PeoriaStory

Environmental activism

PEORIA, IL -- Check out this news release-- and the activism the group is organizing:

Throughout its half century of operations, the E.D. Edwards plant has stored large amounts of coal ash dangerously close to the Illinois River.

 

The accumulated toxic coal ash, containing toxins like arsenic, mercury, lead, currently sits in an 89-acre, 32-foot deep unlined pond near the plant and has caused documented groundwater contamination around the site. This legacy of pollution has left the Illinois River “impaired” for mercury, leading the state of Illinois to post fish consumption warnings.

 

Join the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance as we bring this issue to the attention of our elected officials in Peoria City and County. We'll be attending the "State of the City" and "State of the County" events to pass out flyers about the issue of coal ash contamination. We will then follow up by attending the City Council and County Board meetings, and testifying about coal ash and asking for the bodies to pass resolutions in support of strengthening coal ash rules.

 

Here is our tactical plan for Feb:  RSVP HERE

 

February 4th: Peoria "State of the City" Address - leafletting 

11am - Peoria Civic Center, Meet at corner of Fulton and Madison

This is a $75 a plate lunch sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce (of which Dynegy is a member). We're going to hand out flyers outside of the event about the issues with coal ash, that ask for our electeds to weigh in at the IPCB. Wear your CIHCA shirts and I'll bring stickers.

We have already confirmed that FOX31 is going to come get footage of us here and wants to do a longer follow up piece about SO2/Coal Ash/Dynegy's lack of commitment to the community.

 

Feb 10 - CIHCA monthly planning meeting at 7pm at UU Church of Peoria - 3000 W. Richwoods

 

February 10th: Peoria City Council - 5 attendees and testimony, ask for coal ash resolution - we'll decide who should go to this, and the rest of us will meet at the UU church for our monthly meeting

 

February 11th: Peoria State of the County Address - leafletting

7am - Coyote Creek Golf Club - 8201 W. Lancaster Rd, Bartonville

This happens to be in Bartonville this year, which is perfect. This is open to the public, so we will be there in T-shirts and handing out flyers inside the event.

 

February 12th: Peoria County Board Meeting @ 6pm @ Chillicothe Library - 15 attendees, testimony, ask for coal ash resolution

 

RSVP for these events here - And please spread this link to help recruit your friends and organizations that you are a part of.

 

As Illinois is currently considering an IEPA proposed regulation on coal ash handling, residents living in near coal ash pits have asked the state to require the removal of coal ash from failing pits to high and dry landfills, allow for the assessment and prevention of damage to rivers and lakes, and provide more opportunity for public input. They are also urging a requirement that power companies provide financial assurances so that taxpayers aren’t left paying the bill for coal ash disaster clean-up.

 

In case you missed it last night: watch this 60 Minutes special about the 2014 Dan River spill of coal ash.

 

We also sent our second round of postcards last night to over 90 elected officials/community leaders in the area. So far two people have reached out to set up 1-1s with us to discuss more about the plant (Senator Darin LaHood and Peoria City Councilman Chuck Weaver - both R's).

 

We hope to see you soon!

 

Like CIHCA on Facebook here.

 

--

Kady McFadden

Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign

630-747-0915 (c)

312-251-1680 X195 (o)

 

 

The basketball game, the referee, the charter school

PEORIA, IL -- Public comments at the Peoria District 150 School Board meeting ranged from criticism to praise concerning what's been taking place lately.

Here is a recording of the comments.

D150 Jan 26

 

 

The board heard a presentation on the new contract with the charter school Quest. To its credit, the Quest board is ditching the Turkish management company, and planning to run it with staff to be hired. 

Bob Gates, a volunteer head of the Peoria Area Chamber of Cocmmerce led a delegation to support Quest, saying it gives parents a choice. A parent also praised Quest.

A District 150 staff member praised the now notorious $10,000 student trip to the Bradley basketball game, saying it was "a once in a lifetime experiece" for some students.

Brenda Wilson, who is running for a seat on the board in the April election, said the trip should have been funded differently (it came from the district's education fund), and added the only way it came to public attention was through Freedom of Information Act filings.

Sharon Crews, who filed the FOIAs that revealed the costs, said the $4,500 in tickets was never voted on by the board, though it was over the limit that required a vote. Her written report will be posted below later.

Terry Knapp described the now notorious incident at a student basketball game involving Supt. Grenita Lathan, who fired a long time referee because he turned his back on her and didnt listen to her comments.  He later said he didn't recognize her.

