In the fight against Senate Democrats blocking Bush’s judicial nominees by using the filibuster (ala Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), a new weapon has been unleashed: evangelical Christians. Last Sunday there was a broadcast called “Justice Sunday” in which several Christian leaders, including James Dobson (Focus on the Family) and Chuck Colson (Prison Fellowship), [...]

My family enjoyed watching the updated “Little House on the Prairie” recently on ABC’s Wonderful World of Disney. It was a five-part, six-hour mini-series that more closely followed the book than the ’70s TV version. This show was well-acted, entertaining, and good viewing for the whole family. I can’t remember the last time there [...]

Well, once again this year, whenever the Cardinals have a day game, I’ll have to pull it in from St. Louis on KMOX because WMBD won’t preempt Rush Limbaugh. The Cardinals only play during Rush’s timeslot about 12 times over the summer, and most games don’t start until the third hour Rush is on. [...]

A couple years ago or so, I scaled back from expanded cable to basic cable. We now just have channels 2-22 on Insight. The main reasons we cut back were (1) price and (2) objectionable material. Our cable bill was getting ridiculously expensive, and many of the channels I really wanted were only available [...]

It appears the City of Peoria is against some legislation snaking its way through the Illinois legislature.  Senate Bill 1727, the “Residential Inspection Ordinance Act,” passed the Illinois Senate on April 15 (Risinger voted yea, Shadid nay).  It has now gone to the House and has been referred to the Rules Committee.   Here’s a [...]

There was an article in the (Peoria?) Journal Star today about George Ryan and his speech to the ACLU in Peoria.  I’d like to pull out a few quotes that illustrate what I think are inconsistencies in his argument against the death penalty. Ryan, a former pharmacist who never practiced law, is telling the world the [...]

I’ve been wondering, when and why did the Peoria Journal Star stop putting “Peoria” in its name?  I mean, it’s still technically part of its name, but they don’t ever use it — not in the masthead or in other self-referential statements.  This seems odd to me.    Are they ashamed of being [...]

I like to watch the Cardinals play on WAOE, channel 59 (UPN).  Of course, I don’t watch it over the air, but rather on Insight cable channel 14.  I’ve noticed lately that the audio for the Cardinals games sounds distorted.  It could be that Insight is rebroadcasting the audio too hot, but I doubt [...]

As long as I’m commending things about Peoria, I have to mention how great the library is here, especially for historical and genealogical research.  I usually go to the downtown branch of the Peoria Public Library and check out their microfilm — they have all the Peoria newspapers dating back to the mid 1800s.  [...]