PeoriaStory

9-11 Questions

The film “911 Dust and Deceit at the World Trade Center," continues film series in Peoria about what really happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and why it occurred.

"Dust and Deceit..." will be shown at 2 p.m. on Sat. April 7 at the Peoria Public Library, 107 NE Monroe at Main.

It's the latest in a series of films running on the first Saturday of the month questioning the conventional wisdom on 9-11, an issue that has split the left in the U.S. Many activists feel rehashing 9-11 is a pointless waste of energy or worse, brands leftist thinkers as conspiracy nuts.

Peoria activist Jim Senyszyn, who is working with the Midwest chapter of Citizens for Truth, disagrees. "People have got to realize governments have these phony incidents to provoke war," he said, "an excuse to make war. It might be happening in Iran now."

Senyszyn said the U.S. has a long history of provoking war with phony incidents, mentioning the Mexican War in the 19th century and the Gulf of Tompkin incident used to justify war in Vietnam.

There are many unanswered questions about the facts surrounding 9-11, he said.

"Dust and Deceit" focuses on the environmental disaster of 9-11 and the government's attempted cover up.

According to publicity about the film, it is based on interviews with scientists, waste management specialists, government workers, volunteers, the heroes and victims of the dust which permeated the air after 911.

"EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced to New Yorkers, shortly after the 911 attacks on the World Trade Towers that 'I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington DC that their air safe to breathe" and that we '. . .need not be concerned about environmental issues as [we] return to [our] homes and workplaces.'

"At that time, she didn't have the information to support those assurances or make recommendations. The White House itself, through its Council on Environmental Quality, actually manipulated the statements being released by the EPA so as to soft-pedal health concerns.

"New York City totally falsified its information: doctoring the environmental test results and actually changing the numbers. Mayor Rudolf Giuliani’s office contacted the New York Daily News in October 2001 to tell them to stop covering the issue and leaned hard on reporter Juan Gonzalez as told in Gonzalez’s book Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse.

"Because of these misleading statements, the public was put at risk. This is true even though the EPA reversed course in May of 2002 and initiated an extremely limited and flawed voluntary cleanup. There is evidence of a coverup, and a media blackout. Thousands of people are ill; some have died."

Senyszyn stated that the environmental claims at the time now assume greater importance since Giuliani is a front runner for the Republican nomination for president.

The film showing is free and open to the public.

It also will be shown on area public access cable systems at 8 p.m. on Mondays, where people can see it at home, videotape it and share it with friends, Senyszyn said. These are Channel 22 in Peoria and East Peoria, and Channel 5 in Morton and Pekin.

For further information on 9-11 conspiracies, Senyszyn recommends “The 911 Commission Report: A 571-Page Lie” by Dr. David Ray Griffin.

--Elaine Hopkins

Trail confusion

You've got to hand it to Pioneer Rail Corp: the company has managed to befuddle Peoria Heights village officials into thinking that a trolley running through the Heights on the Kellar Branch rail line will attract more tourists than a recreational trail on that line.

After factual presentations at a special board meeting Wednesday, March 28, from trail advocates, trustees kept talking about the trolley.

Trustee Bryan Harn said, "the trail sounds like a good idea but I'm not behind it. People would come to the Heights on the trolley."

"That trolley could be the best connection for those who want to bike," village board president Mark Allen said, adding he's concerned about how bicyclists would transit a trail from Abington Street to downtown Peoria.

Obviously he's never ridden that section, couple of blocks along city streets until the route connects with the riverfront trail leading to downtown.

Sigh.

It's going to take more than logic to persuade these officials who have listened to the siren call of Pioneer and its handful of allies, including at least one blogger, C. J. Summers of the Peoria Chronicle, who has admitted being paid by Pioneer.

Peoria Heights owns only two miles of the rail line but it has the power to stop the trail development dead in its tracks. Its contract with the Peoria Park District, the entity to develop the trail, has a 180-day escape clause.

The Heights board approved that contract in 2002 by a 5-0 vote, Park District president Tim Cassidy said. He then apologized for not continuing to educate new village officials on the trail, a mistake Pioneer didn't make.

