Columns

The wisdom of crowds

James Surowiecki wrote a book a few years ago that began with an anecdote about a crowd that guessed the weight of an ox. When their individual guesses were averaged, they were spot on. The title sums it up: “The…

West Peoria News for August 2014

Boy Scout Troop 11’s annual ice cream social is scheduled for Thursday, August 23rd from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the West Peoria Fire House. Tickets are $2.50 and can be purchased in advance from Troop 11 scouts or at…

Happenings for August 2014

Aug 3 – German-American Central Society presents the annual Bratfest 2014 at Hickory Grove Park – 12:00 – 8:00 p.m. Call 309-691-7484. Live Entertainment, Muscle Car, Hot Rod & Customized Motorcycle Cruis’n, Arts & Craft Village, soccer, folk dancing, Bingo,…

Puzzle pieces

It was complicated. Three hundred pieces cut in the oddest shapes I’d ever seen for a puzzle. Some I swore were edge pieces and for a while was frustrated that they weren’t fitting into the frame with the other edge…

Peoria Park District happenings for August 2014

As Central Illinois residents, we are lucky to live in one of the most diverse migratory flyways in the world called the Mississippi Flyway. Nearly half of North America’s bird species, and about 40 percent of its waterfowl, spend at…

The good, the bad and the ugly

Famed actor Eli Wallach died recently at the age of 98. He was one of the actors in the movie, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Clint Eastwood was the good, Lee Van Cleef was the bad, and Wallach…

Becoming at home on the range

Between my father and Roy Rogers, I didn’t stand a chance. Songs of wide open spaces, mountains, and prairies, would weave a tantalizing tapestry of the trail. Dad grew up a country boy working around the farm and orchard, and…

It’s time for cooler heads to prevail in Twittergate

This is what should happen in regards to the Twittergate lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the mayor of Peoria and various city officials in regards to the deplorable Twittergate debacle. Both parties should agree to release…