[Imc] IMC News 001127

[Mike Lehman]

Here's the news for tomorrow night. It runs to an easy 6 minutes or so.
The Debs Dinner program runs about 43 minutes. That leaves about 11
minutes that we could fill with music, more news from YOU, and/or what
is the IMC and how to get involved.

Also, if there are any community service announcements that need to be
read let me or Danielle know.
Mike Lehman
344-5609
PS Danielle, I'll see you at WEFT at 5:45pm. I'll have copies of the
news to read and the mindisc of the Debs program.

The News:

Tonight the Urbana City Council will discuss changes in development
regulations to encourage more green space creation during their meeting
which begins at 7:30pm in the City Building. Improvements in regulations
covering the location of bike racks will also be discussed. Some bike
racks have been installed in recent years, but a number of public
spaces, such as the Federal Courthouse, still lack this basic amenity to
encourage more use of low impact transportation.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, November 28th, the Illinois Department of
Agriculture will be holding an informational hearing on the proposed
Stone Ridge Mega-Dairy Factory in McClean County.  The hearing will be
held at the Bellflower Community Center in Bellflower, Illinois, and
will begin at 6:00 PM.. The public is invited to comment on the possible
negative effects of the proposed 3,600 cow farm on the area's quality of
life and the potential problems with regard to property taxes, economic
development and air & water pollution caused by factory farms.

The Illinois General Assembly is considering a proposal to study a
problem that local students and teachers are already familiar with: what
to do about Illinois colleges and universities which have come to rely
heavily on part-time teachers who have poor pay and little in the way of
benefits. Part-time instructors carry class loads almost as heavy as
full-timers, have to have similar qualifications, but are often paid at
a only 25% of the rate of full-time professors.

It appears 1,400 patients of two well-regarded local doctors will be
able to keep seeing them after PersonalCare announced it had capitulated
to demands that insurance coverage for their patients not be ended by
the HMO. Patients and the Champaign County Healthcare Consumers had
organized to oppose the move to end the doctor’s contracts with Christie
Clinic.

Champaign County recorded its lowest unemployment rate in 25 years when
those out of work dropped to 1.8% of the workforce in October. However,
quality jobs still remain a problem for many local workers. About 20% of
Champaign County government employees make less than a Living Wage of
$8.20 an hour and it is estimated that the rate for employees of private
firms in the county is similar. Local public economic development
programs to aid business currently have little in the way of
requirements that public money actually create jobs that pay at least a
Living Wage.

Following the remodeling of its kitchen, the Catholic Worker House is
again serving a daily lunch time meal from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Located at
317 S. Randolph St. in Champaign, the house serves the hungry and
welcomes your donation.

There are two distinctly different standards for dealing dangerous drugs
in Champaign County. Deal regular street drugs and you may get a visit
from the SWAT team and a trip to prison. Push cigarettes to kids and you
can count on getting at least two warnings and your employee is the only
one who gets a ticket. Don’t hold your breathe on States Attorney John
Piland sending any of the mostly rich, white tobacco dealers to the big
house anytime soon.

Citizens are reminded that they have until Dec. 18 to submit petitions
to run in the spring elections. School boards in both cities will elect
members and you should contact the school superintendent’s office in the
respective city for petitions. In Champaign, all the district-seat
council members are up for election. In Urbana, the mayor, city clerk
and all council members stand for election. Those wanting to run for
city offices should contact the city clerk’s office for candidate
petitions.

Looks like the Champaign Schools could use some enlightenment about the
need for a diverse education. In last week’s  Phil Bloomer column, the
principal of Edison Middle School was quoted as being very concerned
about "discordant...elements" who spread "unwanted controversy".  All
this over an incident regarding the divisive Chief Illiniwek issue,
which the U of I Board of Trustees and much of the local media claim
brings our community closer together.

Although Democratic Party apparatchik Jerry Landay has yet to
acknowledge their important contribution, the 3,500 local Nader voters
appear to have helped tipped the balance of power on the County Board.
Champaign County was only slightly in favor of Gore over Bush, but the
margin provided by Nader voters going on to punch Democratic further
down the ballot seems to have allowed the Dems to take control for the
first time ever from the Republicans who worked to keep county
government stuck in the 19th century for the entire 20th century.