MIKE MILLER A recent hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) was ablaze with early spring wildflowers. I was amazed at the diversity of insects that busily buzzed among the blooms. Numerous species of butterflies, bees, and hoverflies were all benefiting from the ample diversity of spring flora. GSMNP is one of those special places where huge, unbroken tracts of natural habitat still exist. It is nature at a different scale and magnitude in comparison with our Midwest landscape. The diversity of insect pollinators along these mountain streams attest to the ecological health that ..read more

WILLIAM RAU How do citizens and elites respond to disaster? Differently. Most citizens respond, not with panic, hooliganism, or looting, but with spontaneously organized rescue efforts. When Hurricane Katrina clobbered New Orleans, a Cajun Navy of 400 boat owners rescued about 10,000 stranded people. A “New York Navy” consisting of hodgepodge of boats and ships achieved Dunkirk’s scale of evacuation by removing in a few hours more than 300,000 people from the toxic wreckage of 9/11 Lower Manhattan (Solnit 2020:191). After a 9.2 magnitude earthquake leveled Anchorage, Alaska, in 1964, volunte ..read more

Supreme Court killed wetlands protection, so states are now scrambling to fill void This winter, millions of acres of wetlands lost federal protection after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Water Act, and some states are trying to make up the difference. However, permitting programs and the resources and workers needed for enforcement have proven costly. In December, SCOTUS stripped federal oversight of wetlands in “Sackett v. EPA.” Marla Stelk, director of the National Association of Wetland Managers, told Stateline news service, “States and tribes already didn’t have enough funding t ..read more

DANIEL MCCLOUD On a recent day, when the temperature was an unseasonable 84 degrees, I dared turn on my television to CNN. After about two minutes, I decided that watching another episode of anything would be better. However, I wondered about leadership in this country and the world. It seems that many of today’s leadership styles are often based on creating division, seeking to extract those traits that are the worst of us rather than the good I believe all of us possess. I also state that we all have leadership qualities in various capacities — if not in our professional lives, then certai ..read more

ROGER MONROE Every now and then I realize what great world leaders we have here in Peoria. As an example, as tensions increase and the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists expands, a small band of international leaders in our community surfaces. They appear before local governmental units to demand resolutions upholding their political positions as if anyone really cares what they think, other than local TV news people. Ignoring the fact that city and township officials’ primary function is to make Peoria a better place to live and work, the protesters want them to waste time listening to ..read more

By ZACHARY GITTRICH The United Nations’ definition of Apartheid: any inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group over any other racial group and systematically oppressing them. We are often told when someone tells us something about themselves, we should believe them; we should believe how they self-identify. Let’s look at statements by top Israeli officials about how Israel self-identifies. “Israel … better rid itself of the territories and their Arab population as soon as possible. If it did not, Israel would soon become an apartheid ..read more

By HIND AKAR The Peoria Township meeting on April 9 was monumental, indeed. A proposed referendum on Ranked Choice Voting passed — a positive outcome. However, another proposed nonbinding referendum to include an item on the November ballot did not pass. The ballot item would have asked the citizens of Peoria Township to express their position on U.S. taxpayers providing military funding to the state of Israel. It was intended to take the pulse of how Midwest citizens feel about the use of their federal taxes toward the ongoing and widely recognized genocide and intentional starvation carried ..read more

By JENNIFER DAVIS of Peoria Public Library Peoria Public Library has hosted a Summer Reading program for nearly 80 years. Some things have stayed constant — the reading — but this isn’t your grandmother’s Summer Reading program. Or is it? One of the lingering misconceptions about Summer Reading is that it’s just for kids. It’s not. In fact, at Peoria Public Library, we are so committed to being adult-friendly, we’ve even started hosting an Adults Only Summer Reading Party. This year, we’re taking over Main Library, hosting a live band, Dexter O’Neal and the Funk Yard, and planning a library-wi ..read more

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation’s creation of an Architectural Archive. To celebrate this milestone, the Archives Committee will be hosting an exhibit of architectural drawings and ephemera from its collection May 4 through June 28 at the Peoria Public Library Main Library Gallery. The committee invites everyone to an opening reception from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, May 11th. The committee has selected items showcasing Peoria’s rich architectural history. The display ranges from buildings we see every day to ones we have lost to history that now only live ..read more

Madame X will mark the spot for a fun night on May 30 at Horowitz Auditorium. The Peoria Art Guild is presenting “John Singer Sargent: Painting Madame X” in collaboration with Bradley University. Bob Diven performs the single-actor play about the world renown portrait artist whose masterpiece, “Portrait of Madame X,” was actually ridiculed at the Salon of 1884. You see, the right strap of the dress Madame Pierre Gautreau (American-born Amélie Avegno) was wearing was (gasp!) slipping from her shoulder. Sargent repainted her arm and kept the work hidden for more than 20 years. Diven takes it fro ..read more