PeoriaStory

Coming soon

PEORIA -- From a news release:  The Peoria Area World Affairs Council's September program is  “Fluid Diplomacy: How Oil and Water Resources Don’t Mix with Middle East Politics.” 

Presented by Ambassador Mark Johnson, this event will be held on the campus of BRADLEY UNIVERSITY on Thursday, September 15, 7:30 p.m.

Amb. Johnson has served and traveled in the Middle East extensively.  His perspective on how the US should pursue her interests in the region will be an ideal opportunity to discuss what is happening there now, and in the future.  You can find the registration form on the PAWAC website or register online at http://artstix.artspartners.net/ordertickets.asp?p=360&backurl=default.asp.

Johnson is Vice Chair, U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy and
Professor, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, University of Montana.

Having served as US Ambassador to Senegal and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in Cairo, Egypt working on the Middle East peace process, Ambassador Johnson has developed a keen insight into the dynamics of the peace process in the region. Looking at the role that key resources play in shaping that process will lend itself to a provocative discussion. Join us as we explore the role of oil and water resources on the peace process and on US interests in the region.

Thursday, September 15, 2011
Bradley University Student Center Ballroom

Reception begins at 5:30 p.m.
Dinner will be served at 6:15 p.m.
Presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m.
(Note: Parking is open on campus after 7 pm. If attending dinner, please park in the Visitor Lot.)

Please RSVP by Monday, September 12, for the early bird special.

In addition, PAWAC needs volunteers for the WorldFest celebration at the Peoria Civic Center on Saturday, September 10, 10 am – 4:00 pm.  This is a free event and a great deal of fun to learn about all the ethnic entities in the Peoria area.  

Update 9/1/11:  Here's a very interesting article from Foreign Policy magazine on the big picture of international events. It explains a lot.

Update 9/6/11: Here's another interesting speaker, and free:

Bradley University will host CNN national security analyst and journalist Peter Bergen on Thursday for a discussion about recent political activity in the Middle East.

Bergen’s 7:30 p.m. lecture will be held in the Michel Student Center ballroom and is free and open to the public.

Illini Bluff teachers invite all to show support

UPDATE 9/1/11:  Voluntary random drug testing except for new hires, when it's mandatory.  This sucks!  See PJS Story.

UPDATE 9/3/11:  Here's an excellent editorial from the PJS.

 

PEORIA -- The Illini Bluff teachers, striking over a demand from the school board that they submit to random drug tests, have invited the public to support them before another negotiating session on Sunday, Aug. 28.

People should try to arrive by 2 p.m. at the school, 9611 S. Hanna City-Glasford Road.

According to MapQuest, from Glasford turn north on E. Main, then west on Hanna City-Glasford Road. 

From Peoria, Glasford is west of Illinois Rt. 24, the road to Kingston Mines and Canton. 

Here are links to stories and an editorial in the Peoria Journal Star. 

Teachers, board to meet.

A principle worthy of a picket line.

Also see other story, below.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

CUB to Ameren: No!

PEORIA -- The Citizens Utility Board says that Ameren doesn't need the $90 million rate hike it's now seeking from the Illinois Commerce Commission.

CUB's communication director Patrick Deignan, and CUB board member from the 18th Congressional District Randy Fritz spoke at an Aug. 25 news conference at Friendship House about the proposed rate increase.

They were joined by Mary Patton, a volunteer for the AARP, who said the elderly in Illinois are already paying 14 percent of their household income for utilities, and cannot afford to pay more.

CUB received a $41 million increase last year, and tried to get automatic rate increases turned into law by the Illinois General Assembly, she said, adding Gov. Pat Quinn has promised to veto the bill, so Ameren is seeking the rate increase instead.

Deignan urged citizens to contact the ICC to comment on the rate proposal and sign a petition against it. The website StopAmeren.com  will direct people on ways to do this.

Deignan said the rate increase proposal is based on inflated costs and an investor return of 11 percent, excessive in today's low yields. "The company is healthy. It doesn't deserve more."

Fritz said the company should be returning $2 million to its customers. "If you're going to speak up, speak up now," he said. 

A public hearing is scheduled next week in Springfield, and the ICC is expected to reach a decision in January.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Recycling and the municipal landfill

PEORIA -- Here are events worth attending:

Community prosperity through reuse and recycling will be the focus of a talk by Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, August 28, at the Forest Park Nature Center, 5809 Forest Park Drive, Peoria Heights.

Seldman will talk about what Peoria can do to make recycling pay.

Neil Seldman is a founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and has worked with dozens of communities to build recycling into economic development. He will talk about how Peoria can turn trash into jobs.

