PeoriaStory

NOW conference focuses on rights, politics

EAST PEORIA -- The Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women doesn’t hold any illusions about women in today’s world.

Women don’t need more shopping or more beauty products or anything else the commercial society offers to confuse them about their role and place.

They need legal rights that are enforced, including equal pay and reproductive rights, so they can control their own lives. After years of rule by the Bush administration, those rights are now in jeopardy.

That was the message at the Sept. 29 conference held at Illinois Central College where speakers focused on what can and should be done now to improve the lives of women. Politics comes first.

Illinois NOW has endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.

“When women take charge it will be a different world,” said Illinois NOW president Bonnie Grabenhofer. “Women’s lives will be important. Policies will reflect women’s concerns. No sexism, racism, homophobia. (Just) justice and equality.”

Peoria attorney Patricia Benassi, who received the group’s Ida B. Wells award for her high-profile victories for women discriminated against in the Mitsubishi Motors case, spoke on a panel on legal issues and delivered the keynote address.

In her speech, Benassi stressed the importance of the upcoming presidential election. “Our choices are going to affect every man, woman and child, the elderly, the world. We are in a profound time historically. We have to decide whether we will change where we are going,” she said.

“Under the leadership of George Bush and the right wing, the US has lost its leadership for freedom, tolerance and justice,” she said. After 9-11, “under the guise of protecting ourselves” the Bush administration “violated the Constitution and engaged in criminal activity throughout the world. (They) used (US) power and strength to bully and destroy rather than help” and engaged in “preventive war that makes us the aggressor.”

She mentioned the now familiar list of outrages, from secret prisons and torture to the widening gap between the rich and everyone else. “We are outraged and disgusted.”

She endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose nominees to the US Supreme Court will reflect her values. “She has consistently voted for civil rights. She took on health care and education. She cares about people and is a team player who can get along with everyone including Republicans,” Benassi concluded.

Meanwhile, the threats to equal pay and reproductive rights continue from a hostile Supreme Court.

In a panel discussion on legal issues, Benassi discussed the Ledbetter case, which refused to allow a woman suffering from pay discrimination to collect what was owed her. “It shows a complete lack of understanding of the world. It is hostile to women and other protected minorities.”

Congress may overturn this decision since it goes against established law, she said.

Lori Chaiten of the American Civil Liberties Union said the Supreme Court’s April 18 decision on the so-called “partial birth abortion” ban overturned “years of precedents” and bans common procedures for abortion and miscarriages that could be used to protect a women’s health and fertility.

The court relied on “junk science to restrict rights,” she said. Overturning this decision in Congress is possible, she said, but unlikely now. Clinton twice vetoed this legislation, but Bush signed it and his appointees on the Court upheld it.

A pro-choice presidential administration could issue narrow guidelines for enforcement, she said.

The issues in Illinois include a parental notification law on abortion for teens, passed years ago under Republican rule, even though notices elsewhere have led to deaths by teens afraid to tell their parents. It’s not yet in effect. Each county court must come up with guidelines for the law, said panelist Lori Post.

The statute is under challenge, Chaiten said. “We have lots of strategies up our sleeve.”

Meanwhile the Illinois Reproductive Privacy Act has been introduced in the General Assembly to protect abortion rights. But it’s “on the back burner,” Post said.

Those at the meeting also discussed the controversy over a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora where abortions would be performed along with other women’s health care. Anti-choice activists have intimidated city officials into delaying the permit to open.

The controversy has brought new visibility to NOW, whose officers have been interviewed, quoted, and have developed new relationships with reporters, NOW leaders said.

Illinois NOW’s president Grabenhofer expressed her delight in meeting in the Peoria area. “When we think of Peoria we think of Betty Friedan,” she said.

--Elaine Hopkins

Versace at Democrats picnic

PEORIA -- Former Bradley University and NBA basketball coach Dick Versace gave a fiery speech to Democrats attending the Peoria County Democratic Party picnic on Sept. 29.

Versace said he plans to officially announce his candidacy on Oct. 8 for the Democratic nomination for Congress for the 18th district. Republican incumbent Ray LaHood is not seeking reelection.

“I hate this (Iraq) war but I love the warriors,” Versace said.

Versace said his father and older brother attended West Point. His brother then was “captured, tortured and executed” on his second tour of duty in Vietnam.

Soldiers in Iraq are now serving more than two tours, he said.

Versace, 67, who lives in Fulton County and Peoria, said he has been retired for two years. “I have inexhaustible energy. I want to get into public service.”

He compared his run for Congress – an attempt to capture a seat held by Republicans since 1917 – to his coaching career at Bradley. “You chose me in 1978 to do the impossible,” he said.

