PeoriaStory

Correcting Corrections on April 7

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Greater Peoria League of Women Voters Program on

‘Correcting Corrections’

 John Baldwin, the new Director of Corrections for the State of Illinois, will speak on "Correcting Corrections in Illinois" at the April 7 dinner meeting of the League of Women Voters.

The event begins with a social hour at 5 pm with dinner at 6 pm on April 7 in the Waterhouse Ballroom in the Maxam Building, 316 SW Washington, Peoria.  (Free and ample parking is available.)

With a $1.3 billion Operating budget, seriously over capacity prisons, and the governor's goal of a 25% reduction in prison population by 2025, Director Baldwin and the State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform are looking at many solutions. LWVIL as part of the Justice Coalition for Safety and Fairness wants included: awarding credits for time served; post-sentencing reviews; restoring judicial discretion regarding firearms; raising the age of criminal responsibility to 21. Some of the solutions may address mental health issues, skill training while imprisoned, and alternatives to incarceration.

While lowering State costs, these will increase the need for local services and funding. How will local services be fairly reimbursed?

Baldwin will speak at 7 pm. There will be a raffle drawing at 8pm.

The event costs $50, with reservations are due by March 31. Checks should be made out to LWVIL EDUCATION FUND, and mailed to League of Women Voters Greater Peoria, 623 W Stratford Drive, Peoria, Il 61614.  PayPal is available on the website:  www.lwvgp.org.

The League is a non-partisan, issues oriented, volunteer, member-directed organization committed to open, responsive and effective government brought about by informed, involved citizens with membership open to both men and women in Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. For more information, go to www.lwvgp.org.

Inquires may be directed to Cheryl Budzinski, at 309-253-9594 or [email protected]

Being a writer is hard

Macomb, IL -- Writing is hard, and takes discipline and commitment, author Edwidge Danticat told a Western Illinois University audience on March 24.

She's a nationally known author with many awards.  She is a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; her book Breath, Eyes, Memory was an Oprah Book Club selection; she was an American Book Award winner and a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.  She has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and elsewhere. She lives in Miami.

Danticat read passages from her book Claire of the Sea Light, a New York Times notable book.  But the real meat of her talk came when she was asked about the process of writing.

She uses some real people and places, with the names changed she said, only to be told by hometown people, "you lie!" because of the changes. 

She became a writer because in her childhood in Haiti she listened to stories from a grandmother when the electricity failed, she said. "I love stories." 

Asked what she does when writer's bloc hits, she responded that she reads, to get inspiration. "I'm a great reader. When you read you are looking for a window and a mirror."

She added, "sometimes you need to live with a story."

Reading means discovering others like yourself, she said. "It's life affirming."

She also challenges herself by writing in different genres. She's writing a non fiction book now, she said, after several successful novels.

The hardest part of being a writer is writing, she said. It means sitting down consistently, and having "the discipline required to be a writer.  It's a huge commitment to sit down and do a novel." 

It can take 10 years, she said, then it's out there and nobody responds.

But she can't "exist without...writing," she said.

A Haitian immigrant, she also talked about the difference in how Cuban and Haitian immigrants and refugees are treated in the U.S. 

Immigration is now trans-national, she said. "I can't wait to read the novel about Syrian immigration."

Sixty million people are now on the move, she said. "They are human beings who have dreams for better futures for their children.  These stories are important for people who want to access them."

Here's a notable quotation from one of her books: "I come from a place where breath, eyes and memory are one, a place from which you carry your past like the hair on your head. Where women return to their children as butterflies or as tears in the eyes of the statues that their daughters pray to."

  Here's her website with a good photo and information about her books:
    http://knopfdoubleday.com/author/6387/edwidge-danticat/

Here is a recording of her talk. But alas, the venue, the third floor auditorium in Sherman Hall, had bad acoustics with echoes so it is not a high quality recording.

Download Danicat

  -- Elaine Hopkins

Monitor the lawyer bills, Knapp says

Peoria, IL -- The Peoria District 150 School Board and its superintendent are not generating the criticism that the previous board and superintendent received.

But perhaps the honeymoon is over. Board critic Terry Knapp, during the public comments at the March 21 board meeting, called attention to high legal bills.

