Real Talk | Deep state or deep six

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. As we go through another saga with the most corrupt administration in this…

Illinois Art League Holiday Market

The Illinois Art League is presenting its annual holiday market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 2 at The Warehouse on State, 736 SW Washington St. next to Thyme Restaurant. Featured will be the original works of more than…

ArtsBeat | November 2019

Nov. 7 – 8: Bradley University Midwest Women Artists Symposium: Champions of the Environment. Free and open to the public. Nov. 7: 5 p.m., Karen McCoy, keynote “Art in the Age of Planetary Distress,” Caterpillar Global Communications Center. Nov. 8:…

Nature Rambles | Survival by degrees

Last month, I discussed a recent study published in Science Magazine concerning the real threat to migratory birds being posed by the increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Unfortunately, birders throughout Illinois are still experiencing a lack of birds. I just…

Serendipity | Sister’s birthday

Sibling rivalry was not an issue for me when I was growing up. Not that I was so angelic that I skipped it, but there are 8.5 years between my older sister and me. When I started kindergarten, she was…

Peoria RiverFront Holiday Market

The Thanksgiving Peoria RiverFront holiday market will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 23 in Dozer Park, 730 SW Jefferson. Vendors will be selling local produce, baked goods, holiday fare and more. Several years ago, one Central Illinois…

Labor Roundup | November 2019

Illinois-based Railway Workers United urges united front. A rank-and-file group spanning all rail crafts, unions and carriers is petitioning leaders of all 13 U.S. rail unions to coordinate bargaining as a united front in the next round of talks with…

Storms and “Killer Heat” loom, challenging globe

Storm

Schaer’s Country Market’s self-pick strawberries didn’t open its fields this summer. Too cold. Too wet. Planting was late. Bath’s 14th Annual Redneck Fishing Tournament was canceled. Too cold, too wet, too long. Even for people who think stalking slimy Asian…

The Watch | Observers of local government

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…

Nature Rambles | Silent Autumn

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…

Real Talk | Post fear of prior trauma

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…

Inland Art | Jonathan Higgins

Inland Art

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…

Arts Beat | October 2019

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…