Monthly Archives: March 2007

Peoria Journal Star

Gunshots? Aw, shucks, them things happen sometimes

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The Journal Star Editorial Board is no longer fazed by violence in the streets of Peoria. It’s so ho-hum, you know. Recently, two cars sped by each other on Wisconsin Avenue — the occupants of one shooting at the other — all the while children at Glen Oak school were outside for recess. The school was on lock-down the rest of the day, and thankfully, no one was hurt.

Normally, shooting in the streets, especially around children, would be occasion for outrage. It would be occasion for the editors of a newspaper to call for greater police protection and for neighborhoods to pull together. But that’s not what the Journal Star’s editors do. No, to them this violence in our streets is nothing more than fodder to snipe at neighbors — neighbors whose children were just put at risk by gunfire — for opposing the school district’s attempt to move Glen Oak School to a corner adjacent to Glen Oak Park.

The petty response here would be to adopt the tactics used by some of those opposed to building a new school adjacent to upper Glen Oak Park and say that this proves what a dangerous neighborhood the current facility is in, that the traffic there really is bad, and that these children deserve a safer environment – perhaps close to a park, where the primary threats come from squirrels dropping acorns from centuries-old oak trees. The more mature, measured, honest stance is to acknowledge that these things happen sometimes, that they can occur anywhere, that no one was hurt and that a singular incident should not be the basis for any long-term decisions.

That’s their response. “These things happen sometimes.” What things? Shooting in the street while children are present. School children being in harm’s way during recess. Car chases with gunfire next to a school. Those things. They happen sometimes. In fact, “they can occur anywhere.” Why, just the other day an executive was chasing a chiropractor through Germantown Hills in his Jaguar while shooting at him, right? Not.

When those parents hear their children were in harm’s way, they don’t think, “oh dear, those things happen sometimes.” They think, “why am I still living here? How can I get out?”

“No one was hurt,” they say. Really? No one? The city isn’t hurt by violence in the streets? The children aren’t hurt by seeing this kind of violence and becoming numb to it? The families aren’t hurt by heartless editorials like this one that berate them for being involved, for fighting for what they feel is best for their neighborhood and their children?

This was the most heartless, mean-spirited editorial I’ve ever seen printed on the pages of the Journal Star. No compassion, just rhetorical gamesmanship. Is this the kind of civil discourse that the Journal Star considers superior to blogs?

AmerenCILCO, Peoria Public Schools

For at-risk students, 0.87 acres will do

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Former SSA Building on Knoxville

UPDATED 3/31/07 10:45 p.m. Added info underlined, deleted items struck.

School District 150 officials met with parents residents on Monday night (3/26) to share information on their plans for the old Social Security Administration building at 2628 N. Knoxville Ave. While some parents residents were taken by surprise, this has been in the works for a couple of years.

District applied for building in 2005

On June 4, 2005, Clare Jellick reported in the Peoria Journal Star, “the Social Security Administration moved out of its Knoxville building in November to a new location in North Peoria. Once a building is vacated, the federal government offers it to the local government for certain uses and groups that serve the homeless, usually for free.” She added later in the article:

In order for the district to get the building for free, it would have to be used for educational purposes. This means it couldn’t be turned into offices.

Interim Superintendent Cindy Fischer hopes to move an alternative education program there so that it can expand.

The Transition to Success Academy, housed in White Middle School [it was later moved to the Manual High School building], provides specialized education and services for students with behavioral problems who aren’t succeeding in school.

This came out just a couple of months after I started blogging, so here’s my initial reaction to that story. Today, I feel the same way. The district’s Master Facilities Plan calls for a reduction in the number of buildings, not an expansion. Why not put these kids in the old Blaine-Sumner building? It’s in a better location and was designed to be a school. Yet the district has turned that building into offices, and they’ve acquired an office building to convert it to a school. As usual, there is no logic.

