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
We now live in the era of “alternative facts,” a term coined by Trump supporter Kellyanne Conway to try to justify lies. Predictably, “alternative facts” invariably favor wealthy, secure, privileged people who fail to recognize the limits of their own…
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
It can really be hard to be optimistic during a global pandemic that has stretched on for over nine months. However, as I’ve written in previous columns, we continue to see people taking the opportunity to take this time to…
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
Oscar Gillespie is the consummate picture maker. He’s recognized as one of the most inventive and technically fluent artists in academia, a leader in the discipline of engraving in which he’s exhibited and conducted workshops for over 30 years. One…
Art: What is it Good For? | Painting Peoria
Challenging times require innovative solutions and the COVID-19 pandemic forced educators across the country to find new ways to be effective teachers. Art & Design Professor Heather Brammeier at Bradley University was one of those teachers. With students enrolled in…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Reasons for a Dividend-Based Carbon Tax – Part 2: Sea Level Rise
Why a dividend-based carbon tax? Because of spectacular, fossil-fueled increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide spell great danger. CO2 emissions, Englander notes, are “increasing 55 times faster than anytime over the last 500 million years.” Fossil-fueled emissions exploded after World War…
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
Lucy, Susannah and Laura Poeppel picked this seasonal produce on their parents’ organic farm outside Chillicothe. Lucy said the beauty of the farm sometimes creates “a spiritual moment.” Visit their website at broadbranchfarm.com. Check this listing for other farms in…
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
A young, single mother who works at a local hospital was offered a total scholarship for CNA classes and a nursing job after graduation. She couldn’t accept the scholarship and start CNA classes because she doesn’t have a high school…
Stay at home orders pointless for the homeless
As cold weather returns and an annual estimate of homelessness looms next month, advocates for the homeless are preparing for winter –– amid a worsening pandemic. Meanwhile, the state’s health department in November issued new recommendations urging Illinoisans to stay…
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…
Straight Talk | The race for Peoria mayor
The contest for Peoria mayor has taken more turns than a Central American road race. We’ve known for weeks who’s in, while rumors circulated about others interested, but undecided. Most local political, civic, and business leaders were unimpressed with the…
Bipartisan coalition slams USDA order to cut Food Stamps to vulnerable seniors
Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation joined in bipartisan opposition to an executive order by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue to end SNAP benefits for seniors and the disabled living in supportive living facilities. In Peoria, these SLF…