A local monthly commenting on acts of war from weeks earlier may seem no longer timely, much less local, but war is always local since family and friends are used, and war is tragically timeless. Plus, many reckless, feckless developments…
Editorial | 2019: A year of hate; 2020: A year redressing hate
Letter to the Editor | And click! I became a feminist
The independent film “The First Rainbow Coalition” was shown by WTVP. It was also screened at ICC, sponsored by Community Word, WTVP-TV, ICC’s Department of Diversity & Community Impact and the West Central Illinois Labor Council. It was a memorable…
OpEd | Proton Beam cancer treatment in Peoria at OSF
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center has filed an application with the Illinois Health Department for licensing to construct and operate a comprehensive cancer center and proton beam radiation facility in Peoria. The center is expected to cost $237 million and…
The Watch | Cemetery and housing reports
There’s a bit of a winter lull for many governmental bodies. Budgets are finished or far off. Meetings are cancelled for holidays or bad weather. Key volunteers are down south for weeks or months at a time. But this is…
Nature Rambles | Low bird counts
Inland Art | African American art in Chicago
“Remember Her, Peoria!”
“Remember Her, Peoria!” is a new art installation designed to bring attention to the number of women and girls murdered and missing in Peoria County. One estimate puts the number at 88 over the past two decades. Opening on Valentine’s…
Art and Justice | Ryan Rashad Reed
Arts Beat | February 2020
Feb. 6: Nick Sizemore. 9 p.m. Tartan Inn. 966-2444. Feb. 6: “Winter Jam 2020,” featuring Christian recording artists crowder, Hillsong Young & Free, Andy Mineo, Building 429, Red, and more. 7 p.m. Civic Center Arena. 673-3200. Feb. 7-8: New Cats…
Where They Stand | Trump Administration policies regarding Israel and Palestine
The U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dated Nov. 21, 2019 objecting to the Trump Administration’s decision declaring Israeli settlements on the West Bank are legal and permanent. The Trump administration decision is…
Reflections From A Baha’i | Uphold human rights by embracing freedoms of belief
When I was a teenager, my family hosted a refugee family from Iran. They had fled persecution, forced to abandoned their homeland because they were members of the Baha’i Faith, the largest minority religion in Iran. Since the faith’s inception…
West Peoria News | Meet a K9 deputy
Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy JR Kester will bring Quincy, his K9 partner, to the Neighborhood Watch meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at City Hall. Deputy Kester will speak about experiences with a canine partner. The West Peoria Book Club…
Serendipity | Mom memories
Something about winter makes me exceedingly sentimental and rather emotionally fragile. It begins around Thanksgiving, escalates through February then starts tapering off, especially if March’s weather is sunny. During those contemplative times, I love going through treasured papers and keepsakes,…
Labor Roundup | February 2020
Some 400 bills, many important to workers remain stalled in the GOP-majority Senate, where right-wing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t schedule them to be heard. Besides the blockade of legislation approved by the House of Representatives or passed out of…
Demeaning stereotypes linked to Illinois’ initial failure to pass ERA
Workforce diversity No. 1 tool for economic growth
Ernestine Jackson has worked for more than four decades in equal employment opportunity; today she is frustrated, even heartbroken, when she looks at the racial composition of Peoria and the racial composition of the city hall workforce and contractors with…
EPA gives OK for more toxic chemical cocktails
Radon “old news,” but threat current
Straight Talk | Goodbye, Louie!
Another year has come and gone. Unfortunately, end of the year means the end of Sterling Family Restaurant. Owner Louie Trilikas announced he was going out of business effective Dec. 30, after more than 30 years serving breakfast, lunch and…
Bill Knight | The late Bob Liter
If still waters run deep, the late Bob Liter’s quiet, pensive demeanor smoking a pipe while editing news stories for the Peoria Journal Star for decades hid a mind roaring with adventure, violence, fun and sex. Liter, who lived in…