District acquired building in 2006 with strings attached

On June 24, 2006, the Jellick reported that District 150 had succeeded in “receiving the building for free through a federal program that offers surplus buildings to certain organizations.” Again, the planned purpose for the building was made clear at that time:

The district intends to use the 9,000-square-foot space next school year to house programs and services for at-risk students who aren’t succeeding in school. The building will likely serve kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, said district associate superintendent Cindy Fischer….

The federal government says District 150 must use the building for education purposes for the next 30 years and cannot sell it during that time. Once 30 years pass, the district can do whatever it wants with the building, [U.S. Dept. of Education realty specialist Mary] Huges said.

District meets with parents residents to share plans in 2007

District 150 parent and nearby resident Karen Carter attended Monday’s meeting on the district’s current plans and had this to report:

The plan is to put an alternative school that will host grades 5-8 and possibly even 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders…. They are currently at Manual High School in an unused wing. They currently have 43 students with 8 staff members. In the new facility they will “hopefully” have 100 students with 1-2 staff members per every 10-12 students….

They plan to bus most of the kids in and the bus location is horrible. They have no consideration for traffic and other cars that park on the street. They want the kids to be picked up and dropped off on Gift next to the building and then enter the building on Knoxville. The street is not wide enough to accommodate their plans and everyone is saying so.

Most surprising to me is that the lot is only 300 ft. by 127 ft., or 38,100 ft.², or 0.87 acres. I thought grade schools had to have at least 10 acres, plus one acre for every 100 students. I thought kids had to have green space immediately adjacent to the school building for it to be an adequate learning environment. I thought our kids deserved “the best” and not merely “good enough.” Isn’t that the basis upon which the school board decided to reject all proposals to keep Glen Oak School in its current location? How are kids ever going to be able to observe a bee so they can draw it correctly?

Once again, the school board exhibits bald-faced hypocrisy. For the Glen Oak replacement school, they need 15 acres of green space or we’re practically abusing the students. For the alternative school students — students who are most at-risk — an 0.87-acre site with no green space on one of the busiest arterial roadways in Peoria is perfectly acceptable:

Old SSA Building on Knoxville

It appears from federal regulations that the school district is committed to using this building for educational purposes for 30 years. So while the district has all kinds of money to convert classrooms to offices and offices to classrooms, there’s no money to upgrade classrooms at Glen Oak School. Just more of the same lunacy we’ve come to expect from District 150.

Bradley University, Peoria Journal Star

Did Bradley violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act?

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From my research, it appears that Bradley did not violate Alicia Butler’s privacy by disclosing that she did not receive any degrees at the school. However, Butler is doing the right thing by getting a lawyer anyway. A lawyer will make sure all of Bradley’s t’s were crossed and their i’s dotted.

The U.S. Department of Education has some pretty strict privacy policies on school records. According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA):

A school MAY disclose education records without consent when:

  • The disclosure is to school officials who have been determined to have legitimate educational interests as set forth in the institution’s annual notification of rights to students;
  • The student is seeking or intending to enroll in another school;
  • The disclosure is to state or local educational authorities auditing or enforcing Federal or State supported education programs or enforcing Federal laws which relate to those programs;
  • The disclosure is to the parents of a student who is a dependent for income tax purposes;
  • The disclosure is in connection with determining eligibility, amounts, and terms for financial aid or enforcing the terms and conditions of financial aid;
  • The disclosure is pursuant to a lawfully issued court order or subpoena; or
  • The information disclosed has been appropriately designated as directory information by the school.

The only possible category under which Bradley could have disclosed info about Alicia Butler to the press is the last bullet point, “directory information.” What is that? The FERPA FAQ answers that (emphasis mine):

FERPA defines “directory information” as information contained in the education records of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Typically, “directory information” includes information such as name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and dates of attendance. A school may disclose “directory information” to third parties without consent if it has given public notice of the types of information which it has designated as “directory information,” the parent’s or eligible student’s right to restrict the disclosure of such information, and the period of time within which a parent or eligible student has to notify the school in writing that he or she does not want any or all of those types of information designated as “directory information.” The means of notification could include publication in various sources, including a newsletter, in a local newspaper, or in the student handbook. The school could also include the “directory information” notification as part of the general notification of rights under FERPA. The school does not have to notify a parent or eligible student individually. (34 CFR § 99.37.)

