It has been a season of cancellations, and sadly I announce the cancellation of the 50th West Peoria Fourth of July parade, ceremony and festivities. Typically, the event attracts hundreds/thousands to our community and involves the efforts of many West…
Labor Roundup | June 2020
Meatpacking plants must remain open despite COVID-19 sickening workers. The virus forced some plants to close, but they reopened under an order from President Trump using the Defense Production Act. Employers haven’t properly safeguarded workers with the tests, protective gear…
Environmental collapse triggers pandemics
Nature is shouting out warnings of pandemic tsunamis barreling down upon us, but repeated warnings are repeatedly ignored. Angelo Capparella listens to frogs for warnings. Jen Walling reads warnings in ongoing dismantling of environmental regulations. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema sees loss…
My Truth
BY LESTER B. MASON My eyes have witnessed many changes throughout the nearly 40 years of being incarcerated in the Illinois prison system. My name is Lester Mason inmate #64349 at Pontiac Prison Facility. I have been granted an opportunity…
Food during the COVID-19 pandemic
BY HENRY BROCKMAN We are in completely uncharted waters as this novel coronavirus sweeps across the globe sickening millions and killing thousands. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warns that this pandemic has disrupted agriculture and food…
Government overstep
Leaders can use crises to push political agendas, some unrelated to the emergency cited, and executive power can expand substantially. That’s true historically, when unilateral changes might have been somewhat logical but still disturbing, from Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus…
10 recent moves leaders claim COVID-19 makes necessary
President Trump refused to reopen enrollment for the Affordable Care Act for the dozens of states where people unemployed because of the pandemic also lost company-provided health insurance. Trump increased anti-drug patrols, saying last month, “This will impact the coronavirus…
The Lion’s Den | Let’s Examine the Wounds
I will admit that it has been somewhat of a challenge to write during this worldwide pandemic. As we continue to adapt to what ultimately may become the new normal, simple survival has taken precedence over most things. Our daily…
Straight Talk | Bel-wood / Heddington Oaks to close
Peoria County’s nursing home, founded in 1848, is closing. County board chairman Andrew Rand and administrator Scott Sorrel made the announcement Friday, April 17. While it was a surprise to most taxpayers, county board members have been quietly evaluating the…
Bill Knight | Trump’s virtual campaign rallies
Sixteen years before Jonathan Swift published “Gulliver’s Travels,” the essayist and clergyman wrote, “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” Now, every afternoon, the world is awash in nonstop nonsense from a mental Lilliputian who sees himself as…
Editorial | Overt voter suppression fails in Wisconsin
A perfect storm of voter suppression in the middle of a global pandemic failed in Wisconsin last month. The Democratic governor tried to postpone the election to a later, safer date –– a move many states had already done. The…
Letter to the Editor | Change and Adapt: Building a new food system for a post COVID-19 world
Well, at least now we know what we fear most in a crisis. Fearing a shortage of eggs perhaps, or cheese filled hot dogs, or logically all of the ingredients needed to prepare your favorite healthy meal might have made…
Letter to the Editor | Victory for Standing Rock
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has revoked the permits for the Dakota Access pipeline pending a full environmental review. DAPL has been an ongoing battle to protect tribal lands and tribal rights to hunt, fish and participate in traditional ceremonies.…
OpEd | CAFOs — the ideal disease incubators
BY KAREN HUDSON It has long been known that animals and humans readily trade disease by “species jumping” in a process called zoonosis. Zoonotic diseases are caused by harmful germs like viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. Zoonotic diseases are very…
Peorian Betty Friedan and TV “Mrs. America”
BY ELAINE HOPKINS A new television series, “Mrs. America,” explores the people involved in the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a battle that continues to this day. The series streams on Wednesdays on Hulu. The…
The Watch | Public meetings during the pandemic
At every government level — from Washington D.C. to Springfield to Peoria — COVID-19 is changing the subject, the format and the outcome of public meetings. When the Peoria County Board held its March 12 meeting, for example, Chairman Andrew…
Nature Rambles | Solace in nature
During this unprecedented time, when everything we seem to know is turned upside down, there are still many steadfast harbingers of reality in the natural world. The chorus of Robins and Cardinals still begin at daybreak even if we are…
Inland Art | John Phillips
John Phillips began painting in earnest about the time that the medium was relinquishing its preeminent avant-garde station, leaving painters with the task of buttressing and re-defining the practice. Its formal contours had been turned inside out or neglected in…
Art: What is it Good For? | Healing joy
As we write this column, we are in our fourth week of shelter-in-place, and the news headlines are filled with the death toll, the failing economy and the total disarray of life as we knew it. A steady diet of…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | The Partially Effective and Safe COVID-19 Drug
There is a safe, long-standing drug that is showing success with septic shock, a serious infection that causes our immune systems to go haywire. This is timely because sepsis can be complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the same…
Real Talk | How I’m managing “sheltering in place”
The experience of sheltering in place for someone living alone is different than it is for those who live with a spouse, significant other and/or children. Without distractions you do one of two things; you worry excessively or you pray…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | True nature of things (Swabhava)
During adversity, a person’s true nature (Swa- self, bhaava- essence) gets exposed. In normalcy, many of us take on covering to fool others and sometimes ourselves. We take on roles to fit into what we believe is expected from us…