Knapp asked the board why is was not questioning the legal expenses in the budget, and pointed out that the district spent $1 million last year on lawyers.

The lawyers "will advise you to keep going because you are filling their pockets," he said.

Now the board does not need to pay lawyers to negotiate union contracts because the newly elected board member, Dan Walther, has experience in union negotiations, he said.

"Please get these lawyer fees under control and discuss it," he asked.

Here's a recording of the public comments.

Download D150 March 21 2016

Here's one of the Peoria Journal Star stories on the meeting.

And here's the second story.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Fighting the CAFO hog farm

From a news release:

Fulton County Concerned Citizens Discover More Errors in Flawed

Livestock Permit for Proposed Factory Farm Near Lewistown

New findings show permit for planned swine operation violates existing setback distance
requirements from City of Lewistown
 

 
LEWISTOWN, IL––MARCH 22, 2016––The citizens group Fulton County Concerned Citizens (FCCC) has issued a renewed demand that the construction permit for a new industrial-scale swine operation be revoked permanently. FCCC and its partner organizations Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water (ICCAW) and the national nonprofit Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP) assert that the planned Bear Creek 4 swine confinement project will be sited too close to the existing Milton Loop Trail System recreational area. New information also shows that the massive swine operation will be in violation of the legal setback distance requirements from the nearby City of Lewistown. 
 
"Not only is this livestock factory plan located within our popular Fulton County Loop trail system, a place of common gathering, we just discovered it is located much closer to our community of Lewistown than allowable by Illinois law,” said Cindy Arnett, spokesperson for FCCC. “Our city limit is actually only 2,440 from this industrial swine facility. The livestock facility law states that an operation of this size must be set back a half-mile from a populated area.”
 
The violation was discovered after City of Lewistown officials physically measured the distance.
 
The Bear Creek 4 swine confinement project plan was recently granted an approval for construction by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), despite setback measurement errors that would allow the large-scale operation to be sited too close to the city limits of Lewistown. The Illinois Livestock Management Facilities Act mandates specific buffer zones between large livestock operations and areas such as homes and common places of gathering. FCCC asserts the IDOA-approved measurements are illegal and the group is demanding that the permit be voided. 
 
"We have learned that there are often serious errors like this on the building application. If Illinois residents don't fact check application data, these types of errors can errors go unnoticed,” said FCCC’s Arnett.
 
The group forwarded the setback violation discovery to IDOA, the Governor's Office and local elected officials. 
 
"The citizens of Fulton County are simply requesting that the current livestock law in Illinois be adhered to," said Karen Hudson of SRAP and ICCAW. "It’s a shame people must police the applications and the construction process, and then monitor the pollution that eventually follows when livestock factories are built in Illinois. The IDOA must follow the law. There's no question about it."

Heartland Festival Orchestra: jazz fusion

WASHINGTON, IL -- The Heartland Festival Orchestra's March 19 concert presented an unusual mix of classical and jazz, with the spice of youth. 

The highlight of the event, at Five Points, Washington, was the Claude Boling Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Piano Trio, which featured the Seigfried Trio of Chicago.  

This smooth jazz-classical fusion piece skillfully blends classical and jazz, for an unusual but brilliant combination.  It was beautifully played by the orchestra and trio, and generated a standing ovation and an encore, a jazz piece. 

The concert also blended the Central Illinois Youth Symphony with the orchestra for two pieces, the Mozart Serenata Naturna Divertimento in D Major and Leonard Bernstein's exciting West Side Story Overture.

The musicians from the two groups filled the stage and produced a great, full sound, as they performed flawlessly.

