PeoriaStory

Schock hypocrisy

PEORIA -- Here's a tidbit that the Peoria Journal Star likely won't run:

Hypocrisy Schocker: Aaron Schock “Awards” COPS Funding To East Peoria That He Voted Against

Posted by DCCC Press
Jun 24, 2009
In a stunning act of hypocrisy, Congressman Aaron Schock held a press conference with members of the East Peoria Police Department to "award" a $410,000 federal COPS Technology Grant that he voted against on the House floor. During the event, Congressman Schock claimed "here in East Peoria, the police department, they make great investments in their people, and it only makes sense to continue to invest in the technology and tools they have in order to keep the citizens of East Peoria safe and police officers safe in the line of duty."

"Opposing much needed law enforcement funding is bad enough, but it is simply outrageous for Congressman Schock to then hypocritically take credit for securing the very money he voted against," said Gabby Adler, the Midwestern Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Aaron Schock not only misled the people of East Peoria, he lied to the faces of the men and women of the East Peoria Police Department who put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect the community."

The $410,000 COPS Technology Grant for the East Peoria Police Department was requested by former Congressman Ray LaHood, and included in the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill that Aaron Schock voted against. According to local reports, this funding is being used by the East Peoria Police to upgrade their communication capabilities to ensure future interoperability with other area first responders and to upgrade two dozen squad cars with digital in-car camera video systems.

BACKGROUND

Congressman Aaron Schock voted against the final passage of the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill. [HR 1105, Vote #86, 2/25/09]

The FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill included a $410,000 COPS Technology Grant requested by former Congressman Ray LaHood.

Here's the link to the PJStar story.

Corporate vp knows nothing: Macdonald plus links to Peoria health stories

PEORIA -- When Dr. Richard Macdonald, a retired podiatrist, received a nasty Obama attack piece from the American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., written by retired corporate vice president Lou Pritchett of Procter & Gamble, he couldn’t resist responding.

Pritchett says Obama scares him. Here’s Macdonald’s reply:

Who wouldn't be scared when one has been on corporate welfare all of his career.

Mr. Lou Pritchett didn't have to pay his health insurance with after tax dollars like I did for all those years I was a solo practitioner.

Proctor & Gamble, along with all those "Buy America Companies" that use pre-tax dollars to buy health benefits, therefore avoid paying $180 billion in taxes. Instead, those tax-avoid-paying companies under his CEO leadership model told me how to treat my patients under their "private non-government insurance plans."

Companies like his took the attitude it is easier to cut off a leg than save a foot. Companies like his dictated to me that they wouldn't pay me $500 to save a diabetic foot and send the patient back to work, even though the company's whole medical department agreed with my standard of care.

The HR department was proud to use a medical benefit's technicality to take the patient out of my hands to cut off his leg, and produced a blue alert while going to one of those expensive high tech machines for continuation of the patient's corporate designated continuum of care.

The patient cost a Fortune 500 company almost a month in cardiac intensive care and then the patient died, over non-payment of $500.

People in Mr. Pritchett's pay grade with their huge compensation of stock options, bonuses and golden parachutes just can't comprehended the simple common person's struggles against bankruptcy over medical bills.

This "my Proctor & Gamble driver always got a turkey for Thanksgiving and a good Christmas bonus" attitude allows Mr. Pritchett to write these types of letters which get a half a million internet hits of support.

The drive through mastectomy patient is not his concern as Mr Pritchett doesn't wear a D cup brassier.

Besides he now has single pay government insurance which allows him to pick his own doctor without interference. We call it ‘Medicare.’
Lou should burn his Medicare card but that would mean he would have to pay for equal coverage out of his own pocket, but of course P&G would pick up his premium.

Add his company's covered Medicare supplement healthcare payments and full prescription drug payment, and Mr Pritchett doesn't have the cognizant ability to wonder why 70% people, as of today’s polls don't feel sorry for him and but want what he has.

I guess he became a CEO by Murphy's Law, and was elevated to his level of incompetence.

As Cal Thomas column said in the Peoria Journal Star, "A one-sided debate isn't news, its advertising."

Proctor & Gamble is probably the biggest advertiser in the world, so Cal Thomas and Mr. Pritchett are on the same page against healthcare coverage for 100% of the American people.

Lou Pritchett worries about the cost but doesn't complain about his retirement benefit's cost to the stockholders of P&G.