Allen has admitted that Pioneer approached the village last fall.

Pioneer also offered at least one Peoria City Council candidate, Brad Carter, a campaign contribution after he said he was against the trail. Carter said he didn't take the money, and no specific amount was ever discussed.

The Wednesday meeting revealed new information about the trail.

Mike Friberg of the park district put to rest any talk about a trail beside the rails. That would cost $29 million because of the typography, he said, and explained his estimate in detail.

He also backed up figures given earlier on maintenance costs, and said ripping out the rails and ties likely would cost nothing, and can be done for the price of the steel in the rails.

Similar trails in other cities attract 55,000 users per month, he said.

Forest Park Nature Center has 100,000 visitors annually, John Mullen of the center told the board. Many are looking for outdoor activities. They cannot bike on trails at the center, which also are not suitable for running.

Businessman Dave Maloof, who handles a majority of the commercial property sales in the area, said rail is no longer in demand, and advertising will not support operations of a trolley, as its backers have claimed.

Peoria busses generate only about $1,200 yearly from inside advertising, he said. Operating one bus takes more than $32,000 yearly, the operations figure used by trolley advocates at a previous meeting.

"Does the Heights want to be in the public transportation business?" he asked.

With 10-acres for sale near the rail line, valuable for a hotel, office space and townhomes, the Heights "has an opportunity to become a hub for eco-tourism," Maloof said.

The trail could attract special events, such as bike races and running events that would draw thousands to the Heights, he said.

Restaurant operator Bruce Brown told the board it must decide on a long term vision for the Heights.

"Rail has its place but not through the central business district," he said. "Times have changed."

The pro-trail audience applauded Brown and Maloof, but their arguments apparently left the board members unmoved.

They appear to want a 45-seat trolley running 15 miles per hour over the tracks on a journey that would take an hour or more. How many people would that attract to the Heights?

--Elaine Hopkins

Iran talk, great reading

If you think teachers don't matter, think again. Today's Chicago Tribune has a terrific feature on Barack Obama's mother and grandparents and the education that shaped Obama's mother's beliefs.

Also of note: Eric Zorn's column on the proposed 'moment of silence' that the Illinois General Assembly wants to impose on all schools. Writes Zorn: "The proposal is rotten--sneaky, unnecessary and intrusive."

He calls it "the pet Trojan horse of the religious right."

Peoria area legislators voted for this turkey.

Coming soon in Peoria, Andrew Hartman, assistant professor of history at Illinois State University, will speak at Bradley University at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3 in Bradley Hall Room 235.

His presentation is titled "Target Iran! Historical Lessons Drawn from the U.S. Addiction to War and Intervention." It's free and open to the public.

Professor Hartman is a history education specialist with a Ph.D. from George Washington University. He is currently finishing a manuscript for a book, Education and the Cold War, which is to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in April 2008.

His essays have appeared in professional and popular journals, including Third World Quarterly, Race and Class, Socialism and Democracy, Poverty and Race, Zmagazine, Clamor, and The Humanist.

The event is co-sponsored by the Peoria Area Peace Network and the Bradley University Department of Sociology and Social Work.

--Elaine Hopkins

Electrifying mess

Forget the confusing news reports, editorials, pronouncements and screeds that proliferate concerning the drastic Ameren/CILCO/CIPS/IP electricity rate hikes.

Here's the real story.

On March 20, Citizens Utility Board president Randy Fritz of Williamsfield sent the following letter to area news media. Fritz is elected by the CUB board, members who in turn are elected by the membership in Illinois, which is open to anyone. He's one of the longest serving board members and knows a lot. A public school teacher, he has no hidden agenda.

So far the newspapers and other media have not bothered to run it, at least not yet. They appear to be relying on Ameren executives and politicans, all with their own agendas.

PeoriaStory will run what other media fear or disdain to run. Fritz's letter:

To the editor:

While it is promising that Ameren President Scott Cisel in his Sunday letter (in area newspapers) acknowledged that the “reverse-auction” system of pricing power needs to be scrapped, his proposal fails to even mention immediate and significant rate relief for his customers who are struggling to pay their ballooning electric bills.