So, Bradley gets to choose what information will be designated “directory information.” And they have. According to Bradley’s website, they consider the following information “directory information,” and thus, able to be disseminated without the consent of the student (emphasis mine):

  • Name and address, including telephone listing, local, permanent, and e-mail.
  • Parent name and address, (for news releases only).
  • Major field of study.
  • Dates of attendence.
  • Class and full-time/part-time status.
  • Approved candidacy for graduation.
  • Degrees and awards received.
  • Most recent institution attended by student.
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports.
  • Weight and height of athletic team members.
  • Birthdate will be validated only when furnished by the person making inquiry, for positive identification of the student.

Students can sign a “Stop of Release” form to prevent this information from being disclosed without their consent, but according to the Journal Star, Butler did not sign one.

Elections, Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Public Schools

Alicia Butler’s credentials questioned

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Alicia ButlerThe Journal Star is accusing Alicia Butler of falsely claiming to have a bachelors and masters degree from Bradley University. Butler has not directly denied it.

Anyone know any more about this issue? I mean, Alicia has been on the school board for a while now. No one thought to check out her credentials before this? How did this come up all of sudden, right before the election?

I can’t quite understand Butler’s response as reported. Whether or not you have a degree is easy enough to prove — all you have to do is get out your diploma. If these allegations turn out to be true, it will be not only professionally, but personally devastating to Butler. I’m not a big Alicia Butler fan, but honestly I hate to see this happen to anyone; I hope the allegations are untrue.

Someone out there knows what’s going on — come on… give!

Update (3/31): Now that I’ve read the full article that ran in Saturday’s paper, I have to say this looks very bad for Alicia. All the other candidates were easily able to provide proof of their college degrees. As one commenter pointed out, this is easy to do. In fact, if anyone questioned my degree from ICC or my wife’s degree from Bradley, I could just go to my filing cabinet and pull out our diplomas — it would take me two minutes, tops. Why does Butler claim “she would not have time to verify the information before the election”? The election is 17 days away.

Worse, Bradley’s registrar (it wasn’t clear to me from the previous article that a Bradley official had actually verified this) has gone on record saying Butler does not have any degrees from Bradley. I’m not sure how Butler could “know” she has a degree from Bradley, yet Bradley could somehow not know.

It’s true, as the paper points out, that there is no educational requirement to be on the school board, so the fact that she doesn’t have these degrees does not disqualify Butler from her current seat or the present race. But her integrity and character are seriously in question now, and that doesn’t set well with voters who are already distrustful of sitting school board members. I think this sinks any chance there might have been of her being reelected.

On the one hand, and I’m assuming these allegations are true based on the testimony of the Bradley registrar and Butler’s inability to prove otherwise, Butler has no one to blame but herself. But on the other hand, I’m still bothered by this statement:

Triggered by allegations against Butler, the Journal Star asked all five District 150 School Board candidates to verify their educational credentials.

Who made the allegations against Butler? Was it another candidate? A sitting school board member? Is this political payback for a decision or vote Butler made? Again, I can’t have much sympathy for someone who lied on her resume, but the source of the allegation is still germane. Who wanted to ruin Butler’s reelection bid and why?

Peoria Public Library

Score one for the old-fashioned way

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MicrofilmI went to the library this evening to look up two Journal Star newspaper articles — one from 2005 and one from 2006. Just to prove I’m not a Luddite, I decided to try one of the library’s computer stations and utilize their free NewsBank service to just e-mail the articles I wanted from the library’s computer to my personal e-mail address. I’ve actually done it before and it was pretty slick.

But obviously, it had been more than a month since I used their computers, because the first question I got was, “Have you gotten on a computer since we put in our new system?”

“Um, I dunno. How new is your ‘system’?”

