via email: >From CCHCC's Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff Dear Friends,

It is with a very heavy and broken heart that I write to tell you about the death of Robert G. Kirchner, a dear friend, and hero, to us at Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC). Bob Kirchner, only 54 years old, died of a heart attack on the morning of Sunday, April 17. Bob was a local attorney who defended many who had no resources; he also helped and legally supported many local non-profits, including CCHCC, and he served on the County Board and the County Board of Health -- among many other activities. Bob was a true champion of justice for people, and for the organizations who fight for justice for the people.

Our deepest sympathies go to Bob's wife Gerri Kirchner, with whom he had a great and beautiful partnership and to whom he was utterly devoted. Our sympathies also go to Ruth Wyman, our dear friend and the young attorney with whom Bob worked for many years.

On Monday, April 18 at noon, SEIU held a victory rally on the quad after signing a contract with the University of Illinois administration. The building service workers and food service workers were ready to strike that morning if the administration had not agreed to negotiate. An agreement was reached the previous day that secured SEIU workers a one percent raise until the end of the fiscal year on July 1, and a 1.75 percent raise which will last until the end of their two-year contract. The contract also includes an agreement that no more than 15 percent of employees will be part-time workers. In 2012, both the SEIU and Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) will be set to renew their contracts.

Join us for the inaugural Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Independent Media Center, 202 S. Broadway, in downtown Urbana. Prices: $3 for adults; $1 for kids under 12.

On Wednesday, April 13, a fundraiser for the Georgia Seven was held at Ikenberry Commons on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Seven undocumented students were arrested in an act of civil disobedience on April 5 in Atlanta. Among them was UIUC student Andrea Rosales who spoke at an event titled “Whose Side Are You On?” organized by the student group La Colectiva.

Andrea told the story of the weeks of planning leading up to the action, her experience of being arrested, and her 24 hours in jail. Andrea was brought to the United States when she was five years old. She is to graduate in May with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Latino Studies. At the fundraiser, Andrea talked about her decision to carry out a nonviolent demonstration. “How many other of my fellow students would I have to see disappear?” she said. “How many would I have to see drop out of college because they couldn’t afford it?”

Check out what's happening at the IMC in the first two weeks of April!

Press Advisory
For Immediate Release 4-3-11

Workers and supporters picketing at UIUC, give notice of intent to strike

Building and Food Service workers at UIUC will picket again Monday and Tuesday morning with local allies among students, faculty, and community members, in hopes of demonstrating their seriousness about striking the university if a new Collective Bargaining Agreement cannot be reached in ongoing negotiations.  On Friday the service workers' union, Local 73 of SEIU, gave legal notice of the workers' intent to strike a if a new agreement cannot be reached within 14 calendar days. 

Both pickets will begin at 7:30am in front of the Florida Avenue Residence Hall (F.A.R.), 1001 College Court just off Lincoln Avenue near Florida in Urbana.

Why are our School District's tax dollars going to support her husband and business associates?

Not surprisingly the News-Gazette has endorsed one of their own, incumbent Kristine Chalifoux, to serve on Champaign's Unit 4 School Board for a second term. The Unit 4 Candidate has made a substantial profit from School District funds over the four years she has held her position.

If voters compare her views before she announced her candidacy back in 2005,

• http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2005-10-13/culver-tries-clear-confusion-over-remarks.html

and in 2006,

Janice Radway, Walter Dill Scott Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University, will present "From the Punk Underground to the Library Stacks: Girls, Zines, and Their Travels" on Tuesday, March 29, 4:00pm, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory, Urbana.

In the 1990s, girls around the world created underground publications known as "zines." First as fans responding to the music of girl bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile and Huggy Bear, they later participated in a dynamic social movement known as Riot Grrrl.  When Riot Grrrl zines were taken up by mainstream magazines like Sassy, a younger cohort of girls took up the form.  Now, these underground zines appear in libary stacks, art works, classrooms, academic articles and books.  Why and how did this happen?

This presentation is free and open to the public.

On Monday, March 14, 2011, former Champaign police detective Lisa Staples returned to court for a second DUI. She nearly killed two 17-year-old girls on December 19, 2010 when she struck their car at high speeds. According to four additional charges filed in court, Staples also lied when applying for a new driver’s license and Illinois state ID card just two days after her license was taken away.

In the initial report by Mary Schenk in the News-Gazette, Sheriff Dan Walsh was interviewed. Giving a minimum of the details, Walsh said that Staples had apparently rear-ended a small SUV on a country road near Bondville. Walsh provided irrelevant information about an Ameren gas line that was damaged. What Walsh did not say, and Schenk failed to follow up on, was that there was much more damage done that night.

On Friday, March 11, 2011, approximately 300 people joined a nationwide student walkout and rally on the quad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. What was unique about this rally was the number of many new faces of people who did not typically show up for rallies on campus. They have clearly been inspired by the mass protests in Wisconsin and rapidly spreading throughout the Midwest in Indiana and Ohio.

The rally was part of a nationwide call for student walkouts in solidarity with union workers in Wisconsin. On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers rammed through legislation undermining the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions in the state capitol in Wisconsin where there have been ongoing demonstrations for three weeks. On Friday morning, Governor Scott Walker signed the bill into action.

Check out what's coming up this week at the IMC!