News

Demeaning stereotypes linked to Illinois’ initial failure to pass ERA

Samantha Lechowicz

Bradley University senior Samantha Lechowicz researched the correlation between news coverage in the Peoria Journal Star and the repeated decades-long failure of the Illinois Legislature to pass the Equal Rights Amendment up until its recent passage in May 2018. Some…

Workforce diversity No. 1 tool for economic growth

Ernestine Jackson has worked for more than four decades in equal employment opportunity; today she is frustrated, even heartbroken, when she looks at the racial composition of Peoria and the racial composition of the city hall workforce and contractors with…

EPA gives OK for more toxic chemical cocktails

Glyphosate

The Trump administration continues to lift restrictions on toxic pesticides despite years of research by independent scientists. The fallout in Central Illinois is especially acute. With a location in the middle of the farm belt, Central Illinois is the bull’s…

Radon “old news,” but threat current

Radon

January is National Radon Action Month designated to increase awareness of the dangers of radon, which is especially relevant to Central Illinois where residents live with high levels of the carcinogenic gas, according to the U.S. Surgeon General and Environmental…

Downstate Story releases 2019 edition

Peoria’s only literary magazine for fiction, Downstate Story, just released its 2019 edition. It is now published only on the web at www.downstatestory.com. Writers in this issue include: Loren Logsdon of Eureka, IL; Marie Anderson of Western Springs, IL; Duke…

Victim dies after accident last year at Journal Star

Larry Helle, 61, died Nov. 23 following nearly a year of ongoing health complications caused by a forklift accident at the Journal Star where he worked. He underwent numerous operations and treatments following the accident that resulted in amputation of…

“Alarming rate” of soil erosion and nutrient runoff

Six environmental organizations reviewed an agricultural pollution report issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and sounded an alarm. Illinois is more than “200 years from reaching nutrient pollution reduction goals,” the group’s report stated. The report “confirms long-held concerns…