The Bradley team had not won a championship in 30 years, he said, but two years after he was hired they were champions.

“I know winning. I know about putting teams together,” he said.

The Bush administration has “flushed away” a “teachable moment” on 9/11, when the nation felt unified and patriotic, he said. “But a wave of change is coming across this country.”

Former state Senator George Shadid said of Versace, “he’s running not for himself but to serve you in the way you should be served.”

Democrats speaking at the picnic urged party unity, even though at least two local races will have contests in the primary between activists in the local party. “We’re all united as Democrats,” state Senator Dave Koehler said. “We have to remain strong for the sake of the people.”

Allen Mayer and Jehan Gordon are both seeking the nomination for the 92nd district for the Illinois House. The incumbent, Aaron Schock is one of three men seeking the Republican nomination for Congress.

Carol Van Winkle and Kent Rotherham are contending for the nomination for county auditor. Van Winkle was appointed to the position last year when it was vacant.

--Elaine Hopkins

Website to substitute for public hearings

PEORIA -- A website will substitute for initial public hearings on the development of Peoria's Comprehensive Plan.

In a Sept. 27 e-mail to participants in the nine workshops on the plan, Peoria assistant planning director Ross Black stated a $15,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will fund development of the web page, www.planpeoria.com, to open in mid-October.

There citizens can take a survey that will "allow for the refinement of the input received at the initial Topic Area Workshops and will also allow the public to address additional issues of importance to the Comprehensive Plan process."

About 200 people attended the initial workshops, he stated. "The Planning Commission and Planning Department staff believe (the web page) will allow for wider public participation in the Comprehensive Plan process."

In February 2008 public meetings will be scheduled "to provide a forum for further public input before the formal public hearing process before the Planning Commission."

They will take place from March until August 2008, with a final recommendation sent to the City Council in September or October 2008.

The city is working with Peoria County, which also is updating its Comprehensive Plan, he stated.

This is an interesting idea, probably worth a try, as the workshop format was dull and bureaucratic, and attracted mostly people whose work required their attendance. (See post under "Peoria politics, issues.)

It also should provide an interesting number of items that the public wants, though it could be skewed by the participation of special interest groups who might not bother to attend a meeting. We'll see.

--Elaine Hopkins

Haiti documentary on Aristide's ouster

PEORIA -- Documentary filmmaker Kevin Pina will speak and present his film "Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits" at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 in Bradley Hall Room 139 at Bradley University.

Click on the link above to see a preview of this provocative film on YouTube.

It tells of the events surrounding the ouster of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Feb. 29, 2004.

The former prime minister of Haiti, Yvon Neptune, in an interview, confirms that Aristide was forced out of the country against his will. "No one will ever convince me he left of his own volition," he states.

The film's title is from a quote by Brazilian General Heleno Ribera, the top military commander of UN forces in Haiti for two years.

In the film, Ribera argues with demonstrators marching for Aristide's return and the release of Lavalas political prisoners.

He demands they respect the Haitian police as voices shout back that they have slaughtered demonstrators as the UN stood by and watched. "Ribera loses his cool and screams back they are thieves who are taxing UN security forces with frivolous demonstrations," according to information on the film.

The scene ends in a riot with UN forces using tear gas and firing into the air to break up the otherwise peaceful demonstration.

The UN's Ribera ialso "ordered a raid on the seaside shanty of Cite Soleil on July 6, 2004 and the documentary shows in detail how the UN stands accused of a massacre of unarmed civilians as a result."

"Haiti: We must kill the BANDITS" is said to be the only detailed chronicle of the human rights violations that were committed against Aristide's followers and members of his Lavalas movement following his ouster.

Pina was arrested in Haiti and is said to have risked his life to make his documentaries. Click here for a short interview with Pina, also on YouTube.

Stunning, terrifying interview

Is democracy doomed in the US? Has it already been lost beyond recovery?

Read this terrifying, stunning interview with Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.

It's long. Keep going until the end. Then consider what can be done NOW to reverse these trends.

-- Elaine Hopkins

IN ADDITION: Check out this piece, from Daniel Ellsberg who believes a coup has already occurred in the U.S.

Improving women's lives

PEORIA -- How can women in underdeveloped nations overcome war, poverty, ignorance and sexism to improve their lives and their communities?

Three nationally known speakers will offer their ideas at a conference on Oct. 12-13 at Bradley University, so-sponsored by the Peoria Area World Affairs Council. Its theme is "Women in Development, Education for a Global Marketplace."

The keynote speaker is John Hatch, founder and director of FINCA International in Washington D.C. who will speak on "Macro-financing, Supporting Women in Development."

Hatch is known as the "father of village banking." He speaks after a 7 p.m. banquet on Oct. 12.

