2008-11-17

It was a beautiful day for the fifth annual Unity March, an event organized by Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice. This year’s march was dedicated to passage of the coming Township referendum on the ballot this election day, a measure that would raise funds to help the poorest of the poor in Champaign. A diverse crowd of approximately 150 people marched to stamp out poverty.

Wednesday night at rush hour, approximately 30 people assembled outside the Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign to protest the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

Several local TV stations, as well as WILL 580's Jim Meadows were there, although the News-Gazette failed to cover the event.

I quit watching television in 1985. I remember the exact moment when I made this decision. It was when I saw a senior citizen lady fall to the floor when she tried to spin the big wheel on The Price Is Right. It appeared she sprained her ankle during the fall, and for a long 15 television seconds, she couldn’t get up.

From sascha:

The Twin Cities Independent Media Center was just raided by the police and shut down. Having worked extensively with TC Indymedia folks for years, I know first-hand that they are avid journalists who have a multi-year history of covering important local stories.

Ongoing coverage is available at: http://twincities.indymedia.org

Breaking News ... Danielle Chynoweth, City Council Member from Ward 2 and Mayor Pro Tem, who has served for the past 7 years, is stepping down from Council. Here is a copy of the letter sent from Ms. Chynoweth to the Mayor and Council Members today:

Dear Mayor Prussing and Urbana City Council Members,

Please accept this letter announcing my resignation from Urbana City Council.

I have been attending the meetings of the newly formed Civilian Police Review Board in Urbana
and a few folks have asked about its composition, members, etc.

A CPRB currently only exists in Urbana - NOT in Champaign, which has dropped the idea all together.

The Urbana CPRB just had its third meeting and is now overseeing any complaints contested.

June 20th 7am, Evansville Indiana -- In the early morning hours of June 20th, around 25 police officers from the Indiana State Police (ISP), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Gibson County Sheriff's office descended on the scene of the anti-I69 tree sit, just south of State Road 68 in southern Gibson County (20 miles north of Evansville).

Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish: Conservative County Board Members Admit Responsibility for Crisis, Take It Out on Union

By nightwatch

Upon the recommendation of Assistant State’s Attorney Rob Scales, Judge John R. Kennedy agreed to a sentence of 100 hours community service for Brian Chesley. Chesley was convicted by an all-white jury of obstructing and resisting a peace officer.

Nearly a year ago, on March 30, 2007, when a 17 year-old black youth was stopped in Douglass Park, pepper sprayed, and sent to the hospital by Champaign police, it put the issue of police brutality in the spotlight just two weeks before an election for several seats on the Champaign City Council.

Today marks the fifth year anniversary of the start of the U.S. imperialist war of aggression in Iraq. Across the country thousands of people gathered to voice their opposition to the ongoing war, which has claimed the lives of over a million Iraqis and nearly 4,000 Americans. I attended the protest and march in Chicago.