Author Archive for Clare Howard

Clare Howard is the editor of the Community Word. She can be reached at communityword@yahoo.com

Art and Justice | Ryan Rashad Reed

Ryan Rashad Reed

Peoria artist Ryan Rashad Reed uses his art to convey justice, beauty, triumph and struggle. Many people consider Reed, 40, to be one of Peoria’s most accomplished young artists. He is quick to say he strides for mastery but hasn’t…

Where They Stand | Trump Administration policies regarding Israel and Palestine

The U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dated Nov. 21, 2019 objecting to the Trump Administration’s decision declaring Israeli settlements on the West Bank are legal and permanent. The Trump administration decision is…

Demeaning stereotypes linked to Illinois’ initial failure to pass ERA

Samantha Lechowicz

Bradley University senior Samantha Lechowicz researched the correlation between news coverage in the Peoria Journal Star and the repeated decades-long failure of the Illinois Legislature to pass the Equal Rights Amendment up until its recent passage in May 2018. Some…

Workforce diversity No. 1 tool for economic growth

Ernestine Jackson has worked for more than four decades in equal employment opportunity; today she is frustrated, even heartbroken, when she looks at the racial composition of Peoria and the racial composition of the city hall workforce and contractors with…

Editorial | “Eating the planet to death”

S.A. Shepler (c) 2020 Community Word

The most effective way to slow global climate change is with dietary changes, according to Dr. John McDougall. Changes in our diet can be more effective immediately than driving a Prius, turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat and viable…

Restoration: Coal Hollow Park

Coal Hollow

An environmental restoration is unfolding north of Chillicothe on the site of a former coal mine. Mike Contratto, center, works with park district employees and volunteers on a foot bridge at Coal Hollow Park. The bridge connects a new parking…