Tom Simkins News Today

The City of Galesburg will celebrate Arbor Day by planting three trees at the newly constructed Galesburg Public Library at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26, according to a news release. The new trees – ivory silk lilacs – will be part of the landscaping near the main entrance on the south side of the library. […]

The City of Galesburg has been named a 2022 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The Honor has been given to Galesburg for 23 consecutive years in honor of its commitment to managing its public trees and encouraging community awareness and appreciation of trees. Galesburg receives this status by adhering to the four requirements; maintaining a tree commission, having a tree care ordinance, dedicating an annual community Forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and hosting an Arbor Day ob...

Walt McAllister recently received a $25,000 Urban Agriculture Grant to create Libby's Corner, an urban orchard in Galesburg.

An opportunity to add another green space or park will be discussed

Hope Cemetery recently received a facelift in the form of new fencing along its east border on South Academy Street in Galesburg.

Project 350, a city initiative to plant 350 trees in Galesburg parks and city terraces, wrapped up its work for 2022 Nov. 4 at Lincoln Park.

The City of Galesburg's Project 350 is ahead of schedule. Project 350 is a five-year effort to plant 70 trees per year in Galesburg parks and city terraces. Galesburg has planted 112 this year. Sixteen trees were planted at Lake Storey Park, fifteen at Lincoln Park, Kiwanis Park received five, Standish Park and HT Custer each received three trees, and Colton Park got one. Fourteen trees were planted on terraces in downtown Galesburg. Resident requests for trees on terraces resulted in 55 ...

Galesburg City Council on Monday unanimously approved a few big ticket items with little conversation. One of those was a conditional pledge of $1 million to the National Railroad Hall of Fame if their project to build a facility goes forward. Aldermen held no comment on the matter before promptly unanimously voting yes. Mayor Peter Schwartzman said that he hoped the Hall of Fame Board would be able to use this pledge to bring this project to fruition. There was also a prompt yes vote on hiring...

Thursday was a day for tree planting in Galesburg as 14 volunteers planted 19 trees in the Knox College area.

I enthusiastically applaud the mayors initiative to promote diversity and freshness in our public discourse. To quote J. M. Barrie, "I am not young enough to know everything." So often, our responses to new ideas start with conjuring problems rather than fantastic possibilities, a malady borne of l