Natalie Jackson grew up understanding racial injustice. She lived in a home filled with powerful images that conveyed beauty, despair, fragility, strength and resolve. Her father, artist Preston Jackson, is a sculptor, musician and long-time faculty member at the Art…
April 2: First Friday Studio Tours, 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; locations include Peoria Art Guild, Contemporary Art Center, Studios on Sheridan, Wheel Art Pottery. For a complete list go to: https://www.peoria.org/event/first-friday/3865/ Now on permanent loan: Preston Jackson’s “Bronzeville to…
In David Hume’s “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion,” three characters debate God’s existence. The character Demea represents rational theology and deductive argument—at least until the end, when he suddenly declares that “each man feels, in a manner, the truth of religion…
The massive, multi-day electricity blackout in Texas this February vividly highlights the importance of reliable electricity during extreme heat or cold. The economic cost to Texas from days without power will be close to $200 billion, or $75 billion more…
One of the first native plants I can remember becoming enamored with as a child was a spring wildflower called Bloodroot. What a name. The plant is full of a red sap that courses through its leaves, stem and roots.…
Boredom is not something that usually affects me. Some people have even commented I’m easily entertained. I take that as a compliment regardless of how it’s intended. When my three children were growing up and would complain about “nothing to…
These candidates in the City of West Peoria are currently running for office in the April 6 city council election: Ward 1, LeRoy Dohm, Jr.; Ward 2, Merlin “Rocky” Mathewson; Ward 3, John F. Siewert II and Clark Abraham; Ward…
By the time you read this, we will have turned the page on February 2021 and thus turned the page on Black History Month. Once thought of as essential and necessary, many, including African Americans, have begun to question its…
I have no “horse” in the race for Peoria mayor. However, when I see or hear something in the public arena that is just flat out false and incorrect, because of my experience as a former elected official for 22…
These are taxing times; times we face not just a pubic-health crisis, but higher taxes – or lower levels of public services. Or both. Nationally, Republicans who backed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are responsible for federal taxes…