The program is sponsored by Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste, Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club and the Peoria Area Global Warming Sollutions Group. 

On Tuesday or Wednesday, August 30 or 31, Seldman will be speaking as an expert witness at the Peoria County Landfill Siting Hearing.

Mr. Seldman will testify to the benefits of a smaller landfill regarding the proposed expansion of the Peoria City/County Municipal Landfill. 

The siting hearing begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 29, at the Grand Hotel, 4400 N. Brandywine Drive, Peoria, across from Northwoods Mall.

Public Comments on the landfill expansion will be held on Wednesday, August 31st, beginning at 6 p.m. 

 

Clean Water Act threatened

PEORIA -- Here's a frightening list of measures the GOP wants to pass in Congress that threaten clean water in the USA, from the National Clean Water Network.

If you're going to one of Cong,. Aaron Schock's town hall meetings, ask him about how he will vote on these measures.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Illini Bluffs teachers stand up for their civil liberties

GLASFORD, Il. -  Has Wisconsin finally spread to Illinois?

About 300 people gathered on Aug. 23 in an outdoor field at the American Legion Hall in Glasford, south of Peoria, to support striking teachers at the Illini Bluffs School District. 

The strike issue:  the school board's insistence during contact negotiations to subject teachers to random drug testing. 

That's right: random, a search of the body without probable cause, something that violates the US Constitution which forbids unreasonable searches.

The rally attracted teachers, supporters from other unions,  Illinois Federation of Teachers officials, parents and students.

And a smart politician, state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, who is running for Congress in the 17th District. Koehler, who once headed the Peoria Area Labor-Management Council, told the audience that he's backing the teachers. "I'm with you all the way."

The way to have a drug free workplace is to set up a joint teacher-board committee to work on drug issues, he said.

"Random drug testing does not give you an accurate view of what is going on in your building.  If it's a power play to force you to do what you don't want to do, shame on them," he said of the school board.

Tyler Hesh, the president of the teacher union at Illini Bluffs, said, "if you have to stand up for what is right, that's what you have to do."

Marcia Campbell, secretary-treasurer of the IFT, with 103,000 members in Illinois, said "I'm so proud of what you are doing. It's harder to stand up for what you believe in than to give in."

IFT president Dan Montgomery said, "you're cause is just, you will prevail."  No other Illinois school district subjects its teachers to random drug testing, he said. 

A flier was distributed stating that the real issue is the animosity of school board president Dennis Brown against teachers who have complained about his "inappropriate personal relationship" with another district employee.

The relationship has resulted in "financial gain" to the employee, "retaliatory teacher demotions" and "rewarding of (Brown's) supporters with nepotism based jobs."

Random drug testing is retaliation against the teachers, it says. The flier calls on Brown to resign from the board.

"Illini Bluffs parents demand that the 'Peyton Place' environment that has been created by Brown and fostered by his enablers be resolved," it states.

Petitions are being circulated, and one speaker also called for board members who do not agree with Brown to speak up now.

Parents and teachers were ejected from a recent board meeting by police, after the board refused to answer questions from taxpayers, she said.

This is a civil liberties issue, and the teachers are to be commended for standing up for their rights, and the rights of all.

Here's a link to an excellent Peoria Journal Star editorial on the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union has a long history of opposing random drug testing.  See this link on the national ACLU website for a list of cases and lawsuits elsewhere.

 -- Elaine Hopkins 

 

 

Aug. 22: the public comments

PEORIA -- Another Monday, another Peoria District 150 School Board meeting.

Here are the public comments, below, from the meeting, since the board refuses to televise its meetings, and when it last did so edited out the public comments.

Activist Sharon Crews commented that 17 Lincoln Middle School students skipped the eighth grade and were sent to high school for the ninth grade. Fifteen of these were behind their age mates by only one year. She had to appeal to the Illinois Attorney General's office before District 150 officials would release that information. 

See her report below. 

Activist Terry Knapp criticized the revolving door of lawyers for District 150, and especially paying an Arlington Heights firm with local taxpayer money.

He and Crews had to call the Attorney General about five Freedom of Information Act requests, he said. The lawyers apparently advise District 150 to stall, then are paid again when they must respond to the Attorney General, he said. 

"Why not do this in house?" he asked. 

He reported that some new windows at Peoria High School will not open.  He also said the pass through issue discussed by Crews is not new.  It was happening several years ago, and is against district policy on social promotion. He knew of two students who skipped the 8th grade only to fail all their classes in high school since they were not prepared. 

Activist Sevino Sierra complained about the lack of TV coverage of board meetings, and about transportation glitches on the first day of school, a comment echoed by a parent who also appeared before the board.

