Pullback on “joint employers” rules blasted. The AFL-CIO is criticizing a Trump administration Labor Department pullback of how to interpret who “joint employers” are. DOL yanked an interpretation of the law by David Weil, the Wage and Hour Administrator during…
PJS business strategy
Several recent reports on Journal Star corporate owner GateHouse Media (New Media Investment Group) explain the company’s aggressive newspaper acquisition strategy as a marketing plan to beef up revenues while cutting journalism. Ken Doctor writes in Nieman Lab, Nieman Foundation…
Schoolchildren Without Basics
Lisa Travis, bottom, a teacher’s aide at Glen Oak School, and Terri Berg, top, a sign language interpreter at Richwoods High School, volunteer with the Round Table Project helping students with needs ranging from a clean pair of socks to…
Congressman reflects on grandson’s gun death
BY CLARE HOWARD U.S. Rep. Danny Davis imagines his grandson saying, “But Granddad, you said if I’m home, I’m OK. I’m safe. You told me to be home when it’s dark.” Rep. Davis shook his head. “It never occurred to…
Student loans: immortal
BY TERRY BIBO Instead of “Pomp and Circumstance,” the Class of 2017 probably should have graduated to the tune “Sixteen Tons.” Their grandparents may have been toddlers when Tennessee Ernie Ford’s cover of a coal miner’s debt struggles topped the…
Weed killer in pregnant women
BY CLARE HOWARD Glyphosate, the most heavily used weed killer in the United States, was found in 91 percent of pregnant women tested in a recent study conducted by Dr. Paul Winchester, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit…
President Trump’s first 100 days: Long on executive orders, short on legislative accomplishments First we should stipulate that there is probably way too much unrealistic talk and writing about any president’s ability to accomplish major legislation in the first 100…
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY That’s the question facing Peoria’s city council regarding the purchase of Illinois American Water Co. Those who support buying the water company believe it could be a gold mine for the city and those…
The slender, soft-spoken man with salt-and-pepper hair somehow seems taller than his 6-foot, 1-inch frame, and while often serious as he points to problems in state government, he occasionally slips into a smile that seems so genuine you suspect it’s…
Facts, Trumpcare and the ERA The documentary film “Equal Means Equal” was shown at Bradley University in May sponsored by NOW Peoria Chapter and Bradley University Women’s and Gender Studies Program. The film deconstructs and disproves the notion that women’s…
NRA, racism and misogyny Over the past eight years, whenever there was a school shooting or some other mass killing, the National Rifle Association and certain politicians would spread the threat that Obama (Black guy) or Hillary (powerful woman) were…
Could 2017 be the year for industrial hemp in Illinois? BY REBECCA OSLAND Farmers and other advocates have been trying for decades to bring hemp back to Illinois agriculture. This year, the Illinois Legislature grappled with SB1294, co-sponsored by Sen.…
Rebuilding Our Community through Unity The church I grew up in had a motto. It was “where there is unity there is strength.” One of the definitions of unity is oneness of mind, feelings, concord, harmony or agreement among a…
What we fear It was a sickening site, lying on the side of the road — the freshly dead body of a black rat snake. Tire tracks coming off the pavement, onto the road shoulder to hit the snake, then…
West Peoria had a very successful Clean Up Day on a very nasty, wet last Saturday in April. Twenty-two volunteers received 170 loads of junk and 29 pallets of electronics recycling at a cost of approximately $1,350 to the township.…
In 1916, the Board of the National Duroc-Jersey Association made the decision to construct an office building at the corner of Monroe and Fayette streets. A nationwide design search was started in early 1916 for a 40-by-100-foot project with nationwide…
I too am America As I ponder what it is to be an American, in a country that has been honorable as a melting pot but also discriminative in its practices, I have often realized that ismism also has been…
Chloe McEldowney is a young artist who has been living in Peoria for just two years. During that time she’s made an impression on the art community, receiving a residency at the Prairie Center of the Arts and contributing a…
MUSIC June 1: Ratt at 8 p.m. Limelight Eventplex. 693-1234. June 2: “Broadway Jazz Night” featuring Stephanie Aaron, 8 p.m. at the Waterhouse. 494-9100. June 2: Chicken Shack Blues. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen. 676-9668. June 2: Cousin Eddie “Live at…