It was an unusual and lovely concert. Clever, creative, amazing.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Sweet Press Conference

PEORIA  HEIGHTS, IL -- From a news release: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   THE KIM GROUP IS HOSTING A “SWEET” PRESS CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, MARCH 14TH, 2016 AT 9:00 AM   PEORIA, IL (03/10/2016) – (Katie Arnholt-Kim, CCIM), (CEO, The Kim Group, LTD with Keller Williams Premier Realty, Peoria, IL), is hosting a “sweet” press conference on Monday, March 14th @ 9:00 AM at 4416 N. Prospect Road; Peoria Heights, IL to announce the start of construction for Trefzger’s Development.  In the event of inclement weather the press conference will be held in the former Grayboy Motorsports building located at 4414 N. Prospect Road; Peoria Heights, IL.                  Trefzger’s Development will be the home of Trefzger’s Bakery, which will occupy 12,000 SF with an enhanced retail experience with a viewing area of Trefzger’s Cake Decorating area.  The Development will also be home to the Trailside Event Center and Leaves ‘n Beans Commissary and have 4,400 SF of available commercial space.  The Trailside Event Center will have a capacity for 250 people for hosting special events.  The Development will also feature an outdoor seating area off the Rock Island Trail.                    In 1856, Simon Trefzger made the trip from Germany to the U.S., settling first in Cincinnati, Ohio and then moving to Peoria in 1861 in search of a better life in a land full of hope and opportunity.  Once there, he opened a bakery on Fulton Street, between Washington and Adams Streets.  America was a country at war with itself at the time and Simon’s small bakery helped to provide bread for the troops who were stationed in the area, which is now Glen Oak Park.  In the 1870s, the bakery moved to a brick building at the corner of Main & Monroe Streets, where Marriott Courtyard hotel is currently located.  In the early 1950s, the bakery moved from its downtown location to its location on North Prospect.  Throughout the years, the bakery passed through four generations of Trefzgers.  In 1993, it was time for ‘Joe” and Tom Trefzger to retire and ownership was passed to the first non-Trefzger owner, Jeff Huebner, who continues to run the bakery today with his wife Martha and a staff of dedicated employees.  Now, Trefzger’s Bakery is poised and ready to move into a larger and more customer-friendly space, in a building that is almost as old as the bakery itself, having been built in 1895 as a bicycle manufacturing facility.                   The Kim Group is a minority owned and operated company founded in 2004.  Over the years, The Kim Group has successfully completed a broad range of multi-use developments including commercial, industrial, health care, retail and recreational projects.  It is our mission to provide each and every client, no matter how large or small, with the highest quality product and service, within budget and time requirements, and to accomplish this result through a true team effort.  The Kim Group’s CEO, Katie Arnholt Kim oversees daily operations and serves a vital role with our development services, real estate, construction management, property management, and investment management services.  In 2014, Katie became the first and only woman in Central Illinois to obtain the coveted Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation.  Katie embodies the company's mission statement “Coming together, working together, succeeding together.  THE KIM GROUP WILL HAVE A PHOTO ALBUM FOR THE PROJECT ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE AND WILL BE POSTING PICTURES THROUGHOUT CONSTRUCTION.  LIKE US ON FACEBOOK TO STAY UP TO DATE ON THE PROJECT.

Betty Friedan event

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

The Betty Friedan Hometown Tribute Committee will present a portrait of Betty Friedan painted by the late Bill Hardin to Peoria Public Library on Tuesday, March 15 during the Board of Trustees meeting at 5:00 p.m. at Peoria Public Library Main Library in the Board Room on Lower Level Two.

The portrait will be on permanent display at Peoria Public Library Main Library. Friedan wrote the book The Feminine Mystique in 1963, which is generally credited with igniting the Second Wave of feminism in the United States and then beyond to the world.  She co-founded the National Organization of Women (NOW). 

She grew up Bettye Goldstein, living in a house her jeweler parents built at 1011 Farmington Rd, just north of Main St, in Peoria. She graduated from Peoria High School in 1938, going on to Smith College. Friedan went on to fight for women's rights in a time when, for example, job ads were sorted by male and female. 

Diane  F. Brown, member of the Betty Friedan Hometown Tribute Committee said, “Some now view her as controversial, but we see a Peorian who dared to make a difference.  We honor her positive world impact and endeavor to educate current residents in her hometown -- look who grew up here!” 

The group chose to ask the library to display the portrait as Friedan was an author who also wrote The Fountain of Age, and. Beyond Gender. Brown said, “It seems to us that this activist author's portrait belongs with her hometown's books at Peoria Public Library."

