A 31-foot tall bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is on display as part of the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s Illinois Bicentennial exhibition, Celebrate Illinois: 200 Years in the Land of Lincoln, opening Feb. 3.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

Cash award raised in Robert Bee probe

The award for information regarding the Robert Bee investigation has been increased to $2,500. The award is being financed by the Greater Peoria Area Crime Stoppers. The Pekin Police Department posted the information about the increase on its Facebook page.

The department’s Facebook post also said: “The police department continues to thoroughly investigate this case with assistance from other local police departments, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department, Illinois State Police and multiple federal law enforcement partners. We hope the increased reward will spur anyone with information about Robert’s death to come forward to law enforcement with their information.”

Robert Bee went missing Nov. 17, 2016, when he ran from a truancy officer near his Pekin home. The DNA of human bones was ruled in September 2017, to match that of Robert. To contact Crime Stoppers, call (309) 673-9000. The Pekin Police Department can be reached at (309) 346-3132.

PEORIA

Contest will pick name for baby giraffe

The nameless newborn giraffe born at the Peoria Zoo 17 days earlier, made her media debut Jan. 25. She is the third giraffe calf born at the zoo to mother, Vivian, and father, Taji, and second since their son, Finely, arrived in July, 2016.

The new female calf was born Jan. 7, at 122 pounds and 5 feet, 10 inches tall, about the height of an average adult American male.

The public will get a chance to see the new giraffe starting Feb. 1, when a cardboard covering is removed from the window that looks into the indoor giraffe enclosure. The giraffes will not be on outdoor display until temperatures reach a consistent 50 degrees.

In the meantime, the Peoria Zoo is enlisting the public’s help in naming the tall slender ungulate, native to the savannahs of Africa. The public may select one name from a choice of six for a donation of $1 on the zoo’s website, peoriazoo.org.

The names are Farah, Arabic for “joy;” Fern, which symbolizes sincerity toward others; Layla, Arabic for “born at night;” Sophie, suggested name after the popular giraffe baby teether for human babies; Twiggy, variation of “Twiga,” Swahili for “giraffe;” and, Zara, Arabic for “princess” and a variation of Zarafe, Arabic for “giraffe.”

The contest is open through Feb. 26, and the winning name will be announced March 1 at a zoo news conference.

Proceeds will support the Giraffe Conservation Fund and the care and enrichment of the zoo’s giraffes.

Thome’s mother remembered on his big day

She did not live to see it, but Jim Thome’s late mother, Joyce, often predicted that her son would one day be voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She was on everyone’s minds when friends and family gathered in Peoria Jan. 24, to watch the announcement that Thome would indeed he headed to Cooperstown.

Joyce Thome died in 2005. But hours before the Hall of Fame announcement, the Thome family decorated Joyce Thome’s grave site with a floral display in the shape of Thome’s No. 25 and a banner that read “That’s my son.” American flags draped at the site. On the back side of the headstone, was a photograph of Thome at bat in front of a packed Jacobs Field while with the Cleveland Indians.

The family, including Thome’s 82-year-old father, Chuck, held a celebration at Gebby’s restaurant in Peoria.

New housing proposed for Bradley students

Plans to build a new student housing development for Bradley University students were revealed at a recent meeting of the West Bluff Council.

Chuck Grayeb, the City Councilman from the 2nd District, outlined plans by the Springfield, Mo.-based Vecino Group to construct 135 residential units between Garfield and Orange streets on a block bordered by Main and Russell streets. The plan calls for one five-story building and two two-three-story buildings, to be built for a price of $23 million to $25 million. Units would have between one and four bedrooms.

The Kauth & Mayeur import auto repair service, 1013 N. Orange St., would be relocated if the project goes through. The housing project is still subject to change or cancellation but the developer hopes to break ground in August of this year with plans to finish by August 2019.

Several West Bluff Council members expressed concern that a new student housing development on Main Street might result in vacant homes in the Bradley area that were previously rented to students.

Museum hosts first Illinois bicentennial exhibit

The Peoria Riverfront Museum is the first in the state to host an Illinois Bicentennial exhibition, Celebrate Illinois: 200 Years in the Land of Lincoln, opening Feb. 3. As part of the state-wide celebration of the 200th anniversary of Illinois becoming a state, the museum is bringing together this exhibition, which is a collection of statewide artifacts celebrating the state’s influential people, places and innovations in Illinois history.

The exhibition will showcase objects on loan from the National Park Service/Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Abraham Presidential Library and Museum, Illinois State Museum, Knox College: Archives, and Galesburg Colony Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Lincoln, as a 31-foot painted bronze, is ushering in the exhibit. The 19-ton “Return Visit” sculpture by artist Seward Johnson is on loan for a year by the Seward Johnson Foundation.

Through a selection of artifacts, from the museum’s collection, as well as others borrowed from colleges, professional organizations, other museums and historical societies, visitors will have the chance to discover the 200 years of Illinois history through each object.

Celebrate Illinois is being curated around the concept that objects tell stories and behind each object is a person, and that person has a unique story to tell – a personal insight into the history of Illinois. The objects will highlight both well-known and lesser-known artists, innovators, abolitionists, U.S. Presidents, athletes, entrepreneurs, war veterans and celebrities. 

For more information about the exhibition at the museum, 222 SW Washington St., go to peoriariverfrontmuseum.org or call (309) 686-7000.

–Peoria County News Briefs–