Monday Aug. 10 started off as a sunny, clear day with a slight chance of rain in the afternoon in Central Illinois. I happened to be at our Tawny Oaks facility, when around 2:30 p.m. the sky to the west…
There is no surprise that our country is in a state of unrest. From the pandemic to the riots, to questioning and challenging the mattering of Black lives to the rebuttal of all lives. From the challenge to mask or…
“Normal” is not quite the right word. But a new reality is taking shape for local governments in 2020. On July 28, Peoria City Council mulled changes to the 2020-2021 budget in the wake of COVID-19. Staff was directed to…
Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman have been collaborating on and experimenting with visual culture for 40 years from their studios in Chicago and Milwaukee. While recognized originally for critiquing the artworld’s male-centric art institutions and subjects (a reality that still…
In May of 2018, we started our 501(c)(3) Big Picture Initiative with a 1,650 square foot portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the Peoria County Courthouse. We assumed the monumental task of creating something even bigger and more powerful would be…
Are new insights the result of thoughtfulness or impulsiveness? At the end of your life would you rather have achieved maximum happiness or maximum productivity? What causes and sustains your happiness? How much does your happiness add or detract from…
I know three people who collapsed from heat stroke. Doctors told frantic parents of two kids to immerse them in a cold-water bath. The third, a high school runner who collapsed during a race, attended a school where the athletics…
West Peoria Township is in the legal process of discontinuing/abolishing the township with all rights, powers, duties, assets, property, liabilities, obligations and responsibilities of the township being transferred to the City of West Peoria. This is beneficial to the citizens…
Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, many of my classmates were from large families. Knowing nothing about living with multiple siblings, my sister is nearly 9 years older, I thought having lots of live-in playmates would be delightful. I…
The City of Peoria became the center of attention in a recent New York Times article titled “The City that Once Guided a Nation Now Shows its Cracks.” The article focused on the looting that took place in the City…
