Peoria city officials are attempting to negotiate a civil penalty imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice for failure to adequately redress the combined sewer overflow problem that results in raw sewage flushing into the Illinois River. This has been…
Author Archive for Clare Howard
Clare Howard is the editor of the Community Word. She can be reached at communityword@yahoo.com
$1 million more for Illinois farmers markets
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on $1 million more for Illinois farmers markets
For state Rep. Tim Butler, access to wholesome food is part of the fabric of American society. Or it should be. Butler grew up in Peoria, worked for then-U.S. Congressman Ray LaHood, and later Congressman Rodney Davis. He worked at…
Editorial | American Fascism?
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | American Fascism?
It once seemed absurd to link the words “American” and “Fascism.” It seemed extreme and counterproductive. Not today warns New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning economist and columnist Paul Krugman. Not today according to former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. Today,…
New cancer treatment offers patients hope; powerful economic stimulus for Peoria
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on New cancer treatment offers patients hope; powerful economic stimulus for Peoria
There are only about three dozen proton beams in the world, and only about 20 are in the United States. Danette and Josh Swank would like to see one added to the repertoire of medical treatments available in Peoria. Proton…
EPA orders Peoria to pay almost $800,000
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on EPA orders Peoria to pay almost $800,000
After decades of discussion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is imposing a fine on Peoria for failure to resolve its combined sewer overflow problem. The EPA has still not approved Peoria’s so-called “green solution” and is ordering the city to…
Editorial | Our neglected rivers
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | Our neglected rivers
When rivers are used as sloughs for waste, pollution, plastic and agricultural runoff, the damage is hazardous, ugly and demoralizing. In a call to action, Prairie Rivers Network is hosting the “Wild & Scenic Film Festival” at Peoria Riverfront Museum…
Banking on wetlands — our evolving land ethic
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Banking on wetlands — our evolving land ethic
Landfill, garbage disposal, wetland restoration, native plants, environmental beauty. Not words typically associated with each other, but the association is perfectly logical for Charles Hostetler. He hopes to make the correlation universally clear with a project along Kickapoo Creek Road.…
UN: American Dream Becoming American Illusion
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on UN: American Dream Becoming American Illusion
A scathing report by the United Nations Human Rights Council on extreme poverty and inequality in America was slammed by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as “patently ridiculous.” Haley then announced the United States was withdrawing from the UN Human Rights…
Food for justice
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Food for justice
The infrastructure of American’s food system entrenches social and income inequality, devastates rural communities and inner cities, drives declining health and further empowers corporations and the politicians they support. Working in resistance to those trends are Dave Bishop, an organic…
Editorial | Weaponizing Free Speech
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | Weaponizing Free Speech
REUTERS PHOTO: Man standing at a Trump rally in a T-shirt with this printing: “Rope Tree Journalist Some assembly required” A woman and young girl stand nearby laughing. Since when did this become constitutionally protected free speech in the United…