Saturday, Oct. 13 sessions include Marilee Pierce Dunker of World Vision, speaking on "Children of Africa, Reaching for their Future," and Gale Summerfield of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who will give the closing address on the state of the world’s women.

Education workshop topics include teaching Chinese language courses, Turkey and teaching international economics.

For more information and to register, contact the World Affairs Council at 309/677-2454 or via email. A brochure is on the council's website.

IN ADDITION: The Sept. 21 PBS show NOW aired a segment on microlending, and the controversy surrounding it when it goes corporate, and investors get involved. A successful microlender in Mexico charges poor women 100 percent interest on small loans, and is making millions.

Those who see microlending as a way out of poverty for women say that's just traditional money-lending. See this provocative show at the PBS website at http://www.pbs.org/now/enterprisingideas/Compartamos.html?campaign=pbshomefeatures_2_nowenterprisingideas_2007-09-21

--Elaine Hopkins

Steingraber speaks Oct. 10

PEORIA -- Ecologist, author and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber will speak at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the Universalist Unitarian Church, 3000 W. Richwoods Boulevard.

Her topic is "You Don’t Have to Live Downstream: Health Concerns Associated with Toxic Waste Landfills And The Power of Citizen Involvement."

'Steingraber, a Pekin native with an international reputation who has spoken several times in Peoria, most recently appeared on Good Morning America to discuss her new study about the falling age of puberty in young girls and possible environmental and diet factors.

Here's a link to the video, though beware, it begins with an obnoxious ad: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3609116

Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste, the local coalition of families fighting against the expansion of Peoria Disposal Company’s hazardous waste landfill in Pottstown and the Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club, partners in this fight, are co-sponsoring the talk.

The event is free, but donations will be accepted.

Steingraber is the author of two highly acclaimed books, Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment and Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood.

Living Downstream presents cancer as a human rights issue. It was the first book to bring together data on toxic releases with newly released data from U.S. cancer registries.

Having Faith explores the intimate ecology of motherhood. Both a memoir of her own pregnancy and an investigation of fetal toxicology, it reveals the alarming extent to which environmental hazards now threaten each crucial stage of infant development.

Steingraber received her doctorate in biology from the University of Michigan and master’s degree in English from Illinois State University. She has taught biology at Columbia College, Chicago, held visiting fellowships at the University of Illinois, Radcliffe/Harvard, and Northeastern University, and served on President Clinton’s National Action Plan on Breast Cancer. Formerly on faculty at Cornell University, Steingraber is currently
Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

For more information on this event, please contact Cara Rosson, Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste at (309) 339-9733.

UPDATE Sept. 27. Here's a link to Steingraber's latest work on early puberty in girls.

Media lack resources: panel

PEORIA – Some Peoria radio and television stations lack the resources to provide editorial comment, their representatives said at a Sept. 15 forum on "The Role of Media in a Democracy."

The event, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, brought together seven area journalists:

DeWayne Bartels, reporter, Times-Observer newspapers
Terry Bibo, reporter/columnist, Peoria Journal Star
Laura Michels, reporter, WHOl-TV, Channel 19
Jody Davis, news director, WMBD-TV, Channel 31
Jim Garrett, WEEK-TV, Channel 25
Jonathan Ahl, news director, WCBU-FM Public Radio
C.J. Summers, peoriachronicle.com

They offered opening statements, then answered questions during the 90-minute session.

Bartels began by stating that the role of the media is to be a watchdog. But the business side of journalism also requires stories providing entertainment and information, he said.

A forthcoming story on a “baby massage class” will doubtless draw more readers than any story on government, he said.

Bibo said the newspaper is “one of the few places (offering) a variety of opinion,” where “everyone can meet.” As the media splinters, “those who care about governing are just another niche.”

Michels said the media must “hold the powerful accountable.” There’s never been a famine in a country with free media, she said.

Meanwhile, people are “watching Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton,” and want that coverage, she added.

Davis said television conveys “a sense of what someone is going through as a microcosm of the human situation.” The Web now allows TV stations to expand their stories and offer “interactivity,” he said.

Garrett said all news is actually “storytelling.” But “to really understand” issues, people must use all forms of media.

Ahl said media that tell people only what they want to hear are growing, and ultimately the public will decide what it values.

Summers said “blogs can’t replace mainstream media,” but can supplement it, and “fill in the gaps and details.” It can also “watch the watchdogs and hold them accountable,” and offer “diverse editorial views.”

Asked whether media owners influence coverage, the journalists said interference in news coverage is minimal. But as the discussion continued, several mentioned lack of resources that influence content and coverage indirectly.

