Bubblegum Jack @ Crusen’s Farmington Rd, Peoria

Bubblegum Jack @ Outskirtz Canton

Bubblegum Jack @ Outskirtz Canton

WIU professor takes us on journey through Illinois

Fred Jones, landscape painter and emeritus professor at Western Illinois University, will be in Peoria for the month of June as artist in residence at the Prairie Center of the Arts. Rather than sequestering his residency period for his own work, Jones has developed a cohort of artists, poets and philosophers for a monthlong community [...]

Titanic emotions

More people have been to outer space than have journeyed 2.5 miles below the ocean surface to view one of the most famous shipwrecks in history. Even so, when Lowell Lytle got the opportunity to tag along on a salvage mission to the Titanic in 2000, he had no idea the experience would move him [...]

Chart Topping Books

Here are the best-selling books in the country, according to The Wall Street Journal. FICTION 1. "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion Books for Children) 2. "Wicked Prey" by John Sandford (Putnam) 3. "Cemetery Dance" by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing) NONFICTION 1. "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: [...]

It’s all Bach at Bach fest

Bach’s setting of two New Testament canticles, daily free chamber concerts at noon, and a visit by Mr. Bach who explains the science of music are among the highlights at this year’s Bach Festival, scheduled June 1-7 at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 135 NE Randolph. Performers include Marcia Henry Liebenow, concertmaster for the Peoria Symphony [...]

Corn Stock gets season rolling with ‘The Producers’

Corn Stock Theatre begins its summer 2009 season with the Mel Brooks classic "The Producers" followed by a string of hits, including the Neil Simon farce "Rumors," the fairy tale musical "Once Upon A Mattress," the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1944 comedy "Harvey" and the parody of 1930s-style megamusicals "Dames at Sea." "It’s quality theater in an [...]

On the Air: Life goes on after ‘Royce and Roger’

While he no longer has to get up at 4:30 a.m., Roger Monroe misses "Breakfast with Royce and Roger," the morning show he did on local radio with comedian Royce Elliott until WOAM 1350 folded last October. "I miss the interaction with Royce, who I’ve known since high school (both men are in their 70s), [...]

Kindermusik classes offered this summer

Three five-week sessions of weekly Kindermusik classes for children of various ages will be offered this summer at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 135 NE Randolph Ave. The first session begins this week and runs through June 22; the second and third sessions run the weeks of June 29-July 27 and Aug. 10-Sept. 7. The classes [...]