Since the death of Friedan nearly 10 years ago, the Friedan Tribute has organized a number of events and remembrances:

*A website funded by the Community Foundation, now in the Bradley University domain:www.bradley.edu/bettyfriedantribute/

*The 60th anniversary celebration of the Feminine Mystique, attended by over 200, in February 2013

*Assisted with curation of the Peoria Riverfront Museum, a Friedan display to parallel the art exhibit: Illinois Women Artists 1940-1960. -30-

Stripped down opera in Peoria: performance good, venue questionable

PEORIA, IL -- After years without opera in Peoria, a stripped down version of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte was performed with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra on March 12.

The performers were wonderful, and pulled off an amazing feat considering the lack of a stage. They all had fabulous voices, and acted and sang in Italian, from memory and apparently without microphones.

But the venue, Grace Presbyterian Church,  on Illinois Rt. 91, was questionable.  The lack of a stage forced the singers to move back and fourth in a tiny space in front of the orchestra, and sometimes sit on the edge of the stage or on stairs leading to the stage, which was not really a stage in the traditional sense.

Behind the 'stage' was an empty choir loft.  It was used at times by a small chorus, which sang, inexplicably, in English. So the visuals were weak, except for the performers.  

The building was constructed recently, but designed as a church not a concert hall.  The sight lines on the main floor are not really adequate for a theatrical performance, leading to much craning of necks in the audience. The best seats are in the balcony.

The best thing about this  space is the technology, with two large screens used to present supertitles, and even brief plot summaries. The acoustics also are good.

Then, alas, there's the parking lot, so badly designed with only one exit that it takes way too long to leave - 10 or even 15 minutes.

So why was the symphony relegated to this venue?

The Peoria Civic Center is awash in basketball fans for March Madness tournaments, so parking downtown is reportedly unavailable. 

But what about Five Points in Washington, IL where the Heartland Festival Orchestra plays?  Or what about changing the date so it doesn't conflict with basketball? The decision-makers should consider these options if they attempt another opera.

And the stripped down version of this opera leaves much to be desired. Part of the fun of opera is the spectacle: the settings and costumes.  But these were missing in this version. The music was wonderful, of course, but it wasn't quite enough to make a first rate entertainment. Still, the standing ovation for the performers was well deserved.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Democrats have big day in Peoria

Peoria, IL -- Friday, March 11 was a 'huge' day for Peoria Democrats, who saw candidates and their supporters hold strong rallies.

The biggest news was former president Bill Clinton, who spoke to an overflow crowd at a union hall.  I tried to attend, and arrived an hour before he was supposed to speak but the crowd was already so large that parking spaces were limited, so I gave up and left. I didn't feel like standing for hours, even if I could find a parking place.

However the Peoria Journal Star's coverage was strong on Clinton's appearance.  See these links, with photos from the Peoria Democratic Facebook site.

(Alas it's Facebook, the world's most exploitive website, which makes you sign up to see other people's sites, so Facebook then can pester you endlessly. Evil. Not like this blog site host, Typepad, which is open and log-in free for viewers.)

Earlier in the day Cong. Tammy Duckworth campaigned at the union hall with 17th District Cong. Cheri Bustos, also a good event.  The hall was filled, but there were enough seats at tables for people to sit down. 

Duckworth is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, against the incumbent Republican Mark Kirk. But first she must win in the Democratic primary, which is Tuesday, March 15.  Her opponents are lawyer Andrea Zopp and Illinois Sen. Napoleon Harris. Both are good candidates, but I prefer Duckworth.

Strangely the Journal Star endorsed Zopp, saying Duckworth has not been in central Illinois. That was refuted by Bustos, who said "she came to our district and she knows this area."  In fact in the military she flew planes from the Peoria airport.

I speculate the newspaper meant she didn't show up for the required interview with the editorial board. But I don't know and it doesn't really matter.

Duckworth is the endorsed candidate of the Democratic establishment in Illinois, and after listening to her speech I understand why.  She has a very compelling life history, which influences her views today.

When she was a teenager, her father lost his job and she ended up working at age 16 to support her family on a $3.10 minimum wage.  Her family lost their home and had to live in a motel, she said.

Foodstamps and free school lunches saved her in high school, and scholarships sent her to college, she said.  So she understands the problems many people face.

After college she joined the military, became a pilot, and lost both legs in combat in a crash. That hasn't slowed her down. She just had a baby girl at age 45, she said.