Teacher union president Bob Darling praised Supt. Grenita Lathan for allowing him to speak at a staff event. He suggested weeds growing at Glen Oak School indicate that a community garden could also grow there. He also called for Trewyn School to be renamed for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In her response to the comments, Lathan said the windows and transportation glitches are being worked out, as are some class size problems. 

A recording of the public comments are posted here.

D150 Aug 22 2011

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 Here are the remarks from Sharon Crews:

Now that the Attorney General’s office gave the District the nudge needed to provide information about Lincoln 7^th graders chosen to skip 8^th grade and go directly to high school, I want to revisit the issue.

 The letter from the District’s lawyer indicates that 17 Lincoln students skipped 8^th grade.   The usual age for 7^th graders is 12-13.  Two of the Lincoln 7^th graders were ages 14-15 while the other 15 were 13-14.  That means that 15 students probably had failed only one grade in their 7 years of school.  In any case, these 15 were only 6 months to a year older than other 7^th graders.

 How many other students in the District are behind just one grade level?   At the last meeting, there was concern around the horseshoe as to fairness in District 150 with regard to suspensions.  I find it a bit ironic that you wouldn’t be concerned about fairness with regard to the Lincoln program.   Do you think that other parents in the District would consider it fair that their students have not been offered the opportunity to skip 8^th grade?  It doesn’t sound fair to me.

My own thinking is that being one grade behind is not that unusual; therefore, these Lincoln students should not have skipped 8^th grade.  Also,  we don’t know if these students were even academically ready for 8^th grade—there is a possibility they could have failed 7^th grade—but now they are in the 9^th grade.  Reading scores tell us that many District students are behind considerably more than their current grade level.  That means that many students have already been passed on without meeting standards for moving on. 

 We do not know how well these 17 Lincoln students did in the work covered during the after school sessions.  Did they pass all the tests and meet all the requirements?    Were there any students in this program that were not allowed to skip 8^th grade?  Of course, I don’t know how much this program cost a cash-strapped District.  I know that teachers were paid to conduct these classes.

 I hope you will make it a high priority to decide if this opportunity will be offered to future 7^th graders.  Was this just a one-time thing or some kind of pilot program?   Why or was this a program allowed exclusively at a school whose principal is from North Carolina?  Have you asked Dr. Lathan any of these questions or would that be considered micromanaging?  Such a program certainly goes against current board policy for social promotion. 

 I hope you will take the initiative to track these 17 Lincoln students to see how they do in the ninth grade.  Check their grades, their 9^th grade NCLB scores,  their discipline records.  That information should give you some data-based information as to whether or not a wise decision was made.

 Now back to the Campus police issue.  At the last board meeting, I stated that the proposed contract would not allow the campus police to use handcuffs.  Dr. Lathan said that handcuffs would be allowed. 

The excerpt from the policy that I provided you certainly states that officers can use physical restriction but “without the aid …of mechanical devices.”  Mechanical devices mean “handcuffs.”  There is a bit of an “if” clause—somewhat garbled with legal sounding language that seems to indicate the possibility of using handcuffs if a student is a threat to himself, herself, or others. 

Of course, most students who fight have already proven they are a threat to others.  However,  I’m not sure that a campus police officer would want to risk making the decision to use banned handcuffs if his/her decision will be judged after the event by those who weren’t at the event.  

I hope you will soon decide which group of students you want to protect—those that engage in fights or the innocent people that could be inadvertently hurt by those who choose to disrupt our schools. 

I assume the decision to avoid handcuffs is borne out of a desire not to embarrass students.  When students engage in violent behaviors, how much should you be worried about their egos for the short length of time it takes the police to remove them safely from the scene? 

The handcuffs might even protect them from themselves and from further harm for which they could be culpable.  In light of all the foreboding events that have taken place on Peoria’s streets this summer, you might want to rule on the side of caution in deciding issues regarding the Campus Police. -30-

UPDATE 8/23/11:  Here's an emailed comment from a teacher: 

It is getting harder to teach each year.  Forty years ago, we had one district administrator, one bookkeeper, and one secretary in our school office.  Now, there is a separate new building, four administrators, and a staff of twelve.   There are 25% fewer students in school now.

We have curriculum mapping, map testing, common core standards, No Child Left Behind, and many others.  And our student learning is diminishing.  Instead of looking at what is wrong with our society, politicians look at and blame teachers, the same teachers that, when they were in school, were just fine. -30-

 

 

Curbing the corporations: organizing now

PEORIA -- At this late date, a time of resource depletion, climate change (aka global warming), and overpopulation (the new three horsemen of the apocalypse), a group of optimists is organizing to save the world by curbing corporate power. Their movement is called Move to Amend.

