Editorial

Editorial | Ah … he’s adopted

S.A. Shepler (c) 2018 Community Word

Diversity training helps expand understanding. Journalism is foundational to democracy, but the craft is still evolving based on our levels of assessment and training in issues related to diversity. It used to seem OK to repeat a police description of…

Editorial | Bright Future for Hotel Pere Marquette/Peoria

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word 2018

Paul Flynn, business manager of IBEW Local 34, lamented recently about a columnist in the Journal Star who ridiculed the transfer of the Hotel Pere Marquette from the local ownership of Gary Matthews and partners to INDURE Build-to-Core Fund, National…

Editorial | American Fascism?

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word

It once seemed absurd to link the words “American” and “Fascism.” It seemed extreme and counterproductive. Not today warns New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning economist and columnist Paul Krugman. Not today according to former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. Today,…

Editorial | Our neglected rivers

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word 2018

When rivers are used as sloughs for waste, pollution, plastic and agricultural runoff, the damage is hazardous, ugly and demoralizing. In a call to action, Prairie Rivers Network is hosting the “Wild & Scenic Film Festival” at Peoria Riverfront Museum…

Editorial | Weaponizing Free Speech

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word, 2018

REUTERS PHOTO: Man standing at a Trump rally in a T-shirt with this printing: “Rope Tree Journalist Some assembly required” A woman and young girl stand nearby laughing. Since when did this become constitutionally protected free speech in the United…

Editorials | The “Black National Anthem”

S.A. Shepler (c) Community Word 2018

The Declaration of Independence sets forth the principles of our democracy: All people in this country are equal with inalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We can believe in the promises of…

Editorial | Colin Kaepernick: Amnesty International Award Winner

Amnesty International gave Colin Kaepernick its 2018 Ambassador of Conscience Award for his nonviolent protest against police violence against black people. The N.F.L. quarterback did not stand for the National Anthem but knelt to protest racial inequality and police brutality.…

Editorial : Gutting science from public policy

Make America Lobotomized Again

“Fact-based,” “research-based,” “evidence-based” –– all terms that used to be the gold standard for evaluating the world and formulating public policy. No longer, at least not in Washington, D.C. Now these terms are banned by the Trump administration. We now…

Editorial: Trump bullies and coerces women; attacks basic human right to reproductive freedom

S.A. Shepler

Donald Trump, his administration and his judicial appointments are waging an all-out assault on legal access to abortion and contraception. Consider this case: A 17-year-old woman detained in a refugee center in Texas has been denied access to an abortion…