Ahl said Bradley University, license holder for WCBU-FM, the National Public Radio affiliate, has only one demand, that the station cover Founders Day.

But that raised the issue of what happened to commentary on the station, especially that of local journalist Bill Knight, whose commentary was dropped several years ago after he mentioned issues involving Caterpillar, Inc., a Bradley U. donor.

Ahl said a station manager made that decision and was subsequently fired. But commentary has not resumed, he said, because the station lacks the staff to find and provide balanced points of view from outside commentators.

The station’s three reporters should not be providing editorial comment, he said, since they cover stories. “If I had the money to do (commentary), I would do it. This is what NPR does.”

Garrett said his station has the same problem, that of ensuring fairness. Managers once provided editorial comment, but the staff has been reduced and now lacks the resources for that, he said.

Newspapers have journalists whose job is to write opinion columns, so the credibility of reporters is not compromised, he said.

Davis said a backlash developed after local Fox stations began offering syndicated “right wing” commentary, as ordered by the corporation that owned them, Sinclair. The commentator then “went away.”

Bibo expressed concern that the Journal Star’s editorial board, now down to two people, may not have the resources to interview political candidates prior to endorsements, as it has always done. Yet people rely on those endorsements, she said.

Garrett warned the journalists that the public is suspicious. “The public perception of what we do is (lower) than attorneys.” He closed with a quotation from Edward R. Murrow: “technology makes communication quicker, not better.”

-- Elaine Hopkins

Inside the anti-war movement

PEORIA -- What will be the impact of today's anti-war movement on the Iraq war and US politics?

The New York Times Sept. 9 magazine has a fascinating inside look at the national anti-war movement. Part of that movement, Iraq Summer, played in Peoria, but has left town. (See Aug. 31 post, below.)

The Times piece suggests that movement, now Internet based, is very different from the Viet Nam anti-war movement.

Will grilling the candidates in the upcoming elections and voting accordingly make a difference? That's the question hanging over the future, as the 2008 election season approaches.

Don't miss this article. Keep going until you reach the final sentence: “At some point, when the legislative process breaks down completely, which seems more and more likely, this is just political, and this is about beating the people who keep the war going in the next election. Period.”

-- Elaine Hopkins

Sueing for clean water

MORTON -- You would think that in the USA people can rely on public water supplies for safe drinking water. In fact, it's the law of the land.

Only in third world nations such as Mexico do you fear drinking the tap water.

Think again.

The resident of a Morton moble home park has turned to the Illinois Pollution Control Board for helping in forcing the owner of the park to provide clean, safe drinking water to the residents.

"The water smells like sewage, is discolored (and) contains thick pieces of black, orange and brown sediment," her complaint states.

Loretta Thigpen, 49, a cancer survivor and resident of Edgewood Terrace Mobile Home Park near Morton, has filed a citizen complaint with the PCB. It contains graphic photos of the contaminants in the park's water supply.

Edgewood, also known as Morton Mobile Home Park, averaged five times the acceptable level of 10 parts per billion of arsenic and has other contaminants as well, according to the complaint. Arsenic is a cancer-causing substance.

For years, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to get the owner, Michael Conley of Residential Investment Properties in Glen Ellyn, to clean up the water supply but nothing changes.

Thigpen's complaint states she has suffered from "eye irritation, skin rashes, gastrointestinal problems" from the water.

The water "kills plants, causes pets to become sick," damages appliances and fixtures and makes house cleaning and laundry impossible, the complaint states.

She also alleges that the owner violated Illinois law in failing to notify park residents of the water problems at the park.

She wants the PCB to order a clean up of the water or fine the owner and provide other relief.

The IEPA quit returning her phone calls, Thigpen has said, a sad commentary on this state agency.

So far the owner has not responded to the lawsuit, according to Thigpen's environmental attorney David Wentworth of Peoria.

Thigpen said she heard the owner has refused to accept a certified letter containing the complaint, so he must be served in person. She heard he also might be willing to attach to the Morton water system.

The park, on the outskirts of Morton, is adjacent to Morton's public water supply. Morton officials have expressed willingness to allow the owner to connect the park to the system.

The park relies on a well for its water. Most of its residents are low income, living on fixed incomes, and can ill afford to buy their water.

This is a sad commentary on the lax laws in Illinois that allow public water supplies to remain contaminated despite scientific proof of pollutants and citizen complaints.

State grants or low interest loans could finance the park's connection to a reliable municipal water supply. But these are low income people with no clout, versus a wealthy, out-of-town landlord. We wonder how he sleeps at night knowing the water in his park may be causing its residents to develop cancer.

We'll be watching this case to see whether the PCB responds, and what can be done about this deplorable situation!

--Elaine Hopkins