WCBU
The president of Peoria s chapter of the NAACP hopes the murder conviction in the death of George Floyd represents a turning point for equal justice and leads to police reform across the country.
Shortly after the guilty verdicts against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were announced on Tuesday, the Rev. Marvin Hightower said he believes justice was served, and he is optimistic it will mark a first step toward more equal treatment and officers being held responsible for their actions.
“Someone has to be held accountable. No one is above the law and that must be part of the culture, it must become part of the fabric of the United States: that no one is above the law and you will be held accountable for your actions,” Hightower said.
PEORIA â In the closest Peoria mayoral election in recent memory, Rita Ali has become the first Black person and the first woman to be elected to lead the city, winning by a 43-vote margin.
Ali, 62, picked up just over 50% of the 16,554 voters to win the April 6 election, defeating 4th District Councilman Jim Montelongo, according to a final count released Tuesday afternoon by the Peoria County Election Commission. The results of that count are slated to be certified by Election Commission members Wednesday morning.
Montelongo has said that he plans to seek a discovery recount once that happens, given the closeness of the race. No other mayoral contest in the past 25 years has been as close, according to election records, and no other race depended upon hundreds of mail-in ballots to determine the final winner.
Battle for police reform far from over after Chauvin trial, says local NAACP leaders
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Linda Foster and Dr. Carla Campbell-Jackson of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP branch.
(WEEK) - The jury s finding that ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd is only part of the battle for local civil rights advocates.
The trial s conclusion comes at a key time, according to Pastor Marvin Hightower, president of Peoria s chapter of the NAACP.
Hightower noted there s momentum for police reform as Peoria looks for a new police chief. There s a lot of work that still needs to be done to address police reform, and then even here in Peoria, said Hightower.
2:13 pm UTC Apr. 16, 2021
For decades, Clare Hutchinson has shrugged off the insults.
The comments are as snide as they are repetitive, along the lines of “You live in South Peoria? For real? Isn’t it dangerous?” Or, “The South Side? I’d never go there!”
Hutchinson, 76, lives in her childhood home on West Starr Street. She turns no blind eye to longstanding woes in her neighborhood. She and her husband used to run a convenience store, where they enjoyed the daily chatter with customers and witnessed the creep of drugs in the 70s and ‘80s.
In a 1985 Journal Star profile of South Peoria, residents bemoaned a lack of key needs, including new housing, commercial investment and city upkeep. Still, they recalled the glory days of the neighborhood Hutchinson’s childhood and expressed frustration that outsiders unfairly painted South Peoria as hapless and hopeless.