PeoriaStory

Michelle Obama wows audience

PEORIA -- Michelle Obama, the wife of presidential contender Barack Obama, brought an audience of perhaps 500 to their feet on July 30 as she spoke about her husband's campaign for the presidency and the couple's family life.

Her powerful and dynamic talk convinced many in the audience to support her husband's campaign.

Several people said they had come to the event to learn more about the candidate, and had not yet selected a favorite in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. Now they plan to support him, they said, as the crowd was leaving.

Michelle Obama was introduced by Loretta Durbin, wife of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-IL) as Obama's "secret weapon" in the campaign. "All the candidates are competing for the women's vote," she said.

The $35 event with sandwiches was billed as "Women for Obama."

Michelle Obama's half-hour speech touched on the couple's family life on the campaign trail and their concern about the direction of US politics.

"We know crap when we see it," she said of policies that leave women and families on their own to obtain health care and other essentials.

"Barack is the real deal. He is exactly who he says he is, honest, decent, smart, the smartest candidate who has run for president," she said.

She discussed "people who talk nonsense, is he black enough?" and said "that kind of talk is hurting our children, who study and work only to be told "suddenly I'm not black enough."

She also touched on the issue of experience. Obama "is one of the most experienced people I know. Barack is ready." He has taught Constitutional law and "probably knows the Constitution better than anybody in this current administration," she said.

People understand "the world is not what it should be" with "fairness, equality, openness, unity. We're not living in the world we want. The job of citizens is to narrow the gap between the two worlds," of the reality and the ideal, she said.

--Elaine Hopkins

Activist arrested at Civic Center

PEORIA -- A Peoria activist protesting government torture and other issues was arrested on July 30 at the Peoria Civic Center.

Razia Ahmed was handcuffed and arrested for criminal trespass in the Peoria Civic Center building.

She had been with a group of Peoria Peace Network demonstrators at the Federal Building. They decided to move their demonstration to the Civic Center, activist Jack Ryan said, where Michelle Obama and Loretta Durbin, wives of the two Illinois senators, were speaking at a "Women for Obama" luncheon.

The Civic Center is a public building supported with tax funds. But a contractor operates the building so it is not public property, a Peoria police officer said.

The group was asked to leave the building but Razia refused, and knelt in protest. She was then arrested. Others went outside but stayed to offer support. They said they would post her bail at the jail.

She later was released from jail and has an Aug. 28 court date.

Seven police vehicles and several officers went to the scene to arrest the non-violent protester.

A flier the group distributed asked "Is this America?" It called for the restoration of habeas corpus, and end to extraordinary renditions and torture, and asked the government to "abide by the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Conventions" in its treatment of prisoners.

--Elaine Hopkins

UPDATE: On Aug. 9 Razia wrote her account of the arrest:

"On Monday late morning, July 30th, Peoria area peaceniks and I donned orange jumpsuits like the prisoners wear and put black hoods over our head to protest mistreatment of prisoners and other related actions of the United States.

"After demonstrating in front of the federal building we decided to move to Civic Center where Michele Obama was speaking at a fund raising luncheon. The press was already there to cover Obama. It must have been quite a sight - all dressed in orange jump suits and wearing black hoods over our heads walking in line one behind the other.

"Obviously the press was curious, while interviewing Jack Ryan they took pictures/videos of all of us.

"A man in yellow shirt (the management?) ordered every one out. I was a little distance away from the rest and did not fully comprehend the situation except that every one was leaving including some press. Like a sheep I started following the crowd, but some thing inside made me stop and kneel on the carpeted floor. I heard the man in yellow shirt yelling at the remaining press not to shoot. Then he came and asked me to leave. I told him I'd like to ask Michelle Obama: what her husband was planning to do about the issues that concern us.

"The man in yellow shirt was very rude and arrogant, told me again to leave or he'll call the police. I repeated my request, he refused.

"Then came a woman, Bonnie somebody, asked me to leave. She was a little better than the man in the yellow shirt. She told me to go outside the building and she'll ask Obama if she'd talk to me. I told her I'd wait inside while she arranges a meeting. She even called some one on the phone to go to Obama. I offered to take my hood and jumpsuit off while I wait for Obama's response. Bonnie and I were still talking when the police came and told me to leave or risk arrest. I started to tell them what I was trying to do but they did not let me finish my sentence and put handcuffs on me.

"While I was led to the police car Bonnie came and told me that Michelle Obama would like to talk to me and I should contact the office.

"If any one would like to come, my court date is August 28 at 9 am in room 321, Peoria County Courthouse."

Rodeo and the theater of cruelty

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- The National High School Finals Rodeo packed up its act and left town after the last July 28 performance at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Good riddance.

