PeoriaStory

Raja likely running for Illinois comptroller

PEORIA -- For the first time in a long time, a Peoria native likely will be a candidate for a state-wide office, Illinois Comptroller in the 2010 election.

Raja Krishnamoorthl was in Peoria on May 31 to meet with old friends about his candidacy. He is a Richwoods High School graduate who went on to become a Princeton grad in mechanical engineering, a Harvard law grad, a Chicago lawyer who campaigned for his friend, President Barack Obama, and Deputy State Treasurer.

He's now in private law practice in Chicago, where his Richwoods high schools pals, also in Chicago, are working in his campaign.

He would be the first Asian-American elected to a statewide office in Illinois if he can win his race. He was born in India, and brought to the US as an infant.

Raja acknowledged that he has many hurdles to overcome, starting with his difficult name. He needs upwards of $2 million for television ads to sell himself to the voters, he said.

But he's got a lot going for him. He's an articulate, charming, progressive Democrat. He will run, he said, only if the current comptroller, Dan Hymes decides to leave the office to run for another position, likely the US Senate or Illinois governor. Illinois politics will begin to shake out, he said, after the General Assembly adjourns.

Read all about him on his website, and expect to hear more from Raja.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Peoria's health coverage forum: cost control, other ideas

PEORIA -- At first glance, Peoria's May 30 forum on health coverage seemed forbidding. It included a large panel, only written questions submitted from the audience, and rules that included no videotaping except from "accredited media," whatever that means. (As in who 'accredits' the media!)

But the forum turned out better than expected. The panel included people with expertise who could dispel misinformation. Even Cong. Aaron Schock, R-18th/Peoria was articulate and accommodating, though unlike Cong. Phil Hare, D-17th (see story below), he waffled on the issues, and always has 'concerns.'

Here's what Schock said when asked if he would support single payer coverage: "I have concerns. I'm not sure a government takeover of services is going to control the costs....we need efficiencies. I don't think single payer is the solution. It doesn't control costs."

Schock called for insurance pools for small businesses, a reform that could be enacted quickly while Congress works on systematic reform. He talked about how Peoria's hospitals are going to enjoy federal money to upgrade their computerized systems, but didn't mention that he voted against the stimulus bil and the children's health insurance bill.

In response to another question, Schock said the Medicare drug program, with its donut hole that leaves patients paying for their own prescriptions, is "deficient and inadequte." But he talked only about an Illinois program that could fill the gap.

What about requiring drug companies to bid on prices? "I do not support mandated rates. I do believe there needs to be profit in the system. A capitalist-driven system makes (American health care) great."

No one on the panel called him on these issues -- such as his non-answer to bidding, which works for other government providers of health care. Or on his lack of ideas for controlling costs, from inflated bills and empire building from hospitals and doctors to sky high pay for insurance executives.

A caustic comment about those salaries drew applause from the audience, which totaled 125 people who signed in.

So don't look for Schock to support single payer. Oddly, the government program of insurance to provide competition for other insurers never came up.

The panelists all expressed concerns about the current system, its high costs, its bureaucracy, deception and unfairness. Horror stories from the panelists and the audience came out.

The event was hosted by the Health Care Justice Campaign, a project of the Campaign for Better Health Care, a Champaign-based group. Panelists included Brad McMillan, Facilitator, Director, Institute for Principled Leadership at Bradley University; Mary Patton of the AARP; William Albers, M.D.; Laraine Bryson, President, Tri-County Urban League; Ron Cox, Vice President, West Central IL Labor Council; Tammy Finch, owner, Web Tech Services, East Peoria; Katie Jones, MSW; Executive Director, Mental Health Association IL Valley; Rev. Joy Schlesselman, President, Central IL Inter-Faith Alliance; and Donald J. Crane, M.D. of Crane Gilmore & Associates, Inc.

Crane was one of the more interesting speakers, as he is trying to find solutions for reforming the system. "We have identified efficiencies" to save money so as "not to burden the taxpayer," he said.

They include evidence-based medicine, more prevention and education for patients, and perhaps certain types of rationing, though he would not call it that.

He talked about the folly of providing expensive procedures to the extreme elderly and demented who will not live long anyway. He told one story of a family who ordered such care, because they could not let their mother die, and compared that with his own family's approach to a similar situation, where the mother did die without prolonged expensive and painful treatment.

Albers supports single payer care such the Canadian system and Medicare. Medicare and Medicaid are flawed, he said, and underfunded. Single payer is not socialized medicine, he said, where the government hires the doctors and runs the hospitals as in England.

