Articles

Immigrants could infuse life into dying central Illinois towns

BY GEORGE HOPKINS The vacant shop’s windows blare a message to the old town square in tiny Cuba, Illinois —“Lost Dreams! Broken Heart! Must Sell!” Like many once-thriving downstate market towns, this Fulton County hamlet is a pretty place, with…

Peoria professor fights oppression with education

BY CLARE HOWARD Throughout history, one of the universal tools of repression has been denying access to education. It’s an inhuman and dirty strategy followed by the Iranian government against people of the Baha’i faith. In total opposition to that…

Advocates want Jerry Brady off Heidelberg case

Attorneys for Cleve Heidelberg, incarcerated since 1970, remain convinced of his innocence in the murder of a white Peoria County sheriff’s deputy, and they want Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady removed from the case and replaced with an independent…

If Not Now, When? It’s not uncommon for an attorney to ask for a delay in a trial. They do it all the time and often multiple times. People wiser than me say it’s done for a variety of reasons.…

As Major League Baseball’s top players compete in July 12’s annual All-Star Game in San Diego, fans are sure to marvel at the talent on display, and might reminisce about pickup games on city sandlots or rural pastures in their…

Elder Care Concerns

BY DAVE WEIMAN Eating. We do this every day – repeatedly. It is important for obvious reasons. But for residents in skilled nursing homes, it should also be a significant event. Why? Because it needs to be more than the…

Arab-Israeli conflict can’t pierce this friendship

  Stereotypes with deep historical roots damage democracies that thrive on diversity and understanding, so when a friendship evolves between a Muslim Imam and a Jewish Rabbi, the potential is powerful. But that was not the predetermined purpose of this…

Abandoned coal mines dot greater Peoria

This spring Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan demanded that Peabody Energy prove it has the funds necessary to reclaim coal mines if it shuts down, rekindling public concern over abandoned mines and the responsibility for cleaning them up. In her…