NATO protest organizer Andy Thayer gives reasons to protest the NATO summit at Elgin Community College on April 12, 2012. The summit will be held in Chicago, May 20-21, 2012.
Reasons to protest the NATO Summit
by VideoNewsService, posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 11:15 am
2012 IL-16 campaign archive
by n0madic, posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 7:00 am
General election
Wanda Rohl (D)
Wanda Rohl on why she wants to run for Congress
Who is Wanda Rohl?
Teachers and Citizens Demand a Seat at the Pension Funding Table
by Ellen McClennan, posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 10:06 pmA group of about forty people from Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice gathered in the noon day sun outside Illinois Senator Mike Noland’s office in Elgin on Friday, May 4th. The people wanted Senator Noland to hear their concerns about the lack of revenue and funding for Illinois teachers’ pensions. Senator Noland is one of four legislators appointed by Quinn to a task force to solve this issue. While earlier State Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin) had informed the group he would not be present to respond to their rally, he unexpectedly showed up
John Laesch, from NIJWJ, announced the rally was about the group’s concern regarding the State’s lack of funding for teachers’ pensions, but Noland didn’t seem to understand until the end of the rally that the citizens standing before him had not been sent by the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and were instead concerned citizens and workers—about half of whom happened to be teachers.
“This is a workers’ issue. And we are concerned that our legislators have not funded our teachers’ pensions. We have a revenue problem here. This is a concern to all taxpayers and to all people who work for a living,” said Laesch.
Found Objects for a Friday Afternoon: The Greening of Chicago
by n0madic, posted on Friday, May 4th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Rep. Biss Holds Town Hall Meeting on Pensions
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 7:59 amState Rep. Daniel Biss had the courage to hold a town hall meeting to discuss “pension reform” in Glenview on April 30th. I estimate that 200-225 people attended the overcrowded room that was set up to accommodate 75 people.
The standing room only crowd was a mirror image of other pension discussions happening around the state. The general mood of the cramped, “slightly too warm for comfort” room was polite and respectful. Biss set the tone by taking questions and respecting diverse opinions while facilitating the conversation artfully.
I attended the event because I felt that if Representative Biss had the courage to hold a controversial town hall meeting that he might also have the courage to lead a fight to actually fund pensions and uphold the state’s end of the deal.
2012 IL-06 campaign archive
by n0madic, posted on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 7:00 am
TRS Townhall in Naperville
by John Laesch, posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 12:24 pmTeachers and retired teachers filled a school cafeteria in Naperville, IL to hear a presentation from Dick Ingram, the Executive Director of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) on Thursday, April 26th.
The staff at the high school had to set up extra seats to accommodate an estimated 300-400 people.
The presentation itself was very “matter of fact” and seemed to be a part of a PR effort to let teachers know that Governor Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly were about to deliver a hard-hitting punch. Most of the information presented was not new, but the use of multiple events and participation by the news media re-enforced the message, “the sky is falling and teachers have to make concessions.” Before delivering the bad news, Ingram did talk about how great it was that teachers had lived up to their responsibility by paying into the retirement system all of these years. He also acknowledged that teachers are not eligible for Social Security (a point that is often missed by the public and seems to be ignored by lawmakers).
