Statistics on racial profiling collected by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) were released this year with no local fanfare. Although covered for the last three years, the 2007 numbers went unreported by the News-Gazette, who has a virtual monopoly of the local newspaper market. This is surely an attempt to protect police officials from public rebuke and continued calls for police accountability.

It's been three days since we got back to Champaign-Urbana and still I am having a hard time properly putting into words our past weeks experiences in D.C.  I keep going back to using words like amazing, intense, and incredible but twitch inside due to their inadequacy.  These are words I use daily and January 20th 2009 was anything but a daily experience.  I  have either to find new words or start using those words less.

More video from the last part of the trip to D.C. and our arrival at Sascha and Faith's. Also we have photos from the whole trip including some from Day 3.

Look out for tomorrows videos containing interviews done on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well as Inauguration Day.

This February 6, 7 and 8th, the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC) will be hosting the IMC Film Festival (www.imcfilmfest.org). This three day celebration of the art of cinematography will highlight local and independent artists and kickoff monthly IMC Film Nights. It will also be a chance for local and independent filmmakers to share their work and connect with other artists, community members, and organizations. The festival is open to submissions and we are advertising widely within the artist and art-supporting communities. The IMC also has a wide support base of almost 600 different community members and volunteers. We anticipate a strong turn-out for this event.

Members of the Graduate Employees' Oorganization Healthcare Working Group learned on Thursday of McKinley's plans to cease sonogram service by January 1, 2009.

The GEO has been having regular Labor Management meetings with Administrators with the joint intention of the Union and the Employer to promote a sound and mutually beneficial relationship. GEO members met with McKinley director Palinkis during two separate Labor Management Meetings with the agenda being Graduate health care services in general and Women's Health at McKinley. The GEO representatives had discussions specifically about the provision of the sonogram service, which they were concerned might disappear. Palinkis first claimed that the service was not in danger, and later in admitting that they were considering ceasing it, his argument was that students were not seeking sonograms at the same rate as previously - GEO members later discovered that this was because doctors at McKinley were being directed to refer students to external sonogram services, rather than the service within the Center.

**** WRFU BENEFIT SHOW ****
* *** *

* Saturday, December 6 *
* at the Cowboy Monkey *
* 6pm til 2 am *
*

-> what matters <- 

Featuring (in last-to-first order):

New Ruins

Krukid

Golden Quality

Common Loon
Joseph Donhowe

Ferrocene3

The Duke of Uke and his Novelty Orchestra

Dottie and the 'Rail

Paul Kotheimer

The Turinos
Eleni Moraites

History of the Future

William Gillespie

Crystalline Scoggins

Beth Simpson

Kevin Elliott

$4.$4.$4.$4.$4.$4.$4.$4.
Only $4.
This benefit is being held to raise funds towards a new permanent tower for WRFU.
In the spirit of the station, the show features a smorgasbord of local musicians and poets performing short sets, all of which include pieces related to the show theme: "what matters."

This report illustrates how Champaign's funding of General Assistance aid to the poor is many times lower than that of surrounding communities. Voting yes for the Township Referendum on the November 4 ballot will help to rectify the disparity, though the inequality is so severe that even with successful passage, Champaign will still fund General Assistance at levels nowhere near surrounding cities.

Note: An Adobe Acrobat PDF version of this report is available here.

General Assistance (GA) is a state-mandated financial aid program run by Illinois townships (which are subdivisions of counties). GA provides basic financial assistance to those who are in the deepest of poverty (income less than $3000/year) who don't also qualify for other state or federal aid. GA is the last-chance safety net for the poorest, most vulnerable citizens in Illinois. It typically offers a maximum of $225 a month plus additional payments for basic medical care. In Champaign, however, benefits were severely cut and half of all clients were completely abandoned last year.

Restoring Champaign’s safety net for the poor

Would you vote “Yes” for a tax increase if you didn’t know what it was for? If you live in Champaign, this is exactly what you’ll be faced with on Election Day unless you read on. If you don’t vote “Yes” you may regret it once you understand what’s at stake.

On Election Day, November 4th, Champaign voters will be asked to vote on the following referendum:

“Shall the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for City of Champaign Township be increased by an additional amount equal to .02% above the limiting rate for levy year 2007 and be equal to .0550% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein for levy year 2008?”

Unless you educate yourself beforehand, just the first four words will be enough to throw you off. What’s a “limiting rate,” let alone a “Property Tax Extension Limitation Law” or “equalized assessed value,” you might wonder. Yet it’s crucial to understand and make an informed vote on this referendum – only a “Yes” vote will help restore Champaign’s threadbare safety net of last resort for the city’s poorest, most vulnerable citizens.

There is a school crossing at Oregon and Vine, the kind with flashing yellow lights, and a sign depicting a child in silhouette crossing with an adult, and white zebra stripes painted on the street. But every day at least 20 Urbana school children who walk to Leal Elementary School along this route play a deadly game of “Frogger” with unyielding motorists. At least two, possibly more, have already been struck.

My own kids and I have experienced this frequently. Some motorists barrel through even after others have stopped, even swerving around children and parents in the crosswalk. Some drivers honk or shout profanities.

Neighborhood parents and children have recently begun counting cars that refuse to yield to them as they attempt to get across. Numbers so far range from about 12 to over 50 violators interefring with each pedestrian attempt to cross.

In negotiations this summer, Patrick Thompson and Martel Miller arrived at a settlement in a civil suit against local authorities claiming their civil rights had been violated when eavesdropping charges were leveled against them in 2004 for videotaping the police.

In June 2005, Thompson and Miller filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against Champaign, Urbana, and Champaign County. The complaint contained three major components: 1) Patrick Thompson had been racially profiled by Champaign police in three traffic stops in late 2003. 2) Martel Miller had his Fourth Amendment rights violated when Champaign police illegally seized his videotape and equipment. 3) Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Dobson had maliciously prosecuted Miller and Thompson on charges of felony eavesdropping.

Those named in the original suit included Champaign City Manager Steve Carter, Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney, Deputy Chiefs John Murphy and Troy Daniels, Sgt. David Griffet, Officer Justus Clinton, State’s Attorney John Piland, and Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Dobson.

In a small claims case local black activist Patrick Thompson filed against his former attorney, Harvey Welch, a judge decided that legal malpractice had been committed and ruled in Thompson’s favor. Thompson filed the suit pro se, arguing his own case, while Welch was represented by Urbana attorney David Rumley. The $3,000 in attorney fees that Welch must pay back, Thompson says he is donating to Champaign Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, who helped raise funds for his legal defense.

Thompson had hired Welch to defend him against charges of sexual abuse and home invasion in a trial that took place in 2006. After Welch called only one witness, Thompson was found guilty. Dropping Welch, Thompson hired two new attorneys, Bob Kirchner and Ruth Wyman, who filed a post-trial motion to reverse the guilty verdict. In a rare courtroom decision, Judge Harry Clem found that Welch had provided “ineffective assistance of counsel” and granted Thompson a new trial. This last May, with legal counsel provided by Kirchner and Wyman, a jury found Thompson not guilty of the criminal charges.