Every once in a while something comes along that changes everything. For example: in the mid seventeenth century, Dutch scientist, Antonin Van Leeuwenhoek, invented the first microscope. He could actually see previously unknown single-celled critters we now call microorganisms. This…
Columns
I am surrounded by death this month
by Billy Dennis • • Comments Off on I am surrounded by death this month
First, my Uncle Joe Binder died after a long illness. Uncle Joe was born in Hungary, but escaped to the United States in the 1950s to avoid having to serve in the Army. He met my Aunt Barbara in a bar in Peoria. He…
Alice Cooper Was Wrong?
by Cheryl Courtney Semick • • Comments Off on Alice Cooper Was Wrong?
Are you still in school? That’s a rhetorical question. The wisest man who ever lived told me you are. I am, too. We are all born into a classroom, and whether we learn or not, the lessons and tests will…
Introspection & common sense eventually helped allay feelings of inadequacy
by Sandra Dempsey Post • • Comments Off on Introspection & common sense eventually helped allay feelings of inadequacy
Back in the day, a euphemism for non-specific but multiple numbers of decades ago, school reconvened in September. More specifically, the day after Labor Day, regardless of the calendar date. With no regard to outside temperatures, we parochial school students…
Column for September
by Sharon McBride • • Comments Off on Column for September
The 12th annual Night Out Against Crime, hosted by the West Peoria Neighborhood Watch, the City of West Peoria, West Peoria Township and the Peoria County Sheriffs’ Department, will be held on Saturday, September 8th from 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. at…
How to be a Better Digital Citizen
by Tammy Finch • • Comments Off on How to be a Better Digital Citizen
Most of us would agree that “being a good citizen” is an easy way to make the world a better place, and part of our unspoken, unsigned contract with the rest of society. We count on each other to do…
Happenings for September 2012
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Happenings for September 2012
Sept 1 –Peoria County Democratic Women meets @ noon Childers Catering Center, 3113 Dries Lane. Democratic candidates for the Illinois State Senate, Dave Koehler & Jennifer Graves Allison, will speak. Other Democratic candidates are invited. The event is free/the public is…
Heartland partnership: Going, going, gone
by Roger Monroe • • Comments Off on Heartland partnership: Going, going, gone
Jim McConoughey, CEO of Heartland Partnership, is apparently gone or close to it as I put this column to bed. Reportedly, others are unsure of their future with the organization. One of those is city councilman, Ryan Spain, managing director.…
Peoria Launches ‘Don’t Shoot’ Program
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Peoria Launches ‘Don’t Shoot’ Program
A new approach to stopping gun violence stresses conversation and cooperation, not registration or retribution, and this month Peoria launches the program: “Don’t Shoot.” The program comes close to reconciliation, a progressive technique tied to institutions and individuals ranging from the church…
Tiny Terrorists?!
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Tiny Terrorists?!
It was a vision from a horror movie. The kids had formed a wide circle, backing away in disbelief as a growing gang of bee-sized yellow jacket wasps crowded over a can of soda. Screams and shrieks from fifth graders…