He had an answer to cost control: a quasi-independent panel "like the federal reserve" to set government payments. Schock didn't seem to hear him.

Albers expressed concern about the trend in Peoria to construct expensive new facilities for specialized care, while basic care and prevention are neglected. He also mentioned tort reform, but acknowledged it doesn't contribute to the majority of the high costs, though it does encourage unneeded testing.

Health care cost control falls into several categories, from high administrative costs, inflated prices for care ($25 pills, $4,700 scans) to expensive new buildings, seven figure salaries, and the like, the event showed.

Patton of the AARP had some practical ideas, including a program for follow up care after hospital stays, to reduce the high rate of rehospitalization for Medicare recipients.

Reforms should make the programs sustainable, Schock said, and keep the basic training and research infrastructure of medicine in place, Albers said.

Whether the event will have any effect on the one person whose vote now matters, Schock, remains to be seen.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Most want single payer, but not Congress, Hare says

MACOMB -- The only applause from the audience erupted when single payer health coverage was mentioned. But it's not going to happen, Cong. Phil Hare, D-17, told a Macomb audience on May 27.

Hare spent the day traveling around his district on a listening tour to find out how the public feels about health coverage reform. Congress is likely to act by August, he said.

Single payer coverage, like that enjoyed by every other industrial nation, is off the table, he said, since majorities in the House and Senate oppose it.

Hare said he supports single payer. "We don't have the votes to get it," he said. "It's not socialized medicine," he added.

Hare said the public insurance plan under consideration by Congress would charge people on a sliding scale, ban preexisting condition underwriting, cut administrative costs and paperwork and provide loan forgiveness for doctors and nurses who borrowed for their educations.

It would provide competition for the insurance companies as one way to control costs.

Hare spoke briefly then took audience questions for nearly an hour. A couple of McDonough District Hospital officials issued self serving statements about what a fine hospital they operate, and how it writes off $1.3 million in charity care.

A couple of doctors took issue with Hare's ideas, criticizing "government" plans and the like. One said doctors don't want to take Medicare patients because Medicare doesn't pay well enough.

"I'm going to lose money," a doctor said, complaining about proposed computerized requirements that may be part of the reforms.

They must have been listening to their friends the insurance companies rather than their patients.

The rest of the audience or more than 50 people that packed a meeting room at the hospital complex wanted single payer or the expansion of Medicare.

It's obvious that Hare gets it. He said the public insurance plan is a first step that could be expanded later into single payer. Without that option, he said, he might not vote for any reform that would simply maintain the status quo, which soon will be unaffordable for anyone.

The May 30 meeting in Peoria on health coverage with Aaron Schock, R-18th, likely will be quite different. There's a long list of panelists who no doubt will take up most of the time, leaving little room for questions. Schock, the son of a doctor, likely will rail against socialized medicine.

It's at 9 a.m. at the Universalist/Unitarian Church, on Richwoods Blvd off Sterling.

Here's another take on health care, from former OSF St. Francis Medical Center emergency department physician Dr. John Carroll, on ER overcrowding and money for hospitals.

And money is the culprit now in health care. It's too expensive. Insurance CEOs make $250,000 a day (!) Hare said, doctors live in mansions, and 45 million people have no coverage. Why people put up with this is a true mystery.

-- Elaine Hopkins

The inside story on the District 150 Lindberg School firing, and more...

PEORIA -- Here's an interesting post on Diane Vespa's blog, concerning the strange goings on at Peoria District 150 and Lindbergh School, where principal Julie McArdle was terminated a few weeks ago, and in return filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit.

Vespa has interviewed many of the teachers at Lindberg, who turned to her after District 150 officials refused to speak with them. It's an amazing story, a must read!

The Lindbergh School story is almost old news, as every week some new horror surfaces at District 150. The latest: the firing of the grade and middle school library clerks and managers, said to be essential to the smooth functioning of these schools.

They were told in a mass meeting last week that their jobs would be gone next year. But nobody bothered to tell the Board of Education, some of whose members are reportedly miffed over the slight. They must vote to terminate these library workers. The next board meeting, on June 1, promises to be very exciting if this item makes it to the board agenda.

Last week's meeting, on May 18, brought forth the usual citizen comments with one new addition, mine. Here is what I told the board:

I am Elaine Hopkins, and live with my husband George Hopkins (in Peoria).

We now are both retired. I retired from the Journal Star in 2007, and my husband retired then from Western Illinois University where he was a professor of history. We can afford to live anywhere, but so far we have stayed in Peoria where we support the arts and organizations that contribute to the area’s well being.