Both Mr. Thomas and Mr. Pritchett have no sympathy for those barefooted individuals who can't pull themselves up by their unaffordable boots while their corporate welfare state of paid benefits includes "the best healthcare in the world."

Dr. Richard G. Macdonald
Washington, IL

Here are two links to stories of Peoria residents regarding lack of medical insurance:

http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare/stories/103336

http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare/stories/77459

Peoria Reads! gets big $$$ -- $19,000 grant

PEORIA -- From a news release:

PEORIA READS! ONE OF 269 ORGANIZATIONS NATIONWIDE TO RECEIVE BIG READ GRANT FROM
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

Peoria area to read and celebrate The Great Gatsby during Big Read Peoria Reads project in 2010.

Peoria Reads! today announced that it has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read in Peoria.

Peoria Reads! is an annual “One City, One Book” project lead by the Peoria Public Library and Common Place Family Learning Center designed to encourage members of our community to read and discuss one significant book.

Peoria Reads! is one of 269 programs--including arts, culture, and science organizations; libraries; and municipalities--to receive a grant to host a Big Read project between September 2009 and June 2010.

The Big Read gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 30 selections from U.S. and world literature. The Big Read in Peoria will focus on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Activities will take place during Spring 2010.

The latest Big Read grantees represent 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since the 2006 pilot program with ten participating organizations, the NEA has given more than 800 grants to support local Big Read projects.

This will be the ninth consecutive year the Peoria Public Library, in partnership with Common Place, has organized " Peoria Reads!" and the fourth consecutive year the program has received a grant from the national sponsor, the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2006, the library received a $13,350 grant for To Kill A Mockingbird, in 2007 received $19,000 for Fahrenheit 451, and last year received $18,000 for The Maltese Falcon. The grant for The Great Gatsby is for $19,000.

The coordinators for The Big Read: Peoria Reads! are excited about encouraging Peorians to sink their teeth into one of the most popular classics in modern American fiction

“Classic books are worth re-reading,” said Roberta Koscielski, grants coordinator at Peoria Public Library. “We get different meanings from them at various stages of our lives.”

Connie Voss, Executive Director of Common Place added, “The Great Gatsby gives us a timely opportunity to explore and discuss what the American Dream means today.”

“The Big Read highlights not only literature, but also what can be accomplished in partnership,” said NEA Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell. “I’m grateful to IMLS, Arts Midwest, and the many nonprofits, local governments, and media outlets around the country that have partnered with the NEA to present hundreds of Big Read projects nationwide. We welcome our new community partners to The Big Read family and look forward to continuing this transformative dialogue between neighbors and across borders.”

The selected organizations will receive Big Read grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 to promote and carry out community-based reading programs featuring activities such as read-a-thons, book discussions, lectures, movie screenings, and performing arts events. Participating communities also receive high-quality, free-of-charge educational materials to supplement each title, including Reader’s, Teacher’s, and Audio Guides.

“The Institute is pleased to support The Big Read, which brings communities together to enjoy literature in their public libraries,” said Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the NEA’s lead federal partner for The Big Read. “Libraries are community anchors that serve as centers of engagement, literacy, and lifelong learning. There is nothing better than to read a great book and share your delight and insights with others.”

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.

For more information about The Big Read please visit www.neabigread.org.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts—both new and established—bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. For more information, please visit www.imls.gov.

Arts Midwest connects people throughout the Midwest and the world to meaningful arts opportunities, sharing creativity, knowledge, and understanding across boundaries. Arts Midwest connects the arts to audiences throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 25 years. For more information, please visit www.artsmidwest.org.

Black Panther Mark Clark remembered

PEORIA -- Here's a fascinating story about an event to commemorate Peoria native Mark Clark, a victim of the Civil Rights struggle. This is the 40th anniversary of Clark's death. Read all about it here.

The Mark Clark Memorial Tribute will be held on Saturday, June 27, 2009, at Lovejoy Church located at 1500 S. Easton Street in Peoria. There will be a panel of speakers, as detailed on the site linked above.

No time is listed for the event, but you can email the sponsor for more details.

Change or die, Mearsheimer says

PEORIA -- One of the most provocative and controversial speakers the Peoria Area World Affairs Council has presented in recent years, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, co-author with Stephen Walt of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, offered a pessimistic analysis of the future of Israel and the Middle East.

Israel must adopt the 'two-state solution' with the Palestinians having their own country, or it may not survive, he said.

