PeoriaStory

Anti-gun rally on Sunday

PEORIA, IL --  From a news release:

A coalition of the following groups: Students Demand Action Peoria Area, Moms Demand Action Peoria Area, Peoria Community Against Violence, Indivisible Peoria Area, the Peoria Healthcare Coalition, and Conversations on the Fringe (the original host of this event), are planning a protest on  Sunday afternoon March 4 from 1 pm to 3 pm at 100 NE Monroe, Peoria.  That's at the Federal Building.

 

Students, parents, families affected by violence, faith leaders, and numerous violence prevention advocates will speak out and call for increased gun safety measures.

 

Respectfully, 

The Team for Common Sense Gun Safety Measures

 

--

more information: Katie Jones

[email protected]

Failing grades -- the implications

PEORIA, IL --A thorough report into the failing grade statistics at Peoria High School last fall was presented to the Peoria School District 150 board at its Feb. 26 meeting.

The report was done not by district officials, but by activist Sharon Crews during the public comments.  A copy of her report can be found below.

She questioned whether credit recovery programs can remedy the failures, and said summer school is the real answer to help failing students.

A proposal to eliminate letter grades won’t work, she said.  That would deceive the students, their parents and their employers as to their knowledge, she said.

Cell phone usage is also rampant in the high schools without any proposals on how to control it, she said.

Activist Terry Knapp questioned why the administration has not researched the outcomes of the preschool program at Valeska Hinton to see whether it results in increased high school graduation.  It’s 25 years old. 

But he also noted that influential people, including doctors, lawyers and professors have been able to get their preschoolers into the free program, in the name of diversity.  So that research may not prove whether low income children are helped.

Knapp also criticized the report on Quest, the charter school, given to the board at the meeting two weeks ago.  The CEO is a former Edison official. Edison took $17 million from Peoria, he said. “They bilked this community.”

Then Edison collapsed, but its founder, Chris Whittle, disappeared in Europe with millions, Knapp said.

Crews’s report also shows that year round school won’t work, Knapp said.  It’s failed in 10 other states.

A Pekin resident then spoke to the board, saying his friends daughter who attends Richwoods High School has received a death threat from a fellow student. The mom reported it to a school board member who said call again if it happens again, he said.  By then the girl “could be dead,” he said.

He left before I could ask him if he had called the police.

Here is a recording of the comments.

Download D150 Feb. 26

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

• From Sharon Crews: I have given you 13 pages, listing the 1,080 F’s received by 446 of Peoria High’s 1,246 students for 1^st Semester. The other list is for the same grades, showing the number of failures in each of 94 courses. There are no passing grades listed on any of these pages.

  These are the same students who either created the chaos or were victims of the chaos that I reported to you in January. These F’s prove how discipline problems keep students from learning.

  One hundred ninety three students received one F, 106 got 2 F’s, 70 got 3 F’s, 41 got 4 F’s, 15 got 5 F’s, 20 got 6 F’s, 14 got 7 F’s, and 1 got 8 F’s.

  Recently, you were asked to consider giving only passing grades—no F’s. If that policy had been in place, what grade would replace all these F’s? Eliminating F’s would certainly eliminate the need and expense of offering repeat courses. Certainly, the graduation rate would improve.

  But what good does eliminating F’s do for students? They will get diplomas and transcripts that will deceive employers and colleges for a while unless they have entrance exams. Most of all, the students themselves and their parents will be deceived. These students can be given passing grades, but you can’t give them the knowledge and/or skills they didn’t acquire.

  One hundred eight-one students failed English (54 failed English I). Fifty failed Algebra I and 29 failed Math. Seventy failed geometry. Forty-three failed biology. Thirty-eight failed physical science. Forty-three failed both World History and World Geography. Most of these are required courses that must be made up or they are needed for students to have the required number of hours for graduation. Obviously, many of these students came to Peoria High unprepared to succeed academically—learning undoubtedly hampered by discipline problems.

