Ridin’ the storm out?

BY BILL KNIGHT Flooding is more frequent and more costly, and destruction like what Peoria County endured four years ago this spring might be considered bad luck. Homeowners, developers and government couldn’t foresee such dangers. Except: Maybe they could. Storms…

Hate crime: Guilty 

BY BILL KNIGHT The last of the three family members arrested in connection with a fight in Canton Memorial Day weekend last year pleaded guilty on March 13. In a complicated agreement with prosecutors, Shane Weller, 19, pleaded guilty: •…

LaHood

It’s time to raise the nation’s D+ infrastructure grade In his address to Congress, President Trump described a future in which “crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our beautiful land,” and…

Monroe

Caterpillar rumor It’s only a rumor. These days everyone repeats rumors especially if it’s about President Trump, someone in his family, or someone in his administration. However, this rumor is about Caterpillar and its announced plan to move some 200…

No less an authority than The Forager Press has pronounced the morel mushroom “May’s wild food of the month,” noting that “The true morels – morchella esculenta, elata and semilibera – are not only some of the most delicious wild…

Editorial

E.R.A. sorely needed: Men discussing cuts to contraception, pregnancy coverage If ever there was an image to make women cringe, it’s this one. If ever there was an image to convince women in America that we need the Equal Rights…

Letter

Highest value: society based on tolerance Thank you for your coverage of the event “Build Bridges: Rally for Immigrant and Refugee Rights” (http://thecommunityword.com/online/cwnotes/2017/04/02/attorney-no-human-being-is-illegal/) We thought it was important to invite members of the Peoria community to respond to the Trump…

Op-Ed

Put Healthy Food within Reach for All Peorians BY SUSAN LEVIN, M.S., R.D. Putting healthy food into reach: That’s the tagline for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly food stamps. But the reality is that healthful foods are out…

Last month, Rev. Hightower wrote about the Civil Rights Act signed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act signed in 1965. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected president, and Sen. Mitch McConnell said, “We are going to do all we…

Nature Rambles

Planning for Pollinators Bumblebees buzzing amongst the white clover on the front lawn is a childhood memory that many of us share. Today, children have another memory that will follow them into adulthood. They hear the scientific data that warn…

Serendipity

People of certain age, confident I qualify, are advised to engage in health promoting tasks and behaviors for body and brain. These encompass a wide variety, including interaction with others; volunteering; healthy eating; learning new skills; spirituality; walking and other…

Real Talk

A state of Cognitive Dissonance We are in the fourth month of the Trump presidency, but it feels like it’s been a year. This administration’s plans appear to be: throw so much crap at one time that we either grow…

Inland Art

“The flatness, event-less-ness, and openness of the surrounding landscape opens a space to go deep… . The clay pieces in particular take a long time to make, they require patience and determination — I can’t quite imagine making them without…

Arts Beat

MUSIC May 1: ICC Concert Choir. 7:30 p.m. ICC Performing Arts Center. 694-5136. May 2: Collegium Musicum. 7:30 p.m. BU’s Dingeldine Music Center. 677-2595. May 3: ICC Concert Band. 7:30 p.m. ICC Performing Arts Center. 694-5136. May 4: “I Set…

Labor Roundup

Trumka advocates strong bargaining rights for all – union and not. Expanding on a point he recently made in his one-on-one meeting with GOP President Donald Trump, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in April came out for strong bargaining rights for…

Lawsuit Updates: GateHouse & Farm Bureau 

BY CLARE HOWARD A settlement was reached last week in a class action lawsuit against GateHouse Media by Massachusetts newspaper subscribers over special surcharges billed for “premium edition” sections inserted into the regular newspaper. Plaintiffs charged that GateHouse failed to…