That has to be the first step.

Mr. Cisel notes that Ameren Illinois is “just following the law” when it comes to the skyrocketing residential rates. He fails to mention that Ameren championed this “reverse auction” process as the only way in which electric rates could be set.

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB), for more than a year now, has argued that such an auction system is deeply flawed and would lead to unconscionably high rates for consumers who have no other choices in the electric market while giving Ameren windfall profits of up to $680 million.

Regardless of all this talk about the bond rating of AmerenCILCO, CIPS, and IP being downgraded, there is no practical difference between those utilities and their parent company, which made record profits under the rate freeze and would continue to be one of the most profitable power companies in the nation if the freeze were extended.

There is ONE Ameren stock price, and Mr. Cisel and other executives get financially rewarded if Ameren’s stock price does well. With the auction, Ameren simply transfers money from the left pocket to the right one.

That’s why CUB is pulling out all its stops to end Illinois’ energy crisis. Extending the rate freeze will allow Ameren to make healthy (not exorbitant!) profits, allow its customers to make ends meet, and buy Illinois more time to replace the obviously dysfunctional auction system.

Is Cisel’s proposal to re-regulate the right road? It’s too soon to say because, as always, the devil’s in the details.

What’s certain is that the astronomical rate hikes customers are now seeing—some in excess of 300 percent—have to go.

Then, all parties—utilities, regulators, legislators, and consumer advocates—must come together to create a system that works for all consumers, not just Ameren’s bottom line.

Randy Fritz

In an interview Fritz recounted the story of deregulation in Illinois:

1. In 1997, with Enron (remember that company?!) at the table, deregulation was enacted by the Republican controlled state government. The big utilities wanted deregulation hoping they could make money. CUB agreed to it because it was fed up with annual rate hikes based on a system where the utilities had no incentives to watch their costs. Believing they couldn't stop it, they tried to get the best deal for consumers that they could, Fritz said. In return for deregulation, CUB negotiated some consumer-friendly items including rate rollbacks and a freeze.

2. Gov. Rod Blagojevich was elected, and then appointed utility-friendly regulators to the Illinois Commerce Commission, the board that oversees the utilities. They are less consumer-friendly than the Republican appointees were, Fritz said.

3. Last year, the ICC approved the "reverse auction" and ignored CUB's pleas to look for alternative ways to deliver power. "This (auction) is not the inevitable result of deregulation," Fritz said.

4. The auction took place in secret with limited bidders. The results led to the electricity price increases. This is why Attorney General Lisa Madigan is investigating what happened.

5. Only two companies are certified to provide residential power in Illinois, Ameren and Exelon, formerly Commonwealth Edison. They are two of the most profitable utilities in the U.S.

6. Ameren also owns coal-fired generators, and this parent company is highly profitable. "Ameren's earnings went up 18 percent last year" over its 2005 earnings, Fritz said.

7. So talk about junk bonds and bankruptcy is just flim-flam. Ameren/CILCO is paying its parent company Ameren for the power. "Telling us that Ameren/Illinois or Ameren/CILCO and its other subsidiaries are going broke is like taking money out of your left pocket, transferring it to your right pocket, then showing a 'Hoover flag' (empty pocket) to people saying you're broke," Fritz said.

8. Currently the General Assembly needs to pass a rate freeze to encourage (force?) the power companies to sit down and negotiate some realistic alternatives, Fritz said. The issues are complex, but can be worked out if the companies will come to the table. "It's got to be negotiated among the people that understand the business," Fritz said.

9. Calls for reregulation are ambiguous. "How should we regulate?" Fritz asks. The devil is in the details.

Now news reports say negotiations are taking place in Springfield, even as the freeze legislation is pending.

Here's a prediction: the Democrats control Illinois state government, but not for long if they don't do something about this issue.

Remember California? Gray Davis didn't cause the problems there but he was blamed, and replaced, for not solving the problems.

