TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY That’s the question facing Peoria’s city council regarding the purchase of Illinois American Water Co. Those who support buying the water company believe it could be a gold mine for the city and those…
The slender, soft-spoken man with salt-and-pepper hair somehow seems taller than his 6-foot, 1-inch frame, and while often serious as he points to problems in state government, he occasionally slips into a smile that seems so genuine you suspect it’s…
Facts, Trumpcare and the ERA The documentary film “Equal Means Equal” was shown at Bradley University in May sponsored by NOW Peoria Chapter and Bradley University Women’s and Gender Studies Program. The film deconstructs and disproves the notion that women’s…
NRA, racism and misogyny Over the past eight years, whenever there was a school shooting or some other mass killing, the National Rifle Association and certain politicians would spread the threat that Obama (Black guy) or Hillary (powerful woman) were…
Could 2017 be the year for industrial hemp in Illinois? BY REBECCA OSLAND Farmers and other advocates have been trying for decades to bring hemp back to Illinois agriculture. This year, the Illinois Legislature grappled with SB1294, co-sponsored by Sen.…
Rebuilding Our Community through Unity The church I grew up in had a motto. It was “where there is unity there is strength.” One of the definitions of unity is oneness of mind, feelings, concord, harmony or agreement among a…
What we fear It was a sickening site, lying on the side of the road — the freshly dead body of a black rat snake. Tire tracks coming off the pavement, onto the road shoulder to hit the snake, then…
West Peoria had a very successful Clean Up Day on a very nasty, wet last Saturday in April. Twenty-two volunteers received 170 loads of junk and 29 pallets of electronics recycling at a cost of approximately $1,350 to the township.…
In 1916, the Board of the National Duroc-Jersey Association made the decision to construct an office building at the corner of Monroe and Fayette streets. A nationwide design search was started in early 1916 for a 40-by-100-foot project with nationwide…
I too am America As I ponder what it is to be an American, in a country that has been honorable as a melting pot but also discriminative in its practices, I have often realized that ismism also has been…
Chloe McEldowney is a young artist who has been living in Peoria for just two years. During that time she’s made an impression on the art community, receiving a residency at the Prairie Center of the Arts and contributing a…
MUSIC June 1: Ratt at 8 p.m. Limelight Eventplex. 693-1234. June 2: “Broadway Jazz Night” featuring Stephanie Aaron, 8 p.m. at the Waterhouse. 494-9100. June 2: Chicken Shack Blues. 8 p.m. Rhythm Kitchen. 676-9668. June 2: Cousin Eddie “Live at…
Retired miners win health benefits extension. Scrambling to ensure that more than 22,000 aging, ailing retired miners didn’t lose their health care, Congress approved extending the benefits, run by two government-funded plans that were running out of money due to…
Cleve Heidelberg: “I’m about justice”
UN: Pesticide marketing “aggressive,” “unethical”
BY CLARE HOWARD It’s a “myth” that pesticides are needed to feed the world, a recent United Nations report concludes, calling for an international treaty to regulate and ultimately eliminate widespread pesticide use. The report states that elimination of pesticides…
Ridin’ the storm out?
BY BILL KNIGHT Flooding is more frequent and more costly, and destruction like what Peoria County endured four years ago this spring might be considered bad luck. Homeowners, developers and government couldn’t foresee such dangers. Except: Maybe they could. Storms…
Hate crime: Guilty
BY BILL KNIGHT The last of the three family members arrested in connection with a fight in Canton Memorial Day weekend last year pleaded guilty on March 13. In a complicated agreement with prosecutors, Shane Weller, 19, pleaded guilty: •…
It’s time to raise the nation’s D+ infrastructure grade In his address to Congress, President Trump described a future in which “crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our beautiful land,” and…
Caterpillar rumor It’s only a rumor. These days everyone repeats rumors especially if it’s about President Trump, someone in his family, or someone in his administration. However, this rumor is about Caterpillar and its announced plan to move some 200…