Now that we have entered into 2021, we know that there are vaccines available to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, there is skepticism surrounding the vaccines’ rollout, particularly among groups of color. This skepticism stems from a long history…
Straight Talk | Weaver out for mayor, but why?
State Senator Chuck Weaver months ago announced he was not going to seek re-election. A regular guest on our morning show on FM 90.7, Weaver said he had other options to explore in which he could serve the public. Some…
Bill Knight | ‘The big get bigger, and the small will go out’
Winter’s when farmers and farm communities think, plan and remember. In the cold of 2021, who’ll recall Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, in 2019 inadvertently conceding at a World Dairy Expo, “In America, the big get bigger, and the small will…
Editorial | Climate racism, food insecurity, election falsehoods, anti-vaxxers
The Watch | Local taxes in 2021
The dreadful 2020 is over. The dreadful pandemic is not. And the dreaded bills keep coming in. On Nov. 10, Peoria City Council members wrestled with some truly appalling numbers. In part, that’s because the 2021 budget anticipated passage of…
Nature Rambles | The Sounds of Silence
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | A lesson from the Tribals in western India
Last month, I had the good fortune of surviving a stroke. Although it is devastating at any age, it was especially hard at the age of 50. After spending the first week in the hospital pondering “why me?” I came…
UnityPoint Health increases minimum pay
The minimum hourly pay rate at UnityPoint Health is increasing to $15 an hour in January in a move that will impact 33% of the health system’s 30,000 employees. “Our feet are firmly rooted in our mission — to improve…
Inland Art | Oscar Gillespie
Art: What is it Good For? | Painting Peoria
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Reasons for a Dividend-Based Carbon Tax – Part 2: Sea Level Rise
Real Talk | Linking a broken system to slavery and Jim Crow
What is justice in a country that considers its same justice to be blind? At 4 a.m., I lay awake thinking about the “20/20” episode I had viewed on television about Breonna Taylor who was shot to death by police…
West Peoria News | State of the City
The State of the City address, sponsored by the West Peoria Residents Association and featuring Mayor James Dillon and City Administrator Kinga Krider, will be 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21. It could be canceled due to COVID-19 mitigation rules. Check…
Serendipity | Remembering When
Children and teenagers love looking ahead and speculating about new freedoms awaiting them. They consider each different one a sign they’re growing up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean maturity and ability to make wise choices are imminent. It’s a gradual…
Labor Roundup | January 2021
Illinois nursing-home workers settle strike. A tentative agreement between Infinity Healthcare Management and its nursing-home workers was reached Dec. 4 after about 700 employees went on strike for almost two weeks, according to Service Employees International Healthcare Illinois which represents…
Holiday Bounty
Native Americans and Indigenous People: A Global Perspective
BY ANGELA WECK As we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States, school children are taught that the early settlers from England were welcomed by the native inhabitants they encountered in the New World. Students learn that the Indians, misidentified by…
New community GED class about eliminating hurdles
Stay at home orders pointless for the homeless
No oxygen in lungs of the world
COVID-19 is roiling every corner of the globe, even in the most remote regions of the Amazon. Indigenous people there, in the United States and other countries are particularly hard hit by COVID. Inequality is a COVID super spreader. International…
The Lion’s Den | Autopsy of an election
Now that the 2020 presidential election is over, it’s time to do an autopsy. What did we learn? We learned that nearly 160 million Americans voted in this year’s presidential election as of this writing. Clearly, people felt that a…
Bill Knight | Trump’s lame-duck tantrums
With 31 days in December and 20 days in January before the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, many of us are holding our breath. It’s unclear how outgoing President Trump will react. He…