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.…
Halt corporate mining industries from destroying sacred native lands President Trump lashed out at America’s conservation history and the growing movement for Native American tribal sovereignty with his pair of “repeal and replace” proclamations revoking the Bears Ears and Grand…
Soil: Last Great Hope to Mitigate Climate Change BY DAVE BISHOP Dave Bishop farms organically in Central Illinois on PrairiErth Farm, a multi-generational, 480-acre operation that follows “regenerative farming” practices. Developing regenerative farming systems has been the mission at PrairiErth…
The Greatest Arts Community in America — Part 9
Bob Emser’s body of public works are at ease in prescribed settings like urban plazas and sculpture gardens. The contours of his work are clear, adaptive and organic. He’s situated his sculpture on concrete and on soil, riffed on constructivist…
MUSIC Jan. 6: Sunshine Daydream Grateful Dead tribute band. 10 p.m. Kenny’s Westside Pub. 676-1693. Jan. 6: “New Year’s Greeting – That’s Amore!” Heartland Festival Orchestra, with guest vocalists Sarah Jane McMahon and Sal Viviano. 7:30 p.m. Five Points Washington.…
Trumpeter Swans return With a wingspan of over 7 feet and weighing close to 30 pounds, the Trumpeter Swan is considered the largest native waterfowl species in North America. It is a bird that once nested across the upper United…