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PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Peoria City Council again has voted
against renaming a city street in honor of comedian Richard Pryor
a debate that could resurface after a new council is seated next week.
Following an hourlong debate, the council voted 6-5 Tuesday
against conducting a study on renaming South Sheridan Road to honor
the Peoria native. Mayor Lowell "Bud" Grieves voted for the study
but said he can see why people might object to honoring a former
drug user who frequently used profanity in his act.
Council member Camille Gibson, who has said calls to her office
have run more than 50-to-1 against the renaming, argued that drugs
and profanity should not be glorified.
0 But the debate might not be over yet. Clyde Gulley Jr., a newly
elected council member, has promised to reintroduce a renaming
measure when a new City Council is seated next week.
Pryor, 60, suffered near-fatal burns in a 1980 fire linked to
cocaine freebasing. He announced in 1991 that he has the
degenerative nerve disease multiple sclerosis and now spends most
of his time at home in California.
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