What to make of this obsolete form of entertainment, in which high school kids are thrown off bucking horses – horses that would not buck without a tight cinch around their groins – something that may be torture for the horses.

Here is a “sport” that requires the abuse of animals – the bucking horses and bulls, the calves lassoed and roughly thrown down to be tied up, steers thrown to the ground as their necks are twisted, and even, in a most bizarre act, helpless goats tethered to a rope watching running horses approach them, then teenage riders leaping to the ground to throw them down roughly and tie them up.

This is entertainment? Actually it quickly gets boring as a spectator sport.

Is it also child abuse and animal abuse?

Child abuse because how many teens would be involved in rodeo without peer pressure and parental pressure?

And how many teens are injured in these dangerous activities? Most don’t wear helmets, risking serious head trauma.

During a July 26 barrel race, a horse slipped and fell on its young female rider. Both got up to walk out of the arena, but who knows whether they suffered long term harm.

The charge of animal abuse stems from the creatures trapped in rodeos without a choice. The constant traveling is abusive for animals involved in these acts, as well as the torture and abuse they endure so the teens can compete.

How then to explain why rodeos persist despite criticism and documentation of actual abuse by animal rights activists?

Rodeos are obviously a form of theater/show biz and conspicuous consumption. The pricey cowboy costumes, the pageantry, the flaunting of expensive quarter horses worth as much as a car, the expensive saddles, the rigs required to haul them – it all screams “look at me! “Look at what I can afford!”

Like all hobbies that become subcultures, rodeo no doubt offers the participants, parents and children, respite from otherwise drab lives.

The pros who handle the livestock and the events make their livings from the work, and of course promote it.

The mystery is why anyone pays to see it. And why public officials don’t crack down and prosecute abuse when it occurs, and refuse to welcome rodeos to town.

At the Springfield event, animal rights activists were in the audience to film the show and document any illegal animal abuse that occurred. Their presence may have deterred some forms of abuse, such as cattle prods, which are illegal in Illinois.

Local and state officials typically turn a blind eye to rodeos and other traveling animal acts, preferring instead to focus on the money the participants bring to town.

Very sad.

--Elaine Hopkins

Speakers on China business, foreign policy

PEORIA -- Sweatshop labor? Tainted food? Here's a chance to hear speakers on Chinese business practices and foreign policy.

The Peoria Area World Affairs Council is sponsoring a program on "Rising Powers: China," beginning 5:30 p.m., Aug. 9 for a reception and dinner, with the program at 7 p.m., at the Dogwood Dining Hall, Illinois Central College North Campus, 5407 N. University.

The speakers are:

Shawn He Yuxun, the chairman of MeetChinaBiz, founded in 2001, on "Trade and Business." He "has built a flourishing network of New England entrepreneurs and Chinese businesses that meet regularly through roundtables, conferences, and trade missions in both the U.S. and in China," according to a news release.

Roy Kamphausen, National Bureau on Asian Research, speaking on "Asia's Security." He is Vice President for Political and Security Affairs at The NBR —a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution whose mission is to inform and strengthen Asia-Pacific policy.

Tickets for the presentation and Chinese buffet dinner pre-paid by August 8 are $20.00 for PAWAC members/students and $25.00 for non-members. Presentation-only tickets are $10.

Tickets for this event may be purchased by registering on-line with a credit card.

For more information visit the Peoria Area World Affairs Council web site or call 309/677-2454.

Peace rally Aug 3

PEORIA -- Shades of the 1960s!

The peace group Iraq Summer is holding a "warstop festival" from 6 - 9 p.m. on Aug. 3 at the main shelter at Glen Oak Park on Prospect.

The event includes live music, art, peace activist training, poetry, speakers and vendors. Bands, musicians, artists, performers, vendors and peace-related groups are invited to participate.

The event is free to the public.

The group says it also will continue to pressure Cong. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, to support returning the troups from Iraq, even though he has announced that he will not seek another term in Congress.

The group will continue to hold vigils, and wants volunteers to participate in the vigils.

Anyone interested in these events also can call 309/637-0130.

Trail could save the Heights, Peoria

PEORIA HEIGHTS -- Plans for a mini-mall, a family and senior fitness and aquatics center and other amenities including a trailhead for the Kellar Branch hike and bike trail were unveiled at a July 25 meeting at the Heights Village Hall.

Heights consultant Tom Tincher said developers are interested in the concepts he has created.

TriCounty Regional Planning Commission executive director Terry Kohlbuss said, "this becomes a destination. It represents a huge opportunity," for development and tourism.

