In the cold winter of 1819, a crew of surveyors was crisscrossing the hills along the bluffs of the Illinois River. They were part of the General Land Office’s new initiative to deploy a square-grid geographic identification system. This process…
The ultimate just-in-time commodity, supply and demand for electricity must be immediately and precisely balanced. If a supply deficit can’t be closed rapidly, grid operators order round-robin shutoffs across all customers, i.e. “rolling blackouts” lasting hours to days depending on…
Area native George Shaheen was enormously successful in business, leading Andersen Consulting from 1989-99, when its revenue grew from $1.1 billion to $8 billion. So it wouldn’t be surprising for him to sour some after a failure — especially one…
Mornings are perfectly charming times if the sun is shining and there’s no rush to be somewhere within 45 minutes. I’m not one who opens my eyes, jumps out of bed, and is ready to begin the day. I have…
Swords Hill has been closed for repairs and will not be in service for multiple months. Much traffic has been diverted and cannot travel Swords and Farmington Roads. It will be taking much time on those streets. It also takes…
Second Peoria Starbucks voting on unionizing. The Starbucks at 707 W. Pioneer Parkway is now participating in a mail election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board on whether to unionize at that location. “Those eligible to vote are all…
When I started in radio as a part-time announcer, there were only a handful of stations in Peoria. They included WMBD, 1470, the first to go on the air; the “Mighty 1290, WIRL; WAAP, 1350, which later became WXCL; Clear…
June 19, 1865 — now commonly known as Juneteenth — is when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were made aware that the Civil War was over and that they were free, a full two months following the surrender of…
Many Illinoisans aren’t that aware of the positions of most of the Republicans competing in the June 28 primary to unseat Gov. JB Pritzker in November’s general election. There seem to be few public appearances, much less press conferences, and…
The high-pitched whistle-trill of the Cedar Waxwing comes from the top branches of a tall Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). The blue-colored berries of the Red Cedar are what the namesake bird is after. A plentiful food that can easily…