  What are the chances that the same number of students will fail 2^nd Semester classes? Undoubtedly, the current 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders still have not retaken all their failed courses. Do any of you believe that the district’s credit recovery program can give these students enough time to make up these courses during the regular school day?

  I have often marveled that students who struggle with English are asked to take two English classes during the same semester. Almost 200 students failing just English at just Peoria High should convince all of you that summer school is an absolute necessity.

  Please consider this data before you say “yes” to year-round school. Year-round school will eliminate any chance of reinstating summer school. Motivated, successful students will continue to pass all the courses they take. Students who are more apt to fail will get further and further behind with no opportunity to catch up. Summer school would give a significant number of these students a chance to catch up.

  I believe the new Peoria Options Program will help some of these juniors and seniors to graduate—but many upper classmen and many 9th and 10th graders will still need to make up courses.

• In the article about the POP program Dr. Kherat’s quote stated that what’s happening now is not working and we’re trying to figure out how kids learn today and how they learn best. You aren’t ever going to know if any methods are working until the discipline situation is under control.

• Also, cell phone usage is rampant in our schools and there are no effective efforts to curb it. I am sure you all know that even though texting and game playing don’t create noise, young people with phones in hand don’t hear a word anyone is saying. Even in classrooms with few discipline problems, cell phones might be a tremendous roadblock to learning. Please consider this data before deciding to eliminate Fs or saying “yes” to year-round school. - 30 -
  

Pollution, Animal Cruelty, Exploitation: Activists Speak

PEORIA, IL -- Activists told of fighting to save rural areas from air and water pollution, animal cruelty, and financial exploitation -- the new colonization --  at a lively event on Feb. 24.  It was the annual meeting of Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water, joined by the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project whose regional associate, Karen Hudson, led the meeting.

The star of the event was agriculture expert and professor John Ikerd, whose fiery talk on 'Economic Colonization and the Hidden Threat of CAFOs,' (confined animal feeding operations) was reminiscent of Bernie Sanders at his best.

Ikerd reminded the audience of about 50 people that in the 1950s and 1960s, rural areas were prosperous, "considered good places to live."  Now they are comparable to inner cities, he said, with "hopelessness, depression and dread." 

What happened?  He blamed corporate agriculture moving into rural areas to establish factory farms and CAFOS, making nearby residential areas unlivable, and factory farms polluting the land with chemicals. "The (wealth)  benefits go outside the communities," he said, a situation that is increasingly occurring in Peoria, as well.

With their wealth the corporate owners "offer local officials special deals," to turn a blind eye to what's going on.  "This is economic colonization," he said."Family farms are replaced by hen-house juntas."

He continued, "the business of America has been the plundering of rural America."

CAFOs present a risk to public health and the environment, as well as public welfare, he said, including the problem of antibiotic resistance because of antibiotic uses on CAFOs. "The scientific studies are too strong to ignore."

Industrial agriculture is not necessary to feed the public, he said. "We (the people) can close it down if we want to." In fact, "the market economy will never feed the people," because some will be too poor to buy the food.

"We need community food systems," he said, based on sustainable practices.

Meanwhile, industrial agriculture is trying to build a legal paywall to stop the public, he said, through laws that restrict public access to information.

There's a risk that vast areas of the US could become "agriculture sacrifice zones," he said, where industrial agriculture "can do whatever it wants." These will become "toxic zones"  and ultimately be abandoned.

He said he's hopeful that activists like those in the audience will stop the colonization.   But today "most people in rural America don't understand, or they would be taking action."

(I thought of the rural voters who hoped Trump would help them, which of course he will not. It was a con job.)

Ikerd named five core values that people throughout the world agree on: honesty, fairness, compassion, respect and responsibility.  CAFOs violate all of these, he said.

But "we have the power to protect ourselves from economic colonization," he said.

Here's a recording of his talk.