The meeting was to discuss an application for a trailhead on village-owned property on Prospect at the proposed hike and bike trail. The other development would be on the adjacent Cohen property, now for sale.

Grant funding for the trailhead must be sought now for the years 2012-2014.

Though the US Surface Transportation Board has not approved abandonment of the now defunct rail line, the application can be submitted in the expectation of STB approval of the abandonment.

The trailhead with restrooms and bike racks can include trees, flowers, memorials, or whatever the Heights public and village board decide to include, said trail activist Dave Pittman.

"A trailhead will be a part of the overall development," Tincher said, "a major amenity in the heart of the community."

Heights mayor Mark Allen said the village will definitely apply for the trailhead funds. "A trail makes perfect sense," he said. He suggested trees and flowers for the trailhead. "It (will be) fun and good for people's health to go up and down the trail."

--Elaine Hopkins

Bloggers not journalists, Peoria judge says

PEORIA -- A Peoria County juvenile court judge, Albert Purham, Jr., would not allow a blogger, Elaine Hopkins for Peoriastory.com, to observe and cover a July 25 juvenile court hearing. He ruled that a blogger is not a journalist under Illinois law.

Juvenile court is closed to the public in Illinois, but by law is open to journalists.

Operating a a "so-called blog" doesn't make the person a journalist, Purham said.

Before the ruling he consulted the lawyers in the courtroom. A lawyer for the parent in this child welfare case had no objection, and her client, Lorraine Singleton who lost her children in 2003 and is trying to get them back, also had no objection.

But assistant state's attorney Susan Lucas objected, as did an unidentified female lawyer apparently representing the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

An explanation that Peoriastory.com has operated since February 2007, has business cards, and is run by Hopkins, a former newspaper reporter known to court personnel, did not sway the judge.

Singleton is the daughter of Crystal Clark, who has protested DCFS policies that she says allowed her two young grandchildren to be abused in foster care. (See story below on Clark.)

Clark conducted a sit-in on the courthouse sidewalk beginning on July 23, and refused both food and water for more than 24 hours. Apparently she has called it off, since she was not outside on July 25, and could not be reached for comment.

Clark said Singleton wanted the judge at her hearing to allow her to become a CASA client, in hopes of regaining her children. CASA is an acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children.

The juvenile court system is closed to the public ostensibly to protect the privacy of the children and their families. But in reality the secrecy also allows these courts to operate without any public oversight.

Journalists rarely cover these cases, because most are not newsworthy. They are of interest only to family members who already know about the situation, but they are barred from the courtroom and cannot see the justice system in operation.

The issue of whether bloggers are journalists is evolving throughout the U.S.

--Elaine Hopkins

COMMENT: via email, 7/27/07: "What a shame the judge did not treat you as a journalist. At a time that people are getting much information from bloggers and bloggers are initiators of news stories (e.g. the blogger who reported the "macaca" remark), it is a shame that the judge didn't recognize your journalistic credentials. Essentially the judge is allowing the corporate media to be the only news game in town. Now that is a shame. The corporate media certainly did a poor job of news coverage when it came to the war on Iraq.

Terri Brink"

UPDATE: 7/27/07 -- WHOI-TV did a story on this issue which includes a comment by Chief Circuit Judge Rick Grawey.

Peoria Pundits also has covered the issues, and has links as well to extensive comments on other sites. See especially Capitol Fax.

Peoria Chronicle has local comments.

UPDATE: 7/30/07 -- WHOI-TV did a piece on the issue, with comments.

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin also did a story. A subscription is required to read the full story.

UPDATE: 8/9/07 -- Journal Star columnist Pam Adams has written a powerful column on access to the juvenile courts.

Child welfare system protest

PEORIA -- Crystal Clark has settled down in front of the Peoria County courthouse, on the corner of Main and Jefferson, to protest the treatment of her grandchildren in foster care, and the refusal of Chief Judge Rick Grawey to meet with her group to discuss child welfare issues.

A statue of Abraham Lincoln in the courthouse plaza overlooked Clark, 50, an African-American. By 2 p.m. on July 24 she had been there for 24 hours without food or water.

She said her grandchildren had been found to be dehydrated at the hands of foster parents, and she plans to refuse both food and water to call attention to their treatment.

Judge Grawey came out to speak with Clark, but said he cannot discuss her family's case, which is pending, and also could not meet with her group.

Clark said her grandchildren, now aged four and three, have been in foster care since 2003. She has picketed and protested before to no avail, she said.

Clark's daughter lost the children when she was sent to prison for petty theft, but the children remained in the home they all were sharing with Clark. Then the children were removed from Clark's care by a Catholic Social Service caseworker and placed in foster care.