Of course we continue to value education. District 150 students are the future workers and citizens that we all will depend on. Thus we are concerned to see District 150 falling apart, due to decisions by school officials and the school board.

The district is out of money because it has wasted millions on programs with no educational payoff. Now it must raise taxes. We are not opposed to tax increases for education, but we are opposed to waste.

The coming tax increases will likely diminish the value of all Peoria properties, including our residence, speeding up the spiral of failure in Peoria.

How has money been wasted?

Forget the Glen Oak Park fiasco, which took properties off the tax rolls that now sit vacant. That’s small change compared with Edison.

The district has paid millions to Edison when its own experienced staff could have replicated or improved on the Edison programs. Why?

But that’s only money, the amount that taxes must now be raised.

Even more serious is the district’s decision to close some schools, and build new schools rather than renovate its historic schools. That’s not only more expensive for taxpayers in the long run, but tends to destroy one of Peoria’s valuable intangibles: its sense of community.

Peoria cannot control what local businesses do – they may fail, shift work elsewhere or leave town. But Peoria can control its historic legacy and its sense of community. That’s not happening, however.

I personally have seen the sense of community at Kingman School between teachers, parents and students and its neighborhood. Closing that school destroys that community. Likely the same is true of other neighborhood schools.

Closing Woodruff High School and restructuring Peoria Central High School will do even more damage to tradition and the sense of community connected with these two schools.

What will replace that? Alienation? How long will it take to regain the sense of community and tradition connected with those two high schools? Or can it ever be replicated?

School officials claim that teachers must be eliminated to save money. I thought that attrition over the years and retirement incentives were supposed to do that. Keeping the buildings open costs very little.

Many Illinois high schools are much smaller than these two schools, and smaller schools are thought to be more effective in educating students.

Now there is talk of charter schools. They are unneeded, another waste of money, as programs can be set up within the existing schools so that all students have access to them. But charter schools can be used to threaten and destroy the teacher’s union, another community that supports education.

There’s more: Abolishing 8th grade graduation diminishes community. So does cutting back summer school.

The district’s logic is akin to Wacky Wednesdays, where less was officially spun as more. (I have heard those Wednesday sessions are mostly worthless for the teachers, and probably a continuing headache for parents.)

These changes to District 150 are unlikely to improve the education of students and more likely to diminish it in the general uproar connected with such changes. It’s like offering new Coke at a higher price, probably with the same results. No takers.

Public education is a calling, not a profit-making business. It should not a platform for careerism, or be involved in union busting, or forcing down wages of its employees while the managers receive excessive pay. It’s not a jobs program for friends and relatives.

Yet that’s the way District 150 appears to be operating, chasing the latest business-type fad without considering the implications: larger classes, lower pay for teachers, less qualified teachers, the destruction of tradition and community.

The school board is elected to represent the interests of the community, and not be a rubber stamp for school administrators.

Board members should not have their eyes on the next election they can win, or the better job they can snag, or be tempted by perks and job offers for their friends and relatives. Any of that means the good of the community as a whole is likely to suffer.

Who benefits from the loss of community and tradition in Peoria? Is it the developers, who need to sell their McMansions sitting vacant in other school districts? Is it the slumlords and payday loan operators who prey on the poor left behind in Peoria?

I am saddened at what is happening to a once proud school district, and angry that we taxpayers must pay more for much less, because with the proper leadership it doesn’t have to be that way.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Edith and Harriet on May 31

PEORIA -- A unique musical show at 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 31 at the Apollo Theater, 311 Main, will feature Edith Barnard as the author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Bernard has portrayed Harriet at libraries, museums schools and clubs, for two decades.

She once lived in Brunswick, Maine, near the house where Harriet lived when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Wes Sedrel, guitarist extraordinaire, will accompany Bernard, playing Civil War tunes as background enhancement to the portrayal.

The show is a fund-raiser for Look It's My Book, a Peoria charity founded by Janet Roth that aims to place new books in the homes of Peoria children.

Intermission will feature wine, soft drinks and treats.

Mitch Williams, internationally acclaimed magician, will mesmerize with his amazing feats of magic after intermission.

Tickets are $13 for adults, $9 for children.

This show launches a two day state-wide arts conference on June 1 & 2 at the Pere Marquette Hotel.

What's really happening on national environmental issues

PEORIA -- Environmental groups are likely to oppose that 950-page energy bill now before Congress, because it has become so watered down, David Kraft of the Nuclear Energy Information Service told the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club on May 20.

