“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
- Oscar Wilde

This is a sad, but true, observation.

Now that the temperatures have turned moderate and the snow has disappeared, the persistent issue Peoria has with litter is again highly visible.

There is hardly a residential neighborhood or street drain here that does not bear witness to this problem.  

There is only one reason we have litter — personal behavior.

Earlier this month, during a Heartland Partnership presentation on the economic climate in the Greater Peoria Area, Keith Steffen, president and CEO of OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, made an important statement.

 

Illinois Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) made a less-than-timely entrance into the River City last week to thank supporters for his 193 vote margin of victory over Kirk Dillard for the GOP nomination for governor.

An example of the Duryea automobile — the first mass-produced automobile in the United States, built right here — is currently on display at the Peoria Next Innovation Center.

It is hard to argue with Michael Rucker, president of the Peoria Regional Museum Society, who said: “This innovation center is a very appropriate place for it, as the Duryea was one of Peoria’s early innovations.”

But, there are those among us who view innovation as something that springs entirely from the individual.

The most important role of a newspaper is to inform the public.
This is done with a variety of news items, such as stories, advertising and photographs.
Another item that is a vital ingredient of a newspaper is public/legal notices, which are found in the classified section.
Public/legal notices are required by law to be published in the newspaper, and the majority of them come from attorneys and taxing bodies in municipalities.
In recent years, local governments have attempted to remove public/legal notices from newspapers.

The Peoria Times-Observer Web site has been on fire lately with comments from readers.
Readers have responded to the stories on “Blacktop Reform.”
The story, “Shipp leads school from ‘zoo to pocket of excellence’” drew 54 responses as of March 1.

It is time the citizens, educators and students throughout the Greater Peoria Area band together and create a new educational mind set.
We need an educational track designed to foster this area’s future Bill Gates, Henry Ford or Steve Jobs. 

Peoria is described as a city of neighborhoods. Ask someone where they live and one hears, Deerbrook, the Near North side, the East Bluff, Vinton Highlands or the South End, to name a few choices.

However, we all live in one city, no matter how we break it down. That message came through loud and clear at last week’s policy session before the Peoria City Council on the proposed comprehensive plan. It was a meaningful and hotly debated discussion during which North Peoria and the growth cells came under fire. That is quite all right.

An unenforced law is the worst kind. It can create an atmosphere that breeds contempt for all laws.
The Smoke-Free Illinois Act is one such law. This law, passed in 2008, makes it illegal to smoke in indoor public places. But, problems with the way the law was written and contempt for the law by smokers have left this law impotent.

Mike McCoy and Vince Wieland were judged by the people of Peoria County in the Peoria County Sheriff’s race.
McCoy, the incumbent, found he had the public’s confidence and rolled easily to a victory with 73 percent of the vote. Many McCoy supporters, including Mayor Jim Ardis, contend Wieland, a city police lieutenant, ran a negative campaign and paid a price for that.

Mayor Jim Ardis’ tone seemed somber as he delivered his State of the City address Jan. 26. Of course, that may well reflect the mood of many in this city after the grueling 2009 we just put behind us.
But, Ardis’ tone seemed to pick up a bit when he broached the subject of government consolidation in Peoria.

In early September an editorial appeared on this page titled “Hefty, hefty, hefty or wimpy, wimpy, wimpy?”
The editorial observed while Mayor Jim Ardis was off on the Memphis-to-Peoria St. Jude Run the city council did not exactly move forward boldly on plans to trim the budget, which was written in red ink.

A new year is here.
With a new year comes opportunity. The challenge with opportunity is embracing it and making the most of it. Here is a list of five opportunities that present themselves in 2010.

There are frightening statistics when it comes to children and reading.
Thirty-eight percent of all fourth graders in the United States cannot read  a simple poem. There are seven million elementary-aged children performing below their grade level in reading.
These children are not all lazy or stupid.