Firearm violence is taking place in communities across the nation and recently surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of injurious death in the United States. Peoria is no exception. Firearm homicides of Peoria County residents doubled from 2020…
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court last June, many states have passed legislation defining and limiting the circumstances under which abortions may be performed. As a result, many doctors and hospitals have been extremely timid about…
April is the month when the forest floor comes alive with new growth. In Illinois forests, the ground layer comes alive while the tree tops still slumber. The amount of daylight steadily increases throughout the month as spring takes over…
On Saturday, May 13, the morning will start slow for thousands of volunteers from coast to coast. At the USPS Persimmon Annex just south of the State Street Post Office, Cub Scouts from Pack 219 will meet, grab a snack,…
By a whopping 70%, Peoria County voters said the office of County Auditor should be closed. Members of the County Board had overwhelmingly stated there was no need for an elected auditor. Auditor Jessica Thomas was expected to accept the…
Judge Bruce Fehrenbacher on March 15 denied a motion from Peoria County filed in November to dismiss as moot a lawsuit brought Sept. 15 by Karrie Alms and County Auditor Jessica Thomas challenging the 2022 referendum abolishing the Auditor’s office.…
Almost three-fourths of UAW ballots cast OK’d T.A. with Cat. The United Auto Workers on March 13 started working under a new, six-year contract with Caterpillar Inc. after a ratification vote the previous day resulted in 71.5% voting union members…
The Sierra Club, the Illinois Environmental Council, Faith in Place Action Fund and other groups are supporting an Illinois House measure to phase out single-use foam food ware on Jan. 1, 2025. Introduced Feb. 13, House Bill 2376 would amend…
The nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters last month issued its annual 2022 National Environmental Scorecard, and U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria) was given a 5%. This new scorecard considered 19 House votes and 23 Senate votes, including the clean energy…
After another light-hearted April Fools Day and the cheery promise of April showers’ importance to May flowers, the deadline for filing federal income tax returns (April 18 this year) can be a dark day, rekindling people’s resentment about taxes generally,…
Ten candidates are running for the Peoria City Council’s five at-large seats in the non-partisan election April 4. Under Peoria’s system, voters casting ballots for these races have five votes to cast for the candidates. Voters may choose to cast…
Spring cleaning begins with updated contracts, budgets, reports and ordinance tweaks. Your representatives paved the way for a new hotel in Downtown Peoria and bridge projects in the county. And they heard concerns about a proposed CO2 pipeline that could…
Sharon McBride, a beloved West Peoria figure, has retired from writing this column after three decades. Her contributions to the community through her writing have been invaluable, and her passion for sharing its stories and events was evident in every…
Wolf/ADM (2022) wants to run a CO2 pipeline through Peoria and Tazewell Counties, route a trunk line to Peoria’s BioUrja ethanol plant, and possibly inject CO2 into the Mt. Simon Basin extending beneath your counties. For an antidote to Wolf/ADM…
The Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition is the second-longest running juried print and drawing competition in the country. It was established following WWII, where veterans were returning from Europe and the economy was improving. Ernest Freed realized that printmaking…
March is one of those months that can seem to last forever. It can be a month where a waning winter reawakens, followed by a summer-like day of promise. From a weather perspective, it’s all over the place. The record…
A United Auto Workers work stoppage at Caterpillar Inc. is possible March 1, hours after the previous contract expires — the same day the UAW international runoff-election vote count starts — possibly resulting in more leadership changes. Affected are some…
Dr. Mandar Pattekar’s article in the last Community Word gave a good review of how indigenous and ancient traditions have been persecuted and all but wiped out around the world, especially under imperial regimes. The United States allowed slavery to…
Consolidating industries are apparently learning from other near-monopolies, and are using pretexts to boost prices — and profits — at the expense of consumers. An ag advocacy group, Farm Action, this winter wrote the Federal Trade Commission asserting that despite…
When I was a kid, at 4 p.m. every Saturday, I made sure that I was in front of the television to watch one of my favorite shows of all time, Star Trek. So that we’re clear, I’m talking about…
People of a certain age may hear “Pleasant Valley” and think of the Monkees’ ’60s musical-comedy TV show, but Pleasant Valley School District 62 sees no laughing matter in meeting teaching obstacles some might feel are insurmountable (though it has…