Here is a recording of her speech, and Bustos' introduction and speech.

Download Duckworth and Bustos

"I stand with labor," Duckworth told the audience. "You are not Kirk's priority" which is big business" and "folks like (Illinois Gov. Bruce) Rauner." 

He's the Republican governor whose anti-union ideology is wrecking the state's public universities and public services. He's refusing to negotiate a budget until the Democrats in the General Assembly let him end collective bargaining for state employees. They are standing firm.

Bustos also criticized Rauner, saying "let's hope (he) will sit down and talk." 

She attacked Republican candidate Donald Trump, saying "can you believe what's going on?  Now he's going after the media, verbally and physically.  It's unbelievable."

Duckworth is in one of the top national races for the U.S. Senate, and if she wins the primary, as predicted, she will face "a flood of money" with "negative advertising" attacking her, Bustos said. "She's in a fight and stands for the right things."

"A home, an education, a secure retirement, these are slipping away, being traded away," Duckworth said of national issues.

Kirk voted against Pell grants (for college,) she said, and voted for other anti-family and worker proposals. "He's putting large corporations over the well being of families," Duckworth said. 

"I thank labor for putting a roof over my head," she said, citing labor's work over the years for a minimum wage, weekends and other pro-family achievements.

Now "labor is under assault" she said.  "We're in a fight. We need your help."

The next president likely could replace three U.S. Supreme Court justices, who are in their 80s, she said, so the presidential election is very important.

She didn't mention Hillary Clinton, but the Illinois Democratic establishment is backing her, likely for reasons outlined in Bill Clinton's speech as reported in the Journal Star.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

Hike Rocky Glen

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Friends of Rocky Glen

News Release – March 9, 2016

Friends of Rocky Glen is pleased to announce the resumption of free monthly hikes through the Glen beginning March 12, 2016. 

Hikers should dress for the weather and expect to be on a moderately difficult trail. All hikes begin at 10:00 a.m., with departure and return to Jimmy’s Bar, 2801 Farmington Road, West Peoria by noon. Hikes were suspended in October of 2015. Additional hikes are scheduled for April 9, May 7, June 18, July 2, August 13, September 10, October 8, November 5 and December 3.

Rocky Glen is a 125 acre natural area in West Peoria, located adjacent to Kickapoo Creek Road. It is owned by the Peoria Park District but currently has no public parking. Consequently it is closed to the public. The Friends of Rocky Glen (FORG), and the Peoria Park District (PPD), have an operating agreement to allow FORG to lead guided tours. FORG is fundraising to assist the PPD in developing public access to the park, which is one of the contractual obligations the PPD accepted when they acquired the park in 2013.

FORG memberships and merchandise will be available at all monthly hikes, fundraisers and at the Global Village store, 1308 E Seiberling Avenue in Peoria Heights. FORG is a federal non-profit 501(c)3 composed entirely of volunteers.

Since its founding in October 2010, FORG has raised over $35,000 to support Rocky Glen. In the past two years FORG partnered with Forest Park Foundation in a very successful matching grant program.

This year FORG is excited to announce a matching grant program with the Mike and Derek Rucker family. FORG also works with the Caterpillar Foundation to accept donations and matching funds from Caterpillar employees and retirees. 

We are thankful and proud of these partnerships which have accelerated fundraising efforts for a parking lot, trails and signage that will someday make Rocky Glen completely accessible to the public.

FORG will host a Spring Plant sale on April 30, from 9:00 a.m. – noon, at Haddad’s West Peoria Market, 2407 W. Rohmann Ave, West Peoria.  Additional fundraisers are being planned throughout the year including yoga sessions, a Fall hike and fundraiser at Jimmy’s Bar and an Art Auction at Sky Harbor Steakhouse.  

Friends of Rocky Glen also sponsors Adopt-A-Highway along a two mile stretch of Kickapoo Creek Road.  Our 2016 clean-up dates are:  Saturday, April 30, 12:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 11, 12:30 p.m.; Friday, August 19, 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 8, 9:00 a.m.

For more information, contact President David Pittman at [email protected], 309-573-2354 or visit the FORG website www.friendsofrockyglen.org or our Facebook page facebook.com/FriendsOfRockyGlen