Cartoons

Editorial | Abortion is healthcare, prioritize it over politics

S.A. Shepler (c) 2021 Community Word

Religious objections to abortion are completely subjective and should not be the basis of public health policy. When Texas Republicans contend life begins at conception, they are conflating opinion and fact. Rabbi Fred N. Reiner states in a letter-to-the-editor in…

Editorial | Deliberate Misunderstanding

S.A. Shepler (c) 2021 Community Word

It is not antisemitic to advocate for Palestinian human rights and respect. It is not antisemitic to protest war against Gaza. It is not support of Hamas, a terrorist organization, to object to bombing Gaza. It is not antisemitic to…

Editorial | How art can change the world

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word

Peoria should bring Preston Jackson’s whale sculpture, “Shirley Armstrong,” to the Peoria Riverfront in the green space to the east of Peoria Riverfront Museum. The whale is a beautiful and haunting reminder of the interconnection between the sometimes careless actions…

Editorial | What Tom Vilsack fails to say about hunger

S.A. Shepler (c) 2021 Community Word

Tom Vilsack is returning to his post as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served in that capacity under President Obama for eight years. Vilsack hails from Iowa, a leading agricultural state with a major focus on industrial corn, soybeans, hogs,…

Editorial | Land-grant legacy of injustice

S.A. Shepler (c) 2021 Community Word

A recent report in High County News concluding a two-year investigation revealed “a dark open secret: One of the largest transfers of land and capital in the country’s history had masqueraded as a donation for university endowments.” The report found…

Editorial | When American democracy is assaulted

S.A. Shepler (c) 2021 Community Word

BY ANGELA WECK Editor’s Note: This message was written Jan. 7, the day after pro-Trump rioters attempted an insurrection and invaded the U.S. Capitol. Yesterday was a day that should have represented the highest achievement of our republic. This day…

Disinformation, Gannett and PJS

S.A. Shepler (c) 2020 Community Word

The Journal Star has clearly deteriorated under GateHouse and now Gannett ownership, but a new low was reached Sunday Nov. 15 with a column on page B1 about Gov. JB Pritzker’s order restricting indoor dining in restaurants and bars. The…

Editorial | Christopher Columbus statue and the Electoral College – both racist legacies of white supremacy

S.A. Shepler (c) 2020 Community Word

George Floyd’s death set off a global movement for racial justice. In the fervor of this movement, two events should be seen and understood through the frame of white supremacy. The Peoria Park District is evaluating the fate of the…