Is the U.S. the “greatest democracy in the world” as is often claimed? As any conservative will correctly remind you, the founders were wary of too much democracy and established the country not as a democracy but as a constitutional…
Letter to the Editor | Peoria Public Radio: What Will Happen?
Will Bradley University’s vital NPR radio station, WCBU-FM, survive as it is, or is it ultimately doomed to morph into a second WGLT or worse? That’s the question, but there are no clear answers yet. WCBU, branded as Peoria Public…
Op-Ed | Good community journalism scrutinizes American slavery and its evolution to today
BY DECKLE McLEAN Behind every great fortune lies a great crime, French early 19th century novelist Honore de Balzac advised. Less flamboyantly phrased, Balzac’s message was that some fortunes start with a crime or two. If America’s wealth can be…
Real Talk | Mirrors and distorted images
In the current stages of the #metoo movement, I often question if women of color have a voice or if being in the background and accepting inappropriate advances have caused a rift in how women of color view themselves and…
Serendipity | ‘That kind of music just soothes the soul’
Music appreciation was not particularly emphasized in the grade school I attended. We were introduced to seemingly complicated “facts” about music, none of which resonated with me, as evidenced by my grade. Like most Catholic schools during the ’50s and…
Nature Rambles | Observations from the 119th Christmas Bird Count
Each year, bird enthusiasts look forward to taking part in the longest running “Citizen Scientist” event in existence –– the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. This last CBC marked the 119th year that birders have been involved in documenting…
Inland Art | Michiko Itatani
Early in Michiko Itatani’s career she coaxed viewers into unpredictable formal paths in painting and installation discretely probing relationships between radical pictorial composition and societal and geological boundaries. All of her work coincided with the contemplative legacies of reductivism and…
Art Inc.
Join us as we embark on the journey of turning the old Greeley school building into a vibrant community arts center for all to enjoy. As we all know, it takes a village to make this happen, and we welcome…
Arts Beat | February 2019
MUSIC Feb. 1: The Tempest “Live at the Five Spot.” 5:30-7:30 p.m., Contemporary Art Center. 674-6822. Feb. 3: Concordia String Trio concert, featuring Marcia Henry Liebenow on violin, Chee Hyeon Choi on viola and Karen Becker on cello. 3 p.m.…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Discrimination
Recently, I was fortunate enough to be on a panel discussion about anti-Semitism at B’Nai B’Rith senior housing apartment. As I heard the speakers voice their opposition to anti-Semitism and support for the people of the Jewish faith, the words…
Reflections From The Clergy | Race, Mutuality and the Vision of God
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote these words: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” They are from his now-famous Letter from a…
West Peoria News | Street parking and snow
Daniel Kerns was installed as Troop 11’s 70th Eagle Scout on Nov. 13. He is the son of Dan and Barb Kerns, has two older sisters and is a senior at Notre Dame High School. His Eagle project was landscaping…
Labor Roundup | February 2019
Both the number and the rate of job injuries that killed workers declined by 1 percent in 2017, compared to the year before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Some 5,147 workers died that year, a BLS survey calculated, or…
Learn our history to change our future
More than a dozen majestic oaks still stand in Hall Woods near Hall Cemetery just east of Lacon, witness to a lynching in 1898. The exact site of the lynching, reportedly by a mob of 100 men from Toluca, is…
New generation of Peoria policing embraces “one with community”
Peoria Police Officer Daniel Duncan is driving 700 miles to Montgomery, Ala., looking for answers and looking for hope. His destination is the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. It may…
Water debate continues
Agreed: Water and its safety are important to Central Illinois. Agreed: Water is a key piece of the economic puzzle as the City of Peoria faces huge financial strains. Agreed: Water’s place in that puzzle is determined by the Peoria…
Two Peoria TV stations part of corporate shuffle
The corporation that owns WMBD-TV 31 and WYZZ-TV 43 could become the largest local TV station owner in the country if its proposed acquisition of Tribune Media is approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Texas-based Nexstar Media Group on Dec.…
Views & Perspectives | Happy New Year — Happy 2019
My good wishes for a productive and happy 2019 and a list of important events and issues to be considered by you and others. 1. Even though we just participated in a very important November 2018 election, this spring will…
Straight Talk | Exclusive
We all read and heard with sadness about the tragic loss of life when an F-18 Marine fighter jet collided with an KC-130 off the coast of Japan during a refueling exercise. Five crew members of the tanker were killed…
Bill Knight | How to address homelessness
Neither the City of Peoria nor Peoria County has a lot of extra money sitting around, but do you know who has even less? The homeless. Helping the homeless, however, should be more than a passing winter impulse, and ensuring…
Editorial | Hate, racial bias, anti-semitism and “good families”
The assault at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a gunman opened fire during Saturday morning worship, continues the tsunami of violence, bigotry and hate sweeping the country. What’s the solution? A panel of a dozen local religious and…
Letter to the Editor | Stop excessive taxation!
It seems like the Peoria city leaders are always coming up with new ways to hit us with more and more taxes. First came the sewer tax, then the landlord tax plus another additional tax on every apartment in Peoria.…