The Supreme Court at press time was scheduled to hear arguments Feb. 26 on “Janus v AFSCME District Council 31,” the controversial lawsuit about whether employees at unionized workplaces who benefit from collective bargaining agreements must share in the costs…
Circulation Problems Plague PJS
Subscribers to Peoria’s only daily newspaper go days without newspaper delivery, are treated rudely by delivery people and in one case, a female senior citizen called her carrier after four days without a paper and the response she was given…
Arts Beat: March 2018
Music March 1: “Wood & Wire Collective” bluegrass, folk and Americana music. 6:30 p.m. Pour Bros. Craft Taproom. 670.0430. March 2: Get The Led Out, a Led Zeppelin tribute. 8 p.m. Peoria Civic Center Theater. 673-3200. March 2: Central Illinois…
Physician: Female, Minority, Immigrant, Muslim, Wife, Mother, Advocate, Role Model
Her passion is infectious – whether she is speaking at the Women’s March, at the Peoria City/County Health Department, with obstetrics residents at UnityPoint Health, with her patients or with newborn babies. For Dr. Rahmat O. Na’Allah, access to health…
Black newspapers fight for justice
February marks Black History Month, when Americans remember the heroic Crispus Attucks and George Washington Carver, daring women such as Harriett Tubman and Rosa Parks, and stalwart figures ranging from Frederick Douglass to Peoria’s own Dr. Romeo B. Garrett. Less…
Welcome to America
Reprinted with permission from The Traveler Weekly Recently, five friends and I booked a trip to Cancun through Peoria Charter Coach Tours. In all, 21 of us traveled by charter bus to O’Hare International Airport to fly to Cancun. Our…
Views & Perspectives: Immigration, infrastructure top of legislative agenda for Republicans
President Trump invited Republican leadership to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, to review the legislative agenda for 2018. The weekend meetings Jan. 6 and 7 included members of the President’s cabinet and staff. Following the meetings, the President…
Straight Talk: PJ Star cheap shot
Last year, I was a guest on a PJ Star podcast. One of the questions I was asked near the end of the interview was, “Why do you dislike the Journal so much?” I said that I didn’t dislike the…
Bill Knight: Agriculture seems to have become agri-vulture
The 2016 harvest ended months ago, with truckloads of grain shipped to elevators, and now – weeks before spring work is expected to start – farmers are busy fixing fences, researching effective systems and taking soil samples, meeting with seed…
Editorial: “Race” is an artificial human construct based on illusion
Based on emerging science and new genetic understanding, a black man from Jamaica can be more closely linked to a white Englishman than to a black Nigerian. That’s because skin color is not a determining biological human factor any more…
Letter: Why water maters
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…