“Normal” is not quite the right word. But a new reality is taking shape for local governments in 2020. On July 28, Peoria City Council mulled changes to the 2020-2021 budget in the wake of COVID-19. Staff was directed to…
Inland Art | Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman
Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman have been collaborating on and experimenting with visual culture for 40 years from their studios in Chicago and Milwaukee. While recognized originally for critiquing the artworld’s male-centric art institutions and subjects (a reality that still…
Art: What is it Good For? | Giving Voice
In May of 2018, we started our 501(c)(3) Big Picture Initiative with a 1,650 square foot portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the Peoria County Courthouse. We assumed the monumental task of creating something even bigger and more powerful would be…
Groundswell of interest: Learning to be anti-racist
Last month, Community Word spoke with Jessica Stephenson, owner of the independent bookstore Lit on Fire on Main Street. This month, Mary Beth Nebel, owner of the independent bookstore I Know You Like a Book on Prospect Road in Peoria…
Reflections From A Secular Humanist | A Secular Humanist’s View of Happiness
Are new insights the result of thoughtfulness or impulsiveness? At the end of your life would you rather have achieved maximum happiness or maximum productivity? What causes and sustains your happiness? How much does your happiness add or detract from…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | How not to treat heat stroke during an intense heat wave
I know three people who collapsed from heat stroke. Doctors told frantic parents of two kids to immerse them in a cold-water bath. The third, a high school runner who collapsed during a race, attended a school where the athletics…
Labor Roundup | September 2020
Civil-rights, labor groups demand Senate pass HEROES Act. The New Poor People’s Campaign flooded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office with calls on Aug. 3, demanding he let lawmakers pass the HEROES Act to aid the poor and workers nationwide,…
West Peoria News | Township dissolving
West Peoria Township is in the legal process of discontinuing/abolishing the township with all rights, powers, duties, assets, property, liabilities, obligations and responsibilities of the township being transferred to the City of West Peoria. This is beneficial to the citizens…
Serendipity | Lessons Learned
Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, many of my classmates were from large families. Knowing nothing about living with multiple siblings, my sister is nearly 9 years older, I thought having lots of live-in playmates would be delightful. I…
Economics 101: Racism damages Peoria’s economy
Larry Ivory knows social and economic inequality can be measured and traced throughout American history. It’s an anchor that weighs down the American capitalist economy and is a valve threatening to explode under pressure. Ivory, president and CEO of the…
Guns and cookies
George Floyd’s death touched off a racial justice movement across the country, and in Peoria, a Journal Star newspaper carrier feels the impact with notes of appreciation, cookies and gun threats. When Geoffrey Landrum started his job in March delivering…
Live music slowly starts to rebound
Remembering music from the ’60s, one wonders when the pandemic will ease enough to move from “The Sounds of Silence” to “I Can Hear Music.” Live music is often a sidelight to fans or local musicians, but for others it’s…
Icons of justice pass the baton to all of us and tell us to pick it up and run
The deaths of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian left a legacy but also a responsibility for the rest of us to carry on the work of moving America toward its ideals and away from its blood-soaked history. Reprinted with permission…
The Lion’s Den | It Continues to Play In Peoria
The City of Peoria became the center of attention in a recent New York Times article titled “The City that Once Guided a Nation Now Shows its Cracks.” The article focused on the looting that took place in the City…
Straight Talk | Dozer Park: A quiet place
The COVID 19 pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of our lives, including sports from tennis to football, basketball and baseball. We miss it. Do you realize there hasn’t been but one sporting event at Dozer Park since Sept. 5…
Bill Knight | World-class art at Peoria Riverfront Museum
It’s a relief to return to the reopened Peoria Riverfront Museum and to roam its galleries –– especially to revel in world-class art, some with local ties. Installed during the months-long pandemic shutdown, new exhibits presented through Sept. 5 are…
Editorial | Anti-Racism
Racism and anti-racism do not come with on-off switches. Anti-racism is a continual learning process. It requires practice. Everyday offers unique opportunities to learn, understand and embody anti-racist thought and practice. Mistakes happen. Nothing along this journey will be perfect,…
Letter to the Editor | How can we sustainably feed the world’s population?
The answer is to turn to regenerative farming. Perhaps you have not heard of regenerative farming. Most of the farming done today, particularly in the United States, is conventional farming/factory farming. Government incentives and our current industrial food complex result…
Letter to the Editor | Don’t point to me to disprove “white privilege” – it exists
I was given a 30-year sentence and fined over $200,000 for nonviolent cannabis offenses. I was a young, white male, hauled off to prison to serve nearly 15 years before being released. I am currently at Stanford University, making use…
Letter to the Editor | Pandemic Safety Measure: Request Ballot to Vote by Mail
To help voters prepare for the upcoming General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria is encouraging all registered voters to request a vote by mail ballot for the Nov. 3 election. We fully agree with the words…