The United States Supreme Court in October heard oral arguments in three cases concerning employment discrimination against gay or transgender workers. In one, a county employee in Georgia was fired after joining a gay recreational softball league for “conduct unbecoming…
Nature Rambles | The return of the Pileated Woodpecker
As 2019 draws to a close, folks who are birdwatchers tend to avoid cabin fever by getting out and conducting the annual Christmas Bird Counts. This year marks the 120th year of National Audubon’s CBC. As I was preparing information…
Inland Art | Inside the Matrix: The Radical Designs of Ken Isaacs
In the fall of 1983, I co-organized a summer program at the Oxbow Artists Residency in Saugatuck, Mich., a historic center with old ties to the Chicago art community. My partner was Ken Isaacs, an architect and professor at the…
Art: What is it Good For? | Peoria’s newest sculpture gallery is coming this spring
A walk in the park is going to get more interesting this spring. On Nov. 20, by a unanimous vote, the Peoria Park Board accepted the executive staff recommendation to allow a three-year outdoor sculpture walk development in Donovan Park.…
Arts Beat | January 2020
Jan. 1 and each Tuesday: John Miller and Preston Jackson. 7 p.m. Broken Tree Coffee. 648-1439. Jan. 4: Jeremy David Baker and Nick Sizemore Take Over Sullivan’s. 8:30 p.m. W. E. Sullivan’s. 839-8097. Jan. 10: Daniel Watkins and Brett Conlin…
Where They Stand | Conviction Integrity Units
Community Word asked Jodi Hoos (pictured on right) and Christopher McCall (pictured on left) for a brief statement on their positions regarding establishment of a conviction integrity unit within the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s office. CIUs are set up to…
Real Talk | The problem with the Feminist Movement
Black and white women have always held different perspectives around the right to vote. For white women, it was a symbol of parity with their husbands and brothers. For Black women, the ballot box was a means of empowering Black…
The Watch | Politics 2020
Despite a shiny new year — new decade even! — many of us despair at the prospect of Election Year 2020. Don’t give up just yet. Ask and you may receive, even from your elected officials. For example, Jim and…
Downstate Story releases 2019 edition
Peoria’s only literary magazine for fiction, Downstate Story, just released its 2019 edition. It is now published only on the web at www.downstatestory.com. Writers in this issue include: Loren Logsdon of Eureka, IL; Marie Anderson of Western Springs, IL; Duke…
The Lion’s Den | Part II African American Education: Post Civil War
Following the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery, America faced many challenges, including the significant loss of free labor and a social stratification system thrown into turmoil. Primary among these challenges was how to address the…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Detachment
My new year’s resolution for 2020 is to internalize the principle of detachment. Over the years, as we meander along the path of self-realization, attachment to people, material things, achievements and identity have been a heavy ball and chain around…
Reflections From A Baha’i | A Brief History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948, was motivated by the horrors of the Second World War. With the end of that war, and the creation of the United…
West Peoria News | New appointments, State of City address, LED lights
Longtime West Peoria Township Trustee James Flynn resigned from the town board recently due to poor health. He served his constituents well and with great concern. In December, Sue Roos was chosen to replace Mr. Flynn. Sue has been an…
Labor Roundup | January 2020
So-called “new NAFTA” moves closer to passage. The controversial U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Mid-December gained enough support from House Democrats and organized labor to set it up for ratification in coming weeks. The trade pact would replace the 25-year-old North…
Serendipity | Kindness and courage
Bravery isn’t present only on battlefields, although incredible examples of courage and valor happen there, and in the middle of emergencies. Other times it occurs quietly, or maybe awkwardly as someone tries putting one foot in front of the other…
Victim dies after accident last year at Journal Star
Larry Helle, 61, died Nov. 23 following nearly a year of ongoing health complications caused by a forklift accident at the Journal Star where he worked. He underwent numerous operations and treatments following the accident that resulted in amputation of…
New documentary “Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm” forewarns of global havoc
For Henry Brockman, farming is hard manual labor, rigorous scholarship, original research, ethics, poetry and a clarion call that climate change is crashing into our world. For more than a quarter of a century, there was a rhythmic progression of…
“Alarming rate” of soil erosion and nutrient runoff
Six environmental organizations reviewed an agricultural pollution report issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and sounded an alarm. Illinois is more than “200 years from reaching nutrient pollution reduction goals,” the group’s report stated. The report “confirms long-held concerns…
Newspaper merger means more layoffs, less journalism, “just morally wrong”
The Journal Star will not enhance coverage of the Peoria City Council, Dunlap schools, East Peoria police or the Illinois Legislature in Springfield following the merger of Gannett and PJS owner GateHouse Media. In fact, it has been widely reported…
Coal-fired Edwards plant to close but nationwide air pollution rising
Robin Nolting felt a jumble of emotions when U.S. Federal Judge Joe Billy McDade announced in court that he will accept a compromise agreement in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against Vistra Energy calling for the closure of the…
60% of Superfund sites at risk from climate change
Nearly 950 toxic Superfund sites, many lining Lake Michigan near Chicago, are in danger of inundation by rising sea levels and storm surges due to climate change, according to a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan…