Your January 2021 Issue of the Community Word carried the good news that UnityPoint Health will be raising minimum hourly pay to $15. I am happy to know that this hospital nonprofit corporation has taken this step that will improve…
Editorial Page
Letter to the Editor | Journalists already in danger
by contributor • • Comments Off on Letter to the Editor | Journalists already in danger
One day after the attack on the Capitol in Washington, USAToday posted on Twitter that the newspaper “needs help identifying the people who broke into the U.S. Capitol,” then implored readers to follow a link to view the photos and…
Letter to the Editor | Even after 58 years, MLK’s nonviolent, direct action still best
by contributor • • Comments Off on Letter to the Editor | Even after 58 years, MLK’s nonviolent, direct action still best
I have been reading my library of MLK and borrowing his books from the Peoria NAACP community center library. It has been some time since I did this, and as a Quaker who does not have the Baptist Christian faith,…
Letter to the Editor | Condemn violence
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Letter to the Editor | Condemn violence
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago strongly condemns the glaring acts of violence and civic disorder committed in our nation’s capital on Jan. 6. Breeching security perimeters, bashing locked doors and assaulting Capitol Police officers are criminal acts…
OpEd | History of Originalism, Part 2
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BY BILL FEIPEL Originalism became a household word with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in October 2020. Originalism: it sounds reliable, stable, comforting. Ms. Barrett identifies its guiding principles as ”First, the meaning of the…
Editorial | Climate racism, food insecurity, election falsehoods, anti-vaxxers
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | Climate racism, food insecurity, election falsehoods, anti-vaxxers
We now live in the era of “alternative facts,” a term coined by Trump supporter Kellyanne Conway to try to justify lies. Predictably, “alternative facts” invariably favor wealthy, secure, privileged people who fail to recognize the limits of their own…
Disinformation, Gannett and PJS
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Disinformation, Gannett and PJS
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…
Letter to the Editor | Origins of Originalism, Part 1
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BY BILL FEIPEL Advocates of “Originalism,” some of whom have recently made it on to the Supreme Court, tell us the Constitution must be interpreted based on the “original understanding” of its creators “at the time it was adopted” ––…
Editorial | More newsroom cuts at Journal Star
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Editorial | More newsroom cuts at Journal Star
Poynter Institute for Media Studies has reported on yet another round of staff reductions in Gannett newsrooms and other departments nationwide. Gannett recently purchased the Peoria Journal Star. The paper currently has less than 10 percent of the newsroom employees…
OpEd | Who has the essential qualities for presidential leadership – Biden or Trump?
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on OpEd | Who has the essential qualities for presidential leadership – Biden or Trump?
BY FRANK H. MACKAMAN The most frequently asked question during these quadrennial presidential election marathons has to be “Who will win?” But that is the wrong question. With troubles deepening here and abroad, the question should be: “Who will govern…