A FITTING TRIBUTE A large crowd gathered at the remaining baseball diamond at Glen Oak Park Saturday, June 6, for the ceremony naming it Royce Elliott Field. Park board president Tim Cassidy and Mayor Jim Ardis were among Royce’s…
Straight Talk
‘Tis the Season . . . for toxins Driving north on Knoxville Avenue recently, I spotted a seasonally ubiquitous and totally illogical sight: a man striding across a tiny swatch of turf grass near a strip shopping center. Marching across…
Talking about drugs’ side effects, the late comic Robin Williams said, “There’s a product called Olestra, which is a very strange thing. ‘Olestra? What is that?’ It’s said on the little side of the chips: ‘May cause anal leakage.’ That’s…
Living near Edwards coal-fired power plant worse than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day
To the Editor: Dr. David Trachtenbarg’s recent column (“What’s the Evidence?” June issue) did a great job of laying out the dangers of burning coal as an energy source. I would like to add to that a bit and mention…
Health benefits of a plant-based diet
BY DR. BOB EASTON AND NANCY LONG Most Midwesterners don’t worship sacred cows–or do we? If we count the varieties of meat and dairy products that fill the shelves of our grocery stores and compare the percentage of food budgets spent on…
Trans fat ban; Koehler was right Illinois Sen. Dave Koehler should feel exonerated. Labels like “nanny state” were hurled at him years ago for his efforts to ban trans fat. It took the FDA a while to catch up with…
Shavua Tov! (Happy New Week!)
Shavua Tov! (Happy New Week!) I write this sitting in Jerusalem, looking out my window as the Sabbath has ended and the city is coming back to life after the 25 hours of quiet and calm that mark Shabbat in…
Ramadan: Muslim holiday of fasting, reflection and kindness
By Imam Kamil Mufti Ramadan is more than a time when we Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. It is a time to restore our connection with our Creator, and it is also a time to become closer to each…
Serendipity
Simplicity is often touted for reducing stress and enhancing calmness. Theoretically that’s valid, and wise souls try to live simply. Reality may vary. Consider technology that makes lives easier in many respects and more complicated in others, particularly for those…
A Changing Planet
The earth is changing. In fact, it is in a constant state of change. Tectonic plates slowly grind and move. Mountains lift in the Himalayas, and slowly wear down in the Appalachians. I’m now sitting in a cottage in…
West Peoria News
July Fourth marks a special day for our West Peoria community and citizens. It is the day that each year the community opens its doors, streets, hearts and welcomes thousands to our community for the longest running Fourth of July…
The Magnificent Invalid
The Great Work Begins is a group of young actors who have formed a collective to produce and perform some of the most important theatrical literature of the past. They have no funding, no roof, no grants, nothing but passion…
Arts Beat
MUSIC July 2: Bluprint. 8:30 p.m. Festival Park on Peoria’s riverfront. Produced by Alpha Media. 637-3700. July 3: Molly Hatchet, with the Outlaws. 7:30 p.m. Festival Park on Peoria’s riverfront. Produced by Alpha Media. 637-3700. July 3: Change-Up. 8…
Moving from Dull to Dynamic
Moving from Dull to Dynamic Peoria has an image problem. For over a hundred years we have suffered the vaudevillian view of Peoria as the paramount example of the dull, banal and provincial. And to make matters worse, Peorians embraced…
Labor Roundup
Louisville Slugger plant is unionized. As Peoria’s Louisville Slugger Sports Complex gets busier this month, it’s interesting to note the bat company’s labor relations. Every month is baseball season for members of Steelworkers Local 1693 at the Hillerich & Bradsby…
Neighborhood Notes
Local Florist and West Bluff neighborhood resident/advocate Dan Callahan is the recipient of the 2015 West Bluff Council “Pillar of the West Bluff Award.” Callahan, who was nominated by activist and Moss-Bradley Neighborhood resident Marjorie Klise, is a long-time West…
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS BRIEFS
Ontario first jurisdiction in North America to curb bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. A new rule that goes into effect July 1 will reduce 80 percent of the neonicotinoid-coated corn and soybean seeds planted in the province by 2017. Scientists have…
SHOULD I USE ASPARTAME?
SHOULD I USE ASPARTAME? Most people like sweet foods. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame can sweeten foods without the extra calories and glucose-raising sugar. Is aspartame safe? Can it help you lose weight? Could it help you control your diabetes? Aspartame…
Peoria pushes EPA for more time to stop dumping raw sewage into Illinois River
Pleasure boats speed past the Murray Baker Bridge and jet skis zigzag back and forth across the channel through an area of the Illinois River near downtown Peoria where untreated sewage enters the river during heavy rain. The city would…
Is Rauner’s ‘turnaround’ fair play?
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s turnaround agenda could seriously hurt everyday people. And it wouldn’t be a double-whammy. It would be more like a quadruple-whammy. Squared. The Republican’s proposed cuts to human services in particular could weaken everything from health care and…
How much of a “probable human carcinogen” is in your urine?
One of the most widely used pesticides in the Peoria area and around the world, applied plentifully by both homeowners and farmers, was labeled a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization recently. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup,…