He spoke June 18 with a powerful, riveting, eye-opening 2-hour talk. He said President Barack Obama's two-state solution is the only workable future for the region, but expressed skepticism that it will happen.

One of the reasons is the Israel Lobby in the U.S., which he compared with other powerful interest groups such as the AARP, the Farm Lobby and the NRA. This lobby, composed of several organizations, supports Israel whose politicians have oppressed the Palestinians for decades.

"I wish somebody could tell me what the happy ending is without a two state solution," he said.

"I am skeptical that Obama can achieve this goal because the Israel lobby is likely to make it difficult or impossible for him to put pressure on Israel. I hope I'm proved wrong," he said.

Every US president since 1967 has opposed Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, he said, "yet no president has put pressure on Israel to stop building settlements." That's because of the Israel lobby, he said.

The lobby's power can be seen in the recent situation of Charles Freeman, forced to withdraw from the National Intelligence Council because he questioned the US 'special relationship' with Israel, he said. Obama didn't stand up for him. "That's not encouraging," he said.

"During the campaign (Obama) pandered to the lobby and was silent during the Gaza massacre, he said.

While Obama has promoted the two state solution, "talk is cheap," he said.

But Israel's future as a nation depends on a two state solution, he said.

Without that, he said. only three alternatives can be envisioned.

1. Israel takes over all the territory for a Greater Israel, with a democracy and equal rights for all, and will be outnumbered by Palestinians and lose political control.

2. Most Palestinians are expelled in a type of ethnic cleansing, unacceptable to the world.

3. Apartheid occurs, with Palestinians living in enclaves like the former situation in South Africa, also unacceptable.

"What future do the opponents of a two state solution envision?" he asked. "It's the best alternative."

Israel receives up to $4.5 billion in foreign aid annually from the US, he said, and could be pressured to come to terms with the Palestinians.

There will be "spoilers" on both sides, and Palestinians will have to control their extremists, stop terrorism, and recognize Israel as part of the deal, he said.

But a lack of leadership on both sides makes a deal politically difficult, he said.

While world leaders don't care about the Palestinians, the world public does care, and their anger fuels terrorism, he said."The Arab masses are angry with their leaders." A two state solution would help tamp down that anger, he said.

"We're not talking about equity and justice" for the Palestinians, he said. "What has happened to the Palestinians is one of the great crimes of modern times," but a deal would "be better than the present situation" of occupation.

Why doesn't the Israel lobby move toward a two state solution? He had no answer, except to say "Jews don't think strategically," and typically hope the future will take care of itself.

He and his co-author wrote the book to stimulate discussion in the US, and it has done that, he said.

The Jewish Federation of Peoria supplied a handout with criticism of the book and links to websites.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Politicians beware!

PEORIA -- Several hundred people gathered in front of the Peoria County Courthouse on June 18 to protest proposed state cutbacks to child care services.

The heat was intense and the sound system didn't work, but that didn't matter to the crowd,mostly young families, especially women with children.

They carried handmade signs and showed up at 6 p.m., usually the family dinner hour. They appeared despite a lack of publicity in the mainstream media, which didn't bother to use news releases about the event.

Nevertheless, the Peoria Journal Star did a strong story on the rally.

These are folks who rarely if ever turn out for a political rally. Now they've awakened. Now they're politicized. Politicians beware.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Rally for children on June 18

PEORIA --Had enough of Illinois government wrangles over money? Worried that vital programs are being cut? Then hit the streets.

Advocates for child care are sponsoring a public rally at 6 p.m. on Thurs. June 18 outdoors at the Peoria County Courthouse at Jefferson and Main, to protest cuts to the state’s child care budget and to encourage adoption of a state budget that is fair to children and families.

Drastic cuts in services to children will occur unless state officials act.

If people in Iran can risk their lives trying to oust a terrible leader, people in central Illinois can take a half-hour from their day to show support for programs that are vital to children and their low income parents.

Be there!

-- Elaine Hopkins

LWV goes after new concealed carry law, campaign finance reform, etc.

EAST PEORIA -- The Illinois League of Women Voters is calling upon Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a little-noticed blow to gun control which recently passed the Illinois General Assembly. The measure expands concealed carry of weapons in the state, allowing someone to carry them into a person’s home and elsewhere.

The League at its state convention at the Par-a-Dice Hotel on June 14 called upon Quinn to veto HB 182, which revises current Illinois law “to allow a person to carry or possess a firearm on the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an ‘invitee’ with that person’s permission.”