“About a month.”

“Then, no, I guess not.”

To make a long story short, the “old system” was to have a live library staff person wait on you and assign you to a computer workstation. The “new system” is to train you, the library patron, to do the job the live library staff person used to do for you. There’s one other “new” thing. Instead of a manual reservation, the new system is computerized. So it’s not as easy as just writing your name on a clipboard.

After being duly trained on this library administration software, I was informed that workstation 21 would be available for my use at 7:00. I looked at the clock on the wall, and it was 6:25. I asked to cancel my computer reservation.

Instead, I went over to the microfilm machines where nary a soul was around, pulled out the two microfilm reels I needed, loaded them each, found the articles I wanted, and printed off a copy, all within about five minutes. I was home by 6:40.

Score one for the old-fashioned way.

Uncategorized

Forty-four

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David and me in 1971

Happy birthday to my big brother David who turns 44 today!

Here’s a picture of us spending some quality time together in 1971 for you all to enjoy. I’m guessing my dad put those socks on me, considering they look hideous and don’t match my shirt (just kidding, Dad).

Happy birthday, bro!

Kellar Branch, Sierra Club

Apparently HOI Group Sierra Club is out of the mainstream

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Joyce Blumenshine is the chairwoman of the Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club. She has long been a proponent of removing freight rail access on the Kellar Branch and converting the corridor to a hiking/biking trail. On February 6 of this year, she wrote a letter to the Journal Star again opposing train service on the branch, plus scoffing at the idea of a trolley being run on the line:

The rehash of the mystical trolley line is a bait and switch – another attempt to derail the trail for the benefit of Pioneer Railcorp at great cost to our community….

She signed her letter, “Joyce Blumenshine, Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club.” So, she’s speaking for the Sierra Club.

The funny thing is, if you look at the Sierra Club’s website, you’ll find that Blumenshine is all alone in her criticism of trains and trolleys. The Sierra Club actually likes them. A lot. In fact, they have quite a bit of information on rail transportation, the quality of life and economic development it brings, and its positive effect on the environment.

In their 2004 Report on Sprawl (ironically titled, “Missing the Train”), the Sierra Club said, “Public transportation, particularly rail, spurs ‘transit-oriented development’ that helps create a vibrant environment where people can live, work, shop, and use public transportation with ease” (emphasis mine). Isn’t that interesting? And what’s the effect on the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses?

In the Washington, DC area, the public transportation system (Metro) has generated nearly $15 billion in surrounding private development. Between 1980 and 1990, 40 percent of the region’s retail and office space was built within walking distance of a Metro station.17 This has led to lively corridors with plentiful restaurants, shops, offices and residences in places like Alexandria, Clarendon and Arlington, Virginia; Bethesda and Silver Spring, Maryland; and the heart of Washington, DC.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) notes that demand for these transit-oriented neighborhoods far outpaces the supply, and cites studies showing that 30 percent of housing demand is for such communities while less than 2 percent of new housing is put in these areas. APTA states, “Real estate experts and demographers have … concluded the supply of TOD-style living environments, focused on high-quality public transportation, lags far behind demand.”18 APTA also calculates that the retail market benefits, because for every $10 million invested in public transit, they gauge that local business sales increase by $30 million.

“But that’s a full-fledged public transit, light-rail system,” you say. Granted. But consider a situation in Santa Cruz, California, that has some similarities to our situation here. There, like here, there is a scenic rail line that snakes through their county, and local Sierra Club members want to turn it into a hiking/biking trail. And there, like here, there is controversy surrounding it. Not the same controversy, but controversy.

The disagreement begins when discussing the best way for the county to purchase the corridor from Union Pacific. There are two options for buying the corridor. The first involves accepting $11 million of State Prop. 116 money…and matching it with transportation funds already allocated by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)….

In the first option, the State will provide the $11 million only if the county moves forward with some form of passenger rail service such as the proposed recreational Trolley [emphasis mine]. For many, this is a fair trade off. In fact, many people like trains and think the idea of moving around Santa Cruz by rail attractive.

