“Remember Her, Peoria!” is a new art installation designed to bring attention to the number of women and girls murdered and missing in Peoria County. One estimate puts the number at 88 over the past two decades. Opening on Valentine’s…
News
Demeaning stereotypes linked to Illinois’ initial failure to pass ERA
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Demeaning stereotypes linked to Illinois’ initial failure to pass ERA
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
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on 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
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on EPA gives OK for more toxic chemical cocktails
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
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Radon “old news,” but threat current
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
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on 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
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on 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…
New documentary “Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm” forewarns of global havoc
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on New documentary “Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm” forewarns of global havoc
For Henry Brockman, farming is hard manual labor, rigorous scholarship, original research, ethics, poetry and a clarion call that climate change is crashing into our world. For more than a quarter of a century, there was a rhythmic progression of…
“Alarming rate” of soil erosion and nutrient runoff
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on “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…
Newspaper merger means more layoffs, less journalism, “just morally wrong”
by Clare Howard • • Comments Off on Newspaper merger means more layoffs, less journalism, “just morally wrong”
The Journal Star will not enhance coverage of the Peoria City Council, Dunlap schools, East Peoria police or the Illinois Legislature in Springfield following the merger of Gannett and PJS owner GateHouse Media. In fact, it has been widely reported…