The law does not say how permission would be granted, does not say whether the invitee would be required to disclose the firearm, does not allow law enforcement the “discretion” to determine “who is fit to carry concealed weapons,” and does not define “invitee,” the resolution states.

“Under current Illinois law, customers of businesses and restaurants, spectators at sporting events, job applicants, and babysitters are all invitees,” it says.

“Law enforcement would no longer be able to charge a threatening or suspicious person who is armed with unlawful possession if they are an ‘invitee,’ “ it says.

The vote was not close – all ‘ayes.’

The League has long standing policies supporting gun control and against concealed carry of weapons.

This measure, which has received no publicity, obviously is a trap aimed at Quinn, who likely will incur the wrath of the National Rifle Association if he vetoes it, making it harder for him to be elected governor in 2010.

League members debated the measure only briefly, to say “it’s important that we draw the line,” adding the League does not fear “the wrath of the NRA.”

The League offers “voices of quiet reason,” a speaker said.

Passage of the resolution is especially important in Peoria, a League member told the convention, as the city’s mayor is pushing for concealed carry of weapons in response to a recent crime spree, and the Journal Star newspaper has published op-ed pieces supporting the mayor.

The League also passed a resolution to support an increase in the Illinois income tax and “broadening the sales tax to include nonessential services.”

That drew my comment to the convention questioning whether small businesses, such as hairdressers and dog walkers, should be burdened with collecting and paying this tax to the state. But it passed anyway as part of the package in the resolution.

The third resolution, passing unanimously, dealt with campaign finance reform in Illinois.

Legislation recently passed by the General Assembly is badly flawed and puts even more power into the hands of party leaders.

While the recently enacted law sets annual campaign spending limits, they are higher than limits on federal candidates, and there is no limit on contributions of goods and services or on contributions from parties or other candidates.

The annual limit instead of a limit based on election cycles gives incumbents more time to raise funds than challengers and puts candidates in contested primaries at a disadvantage. The bill also lacks clear definitions.

It does not take effect until Jan. 2011, after the 2010 General Election.

The resolution calls on the General Assembly to lower the finance limits to the federal level, limit transfers and in-kind contributions from parties and other candidates, apply limits to election cycles rather than calendar years and limit the number of political committees a public official can create.

Will the officials in Springfield listen to the League?

Or should these genteel women get more aggressive and stage a sit-in or a hunger strike? Why not? Nothing else has worked to curb abuses in Springfield.

-- Elaine Hopkins

They shoot dogs, don't they!

PEORIA -- If you’re a dog lover in Peoria, beware. Police are likely to shoot your dog.

Below the radar screen of public notice, Peoria police have shot and killed at least two dogs as the officers sought to arrest people in households where the dogs lived, even though the dogs were said to be beloved pets and not vicious. Their crime apparently was barking as police entered the house.

The most recent incident, on May 21, has outraged the landlord of the residence at 2715 W. Latrobe. “I’ve been there with the dog. It was a friendly dog,” said landlord Dave Crum, who owns Diamondback Equipment.

Crum is so angry that he plans to move his expanding business out of Peoria. “I don’t want to live in a city like this, and I’m moving my business,” he said.

His company makes equipment to recover and recycle CFCs, a gas used in air conditioners and fire extinguishers, he said, and has international sales which are doubling every quarter.

He said the police used “storm trooper tactics” when they kicked in the door, shot the dog, then ransacked the house, doing more than $1,000 in damage to it.

“They ripped the place apart,” he said. They even tore open a plaster ceiling, though there was no access to it, he said.

Police killed the dog out of anger, Crum said. His calls to city officials including council member Eric Turner, to complain, have not been returned, he said.

According to the police report on the incident, police suspected that cocaine was being sold from the residence and obtained a search warrant. Then they noticed the tenant, Matthew Panus, 50, in a vehicle, and stopped him on suspicion that he had a suspended license.

Panus agreed to accompany them to the house, but when he fumbled with his keys, police rammed the door open. The dog “charged at” an officer who shot it, police wrote in reports.

Police said the dog was known to be vicious, was barking and showed its teeth. The wounded dog ran outside and later was found bleeding and was “destroyed” by animal control officers.

Cocaine and drug equipment were in the house, police said.

Panus, also known as John Panus, was indicted last week for possession of between 15 and 100 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of between 15 and 100 grams of cocaine, according to the Journal Star. He was released after posting bond.

