As I think about the challenges we face across the country from neighborhood to neighborhood and block to block, there’s one thing that permeates these communities with deadly consequences. It is not as obvious as you might think either. If…
You are encouraged to attend the 19th annual West Peoria Night Out Against Crime 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 5 at Franciscan Park. The evening includes the Peoria County Sheriff’s Posse, Bearcat Armored vehicle, firefighting equipment, Boy Scout Troop…
The sixth annual Family Vacation includes seven children, ages 6 to three 13-year-olds. Eight adults are in the lead only slightly, although the children don’t seem to notice they’re outnumbered. Likely because they realize they are outranked, whatever our numbers.…
Wayfair workers walk out over company furnishing border camps. Hundreds of employees of the online home-goods company Wayfair in June walked out to protest its involvement in furnishing border camps. Workers at the firm’s Boston headquarters demanded Wayfair stop furnishing…
Andy Diaz travels the world as an account sales manager at Caterpillar Inc., but back home in Peoria he grows corn, tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, zucchini and strong community. That’s part of his mission. Diaz is an acolyte of “Strong Towns,”…
Methane is a major contributor to climate change, and worldwide, methane’s top source is natural gas, followed by cows, then you. At least, your waste, deteriorating beneath the surface of area landfills and releasing methane and carbon dioxide (CO2). Clean-energy…
Rules updating landfill-gas guidelines were finalized in August of 2016 to go into effect that October, but after Donald Trump’s election, his newly appointed Environmental Protection Agency leadership team delayed enacting the changes, and then pushed for a second delay…
The federal judge who ruled against delays in implementing the three-year-old landfill-gas rules by President Trump’s EPA was blasted on May 25, when Trump called him an “activist, Obama-appointed judge.” Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of U.S. District Court of Northern…
Employees were complaining for years about safety issues in the press and mail rooms at the Peoria Journal Star, yet their concerns went largely unheeded. Until six months ago. In an instant, the work zone looked like a war zone.…
The sudden closing of the Whole Woman’s Health clinic, 7405 N. University St., several weeks ago hit at a time when the Illinois Legislature is strengthening and protecting women’s access to safe, legal abortion. Women in Peoria will still be…
Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Illinois legislators both Republicans, Democrats and Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois is finally on a course to fixing our pothole-filled roads, crumbling Illinois interstates and structurally deficient bridges. The $40 billion capital bill is long…
First it was news Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady had died. Then we learned that Peoria County Clerk Steve Sonnemaker had also passed away. Losing two outstanding elected officials and community leaders is almost too much to endure. I…
Last month, actor Rainn Wilson (from “The Office”) tweeted, “I love the idea of a Green New Deal but Fox News said the plan includes the mandatory sucking of farts out of camels, solar-panel skull implants, Al Gore face tattoos…
Thankfully, most Democratic candidates for the presidency are calling for the abolition of the Hyde Amendment. The amendment was passed in 1976 shortly after Roe v. Wade established the legal right to abortion. Hyde restricts federal funds from being used…
The sudden closing of the Whole Woman’s Health clinic in Peoria is a loss for the community and a loss for Illinois. We know this is undoubtedly resulting in many women feeling they are without access to abortion services. My…
BY DR. JOHN NIXON Israeli narratives and talking points concerning multiple assaults on Gaza are designed to obscure the context of a brutal occupation and blockade and to marginalize the Palestinians as extremist and irrational. Typical explanations given by Israel…
Where were you on the night of January 23, 1977? With the release of the Netflix series, “When They See Us,” which details the trial of the Central Park five, we are again reminded of the power of film as…
Ava DuVernay’s four-part series on the Central Park Five, “When They See Us” is currently airing on Netflix. You have to have been under a rock to not have seen the film or watched commentary about it. My daughter, niece…
July is the time of year when the tallgrass prairie becomes spectacular. Unfortunately, many of us will live our entire lives in the “Prairie State” without ever seeing a native tallgrass prairie. According to the Illinois Natural History Survey, in…
In prehistoric times the good and the evil forces churned the ocean of the cosmos, and one of the unique objects which the Divine granted to the churners was a wish granting tree. One day a traveler comes across this…
Curator and artist Jessica Bingham just organized her first exhibition at Illinois State University with the work of native Illinoisan, and now Brooklynite, Katie Bell. Bell studied at Knox College and then at Rhode Island School of Art & Design…