There, the Sierra Club is in favor of the trolley with a trail alongside, within the corridor, but there are some residents who live along the train track that are against the trolley. The Ventana Chapter Sierra Club dryly muses, “It isn’t clear why people who don’t like trains purchased homes next to the railroad tracks.” Some are wondering the same thing here, especially about a certain Journal Star editor who lives near the train tracks but doesn’t want to see or hear trains on them.

The report concludes by saying, “The Sierra Club favors transportation that is energy and land conserving and is the least polluting. The Trolley project and the use of the rail corridor for bicycle travel has enormous potential to reduce automobile trips in Santa Cruz County.” Isn’t that exactly what the Illinois Prairie Railroad Foundation is trying to do in Peoria?

So the question that needs to be asked is, why is the Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club against it? Why would the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club be anti-rail and, thus, pro-oil? Why would they rather take lumber off of environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient train consists and instead put it on multiple oil-burning trucks that tear up our roadways and pollute our air? Why would they work against attempts to lessen automobile dependence? Why would they want to kill any hope of establishing a light rail system through the heart of the city?

The Sierra Club has published Conservation Policies that I would assume would apply to all chapters. Here’s what they say about trains/public transportation:

  • “Rail systems are most effective in stimulating compact development patterns, increasing public transit patronage and reducing motor vehicle use.”
  • “Station access should be provided by foot, bicycle and public transit, with minimal, but full-priced, public parking.”
  • “Freight railroads, especially electrified, are preferred over highway or air freight to save energy and land, and cut noise and pollutant emissions.”
  • “Land use patterns should be designed to improve pedestrian access, encourage shorter trips, increase public transit use, enhance the economic viability of public transit and decrease private motor vehicle use (auto mobility).”

Why is the Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club opposing club policy in regards to the Kellar Branch? Are their leaders letting their personal feelings get in the way of their mission?

Peoria County

Peoria County website out of date

4 Comments

Well, I just tried to contact my County Board member, James Thomas, based on the info on the Peoria County website and received the following response:

Your message

To: jthomas@icc.edu
Subject: County Public Safety Tax
Sent: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:41:41 -0600

did not reach the following recipient(s):

jthomas@icc.edu on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:40:51 -0600
The e-mail account does not exist at the organization this message was sent to. Check the e-mail address, or contact the recipient directly to find out the correct address.
smtp.icc.edu 5.1.1

Nice. I suppose I can call, if that’s even correct. Nevertheless, anyone have an updated e-mail address for James Thomas?

City Council, City of Pekin, City of Peoria

Dagit’s resignation does not signal similar action from Manning

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Anyone in Peoria’s third district who read the Pekin Times’ or Peoria Journal Star’s story on Daryl Dagit’s resignation from the Pekin City Council may have had a sinking feeling in their stomach:

During [Monday’s council] meeting, Dagit explained the reason for his leaving. He is leaving his position at CitiFinancial, he said, and is moving to Smith Barney to work as a financial advisor. The two companies are both members of the financial services company Citigroup.

Dagit said Smith Barney policy mandates that employees not hold an elected position.

To some extent, that’s understandable. Smith Barney is a huge company, and they do bond underwriting. Municipalities issue bonds, of course, and if Smith Barney wants to underwrite those bonds, they may not be able to if one of their employees is on the council for that municipality — it would be a conflict of interest, and thus, the company loses the opportunity to gain that business.

But what does all that have to do with Peoria? Well, we have a councilman who works at the same company: Bob Manning. But don’t worry, he won’t be resigning.

I had the opportunity to talk to Bob about the situation. He explained that his circumstances are different from Dagit’s. Manning worked for the company first, got approval to run for office, then got on the council. Dagit was already on the council, then was offered a position, and giving up his council seat was a condition of employment. Dagit could have turned down the job offer and kept his seat.

Bottom line, Manning will continue to serve the residents of Peoria’s third district. And that’s good news for not only the third district, but all of Peoria.