--Elaine Hopkins

Forgotten prisoners

A Peoria woman is circulating a petition asking Illinois members of Congress to investigate why two Muslims, including one from Peoria, are being imprisoned indefinitely in the U.S. without charges, even as an FBI investigation into one of them apparently is heating up.

Razia Ahmed, a member of Women for Humanity said people come (to the U.S.) from all over the world to a free country, to get away from corrupt dictatorships."

But when the U.S. jails people indefinitely without charging them, she said, even if they are not U.S. citizens, that goes against what the U.S. has stood for.

She wants investigations into the situations of Palestinian professor Sami al-Arian who is in jail in Florida even though acquitted by a jury, and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri of Qatar, the Bradley University graduate student who was arrested in Dec. 2001 in Peoria and is now jailed in South Carolina.

Peoria businessman David Brown said two FBI agents knocked on his front door two weeks ago to question him and his wife about al-Marri.

Brown said he never met al-Marri. His wife, a native of Syria, once translated for al-Marri's pregnant wife because both were seeing the same Peoria physician, and al-Marri's wife didn't speak English.

Al-Marri then phoned the Brown residence to thank Brown's wife for her help, a call that lasted about 30 seconds.

Brown said the FBI asked how al-Marri got his phone number. He said he didn't know, but his phone number is listed in the phone book.

"They referred to him as an enemy combatant," Brown said. "My number was on his phone log."

In a scenario that sounds like a plot from the TV show Law and Order, the FBI has contacted everyone al-Marri called, Brown has heard.

But initially they skipped Brown, apparently because of his non-Arabic name, Ahmed said, calling that a type of racial profiling.

Brown said he asked the agents why they were contacting him now, and they replied they were looking over the file and checking loose ends. "They thought David Brown was a wrong number," he said they told him.

They also have interviewed the physician who saw both women, Brown said.

"If he's guilty I have no sympathy. If not, he's entitled to something for tying up five years of his life without being charged. I don't understand the logic of holding people without charges," Brown said.

"If Americans were held under similar circumstances, our state department would say 'charge them or release them,' " he said.

Both al-Marri and al-Arian have received national media attention.

--Elaine Hopkins

Peace activists show up, show courage

Almost two dozen Peoria area peace activists brandished anti-war and pro-peace signs for an hour on Tuesday March 20 to remind passers-by that the Iraq war is entering its fifth year.

The group assembled in front of the federal courthouse at Main and Monroe. Passing vehicles honked in support, but no television or radio stations appeared to cover the event.

Veteran activist Jack Ryan of the Peoria Area Peace Network said that the demonstration was hastily organized. He brought a black trash bag filled with signs from previous demonstrations and passed them out to the group.

Since 2004, Ryan and others have been conducting weekly demonstrations, in all kinds of weather, at noon on Saturdays at the corner of Main and University. These will continue, he said.

He persists, he said, "for my own integrity, to show that everybody (in Peoria) doesn't approve" of the Iraq war.

Sometimes the protesters are heckled, he said.

"The opposition is real stupid. They yell 'go back to Russia,' or 'Ziel Heil,' stuff like that," he said.

But most people are supportive, he said.

"People talk to us and (some) join us and say 'thanks for doing this.' "

Demonstrator Paul Appell, a Vietnam War veteran, said he feels a responsibility "to speak out on what war is like. I experienced it first hand. I lost my humanity over there. This is a way to get some of it back."

Demonstrating also shows "compassion and empathy for our global brothers and sisters," he said.

Appell is a featured speaker at the Macomb Area Alliance for Peace and Justice's Rally for Peace, on Sat. March 24 at Chandler Park, Macomb.

A march begins at 11 a.m. A program at 1 p.m. will include speakers, live and original music, and "options for future action," the organizers stated in a news release.

A bell will be tolled continuously to honor and remember those killed. A draped casket will honor Iraqi deaths.

--Elaine Hopkins

Intellectual safetynet at crossroads

If the people who use the Peoria Public Library system vote in April to improve it, the library’s $35 million bond referendum will pass, allowing the first major upgrade in a half-century.

Library director Edward Szynaka frames the referendum as a vote on Peoria’s quality of life and its intellectual infrastructure.

