GateHouse Media, owner of the Journal Star, is in merger talks with Gannett, owner of USA Today and dozens of other newspapers across the country. If the deal closes, the merger would result in one Wall Street corporation owning the…
Author Archive for Clare Howard
Clare Howard is the editor of the Community Word. She can be reached at communityword@yahoo.com
Urban Acres grows strong communities
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Urban Acres grows strong communities
Andy Diaz travels the world as an account sales manager at Caterpillar Inc., but back home in Peoria he grows corn, tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, zucchini and strong community. That’s part of his mission. Diaz is an acolyte of “Strong Towns,”…
OSHA fines Journal Star $35,802
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on OSHA fines Journal Star $35,802
Employees were complaining for years about safety issues in the press and mail rooms at the Peoria Journal Star, yet their concerns went largely unheeded. Until six months ago. In an instant, the work zone looked like a war zone.…
Editorial | Terminate the flawed Hyde Amendment
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | Terminate the flawed Hyde Amendment
Thankfully, most Democratic candidates for the presidency are calling for the abolition of the Hyde Amendment. The amendment was passed in 1976 shortly after Roe v. Wade established the legal right to abortion. Hyde restricts federal funds from being used…
Ongoing conflict in Middle East stokes debate in Peoria
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Ongoing conflict in Middle East stokes debate in Peoria
Retired Peoria pathologist John Nixon studies widespread human rights violations in Gaza with increasing alarm. As a physician, he felt he should not speak out while he was treating patients, but after retiring 12 years ago, he has studied the…
Can Peorians play a role in equitable and humane immigration solutions?
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Can Peorians play a role in equitable and humane immigration solutions?
The Trump administration is ferreting out ways to impose a burdensome application fee on asylum seekers to discourage people fleeing for their lives from entering the United States. This would circumvent international law requiring nations to give asylum seekers a…
The REDress Project
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on The REDress Project
Eliida Lakota, center, helped organize “The REDress Project” at Dayspring United Methodist Church in East Peoria to raise awareness about thousands of missing and murdered Native American women and girls. Native American women are 10 times more likely to be…
Editorial | Vaccinations and the Anti-Vaxxers
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | Vaccinations and the Anti-Vaxxers
“Vaccine refusal is like a big pile of tinder waiting for a lightning strike.” Dispute resolution is foundational to civil society. Whether that means speed limits on the roads, individual gun rights or mandatory vaccinations –– individual versus societal rights…
No. 1 in nation for “Draconian,” mandatory drug sentencing
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on No. 1 in nation for “Draconian,” mandatory drug sentencing
Once again, Peoria tops a nationwide list –– this time for harsh sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Many in the judicial system contend these disproportionally harsh sentences do not make society safer but only serve to feed mass incarceration. Federal…
When “the best of the best” is arrested
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on When “the best of the best” is arrested
Yunek Moore fulfilled every dream a parent could have. She was president of her class at Peoria High School, member of the National Honor Society, enrolled in after-school activities and was college bound. Then, inexplicably, she was singled out at…