Crum said the police report “doesn’t make sense.” Neighbors told him police got mad, kicked in the door and shot the dog, he said.

He added that Panus and his wife said Panus was handcuffed when police took him back to the house. "The tenant was handcuffed at the time they said he was fumbling for his keys which police already had," Crum said.

This appears to be standard operating procedure for Peoria police, who in 2006 shot a dog as they entered a house in Peoria late at night supposedly in pursuit of a resident there.

The dog owner, a woman who was not under any suspicion by police, said when the dog barked, police shot it. “They illegally entered my home,” the woman said.

She asked not to be identified, and was afraid to file complaints against the police because at the time she could not afford vehicle insurance. She feared she would be harassed by police, stopped, arrested and fined if she complained, she said.

The dog was at first injured by the shooting, but police refused to allow her to take it for treatment, then it died, she said. She told about this incident as she tearfully thumbed through a thick photo album of the dog from puppy-hood to maturity.

She and another person were arrested and jailed overnight for obstructing police when they protested not being able to take the dog for treatment, but no charges were ever filed against them, she said.

In both of these incidents, police reports were not released to the media with other reports, but did become available after Freedom of Information requests were filed.

Why would police hold back these reports of dogs they shot and killed? And how many other Peoria pets have been shot, but the shootings never revealed publicly?

When police refuse to reveal all reports to the reporters who routinely cover the police department, the public is kept in the dark about what is really going on.

Police also lose public support when secrecy and strong arm tactics occur.

But a 2006 study at Rowan University found that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, street officers have felt empowered. They have became more aggressive, and abandoned community policing tactics.

The 9/11 attacks “helped reinforce the traditional control elements of the military model of police organization, “ a researcher found.

"I hope people will open their eyes and see what kind of force is being used and supported by this city. We the people need to stand up and stand together against the abuse by out-of-control officials that work for us," Crum said.

-- Elaine Hopkins

COMMENT, June 17, 2009: The main theme in this story is: A cocaine dealer was living in a rental house on the S. side with a dog. I live on the E bluff. I swear that landlords look for renters with the qualification "must have pit bull." They did find coke!
I am too disturbed by the military attitude of the police but I am more disturbed by the proliferation of slum landlords. Notice the landlord did not apoligize for bringing another coke dealer into the neighborhood.
Dog poop contributes to children's asthma and to proliferation of rats.
When I worked with mandated men they would always draw attention to some periphrial issue like the police stopped me for B.S. Oh but I did have a bag of weed in the car and no insurance, but it was still B.S.
it is simply what is known as a con or not taking responsibility for one's actions.

-- Burt Raabe

My response; The landlord said he did not know the man, who is 50, was dealing drugs. He does not support that. But he felt police were out of line to shoot the dog, and it appears to be standard operating procedure. But there's more.

Here's a link to a Journal Star story about how Peoria police tazed a disabled and autistic man with an IQ of 17 in a home for the disabled. Now their being sued. An internal investigation found them blameless, according to the story.

Controversial speaker on Israel lobby

PEORIA --At last: a provocative speaker in Peoria, presented by the Peoria Area World Affairs Council.

John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, co-author with Stephen Walt of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, speaks at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 18 at Barrack's Cater Inn, 1224 W. Pioneer Parkway, Peoria.

The title of his talk: The Israel Lobby.

Here's what the Council says about him: "The relations that the United States enjoys with Israel are one of the cornerstones of US policies in the Middle East. The US has vowed to support and protect the right of Israel to exist and act as a regional power. However, on-going discussions of the peace process and creation of the Palestinian state have led to additional discussions of the motivating factors behind US relations with Israel. This presentation will look at one perspective of those discussions"

That's a bit watered down. As anyone who follows politics knows, the Israel lobby in the US will defeat any politician who challenges their view of what the US stance toward Israel should be. Ask former Illinois Congressman Paul Findley about that!

Anyway, the event looks promising. Reception and book-signing begin at 5:30 pm
Dinner is served at 6:00 p.m. Presentation begins at 7:00 p.m.

The dinner is $30 and $35, but entrance at the door for the 7 p.m. talk only is $10, a better deal for many. An advance ticket is $5 but a $2 'convenience fee' is tacked on. For only $3 more, you can wait until the last minute to decide whether to attend.

Information and registration can be found at this site: http://www.pawac.org/framework904f.html?page=programs.