Kraft compared President Barack Obama's campaign rhetoric with the proposals coming from the Obama administration. The reality now is not living up to the expectations of those who voted or campaigned for Obama, but not all is negative, he said.

On the plus side, the energy bill has $11 billion for a "smart grid" to deliver electric power more efficiently, but it also includes nuclear energy in a research section of the bill, he said.

The "cap and trade" section has been so diluted that most of the money goes to the polluters, he said, and as a result, won't stop global warming.

Once a bill is passed, energy issues and global warming may go on the back burner, he said, while those policies that are funded will become established, "institutionalized and take on a life of their own."

Thus, "a lot of environmental groups feel this bill should not be supported," and that it will, like the financial bailouts to banks, just prop up the status quo, he said.

The Obama administration is "fractured," he said. The Secretary of Energy, a scientist with a nuclear background, wants nuclear power but the waste storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been canceled. So there is no way to build nuclear power plants without waste storage.

He attributed the Yucca Mountain cancelation to Carol Browner, who works in the White House and out ranks the Secretary of Energy.

At the same time the $23.6 billion 2010 budget for the Department of Energy has most of the money going to nuclear weapons or nuclear clean up, he said. Only 16 percent goes to energy supplies, research and development.

"A carbon-free, nuclear-free" future is the only way to solve global warming, he said.

Despite a new administration, Washington D.C. is still "business as usual," he said. "Power is so entrenched there."

The environmental movement has been quite passive, perhaps because many of its members believe in non-violence, he said. But he quoted filmmaker Michael Moore who has said "we are a nation of abused spouses," making excuses for the powerful. "We tolerate abuse. We don't have enough self respect to say 'no' and mean it."

That has to change, he said. Politicians must feel the heat from the public.

In Illinois, a moratorium on nuclear power plants continues, he said, because there's no where to store the waste. That issue must be watched, he said, lest it change. Nuclear energy "is like herpes," he said. "It's always there and comes back worse each time."

Meanwhile Argon Labs in Illinois should be working on energy efficiency and renewables, he said, a bipartisan issue which can appeal to all Illinois politicians.

Kraft warned about Cong. John Shimkus who represents part of Springfield and supports nuclear power. He is backing a bill to take away the tax exempt status of environmental groups including, of all groups, The Nature Conservancy, which avoids politics and advocacy. That must be stopped, he said, adding he hopes the coming redistricting of House districts will get rid of Shimkus.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Fighting for better health coverage

UPDATE 5/20/09: The date of the meeting, below, has been changed to May 30 at 9 a.m., at a location to be announced. That's because Cong. Aaron Schock has agreed to attend the meeting to discuss health care issues.

Watch this space for the location, likely somewhere in Peoria.

UPDATE, 5/26/09: The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the Universalist/Unitarian Church, 3000 W. Richwoods Blvd. off Sterling, Peoria.

EAST PEORIA - It's crunch time for advocates wanting universal, affordable health insurance coverage for everyone.

The Obama administration says changes will be made this year, so the medical/industrial complex is fighting back with high paid lobbyists to influence the laws.

Advocates for universal coverage are taking to the streets, and in Illinois are organizing a series of town hall meetings, hoping to attract members of Congress to listen to the public and advocates on the issues.

In the Peoria area the Town Hall Meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 28 at the Festival Building. 2200 E. Washington St. in East Peoria. (Organizers got free use of the building from the city of East Peoria.)

Here are the directions: From I-74 West bound, exit 96; from East bound, exit 95B.

Panelists invited to speak include:

Brad McMillan: Facilitator; Director, Institute for Principled Leadership; a representative from the AARP; William Albers, M.D.; Gail Amundson, M.D. FACP, President/CEO, Quality Quest for Health; Laraine Bryson, President, Tri-County Urban League; Ron Cox, Vice President, West Central IL Labor Council; Tammy Finch, Owner, Web Tech Services, East Peoria; Katie Jones, MSW, Executive Director, Mental Health Assoc IL Valley; Rev. Joy Schlesselman, President, Central IL Inter-Faith Alliance.

Cong. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria and the 18th District, has been invited but news media accounts report that he likely won't attend. But the meeting will be videotaped and sent to him.

There also will be questions and comments from the audience.

Co-sponsors include The Campaign for Better Health Care, a powerful Champaign-based group; The League of Women Voters of Illinois and the AARP, IL Chapter.

There's more information and a registration process at http://www.cbhconline.org/index.html. You can submit a question online.

Volunteers have been distributing pamphlets throughout the area urging citizens to call Schock and ask him to attend, and inviting the public to the free, open meeting.

