Where They Stand | Conviction Integrity Units

McCall Hoos

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…

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…

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…

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…

“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…

Straight Talk | What’s going on with media?

On Thursday, Nov. 7, 23-year-old Tyshan Gayton exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officials not far from the Glen Oak Learning Center and then fled to a house on Briarwood. Police rushed to the area of 2300 North Knoxville followed by…

Bill Knight | Health-care costs

Decades ago, I edited a weekly newspaper owned by a record chain whose owner was mulling over providing health-insurance coverage to full-time workers when in a matter of weeks I had to go to emergency rooms. I’d seriously injured my…