Exactly why is there a 10-hour parking meter in front of Big Al’s? I mean, there’s only so long you can stare before it gets a little old.

Above: An old colorized postcard shows the original Old Spanish Cannon that protected Glen Oak Park Lagoon from naval invasion. Karrie Alms says the entire structure is going to be torn down.
This RALLY Peoria post from Karrie Alms is more than a week old, but it’s still relevant.
She writes about the many, many features that [...]

Kudos to Rich Miller’s Illinoize for giving blog readers a place to capture diverse points of view about a wide variety of topics.
I especially appreciate the different perspectives on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to lease out the Illinois Lottery to capture some cash for state schools.
Dan Johnson Weinberger says the plan is bold and innovative:
I [...]

Law enforcement agencies haven’t done a damn thing yet, our congressman and Illinois’s two U.S. Senators haven’t gotten involved and the Journal Star editorial board has given the perpetrators a free ride.
But two bloggers have noticed, and they are making the rest of the nation aware that of the Peoria Housing Authority predatory loan scandal.
Mapgirl [...]

Flag-burning Hamas supporter Rachel Corrie, who died trying to keep the Isreali Defense Force from demolishing tunnels being used to smuggle weapons, no doubt would have approved of U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood’s opposition to the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, which ends U.S. government financial aid to the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority.
And I hear through [...]

A resident of the Averyville neighborhood told the city council last night that some neighborhood toughs put up a basketball hoop on Vine Street. She called the police and they drove by, looked at it, and drove off. She went out and took a picture, and for her troubles, was threatened by the toughs who [...]

First, there’s no such thing as found money in government. The $100,000 the City of Peoria “saved” by not buying a generator the council decided wasn’t needed wasn’t money that fell into the council’s lap, like manna from heaven. Every cent of that cash came from taxpayers.
I applaud council member Gary Sandberg for [...]

There’s a law being considered that would prohibit aid to the Palestinian Authority while it is being governed by Hamas. The article, which excoriates Israel for a long list of supposed atrocities while declining to criticize poor, innocent Hamas [/end sarcasm] or even mention recent suicide bombings even once, heaps praise upon U.S. Rep. Ray [...]

Last week, the Peoria City Council voted to send a letter to the federal government pointing out that current federal law doesn’t give municipalities the power to regulate cable Internet service as it does cable television service. Obviously, the council believes in getting involved when cable subscribers experience a hiccough in service.
But when the Peoria [...]

Thank God Elaine Hopkins has started reporting on the Peoria Housing Authority predatory loan scandal again. She previously wrote one story about how the PHA brought in this crook to teach a course in home ownership, who then turned around and started selling these predatory loans, with the PHA telling poor working class families that [...]

Every day, Peoria is getting more and more like an episode of Law & Order:
Bobby Irvin, 41, of 1813 N. North St. called police about 5:30 p.m. Sunday to report his wife, Rose Irvin, 46, is possibly poisoning him. He said he walked into the kitchen and spotted his wife sprinkling a powder on a [...]

What the Hell is wrong with these people? They had a perfectly good location located across the river. Then they opened a site up in North Peoria amongst white-bread Dunlappers. Then they moved that site to the Shoppes at Grand Prairie (hrmph!) and then planned to move back across the street … and then [...]

… it’s your birthday, and all you really want is for the stupid dog to not wake you up so early that morning.
… you have to subtract the year you were born from the current year to figure out how old you’ve become, but you forget what year this is and you’ve been giving people [...]

You know what we haven’t had here in the River City for far too long? I good, old-fashioned book banning attempt.

The above headline is just one possible explanation for why Polly Peoria hasn’t posted in more than 10 days.