And how fascinating that an Aug 21 Peoria public meeting to organize against corporate power didn't attract any mainstream (corporate) media coverage, not even NPR (which loves those corporate donations.)

Nevertheless on Aug 22, the leader of the movement, David Cobb, met with a small group interested in organizing in Peoria, to curb that power, and he gave a interview to non-corporate media, including PeoriaStory.com.  It's recorded below.

Cobb wants to pass an amendment to the US Constitution to deprive corporations of legal rights such as the right to give unlimited money to politicians. Good idea.

But the exact wording of the amendment has not yet been finalized, he said. 

He's also favors asking politicians to pledge to support his movement, and stop taking corporate money. And to get corporations to stop giving the money to politicians. 

Lotsa luck.  Still....

In other cities people have voted to strip corporations of their power, in advisory referendums, he said. "Put it on the ballot. It wins," he added. 

Cobb, who was the Green Party's presidental candidate in 2008, said his movement is progressive.  But he will form coalitions with other groups that are anti-racist.  That screens out the Aryan Nation, but not anti-choice or anti-gay groups. (Uh oh.) 

Tea Party groups can join the movement, he said, as some of their grass roots members agree that corporations are too powerful. (But not their leadership, I'll wager, which financed the Tea Party with corporate money.)

Cobb said he wasn't surprized that his Aug. 21 speech was ignored by the corporate media, because they have "highjacked the media in this country."  (So why should they publicize the group that wants to curb their power? )

"A small ruling elite is using our legal system against us. It's time for us to rise up and take it back," he said. Good point.

Regarding the issue of the day, the so-called budget deficit, Cobb said the US has plenty of wealth. "It's incorrect to say there's a budget crisis. There's an allocation crisis. A small group of people is getting it all."  Yes.

He urged anyone interested to visit the Move to Amend website and read it thoroughly. Then join the movement.

Here's a recording of his news conference.

Cobb on Move to Amend

-- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

 

 

 

River Rescue is back, comes out swinging

PEORIA --River Rescue, an ad hoc group founded by legendary environmental activist Tom Edwards, is back, it's work continuing under his daughter Taura Edwards.

She is working to stop island building in Peoria Lake, a cause her dad championed before he died last year. 

Edwards and others she has recruited have scheduled a news conference and meeting for 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Liberty Park Pavilion on the Peoria Riverfront.

From the news release:

 

The environmental group River Rescue will meet, announce its on-line petition drive to stop island building in Peoria Lake, and present vital information about the waste of taxpayer funds on this project.

When:  3 p.m., Sunday,  August 21.

Where:  Liberty Park Pavilion on the Peoria Riverfront.

Learn:  The inside story of this island building boondoggle and how it can be stopped.

 More than 1,000 people have already signed the paper petition.  Now an on-line petition will be announced along with other ways to stop the island building.

 Almost $10 million in taxpayer funds have already been spent building one island north of the McClugage Bridge, at a cost of $1 million per job created. Many more, larger islands are being planned which will turn Peoria Lake into a wooded river barge channel, ruining the lake forever.  Stop it now! 

All members of the news media and all citizens interested in the future of Peoria Lake are invited to attend this event! -30-

Here's a link to the on-line petition.

UPDATE, 8/22/11:  Here's a link to a good Journal Star story on the news conference.

City Museum in St. Louis: Wow!

PEORIA -- When is the last time you or your child swung on a rope?  Crawled through a cave-tunnel? Climbed on a jet plane?

The City Museum in St. Louis, Mo., offers all these activities and much, much more.  It's a must-see event in St. Louis, especially if you have children, or even without them.

With a ferris wheel on its roof, and a school bus and jet plane nearby, you can't miss finding it downtown.

Let's hope the new museum in Peoria, now under construction, is half as much fun, half as interesting.

We took a 9-year-old to the City Museum on a Wednesday, and the place was packed with kids and adults, all having a fabulous time.  We spent the day there. 

There are several restaurants inside, and for the adults, exhibits of historical St. Louis architectural salvage -- lions, gargoyles saved from the demolition of historic buildings, for example, artifacts salvaged from St. Louis, including its privys, collections of insects and stuffed animals, an aquarium.

Our granddaughter swings on a rope.

The museum is privately owned, and there's a stiff entry fee:  a total of $17 for the museum and the roof, an additional fee for the aquarium. That's good: it keeps out the troublemakers. 

It doesn't use tax funds, someone who knows the owner said.  He used local artists to design the many attractions, which keep changing.

The ferris wheel on the roof.

Check out the website, though it doesn't do justice to the museum, and don't miss it the next time you're in St. Louis.

 -- Elaine Hopkins