last month: The IBEW won a 25-7 vote to represent Intralot lottery-machine techs in Bolingbrook; Operating Engineers are organizing parts engineers at Alta construction equipment in Ottawa and Spring Grove; SAG-AFTRA is organizing journalists at Univision’s WGBO-TV…
The young students sat mesmerized in the gymnasium of Peoria Academy as they watched puppets prance around a pop-up stage during a performance of “Peter and the Wolf” last November. Behind — and beneath — the scenes, six women of…
The Peoria Symphony Orchestra made history Nov. 20th with a world premier during “HerStory: A Musical Tribute to Betty Friedan” at the Civic Center Theater. Manhattan-based Composer-in-Residence Stephanie Ann Boyd composed the score in tribute to the feminist icon from…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Toxic Release Inventory shows companies’ data on industrial waste last year, and of all of Peoria’s zip codes, four have businesses that say they released between 12.6 tons to six pounds. Metro Peoria has…
Ninety-nine years means a lot of stories for a reporter. Officially, Theo Jean Kenyon’s career spanned World War II and the first Obama Administration. Elegantly dressed and coiffed, she covered Peoria — from advisory committees to zoning commissions — working…
“I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social change wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera,” Gordon Parks. These are the words of Gordon Parks,…
In a letter to employees and a news release to the media, Unity Point Health CEO and President Clay Holderman, announced that the Iowa-based health system had entered into discussions with officials at Carle Health that could see Peoria’s Methodist…
In the spring of 1996 Kent Redfield was a 47-year-old political science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he wrote a report for the Illinois Campaign Finance Project (ICPR) outlining dozens of ways to change how candidates raise…
A new year presents us with many possibilities. And it’s a perfect time to turn over a new leaf, which is exactly what we’re doing at the Community Word. The esteemed Clare Howard has handed off her handle on the…
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Dec. 1st in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, to decide whether Mississippi’s law making most abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy constitutes an undue burden on the right to abortion established in…
Peoria City Council wrestled with its 2022-2023 biennial budget — and each other — during special meetings this fall. On Oct. 26: Peoria Township officials asked for a tax increase, but didn’t get it. City Manager Patrick Urich said recovery…
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Rebuild Illinois will provide almost $7 million to airports in central Illinois. General Wayne A. Downing — Peoria International Airport will receive $2.8 million in federal money and another $900,000 from the state…
The Lincoln Branch Library marked its 10th anniversary of its expansion and renovation. The addition in 2010 to Peoria’s only Andrew Carnegie library expanded the South Side space from 4,570 to 16,300 square feet with a modern extension to the…
Eureka College is expanding its tuition-free program to qualified students for four years. The Uniquely Eureka Promise Program, which was originally offered to transfer students, is now available to students from all over the state of Illinois, and gives them…
I heard a true story from Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell a while ago that sticks with me to this day. He told a story to a group about a man who was in the county jail. This person was…
Iranian-born painter Shahrbanoo Hamzeh moved to the United States in 2018 as a graduate student and completed an MFA in Painting from Illinois State University in the spring of 2021. Since graduation, the artist has continued to expand upon a…
ART Examples of the drawings of the renowned Mauricio Lasansky will be displayed in the Heuser Gallery at Bradley University starting Jan. 19. From the university’s collection, the exhibit will run through March 18. CINEMA In limited theatrical release starting…
No. Just as it was impossible to stitch together an economy with half-slave, half-free labor, a half-nuke and half-renewable energy house is equally impossible. Nuclear and renewable power are irreconcilably incompatible. Yet, the General Assembly and Governor’s 2021 Clean Energy…
