James and Tina Fink stood in the remains of their burned-out house in Peoria Heights.
Out front, a big dumpster sat on the street full of their possessions, now reduced to charred junk.
They looked skyward from the living room and saw blue skies overhead because there was no roof.
They were caught in a downward spiral of finances, and they say part of the reason is their bank, one of the largest in the nation, but without a local branch.
“It’s been a living nightmare,” James said. The couple said they have learned a valuable lesson from all this — bank locally.

The vote was taken last night to reduce the PAWS budget by $250,000. But, the outcome is not final. The battle is not over for those who chose to stay in it.For some people looking at the Peoria budget deficit, which now appears to be climbing toward the $15 million mark, the answers are easy. But, for most, the decisions come hard.
PAWS, the city’s animal shelter, is one agency caught in the crossfire. One suggested cut would result in the euthanization of an estimated 7,000 animals.

Recently, while on vacation, I did a Web search with the question, “Are manners passé in 2009?”
I came across an interesting post at thinkingethics.typepad.com. A Jan. 13, 2009, post was right on target.

Some years ago, then First Lady Hillary Clinton said, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
That idea comes to mind concerning the implementation of the Drug Market Initiative/Intervention Program, also known as DMI. Tom Larson, a lieutenant of the Peoria Police Vice and Narcotics Unit, is heading up the new program, which basically takes the approach, “It takes a village to reform a drug dealer.”

Students are back in school, catching up after summer and making weekend plans.
Often those plans include parties, and often those parties include alcohol.
Many parents try compromising with their teens by providing alcohol at semi-supervised house parties.
We all know who they are. They’re known as the “cool parents.”

“Is anger the fuel that powers political passion?” is the question Ben Boychuck, a writer for the Washington Post, asked back in 2008.
I wondered the same thing as I covered the Sept. 17 Peoria County Tea Party. There was lots of anger on display Sept. 17.

Mindy Watkins, in my humble opinion, has one of the finest singing voices in this city. But, as Watkins, 38, spoke about her former Richwoods High School teacher Wayne Macomber her voice cracked.

The drunk lady stood in front of Big Al’s, balled up her fists, thrust her arms downward violently and screamed “This is dog****.”
She was looking at a man across the street at Hoop’s kneeling on the ground next to a Peoria police squad car.
She watched for a moment and then walked up Main Street mumbling.

The American educational system, flawed as it is, is still operating.
District 150 is still limping along.
The meltdown anticipated by so many conservative parents when President Obama addressed American school children last week did not occur.

Recently Gov. Pat Quinn signed long overdue legislation to increase transparency in government across the state.
A Web site called Accountability.Illinois.gov was launched to accomplish the goal of greater transparency.
This legislation strengthens the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and will help make the state’s boards and commissions more open.

I couldn’t believe it came out of my mouth, but there it was, thrown out there, volunteered without prompting.
“I think I’m going to get a flu shot this year,” I told some co-workers.
How far away can the frenzy about flu shots be? Not too far, I guess, despite the fact I am not yet even wearing socks. (That’s right, I don’t wear socks in the spring, summer and fall. It enhances the natural male ruggedness I exude and makes me look even more like Don Johnson in Miami Vice.)

College students have many things on their minds as school starts. Safety is often way down the list. These young adults still need mom and dad to look out for them.

The effort by Mayor Jim Ardis and Peoria library board president Brian Ruddell to find cuts to the library budget is beginning to look like a high-stakes poker game. 
With Ardis and Ruddell both being highly civilized men, this game is being played with smiles and strategy.

Looking at ways to make Congress a stronger, more effective institution, it’s easy for reformers to get dispirited by the sheer complexity of the task. How do you even begin to fix the budget process, or reduce the hold of campaign money on members’ attention, or change the lopsided power equation between Congress and the White House? Yet there is one small improvement that Congress could put into effect right now that would go a long way toward making it a more successful body: extend the congressional work week.

When the city manager’s office released a 5 percent budget reduction plan last week, it had one major sour note — funding for the Municipal Band.
The report outlines the cuts proposed by department heads to achieve a 5 percent cut in their departments.
The plan calls for a 5 percent reduction in funding to the band, which would still leave the city handing the band $90,246. This is incredible when one considers the financial disaster the city is facing.