Columns

Art & Justice | Raising awareness for abducted women

Joan Hickman

Editor’s Note: The REDress Project was conceived by Canadian artist Jaime Black to commemorate murdered and missing indigenous women. The REDress Project was displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in 2019. Eliida Lakota brought the concept…

Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Is Large-Scale Ecological Restoration Possible? The Loess Plateau Experiment, Part 2

Dust storm in Beijing

China’s Loess Plateau experiment successfully restored depleted farmland in the less arid parts of the plateau. One precondition for success required an end to free-range grazing by goats, a major cause of soil erosion. The breakthrough came when a county…

Serendipity | Less is best

Organization does not come easily to me. It doesn’t come to me at all except for those times when generous loved ones offer suggestions after I’ve asked their advice. My oldest child told me once I’m a rather unique disorganized…

West Peoria News | Fourth of July parade cancellation

Sadly, the City of West Peoria made the decision to postpone the Fourth of July parade and flag raising ceremony a second year due to the pandemic. Parade arrangements must be made several weeks ahead of the Fourth and forced…

The Lion’s Den | The Language of Our Lives

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” This quote is from Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech given on Dec. 7, 1993. Morrison…

Straight Talk | Congratulations to Rita Ali!

Peoria has a new mayor. After a short stint as a member of the City Council, Ali was elected mayor, defeating fellow Councilman Jim Montelongo. It was a close race. At the end of election day, Tuesday, April 6, Montelongo…

Bill Knight | “Punks in Peoria”

Given the general characteristics of status-quo Peoria and youths’ attraction to exciting punk music on both coasts, those forces were destined to Clash. (So to speak.) Out in June, “Punks in Peoria: Making A Scene in The American Heartland” from…

The Watch | May 2021

Government business slogged forward in March as a fourth corona-wave appeared imminent. On March 9, after several delays, Peoria City Council updated the city code for short-term rental uses. Before this action, short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO were…

Real Talk | Protected Terror

What we thought was 8 minutes and 46 seconds of terror and torture was actually, 9 minutes and 29 seconds. We know now that was how long former police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on the neck of George…

Nature Rambles | On Summer Tanagers

Female Summer Tanager

May is known for its colorful flowers. Trees also are in bloom and insects are becoming more numerous. With all of this activity, the stage is set for the peak of songbird migration. Many of these birds are migrating north…