PEORIA Gay and transgender people have made great contributions to society throughout history, but their stories are rarely told.
That will change this fall when teachers in Peoria Public Schools District 150 start using curriculum created by The Legacy Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to researching and promoting the contributions lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have made to world history and culture.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about Albert D.J. Cashier, who was named Jennie Hodgers at birth. He emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland as a teenager and enlisted in the 95th Illinois Infantry in 1862 and fought in about 40 battles during the Civil War. They could also learn about the author of “America the Beautiful,” a Wellesley College English teacher named Katharine Lee Bates, who had a 25-year relationship with another professor, a woman. And they will also have the opportunity to learn about George Washington Carver, an
Sara Miura Zolbrod, coordinator of the 1,000 Hopes project, holds some hopes, dreams and wishes created by local elementary students. She will add about 1,000 of these papers to the fence at the Eugene Public Library by the end of May.
Credit Aubrey Bulkeley
“I remember tying a long white piece of paper onto a tree that had thousands of other pieces of paper on it.”
As a child, Zolbrod thought this was a wishing tree. After some research, she learned it is a tradition called Omikuji where people can pay for a range of fortunes. And all the fortunes tied together, get amplified.
PEORIA Tri-County Area health officials are increasingly focusing their efforts on getting younger residents vaccinated as the average age of COVID-19 patients continues to drop.
“The 23 deaths in the Peoria area this week included two Tri-County residents in their 30s. Likewise, in our hospitalizations right now for Peoria County, two-thirds of our hospitalized patients are under the age of 70, with 25% of them under the age of 50,” said Monica Hendrickson, administrator of the Peoria City/County Health Department, during the weekly press briefing Thursday afternoon.
There is some good news, however. Hospitalizations are down about one-quarter over the last two weeks from 174 to 133. And the rolling positivity average has dropped about one-third in the last week, from 10.4% to 6.9% in Peoria County, and from 9.5% to 6.1% in Tazewell County.
Eugene Symphony to show off its Soundwaves, streaming soon from the Hult Center
Gossamer strains flowed from symphonic strings in the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall last week, an invigorating reminder of live music’s vitality.
“It’s nice when it’s freshly baked, isn’t it?” Eugene Symphony associate executive director Lindsey McCarthy said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s what that feels like.’ ”
On April 22, the Eugene Symphony was at the Hult Center to record the fifth installment of “Symphony Soundwaves,” the centerpiece of its pivot to streaming shows.
“Soundwaves V” will feature three modern composer works that build up to 19th-century composer Antonín Dvořák’s “Serenade for Strings, Op. 22.” Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong aims for a theme that floats in like the return of sunlight in the spring. With the concert streaming free for a week, the symphony hopes these uplifting sounds reach as many ears as possible.