The superintendent is alleged to have told him: "don't you turn your back on me. I'm the superintendent," Knapp said.

Afterward board president Debbie Wolfmeyer said "others at the game...had a different version of the events."

She also defended the Bradley basketball game trip, saying "we send students to many events," from the symphony to hockey games. "This is nothing new."

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 Here is the comment from Sharon Crews:

Again about the November Bradley game, I admit it’s overkill, but I couldn’t resist the urge to write a FOIA request to find out, by name, the employees and board members who sat in special seats away from the students and how much the tickets cost and who paid for them.

I was amused to learn that my request was too burdensome for the usual five-day response time.  I believe that the request was burdensome only because the powers-that-be did not want me to receive any more data about this event—at least, until after this board meeting.

I must admit my own surprise that the initial report caught the attention of a Peoria Journal Star reporter, the editor, and a columnist.  I wish the PJS, especially the sports writers, had caught wind of the ref. vs superintendent controversy at the Harrison vs Mark Bills game, and the attack on the ref by parents at the Von Steuben vs Calvin Coolidge game.  Quan Chaney is yet another victim of “my way or the highway” leadership.

I continue to have questions about the way District 150 spending is not reported to the public or voted on in public.  The November 20 receipt states that District 150 paid $4500 to Bradley for 900 tickets.  $4500 does fit the category of Purchase Orders over $2500, right? 

Yet the Bradley tickets did not appear in the minutes for the November 23 or December 15 meetings.  Why has this expenditure and, in fact, the event itself never been approved?  I am quite convinced that if Terry and I had not sought information (and received unsolicited info) and reported the data, few would have known about the event and only those on Wisconsin Avenue would have known about the $10,000 price tag. 

Neither James Rainer nor the Balanced Literacy Program is mentioned on the 2013-14 Statement of Affairs, yet the program was paid over $100,000.  Again, if we had not requested and reported this data few, if any, would know that the District has sunk over $300,000 into a program that couldn’t keep Harrison and Roosevelt from being the two lowest performing primary schools in Illinois.  When will transparency begin?

Prior to this year, the Statement of Affairs was headed with this statement, “This listing must be published in the local newspaper.”  If that is a requirement, when was it published in the PJS?

By the way, someone please explain why James Rainer was almost totally ignored and spoke only during the public comment time.  That was strange, to say the least. - 30 -

-- Sharon Crews

 

Citizen action works: Canton mine stopped

 Here's a news release: 

Citizens Win Eight-Year Battle to Stop Coal Strip Mine: Local Water Resources Saved Upstream of Public Water Supply Lake

IDNR Stream Protection Errors Exposed

CANTON, Il. – The court case contesting the North Canton coal strip mine permit was officially ended January 16th, winning an eight-year battle by citizens of Fulton County to protect Canton Lake and its watershed that supplies drinking water to over 20,000 residents.

Capital Resources Development Company LLC, an affiliate of Springfield Coal Company LLC, asked to terminate its Permit No. 385 before citizens reached a full court hearing where they had challenged the mine and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) regarding errors in the permit approval.

“For the residents of Canton and Orion townships this is wonderful news for our water supply and for our land,” said Brenda Dilts, Leader of the Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues, Canton Lake and Its Watershed (CACEI). “We did not want an arm of Springfield Coal, the company that had racked up over 600 water permit violations at the Industry Mine, discharging polluted water into our public water supply lake. The strip mine would destroy much of the natural drainage and be harmful to the environment, the watershed and to the people in the community."

In February 2013, Sierra Club and members of CACEI won a state administrative level permit appeal in part and saved a major stream corridor proposed for strip mining about one mile upstream of Canton Lake. Sierra Club and a member of CACEI then filed in Fulton County Circuit Court in an effort to protect the five other streams in the strip mine permit. Most of the streams feed into the main tributary of Canton Lake, a public drinking water supply source.

During the permit challenge brought by the citizens, IDNR admitted on the witness stand, and the Department’s Hearing Officer found, that IDNR had an unwritten policy to ignore a part of its own regulatory definition of “intermittent stream,” thereby circumventing greater stream protections in the permit approval process.

"My farm and home would have been directly across from this mine if it had proceeded," said Joe Cooper, member of CACEI. "I am so grateful to CACEI, Sierra Club, and all the local Canton people who helped raise alarms about how this could ruin our lake watershed. The state mine permit should never have been approved for this mine. The state mining agency simply was not doing its job to enforce the laws on the books. We proved that.”