Download Ikerd Feb 24 18

Other speakers told of their battles with CAFOs in Schuyler, Fulton, Henry, Jo Davies and other counties.  In some places, CAFO owners controlled the township and county boards and ignored rules to allow CAFOs to build and operate. Yet increasingly in some counties, activists are running for these offices and winning. 

Stopping CAFOs means organizing, speaking out, filing lawsuits, and doing anything else to discourage CAFOs, and even force them shut down from pollution. Document everything with photos and water tests of wells and streams, they said.

State officials have a mixed record on enforcing the weak laws against CAFOs, they said. Activists want stronger laws.

Illinois has some of the weakest laws in the Midwest, the group heard. 

Il. Sen. Dave Koehler told the group that Sen. Kwame Raoul, a candidate for Illinois Attorney General, is sponsoring legislation to reverse a court ruling that denied standing to citizens groups to sue state agencies who don't enforce the rules.

Koehler, who now heads the Il. Senate Agriculture Committee is sponsoring legislation requiring CAFOs to be listed in a data base.No one even knows how many there are, and they can expand without notice.

"Farming is about health, not wealth," Koehler said.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Flipping the 18th, Etc.

PEORIA, IL -- Here is a news release on a candidate forum for the 18th Congressional District. Can one of these candidates flip it by ousting Darin LaHood?  He's not scheduled to be at this event. 

His opponent is Rients, in the Republican primary, with the other three running in the Democratic primary. Here's the release:

League of Women Voters Candidate Forum at Chillicothe Public Library Thur., March 8 at 6 pm

The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and Chillicothe Public Library is sponsoring a candidate forum for the 18^th Congressional race on March 20 Primary Election ballots. 

The event takes place at 6 pm on Thursday, March 8, at Chillicothe Public Library, 430 N. Bradley Ave., Chillicothe.

Candidates expected to attend include Donald Rients, Brian Deters, Junius Rodriguez, and Darrel Miller.

The event is free, and the public is invited to come meet the candidates and submit questions to the moderator.

Chillicothe Public Library has two deputy registrars on staff to help Illinois residents with voter registration. February 20 is the last day to register in person, for those wishing to vote in the March 20 election. Online registration is available through March 4, and grace period registration is available at the Election Commissioners Office or at early voting sites through March 19. The library will also be hosting early voting for the General Primary Election on March 16 and 17.

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 -

 

If you don’t live in the 18^th District, here’s another forum at the same time and date:

 Peoria NAACP political forum

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 8

Peplow Pavilion, Bradley University

With local auditor candidates and candidates for attorney general and governor. - 30 -

 

The Post presents 'The Post' free

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release -- this is a great film that deserves the Oscar. (It's showing on Feb. 25.)

The Post sponsoring The Post in free screening

            ELMWOOD – When The Weekly Post sponsors the first 100 patrons’ free admission to Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. matinee showing of The Post at the Palace Theater on Main Street here, the Oscar-nominated drama starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep will help celebrate the community newspaper’s fifth anniversary.

The Weekly Post’s first issue came out on Feb. 21, 2013, and initially served every Post Office recipient in Brimfield, Edwards, Elmwood, Kickapoo, Williamsfield and Yates City. Since expanding to Princeville and Farmington, it’s almost doubled its circulation to about 9,000 copies each Thursday.

“While national issues like those covered in The Post are more glamorous to report on, the bottom line in the newspaper business remains providing people information they want to read,” said Weekly Post editor Jeff Lampe. “And it has been our experience in the past five years of our new venture that people still enjoying reading local news. Thank goodness, or we would be out of business.”

 The Post features Hanks as 1971 Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and Streep as publisher Kay Graham. They grapple with getting some 7,000 pages of government secrets about the Vietnam War – showing that five administrations (of both political parties) had lied.

Although timely at a moment when “fake news” accusations seem to threaten First Amendment rights, The Post also may offer a renewed appreciation for journalism.