Full disclosure: I have passed out these pamphlets in my neighborhood, and received very favorable responses from many people, who confessed that they don't have health insurance at all, or their insurance is so expensive it takes all their income to pay for it.

Some people were happy to receive Schock's phone number to call him about other issues.

Only one person was negative, a white, middle-aged man who said "no thanks, I'll pay for my own insurance" and refused to take the pamphlet.

When I responded that his insurance would be cheaper if everyone is covered, he looked at me and shook his head.

This meeting may be boring or exciting, but it's probably worth attending just to prove to Schock and Congress that people care about this issue.

As the pamphlet states, "it's now or never" to reform health coverage.

The Campaign for Better Health Care can be reached at:
44 East Main St., Suite 414, Champaign, IL 61820-3642.
(v) 217-352-5600; (f) 217-352-5688; e-mail: [email protected]
In Chicago at 1325 S. Wabash, Suite 305, Chicago, IL 60605-2504
(v) 312-913-9449; (f) 312-913-9559; e-mail: [email protected]
Its helpline, 1-888-544-8271.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Brahms Requiem wonderful

GALESBURG -- The central Illinois classical music spotlight illuminated Galesburg on May 16 with an incredibly beautiful presentation of Brahms' German Requiem at the Orpheum Theater.

The event featured the Galesburg Community Chorus and the Knox College Choir with a large orchestra. Laura Lane of Knox College and Nova Singers fame directed the requiem. Soloists were Christine Steyer, soprano, and baritone Stephen Swanson, both professional opera singers with rich, powerful voices that filled the auditorium.

The setting, the 900-seat, historic Orpheum Theater could not have been more perfect for the requiem. The theater, intimate, perfectly designed with two balconies, has terrific acoustics throughout. The entire performance was done without any type of amplification, because none was needed. This is likely the style and type of theater this piece was written for.

The music is full of excitement and complexities, beautiful melodies and harmonies. The most famous of its seven sections is number four, in English, "How lovely is thy dwelling places." Every section was performed with perfect timing and sound, a tremendous achievement for amateur choral groups.

This concert, sung in German in a historic venue, could have taken place somewhere in Europe where audiences would have paid a premium to see it. Instead it was offered deep in the Midwest at a modest price, a top quality event, breathtaking in its perfection and beauty.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Pick it up

PEORIA HEIGHTS -- From the news release:

There will be a trash clean-up along the Kellar Rail in Peoria Heights on Saturday, May 16, from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm, sponsored by the volunteer group Recreational Trail Advocates, (RTA).

Registration will be at the Peoria Heights Library, 816 East Glen Avenue. Gloves, trash bags and water will be provided. Volunteers will be asked to fill out a liability waiver.

The event will proceed rain or shine. Long pants, sturdy shoes and long sleeves shirts are recommended.

Lunch will be provided at 12:00 pm at the TNT Sports Bar and Grill, formerly known as the Penguin Tap, on Prospect Street in Peoria Heights. Mayor Allen has been invited to speak at the lunch to provide an update on efforts to convert the nearly abandoned railroad tracks into a recreation trail.

The railroad tracks are controlled by the Federal Surface Transportation Board, in Washington DC, which must approve the removal of the tracks to put in a trail.

There are approximately 9 miles of Kellar railroad stretching from Pioneer Park in North Peoria to the downtown Riverfront. There is only one customer who has received occasional railroad freight for the past five years.

In 2007 the STB ruled that the railroad companies should be given additional time to develop new rail business before the tracks could be replaced with asphalt for public use. No new business has occurred.

The Peoria Park District has several million dollars in state, federal and private funds committed to the recreational trail conversion. Both property owners, the City of Peoria and Village of Peoria Heights, have passed resolutions in support of the recreational trail.

US Senator Durbin, Represenative Schock and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have expressed their support for the Kellar recreational trail conversion.

For more information please contact RTA president George Burrier at 266-5085, or visit the website www.ritrail.org.

Rove controversy continues

PEORIA -- The controversy over the anti-union, Karl Rove appearance in Peoria on Monday, May 11 continues to boil. Scroll down.

UPDATE 5/11/09: Rove sneaked into town and spoke to about 40 people, according to news accounts. The press was barred from the event, as were union members and certain elected officials.

Here's the PJStar story.

I showed up and carried a hand lettered sign that read "Anti-Union = Anti-American" on one side and "Arrest Rove for War Crimes" on the other side.

Too bad he wasn't arrested for conspiracy to torture, and send to jail.

-- Elaine Hopkins