Peoria residents are at a “crossroads,” he said. “You say what kind of Peoria you want.”

More than half of Peoria residents have library cards, he said. That’s more people than vote in most elections. The list is current since they must renew the cards every two years.

About 1,600 people use the libraries daily, he said.

But the referendum is a risk, he acknowledged, coming at a time when electricity rates have soared and many people are feeling pinched.

There are two Peorias, he said, the poor and everyone else.

The poor need the library system for access to learning and computers. Their numbers are increasing rapidly.

Peoria School District 150 now lists 68 percent of its students as poor, based on their eligibility for a free or reduced cost lunch. Only a couple of years ago, the figure was 60 percent.

The other Peoria, of suburban lawns and upscale condos, usually can buy what it wants at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City and the like.

But Peoria can’t claim to be a progressive city without a modern library system open to all, the ultimate intellectual safety net. For that reason alone, the referendum should be approved.

The Peoria City Council, which controls the library budget, could have approved the library bond issue without a referendum, Szynaka said. But council members were fearful of being pilloried for voting for a tax increase.

Instead, they took the easy – some might say cowardly – way out and put the referendum on the ballot for the city elections on April 17.

If it fails, Szynaka said, the library is unlikely to get a second chance.

The $35 million will buy bonds to be paid back over 20 years. They will pay for a new building likely on Pioneer Park, to serve the northern section of Peoria, and fund an expansion of Lakeview Library, Lincoln Library and the main downtown library.

A property owner with a residence worth $100,000, and assessed at one-third of that sum, will pay $49 a year more in taxes if the referendum passes, Szynaka said. It would add 6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to the tax rate.

The library has 82 jobs, and the city council doesn’t want to add any more workers, Roberta Koscielski, supervisor of grants coordination said. The system’s annual budget is about $6.9 million.

The upgrade will allow for more efficient operations, so no extra employees will be hired.

The downtown library, built in 1964 also to serve as a fallout shelter, is solid but the interior should be reorganized for greater efficiency, and the entrance moved nearer the parking lot, Koscielski said.

She and Szynaka discussed the library expansion in the downtown library’s third-floor board room. Its bookshelves are filled with ancient, crumbling volumes that were part of the library’s original collection: 19th century histories of England and Ireland, and the complete works of Voltaire, for example.

These antique books are not part of the library’s offerings, and the board wants to sell them, Szynaka said. He has no idea of their value, and whether they are rare or just old, but the collection will be evaluated, he said.

Another source of revenue for the library, philanthropy, has been ruled out for the expansion, he said, to avoid competing with other efforts including the riverfront museum.

But if the referendum passes, he said, the library would welcome charity, such as naming rooms after donors.

The library referendum campaign website offers complete details on the expansion plans.

--Elaine Hopkins

Trolley Folly, Act II

PEORIA HEIGHTS -- Anyone with eyes half shut could see Monday that a trolley for the Kellar Branch line is a pipe dream designed to delay the trail and confuse local officials weary of the trail fight.

The trolley idea comes from a not-for-profit organization with no employees and no income, the Illinois Prairie Railroad Foundation.

Its spokeswoman, Sharon Deckard, admitted that she's the only person involved with the foundation, and said she proposed the trolley idea to Heights officials.

It has not filed a federal tax return in three years because it has no income, she said.

Deckard and Pioneer Railcorp president Mike Carr spoke to the Peoria Heights Village Board on March 12 on whether the now defunct Kellar line, running through north Peoria and the Heights, should be turned into a recreational hike and bike trail.

They favor keeping the rail line intact, even though its remaining freight customer now has access to a rail line west of Peoria.

Trail advocates have been pushing for a trail for a decade, with the rail line co-owners, the Heights and the city of Peoria, on board with the trail until recently.

Now the Heights is having second thoughts, and wants more information, its mayor Mark Allen said.

"We need a feasibililty study," he said. "We'll discuss (paying for it) in the future."

The city of Peoria recently approved a measure that would keep the trail hopes alive.