“Have I mentioned that we also sponsor an annual Big Tomato Contest?” Lampe added. - 30 -

Environmental Meeting

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Factory Farm Experts & Nationally Recognized Whistleblower Highlight ICCAW Annual Meeting

 February 24th event brings together state and national factory farm experts; highlights the latest legislative developments affecting industrial ag operations in Illinois

WHAT:        The annual meeting of Illinois Citizens for Clean Air & Water (ICCAW) brings together factory farm experts and Illinois leadership seeking a healthy change for all Illinoisan. Topics include new information on concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) inventory mapping, contract farming and current legislative initiatives. Sponsored by Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP).

                                                                                                                                                                   

WHEN:        Saturday, February 24, 2018 | Open to media 11:45am - 3:00pm CT

WHERE:      Kickapoo Creek Winery | 6605 N. Smith Rd, Edwards, IL 61528

WHO:          Dr. John Ikerd | Author | Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri | Nationally recognized CAFO speaker

                      Craig Watts | North Carolina farmer | Former Perdue contract grower | Contractor for SRAP

                      Patty Lovera | Assistant Director, Food & Water Justice – Food & Water Watch  

                      Danielle Diamond | Attorney & Executive Director, SRAP

                      Karen Hudson | Illinois farmer | Co-founder, ICCAW |Regional Associate, SRAP     

Illinois deserves change now. Illinois has been singled out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the state’s inadequate factory farm pollution regulations. Thousands of confinement operations – countless environmental violations – force surrounding neighbors to live with polluted water, nauseating odors, public health risks and reduced property values. In a state where the actual total of CAFOs is not even known by the Illinois EPA, fundamental changes to the state’s laws are necessary and long overdue. The time is right to ask our legislature to step up and fix Illinois failed policies.

ICCAW’s Annual Meeting is sponsored by Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP), a nonprofit organization working in communities across the nation impacted by factory farms.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Hudson | ICCAW | SRAP

[email protected]

309-208-8846

 

Laura Ingles Wilder

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Author and Exhibit Explore Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder

               Peoria Public Library North Branch will welcome Laura Ingalls Wilder historian Caroline Fraser for a program about her new book Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder on Thursday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m.

        The North Branch of the library is off Allen Road behind Menards.

Fraser’s book uses historical records to fill in the gaps in Wilder’s biography to reveal the truth behind the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical novels.  The talk will explore the relationship between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane.  An author herself, Rose encouraged and influenced her mother’s writing, while her own works were of a wildly different nature.  Rose’s most famous work was probably Let the Hurricane Roar, but she is also known for writing controversial and fraudulent biographies of famous people. 

Copies of Prairie Fires will be available for sale and signing, with proceeds benefiting the Friends of Peoria Public Library.

The North Branch will also host a display from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri from February 5 to 28.  This panel display contains photographs and information relating to Mrs. Wilder, her famous “Little House” books and America’s westward expansion. 

The beloved author of the Little House on the Prairie series was born in Pepin, Wisconsin on February 7, 1867, and became famous for the fictionalized account of her family’s role in settling the West.

-30-

Quest: the bad and the good?

PEORIA, IL -- The Peoria public charter school Quest was criticized and praised at the Peoria District 150 School Board meeting on Feb. 12.

Officials from Quest were in the audience as critic Terry Knapp pilloried Quest, as he has done before, during the public comment section of the meeting.  A recording of his remarks will be posted here soon.

Download D150 Feb 12 18

Knapp said Woodruff High School was closed in 2010 so that Quest could open.  Backed by former Caterpillar Inc. CEO Glen Barton, Quest was supposed to work with low income children, mostly African American, to teach them science, math and engineering classes to make them high school and college ready.

Barton's talk was compelling, but like his other bright idea, the River Trail Apartments that would destroy Riverfront Park, by giving this public park to an out of town developer backed with subsidies from the city of Peoria, Quest hasn't quite worked out as planned.

