Editorial | Anti-Racism

S.A. Shepler (c) 2020 Community Word

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,…

Real Talk | The Institutional Power of Whiteness

It’s been interesting listening to, and often participating in the debate between Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter folk. Patrice Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi are the three African American women who founded Black Lives Matter in 2013…

The Watch | Technical difficulties

Zoom and its cohorts enable groups and governments to meet despite COVID-19. But virtual meetings are not the same — what is? — and can be difficult, at best. Springdale Cemetery Management Authority, for example, didn’t meet in March, April…

Nature Rambles | Funding a Legacy

Chimney Swift nest

Are we at our “new normal” yet? In the age of COVID-19, that “new normal” seems to be an ever changing and fleeting reality. Many people have turned to the natural world as a place of stability, solace and escape,…

Inland Art | Rosalyn Schwartz

Rosalyn Schwartz painting

Rosalyn Schwartz’s most recent work stems from an appraisal of avant-gardism and the shallow consensus about the status of studio art and contemplative art in general. She responds by addressing critical forms and subjects that question the nature of beauty…

Peoria public housing: Concentration camp/safety

Indignation was heated over action the Peoria Housing Authority took at Taft Homes over the July Fourth weekend. PHA implemented measures again this year similar to those followed for almost a decade, but this year advance notification inadvertently did not…

Serendipity | Grateful memories

Father Tom Kelly was a humble man, wanting to encourage people in their relationships with God and others. Born in Peoria in 1930, he graduated from Spalding Institute and later was ordained a Catholic priest in 1956. He served as…

West Peoria News | Storm cleanup

This Fourth of July was very different in West Peoria with no parade or family and neighborhood celebrations. The many visitors to our community were missing. Some families have three generations who normally celebrate with us. In 2021, we will…

Labor Roundup | August 2020

Latino groups, AFL-CIO hail Supreme Court’s pro-DACA decision. The U.S. Supreme Court in June legalized the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and rejected GOP President Donald Trump’s long campaign to end DACA and deport its 700,000 recipients…

Post Office under siege

USPS

Affordable, reliable, universal mail delivery could vanish as the United States Postal Service runs out of money this month, the American Postal Workers Union says. That’s tragic at a time when the nation is divided and the U.S. Postal Service…

How does the Post Office operate financially?

Operating without tax dollars for decades, relying on the sale of products and service, USPS delivers almost half of the world’s mail, including millions of packages for UPS and FedEx. Bob Gunter, president of the American Postal Workers Union’s Heart…

Fermented food: A magic bullet?

Joe Zich

Joe Zich wants to feed your gut. Fermented foods are his passion. He has parlayed his personal passion into a small, part-time business called 309 Cultures that includes a line of kimchi and sauerkraut. Zich, 28, said when he started…