A growing sense of urgency nationwide is focused on a new category of “forever chemicals” called PFAS. Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances include a group of about 5,000 manmade chemicals used in a wide variety of products from fire fighters’ foam,…
Dear Gov. Pritzker, Legislature, City Council and others: We are losing independently-owned newspapers at an alarming rate. You say you value local journalism, but you undermine its very existence when you don’t return calls from reporters, don’t issue statements in…
America is doing a “god-awful job managing diabetes,” a specialist said at a recent forum hosted by The Hill digital news company. Skyrocketing rates of diabetes in the United States are being met with “systemic inertia.” African Americans and Native…
One of the most cherished parks in central Illinois was owned for nearly 70 years by the private Forest Park Foundation under the leadership of three generations of the Rutherford family. As the foundation began to wind down operations, it…
Nitrogen and phosphorus are running off farm fields in Illinois at ever increasing rates despite millions of dollars spent on research and conservation practices designed to mitigate the problem, according to the state’s recently-released report on nutrient loss. Conventional farming…
Religious objections to abortion are completely subjective and should not be the basis of public health policy. When Texas Republicans contend life begins at conception, they are conflating opinion and fact. Rabbi Fred N. Reiner states in a letter-to-the-editor in…
With COVID deaths and diagnoses hitting African American and minority populations hard, a new and trusted voice urging vaccinations is emerging: the Black barber. Nationwide, African American barbers are recognized as trusted counselors, friends and advocates for their community. Some…
Here’s the question: “Why has the industrial food system, after decades of producing massive quantities of food – 40% of which goes to waste – failed to eliminate hunger in the world? And not just in ‘poor countries,’ but in…
It’s easy to understand workforce diversity helps with product development because it takes into account all demographic perspectives. Mazda neglected to take into account the Spanish population when it named a car model the Mazda Laputa. Laputa can be translated…
The pandemic robbed hope from countless students across the country, but 26 young people in Peoria who had been struggling with remote learning got back on track during a special summer program. Then they got an added surprise with an…