Its high school has graduating classes of about 40 students. "A STEM curriculum? I don't see how this is possible," Knapp said. It has teacher shortages, many teachers without teacher training, and other issues. Its CEO has just resigned to work in District 150 next year. 

Barton died last year, and the proposed apartments in Riverfront Park have not yet been built and are opposed by the public. They would be adjacent to two polluting chemical plants and a rail line, and sit over a toxic dump that the city pledged to clean up at unknown cost.

Quest seems to be failing, as most of its students want a more robust high school experience than Quest can offer.

The Journal Star article on the meeting noted that there's no agreement on vital statistics on the school and its achievements or lack of them.

Knapp wants the Peoria School Board to drop its support of Quest and close the school. 

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

 

Water and Recycling Events

PEORIA, IL --On Saturday, Feb. 10, two meetings will provide opportunities for activists to make a difference.  

At 9:15 am at the Peoria Public Library, 107 NE Monroe, the City Council will hold a special policy session on the garbage and recycling contract. 

The council will consider these questions:

1. Whether to keep the current bulky items pick-up service the same or modify.

2. Whether to keep recycling pick-ups monthly or go to every-other -week.

3. Whether to keep the current seasonal yard waste schedule or allow the city to be flexible.

4. The current fee structure for the next four years will not align with extension of existing contract or new services if the city selects sole vendor.

5. Whether to keep a single vendor for all services or negotiate using two or more vendors.

 

Public comments are required at all public meetings, so you can speak your mind or contact council members individually.

 

Then there's the Water Company Buyout Volunteer Kick-Off 

This will involve gearing up to convince the city council to do due diligence on the purchase of the water company. There will be an overview of the issue with some discussion. Then there will be opportunities to take action. This is an excellent easy way to get involved.

Saturday, February 10 at 3:00 pm
The Fieldhouse Bar & Grill
1200 W Main St, Peoria

---

New Discussion Series

PEORIA, IL --  From a news release:

Tonight: Peoria Speaks Discussions Launched at Peoria Public Library

On Thursday, February 8 at 6:00 p.m., Peoria Speaks will hold a discussion  centering on Human Trafficking. Human trafficking has 24.9 million victims globally who are trapped in modern day slavery. There were 202 cases of human trafficking in Illinois in 2016.  What is Human Trafficking and is it happening in Peoria?  Carol Merna, Executive Director at the Center for Prevention of Abuse, will explain the types and indications of human trafficking and describe some human trafficking victims’ stories   After her presentation attendees will discuss what participants can do about human trafficking, the second largest crime in the world.

Peoria Speaks is a new monthly community discussion program meeting on the second Thursday of each month at North Branch at 6:00 p.m., which will focus on topics of interest to Peorians.  Funding for Peoria Speaks is being provided by Illinois Humanities through their Illinois Speaks program.  Illinois Speaks is a small group discussion program founded in November 2015 aimed at strengthening the democratic process through community dialogues across the state of Illinois.

 Discussion topics differ from month to month and across regions and are often related to current events, questions and issues arising in a community.  At each of the Peoria Speaks monthly discussions, a community “expert” will provide a 10 to 15 minute overview of the topic and then the group will further discuss the topic.

On Thursday, March 8 at 6:00 p.m. the discussion will center on Crime and Policing in Peoria. Last fall, the Peoria Police Department, along  with the University of Illinois at Chicago, conducted a survey regarding crime and policing in Peoria.  The survey would be used to improve policing and develop strategies to reduce violent crime in Peoria.  Kathleen Kelly, Management Analyst with the Peoria Police Department, will provide us with information about the survey and the results.  After her presentation, we will discuss whether the survey results match the participants’ responses to the survey questions and make suggestions on improving police-community relations in Peoria.

“Illinois Humanities (IH) is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.  Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, IH, our partnering organization or our funders.”

-30-