The city kicked Pioneer off the line almost two years ago, but Pioneer's attempt to stay on the line is pending with the federal Surface Transportation Board.

Afterward Deckard said the trolley was her idea, and she approached the village about it. She suggested that a Bradley University student program on business development might do a feasibility study for the village.

She told the village board that the trolley would cost the village nothing, that grants would pay for everything, and passenger revenue and advertising would support its operations.

A trolley car with 45 seats powered by a non-polluting, quiet electric battery could cost up to $1 million.

She proposed that the Village set up a company to operate the trolley, and said it would be responsible for any losses.

Her statement that the operating budget would be only $32,000 a year raised eyebrows. Tri-County Regional Planning Commission executive director Terry Kohlbuss, who attended the meeting, asked for a budget breakdown, with Deckard promising to send him one.

Carr said Pioneer would spend up to $100,000 to put the tracks in "Class 1" condition, meaning trains could run only 15 miles per hour on the tracks. At that speed a trolley ride from downtown Peoria to Pioneer Park, a distance of eight miles with a few stops along the way, could take an hour.

Deckard said a shuttle could be set up to ferry trolley passengers from the trolley stop to the Heights shopping district, a distance of about three blocks.

Carr also promised to cooperate in building a trail beside the tracks, an option that Peoria Park District officials say is too expensive.

Carr admitted that to run a trolley to downtown Peoria, an agreement must be made with the rail line running along Adams Street.

"It will be a development over time," he said, adding it might take five to 10 years to develop. "If there's no railroad, there's not going to be anything," he said.

Pioneer sees the Kellar line as an investment for the future, he said. "Our goal is freight, and the trolley makes sense for us," presumably to keep the line for future customers. None are likely to locate in the Heights, he acknowledged.

The line runs mostly through residential areas. A trolley must blow a loud horn like a train when it approaches intersections, Carr admitted.

Peoria County Board member Merle Widmer expressed pro-rail sentiments but also said "figures are easy to throw out but hard to back up."

Citizens at the meeting weren't fooled. "You can't tell me this is a feasible operation," said one.

Park officials and trail advocates are scheduled to speak to the Heights board on March 28.

--Elaine Hopkins

McGovern Fallout

Blogger Jason McConkey said Friday he was harassed by campus security and his question to George McGovern was "snuffed," at the Bradley University event where former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern delivered his anti-Iraq war message on March 8.

McConkey has posted his account of the speech and the harassment on a blog site that focuses on what really happened on 9-11, and whether the Bush administration knew of the attacks in advance.

A woman handling the microphone in the audience would not allow McConkey to ask his question, even though McGovern had called upon him.

Instead she shifted the mike to another person who drowned out McConkey's question, "do you believe our president and his administration...allowed 9-11 to happen to meet their agenda of going into Iraq?"

McGovern had spoken about how Iraq was discussed as soon as the Bush administration took office, and before 9-11 occurred.

Bradley's public relations office on Friday did not respond to questions about the event.

--Elaine Hopkins

Haz Landfill Compromise Up in the Air

A two hour closed session of the Peoria County Board on Thursday, March 8 generated lots of talk about a possible compromise on the PDC hazardous waste landfill expansion plan, but no decisions.

"It's an up-in-the-air matter," board member Jim Thomas said on Friday. Some board members indicated they won't change their minds about the Peoria Disposal Co. expansion. Others are open to change, he said.

"I couldn't even give you a sense" of the board's thinking, he said. "There's a lot to talk about. People had questions, asked for more information," he said. "I don't think everybody got to say all they wanted to say."

Thomas predicted that a special session of the board will be called to discuss the expansion issue.

The board voted last year not to allow the expansion, but PDC has appealed to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, and also offered a plan as part of its permit renewal that would allow expansion. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency rules on that plan.

On Feb. 23, some of the landfill opponents offered a compromise that would allow limited expansion in return for a trust fund to protect the site and other restrictions. But other opponents of the expansion have rejected that compromise.

Thomas said the board on Thursday discussed both a proposal from PDC and from the opponents.

"There's still a lot of discussion" that should take place, he said.

--Elaine Hopkins