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…
Retired miners win health benefits extension. Scrambling to ensure that more than 22,000 aging, ailing retired miners didn’t lose their health care, Congress approved extending the benefits, run by two government-funded plans that were running out of money due to…
BY CLARE HOWARD It’s a “myth” that pesticides are needed to feed the world, a recent United Nations report concludes, calling for an international treaty to regulate and ultimately eliminate widespread pesticide use. The report states that elimination of pesticides…
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…
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: •…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
