The corporate owner of the Journal Star has agreed to a $1.5 billion acquisition of Gannett, owner of USA Today as well as 100 dailies and over 1,000 weeklies. The merger is financed with a five-year loan at 11.5 percent,…
BY EMILY R. GILL, Caterpillar Professor of Political Science Emerita, Bradley University In recent years, many religious individuals and organizations in the United States have displayed increasing concern about their ability to exercise their religious beliefs freely. Some of this…
At opposite ends of the room — and the issue — two county board members snorted like bulls prepared to charge. They yelled. They pounded their fists on the table. They locked horns verbally, if not physically. You think watching…
As summer wanes, a September harvest moon rises over the eastern horizon on a beautiful Friday the 13th. The winds have turned, and come from the northwest, bringing in cool breezes. During this time of year, under these conditions, birders…
How does trauma impact our lives? How do we get over fear that events that harmed us in the past now play on the anxiety over our future? With my daily interactions with people, there is so much pain that…
Jonathan Higgins, artist and master printmaker and his wife printmaker Sarah Smelser have owned Manneken Press in Bloomington, Illinois, for 17 years. The press was founded in 2000 in Morgantown, W.Va., as an independent press where Sarah landed her first…
Oct. 5: 7th Annual Fox Fall Fest. 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Fox Pub and Café. 692-3693. Oct. 8: USAF Band of Mid-America in concert. 7 p.m. Five Points Washington. 444-8222. Oct. 11: Harlan, Meister, & Mitts. 7 p.m. at the Hungry…
Dive into a dynamic cultural experience at The Romain Arts & Culture Center (formerly known as Greeley School) with a very special tribute to the life of Glen Barton! This inaugural evening of cocktails, authentic Mexican cuisine, silent & live…
I am an optimist. I sincerely believe that if every human felt a bond with another, we may be able to overcome greed, lust for power, and insecurities and end all wars and resultant carnages. The more things we have…
On Oct. 29, during the Illinois legislature’s “Veto Session,” Faith in Place and Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition will bring citizen lobbyists to Springfield from all over the state. These concerned citizens will talk with legislators and petition the governor for…
With a new Illinois recreational cannabis law taking effect Jan. 1, city leaders want to know what you think of the legalization of cannabis. Go to City Hall 5:30 p.m. Oct. 8 to learn how this could affect our community…
Something about October stirs up countless memories and nostalgic feelings. The season is changing dramatically and beautifully, and pictures of couples enjoying Homecoming and other fall events pop up on Facebook. Sometimes memories are accompanied by smiles or laughter, or…
Union-backed anti-racism demo links white supremacy, Trump. The Teachers, Service Employees, the AFL-CIO and Labor’s Council for Latin American Advancement all backed hundreds of protesters outside the White House after mass murders in El Paso and Dayton. Demonstrators vowed to…
It was a slap in the face but no shock when Texas-based Vistra Energy announced its closing of somewhat modernized coal-burning power plants near Canton, Coffeen, Havana and Hennepin, Ill., to meet terms of a deal negotiated with the state,…
People already in various medical facilities and the health professionals helping them have a new threat: a fungus named Candida auris (C. auris) that’s developed resistance to multiple drugs and is killing tens of thousands in the United States and…
For a number of years, Judge James Shadid has conducted naturalization ceremonies in Peoria swearing in new citizens. These immigrants have come from dozens of countries around the world. With the current turmoil, uncertainty and misinformation about immigration, Judge Shadid’s…
Mike Contratto is a former military man. He’s from a military family and grew up on a military base. He’s a West Point graduate, and he’ll admonish anyone who calls him an environmental activist. He says he’s “not an activist,…
As Congress returns from the August break to Washington, there is an urgency to seriously protect innocent, law-abiding citizens from those who are mentally ill or just simply intent on killing fellow citizens. New laws that significantly fund mental health…
As the various county departments are busy preparing budgets for 2020, there are other challenges in the Courthouse. The County Board appropriately approved the recommendations of chairman Andrew Rand to fill the vacancies created with the deaths of State’s Attorney…
Three years ago, I went to an interfaith meeting at Peoria’s Islamic Foundation, where an evangelical pastor, a Presbyterian minister and elected officials all spoke on Americans’ freedom to worship, and apart from all of their insightful words, the turnout…
Support for universal basic human rights should be an easy position to defend and promote. Support for Palestinian basic human rights apparently is not. Palestinian human rights cannot honestly be conflated with anti-Semitism, but that’s precisely what’s happening. The Boycott,…