Clark says that occurred because she complained when the caseworker took videotapes from her home. She has also picketed the Catholic diocese offices.

While in foster care the children were abused, she said, and placed in several homes including one condemned by the the city of Peoria, before landing in foster care in a rural Peoria home. They have not been taken to their own church, she said, adding religious discrimination to the list of problems.

Clark's daughter is scheduled to appear in court on July 25.

An official with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has promised to scrutinize Clark's family case. But Clark was skeptical, saying those promises have been made before but nothing changes.

The agency is also studying how to improve the system in Peoria, he said.

In Peoria County, one-fourth of children are black but more than 60 percent of the children in foster care are black, according to DCFS figures.

--Elaine Hopkins

Elephants suffer at HOI Fair

PEORIA -- Here is an eyewitness account of cruelty to animals at the Heart of Illinois Fair, now playing at Expositions Gardens, from Monica Ball. She also took photographs, which may be posted later.

"I took my kids to the fair on Sunday, partly to personally see the conditions and treatment of the elephants and tigers being exploited there.

The (man) caught on camera teaching handlers to beat elephants, the only way they can be trained to perform ridiculous, unnatural tricks, is the father of the owner of the company that has the wild animals at the fair.

We watched an elephant show. My son said he saw the handler hit the elephant and of course he always had the bullhook in his hand as a reminder to the elephant of previous abuse. He also positioned himself on the opposite side of the elephant from where the majority of the crowd was. From the side where we were, we had a good view of him though.

The stupid tricks (kicking a beachball, shooting a basket, painting, etc.) showed and/or taught nothing about elephants, their natural behavior or natural life.

After the "show," the elephants exhibited the swaying behavior associated with extreme stress, isolation, boredom.

Also, right next to their enclosure, there was the frequent extremely loud revving engines of the tractor pulls. (I'll try to resist from mentioning how moronic I think these things are.) Anyway, I can hear that noise loudly at my home almost a mile away.

Imagine the discomfort this loud noise causes animals with such advanced hearing they can communicate miles away through low frequency rumbling noises.

The enclosure was small, no water was available, and the elephants were separated from the public by only some thin string and a flimsy fence, a public safety issue.

I asked the handler why they didn't have access to water and he was extremely defensive and rude. He admitted that it was because it would make more of a mess to clean up.

He actually asked why my kids didn't have access to water at all times (because their drinks happened to be empty).

The elephants didn't want to be anywhere near him and backed away when he was anywhere close (without the bullhook after the show).

From his behavior to me, and the way the elephants swayed and just looked vacant, I was sick to my stomach to think about their treatment and their lives with that man.

There were also tigers pacing back and forth which of course would never happen outside of captivity.

I stayed at the elephant enclosure a long time, took some pictures, and basically just let my presence and few comments show these abusive people that not everyone is ignorant of what they're doing.

If anyone can make it to the fair to do the same, I think it would be positive. I don't like the idea of my ticket price supporting this act, but I do think it's necessary to check the condition of the animals and be a witness to any cruelty.

By the way, the elephants were filthy and clearly hadn't been bathed for some time. There was no provision for exercise for them other than a small area that would take them 10 seconds to walk from one end to the other."

This is outrageous. Why should this type of traveling animal show appear at the fair? It has no educational purpose and enables the abuse of these animals whose lives must be hellish.

Local animal advocates say they plan to contact the Humane Society and PETA about this show. They also should contact Peoria officials so this type of show does not return.

--Elaine Hopkins

Arlo Guthrie still great

PEORIA -- "If you want to end war you gotta sing loud!"

Arlo Guthrie played the Peoria Riverfront CEFCU Stage on July 19, and of course included that famous line from "Alice's Restaurant," his classic anti-war piece from the Viet Nam era. It remains relevant today.

Guthrie, now in his 60s, still has the famous voice and the huge talent as a musician. He performed alone on guitar, harmonica and keyboard for more than two hours, in an event that began on time and ended with a standing ovation, followed by an encore, a sing-along number on peace.

An audience of several hundred people enjoyed the intimate, laid-back outdoor venue on the riverfront. They were transported back four decades to the music and attitudes of that era.

"There are a lot of weird people out here, some disguised as normal," he joked.

Guthrie spiced his songs with humorous stories and comments. On his age: "I used to pay to feel like this, now it's free."

He sang "City of New Orleans," and ended with his father's famous "This Land is Your Land," interrupted with stories of Woody Guthrie.

The world is full of disasters natural and man made, he commented. "In a world that sucks like this one, you don't have to do much" to do good, he said. "Keep the spirit going."

--Elaine Hopkins