“Planning a coal strip mine in the watershed that feeds the drinking water lake that supplies water to over half the population of Fulton County was never a good idea," said Dr. Cindy Skrukrud, Clean Water Advocate for the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. "It took years of community pressure and legal action for this coal company to realize that. We’re looking to the IDNR to make the institutional changes necessary to protect the integrity of vital water resources like Canton Lake in its permitting decisions, in line with the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act."

Citizens raised funds to hire an attorney and an expert hydro-geologist through bake sales, garage sales, and a wide range of fund-raisers over the years. Springfield Coal Company owns other mines and also makes revenue back-hauling coal ash from power plants for dumping at old mines.

“The significance of Springfield Coal Company’s permit withdrawal cannot be overstated. This coal company - with sites all over the state and all kinds of coal reserves - was defeated by the dedication, caring and hard work of local citizens,“ said Joyce Blumenshine, Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club Chair.

”Our attorney, David Wentworth, with the Hasselberg Grebe Snodgrass Urban Wentworth firm in Peoria, had a tremendous case to stop this mine. We fought hard in the community and in court to protect the lake and streams. The fact the mine decided to give up on the eve of our court hearing says a lot.”
###

Sound off on recycling

PEORIA, IL -- Tracy Fox writes:

Next week is an opportunity for citizens to weigh in on the Peoria County Resource Management Plan. I served on the task force that came up with the plan.

The plan outlines a 20-year vision for developing comprehensive recycling opportunities for residents, businesses and industries. It establishes a framework for expanding the scope of recycling, securing future trash/recycling hauling contracts, making long-term landfill management decisions and more. With community input, this plan can really make a difference.

Visit http://www.peoriacounty.org/recycle/resource-management-plan-update/ to review a copy of the plan and notes from the two years of task force meetings that preceded the plan.

Peoria County Resource Management Plan

Addressing recycling, landfill management and more.

Public Comment Sessions

    Tuesday, January 20, 2015 6pm - ICC North Campus, Arbor Hall Auditorium, 5407 N University, Peoria

     Wednesday, January 21, 2015 10am - Peoria Public Library Downtown Branch, 107 NE Monroe St, Peoria

     Wednesday, January 21, 2015 3pm - Dunlap Public Library, 302 North 1st St, Dunlap

Public comments can also be submitted to [email protected]  or mailed to:  Peoria County Sustainability & Resource Conservation Office, 3116 N Dries Lane, Suite 200, Peoria IL  61604. Articles and other references can be included in support of comments.  Comments must be received by 5pm, Monday, February 2, 2015 to be considered.

Hope you will find time to speak up for recycling in our community,

Tracy Fox
309-369-5331

1/17/15:  After some thought, here's my comment on the recycling planning, emailed to the feedback option:

Hello -- Here's my take on recycling in the city of Peoria, where I live, which could be expanded to all municipalities:

1. The recycling bins should be free.  The fee discourages many low income people from recycling, a bad lesson for their children, as well.

2.  Pickup should be twice monthly.  My bin fills up within 2-3 weeks, faster than the regular trash bin, and I have a large bin for both.

3.  A way should be found for those not living in single family homes or duplexes to recycle --require large
bins?

4.  The city and county should lobby for a statewide bottle/can recycling fee, such as other Midwestern states have.  If enacted, municipal recycling could concentrate on mostly paper, and a source of liter would be removed from the streets.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

District 150 School Board responds to critics

PEORIA, IL -- in an unusual move, the Peoria District 150 School Board responded to its critics, at the January 12 meeting.

During the public comments, Sevino Sierra began by complaining about a $4,290 expense to send two board members to the National School Board Conference.

Board member Linda Butler later responded that the conference is "an investment in leadership."

She and board member Martha Ross are going to the event -- an irony since Ross, the longest serving board member, has been repeatedly turned down for board president.  Maybe this conference will change her appeal to the other board members. 

Sharon Crews, whose written report will be posted below later, said the district spent $10,204 to send 541 students to the Bradley University basketball game when the team played Supt. Grenita Lathan's alma mater. Lathan sat in better seats than the students, she noted.

Lathan did not directly address the basketball boondoggle, but said trips help students in college readiness.

Terry Knapp noted that the human resources report showed 50 substitutes have resigned, and he knew some who will not substitute in District 150.

Lathan later said the list included some retirees who initially indicated they would substitute but did not do so, therefore "we're closing the files on some substitutes who are retirees. We're cleaning up the books," she said.   

Knapp noted that of 900 basketball tickets purchased, only 600 - 700 were used, so money was wasted.  He also asked about core courses that students must take to qualify for college scholarships.

