Attached is the 2011 jail inspection of the Champaign County jails by criminal justice specialist Brad Bresson of the Illinois Department of Corrections. Despite claims by Sheriff Dan Walsh that the downtown jail is uninhabitable, it passed state inspection.

On Feb. 21-May 15 I will be co-teaching a series of classes for caregivers of individuals with mental illness. I took this class 2 years ago and it really helped me with dealing with the brother with Asperger Syndrome.

The classes are for the CAREGIVER, not the person with mental illness. There are other classes for them.

I encourage you to send this with the poster attachment to anyone who you think might benefit from such classes. We ask for a 13 week commitment. There is a lot of material including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the latest info on treatments for all kinds of disorders.

Please feel free to email me at nancycarter93@sbcglobal.net or call 356-1925 if you have any questions.

We have room for a few more people in the class.

Thanks for caring about those who are caregivers,

Nancy Carter

On June 5, 2011 Champaign police choked a 20 year old African-American man in the back seat of a squad car while he was in handcuffs. His crime? Asking why he had been stopped, roughed up, and pepper sprayed while walking in campus town.

Here is the video from the squad car with the pepperspraying and choking edited to the front followed by the entire 53 minute interaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB-DF0bUiY0

Here is the video that was originally leaked to the UCIMC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP76Oc3-fMw

It has been two years since Kiwane Carrington was killed by a Champaign police officer, but 18-year-old black youth, Calvin Miller, is still afraid of the police. So when a Champaign cop attempted to pull him over for no apparent reason, he panicked. He only wanted to get home that night.

When Calvin appeared in court for arraignment on Monday afternoon, he walked into the courtroom with crutches. His right ankle was sprained, maybe fractured. His right eye was swollen shut. He also had bump on the right side of his forehead. Other people noticeably stared at him.

Called before Judge Richard Klaus, Calvin was told that he was being charged with resisting a “peace” officer. He had “exited a fleeing vehicle” and “lunged” toward Champaign police officer Matt Rush. He was also being charged for criminal damage to property, less than $300, when the vehicle he was driving ran into the porch steps of a house. The story Calvin told me after the hearing was significantly different.

The annual Unity March took place on Saturday, Oct. 8, a march that this year was organized by Jobs With Justice, CU Citizens for Peace and Justice, and a newly-formed organization Occupy 217. The march began in front of the WEFT radio station in downtown Champaign and ended at Chase Bank. A photo gallery of the march appears below.

After receiving $98 million in bailout money, Chase cut 14,000 jobs.

A group of demonstrators walked into the Chase bank for a temporary occupation.

An advertisement invited visitors, "Get Your Cash Back."

Somewhere outside of a bar scene, just women, open space, open expression, no class, no rules, no right or wrong. All movement is right!

Join us at the IMC on Tuesday night from 8-9:30pm

Books To Prisoners Presents: Fall 2011 Book Sale-Pages for Pennies

Dates/Times:

Friday September 30th: 4pm-8pm

Saturday September 31st: 8pm-5pm

Sunday October 1st: 10am-2pm

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Prices:

$0.75  for paperbacks

$1 for hard covers

***Sunday Special: Bag Sale (fill a bag for only $5)***

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Location:

202 S. Broadway

Independent Media Center (Main Floor)

To learn more about the Books To Prisoners Program visit: www.books2prisoners.org

An art exhibit of photographs remembering Kiwane Carrington and the Unity March VII  by Patricia T. Rosario. The show will run from October 7 - 21. Opening reception on Friday, October 7, 6 - 8 p.m.  Light refreshments will be served.

Unlike the phony debt crisis, the jobs crisis is real.  It did not just happen, either, but results from very specific policies over many years.  Unemployment and underemployment are much higher than the official unemployment rate, simply because so many categories of people are not counted: students, workers who are laid off after a short time on a new job, workers who are laid off seasonally or from time to time, the long-term jobless, people who have never had a job, people who are barely employed at just a few hours a week, etc. 

(For more: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm)