Our planet is in a crisis. In 2015, we saw the hottest temperatures ever recorded, and as our environment suffers, we continue to contaminate our precious water. At the present rate, many cities will be running very low on water…
Op-Ed: The Peoria City Council should vote to conduct “due diligence” of the city’s water system
BY CHERYL BUDZINSKI Chairwoman, League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria Water Action Committee The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria believes a financial analysis that could lead to public ownership of a water utility is warranted. Our LWVGP…
Inland Art: Sarah Smelser
I met Sarah Smelser nearly 20 years ago when she was hired to be the new head of West Virginia University’s print program. She arrived from Pasadena, California, with her husband Jonathan Higgins, and they settled in quickly and founded…
Art. What Is It Good For? Cartoon Hunter
Farmers markets — use them or lose them
Henry Brockman sees a downturn in sales at the farmers market in Evanston. Jimmy Buckley sees a downturn in Peoria. Lyndon Hartz has seen the downturn. He has pulled out of the Downtown Bloomington Market and focused on Peoria. These…
Reflections From A Baha’i: How Humans Can and Will Establish Peace
Are humans naturally violent? Judging from the aggression and conflict that has plagued humanity’s past, many have succumbed to the view that such behavior is intrinsic to human nature. Uncritical acceptance of the view, however, leads to negativity, apathy and…
West Peoria News: Kroger closures
The recent announcement about closing Kroger grocery stores at Madison Park and on Wisconsin Avenue has impacted many people who shopped at both facilities. I attended one of the town meetings at Manual Academy where people in attendance were told…
Nature Rambles: Owl Wisdom
Many a dark winter night, I hear the low, soft, calls of two Great Horned Owls that come to my neighborhood. One calls with a deeper voice than the other. This is the male. Even though he is smaller than…
Serendipity: Things I Know for Sure
Each issue of the Oprah magazine ends with accounts of what Oprah calls, “What I Know For Sure.” We’re sometimes sitting on a wealth of knowledge but don’t share information. May I offer some thoughts for consideration and smiles? February…
Real Talk: The Power of the Black Woman
I recently ran across a Facebook post I made responding to one of my dear friends who questioned what she should tell her children in response to Donald Trump winning the presidential election. They knew he was not a nice…
Labor Roundup: CWA sues AT&T over layoffs instead of bonuses
The Communications Workers of America last month took AT&T to federal court. The issue is the corporation promising to give workers $1,000 bonuses due to the Trump/Republican tax overhaul, and days later laying off more than 1,000 techs and call-center…
Bricks & Mortar: Garrett Cultural Center Auditorium
Looking at the 900 block of State Street, it is hard to imagine a street of houses. But if you could go back a few years, one would see just that including the home of Romeo and Naomi Garrett. The…
College Campuses “Ground Zero” for Racist Recruitment
White nationalist organizations are targeting college campuses recruiting students to their racist ideologies. The groups often obscure their real purpose in pseudo-intellectual rhetoric and demand protection under the First Amendment freedom of speech. “College campuses are ground zero for recruitment,”…
Arts Beat: February 2018
Music Feb. 1: Bloodmoney, Wit’s End, Bite. 7 p.m. RAIL II. 966-2971. Feb. 2: The Brazilionaires “Live at the Five Spot: 5:30 p.m., Contemporary Art Center. 674-6822. Feb. 3: “Kickin’ & Pickin’ at Pour Bros.” 8 p.m. Pour Bros. Craft…
Silica sand – in the air, water, lungs and frac drills
Thomas and Diane Skomski moved to Wedron in rural LaSalle County in 2003 to recuperate close to nature after Thomas suffered a massive stroke. They purchased a beautiful 23-acre property bordered by Indian Creek with sheer limestone cliffs and bluffs…
50 feet of snow? POSSIBLE! Thank Climate Change
Connect the dots. • By the end of November, 4.7 million Americans had registered for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the Washington Post. That’s 10 times more than all of 2016. • Hurricane Harvey set…
Undoing Racism
Racism is a learned behavior and undoing racism is a learned behavior. One of the country’s leading scholars on undoing racism will be speaking in Peoria Jan. 22 at Bradley University. David Billings will talk about his new book, “Deep…
America Needs A Comprehensive Infrastructure Program As I began writing for the Community Word one year ago, my emphasis was on the idea that Congress should pass a comprehensive infrastructure bill which provides the funding to begin getting America back…
Tami Lane Update No one from Peoria has ever achieved the success that Tami Lane has in the movie industry. She’s been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning it once for her work as a prosthetic makeup artist. The…
As Americans get excited or annoyed by the latest Oval Office tweets or other outrages from President Trump, a dozen troublesome issues bubble through Capitol Hill like an attack of irritable bowel syndrome. Maybe we need a “National Narrator” to…
Nationwide “Shootout” with Concealed Carry Guns The gun debate in America became more phantasmagorical with a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in December approving the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (HR 38). This legislation is jaw-droppingly horrifying.…