Lathan later responded that students meet with counselors and know their status.

Knapp also noted that the board has never discussed Quest, and especially its annual student trip to Turkey,whose prime minister last week said women should only be in the home. "This is one of the most dangerous places in the world," he said. "I'm concerned about it" as a student destination.

No board member mentioned Quest, the charter school directed by a company controlled by a Turkish national, that has placed Turkish teachers in the school. Its contract with District 150 is up for renewal.

Peoria Federation of Teachers Jeff Atkins-Dutro said the union is compiling a list of outside programs to determine which work. "There are so many there's no time to teach," he said.

"Not a single teacher's job should be lost" (because) of an outside, for profit program, he said.

Again, no comment from the board on this hot potato.

Then in a surprise, one of the expensive outside consultants, James Rainer, spoke to the board, telling them that the district is "a beacon of light" in its decision to "teach all children," because "all children can learn."

That slogan has been around for decades in District 150. 

"I will do whatever I can do to reach every child," he said, without saying how that would be done.

Butler thanked him for speaking.

Here is a recording of the comments and board responses. 

 

D150 Jan 12

 -- Elaine Hopkins 

Here is the comment of Sharon Crews:

In November, Bradley played basketball against Dr. Lathan’s alma mater. Taking students to the game was touted as an opportunity to motivate students to attend college, but the hint of a personal agenda taints so many decisions.

 Playing basketball, not watching games, is a strong motive for going to college, especially among those who see no other options.   They need to be offered additional options.  Sports motivate students to go to college but they don’t enhance college readiness.  You are putting the cart before the horse. 

 After I sent my FOIA request, Copeland e-mailed principals, telling them that a FOIA request had been received, so “unfortunately, as fun as our event was yesterday, we now have some additional work to request of you.” Thus, I was blamed for the data-gathering effort.  I guess you didn’t have to know that only 541, instead of 700, students attended the event, and only 86 of the 200 adults.  Bradley was paid $4500 for 900 tickets, but 273 tickets were not used.  New information indicates that Dr. Lathan and friends sat in better seats.  Why distance yourself from the students you want to influence and who paid for those tickets?

That event depleted the Education Fund of $10,204.

$3,245 was spent on 22 buses. 

 Five hundred forty-three shirts and ink to decorate the shirts were ordered at a total cost of $2,458.  Most ridiculous was the $55 shipping charge from Texas for the $119 worth of ink.

 Overspending and under planning seem to be two of Lathan’s greatest weaknesses.  One email called attention to the fact that parents were not given much advance notice of this event. 

A budget doesn’t mean much to Dr. Lathan, who seems to know that you will allow her to spend money on any of her many whims.

On a personal note, I had no intentions, encouragements, or motivations to go to college.  Two years after graduation I decided to go to college.  I was quite surprised to learn that I was college ready.  I never took any college prep courses, yet I was college ready because for twelve years I did all that was required of me just because it was required and later in hopes that someday I could get a job. There is no doubt I would have been more ready if I had taken higher level courses, but District 150’s secretarial track served me well and gave me job skills that paid my way to college.  Please concentrate on making kids ready for the next grade—college  motivation will follow. -30 -

 

 

 

Heartline Orchestra does jazz

WASHINGTON, IL --The Heartland Festival Orchestra's New Year's Greeting Concert, on Jan. 10 at Five Points Washington was the perfect antidote to this week's depressing frigid weather and terrorist news.

In the most creative and unusual concert yet, the orchestra played mostly big band jazz renditions of show tunes from the Great American Songbook, accompanied by two amazing talents who sang, danced and even acted, Joan Hess and Kirby Ward.

They were fabulous, and garnered several standing ovations. Ward even tap danced, briefly played a ukulele, and did Gene Kelly's version of Singing in the Rain with umbrella. 

Hess was can't-take-your-eyes-off-her georgeous, with different lovely  gowns for every song, and also a skilled dancer.

Both are top talents with Broadway and film credits.

The orchestra, which usually plays classical music, showed its jazz side, with horn and drum solos getting instant applause.

The theme of the concert/show was 'Dancing and Romancing, Vienna, Broadway, Hollywood.'  The Overture to the Beautiful Galathea by Franz von Suppe and the Thunder and Lightening Polka by Johann Strauss, Jr. were its nod to Vienna. 

In a surprise not on the program it also played Frozen from the film, a piece that's almost classical in style.

It was quite a show -- lively and fun.

 -- Elaine Hopkins