by Dolores Klein, Peoria, IL

The bitter reaction to the 5/4 decision by the Supreme Court concerning rights of anyone held by our country, to be made aware in our courts of the charges against them, has made the point unassailable now that who makes further appointments to the highest court is of urgent interest to all of us.

On March 12, a Washington D.C. businessman, David Rubenstein, permanently loaned a 710 year old copy of the Magna Carta to the National Archives and Records Administration. It’s the only copy in the United States. It’s on display in the West Rotunda, down the hall from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

The next best thing to going there is to buy, beg or borrow a copy of the Spring/Summer American Heritage magazine. The Founding Fathers derived their belief in the Law of the Land from that document. Though it dealt originally with feudal relationships limiting the extent to which the King could continue pushing claims of power too far, it foreshadows modern constitutional guarantees.

Reading this article and re-reading the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights is worth it, as we confront the ramifications of our current controversy. With the good luck of being born in this country comes the responsibility of being informed and thoughtful.

by Dolores Klein

It is gratifying when we see very young people dedicate themselves to an important project, acting on research and study, and creatively and boldly taking action. An eighth grade student, now a graduate, Madeline Piller from Mendota, Illinois, along with her brother and school friends, acting on their research, wrote a play, took it a Washington, D.C. competition, and since then have seriously dedicated themselves to the building of a RADIUM GIRLS MONUMENT.

There are few monuments to women: we have Lydia Moss Bradley and Mother Jones in Illinois. This proposed monument to be erected on the site of the Radium Dial plant in Ottawa, as designed by Madeline, depicts a young, healthy dial painter “who is ready to take on the tragic challenges that will come her way.” Her story will be etched on the marble base. Though the monument is being seen as a gift to the city of Ottawa, I see it more of an Illinois asset, considering this to be example of strength in the face of certain death.

In 1925, Radium Dial became aware of the occupational danger of radium radiation exposure and the poisoning that would follow. These young women, who started in 1922 ingesting radium in the paint they were applying on brushes to numbers on clock faces, were never told. Instead, after being examined, they had their fears calmed. In 1934, seven women began legal battles to win financial compensation for occupationally acquired radium poisoning: debilitating bone fractures and infections, bone tumors and anemia. Small settlements did not pay their mounting bills. The company shut down, but reopened, remaining in business into the 70’s; finally being shut down by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, for improper handling of tritium.

The seven women, known as “the Society of the Living Dead” gave more than an example. They and others traveled to Argonne National Laboratory, undergoing tests for the effects on their bodies of radium radiation, being monitored for years, sometimes being studied after death. These studies were used to set safety standards for industrial exposure to radiation, which is a gift to all of us from these women.

They took on an industry, a medical community and a legal system. While suffering from debilitating fatal illness, they fought the system that recognized women to be inferior and individual workers to be less important than the industry in which they worked.

Personally, I want to be part of Madeline Piller’s project, to be there at the dedication. NO MONEY IS BEING ASKED FOR, only pledges to see if it is financially feasible to go forward and complete it. The sculptor has donated most of the time it will take to create the life-sized bronze. Call for pledge info at 681-0311.

By Jackie Nelson

Chief Settingsgaard, Peoria’s newest police chief, has had a rough year. The wave of homicides in Peoria has left residents shaken. Early in the year, Peoria’s murder rate has swiftly climbed to eleven homicides already this year.

Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard said Peorians should not fear what appears to be a rise in crime. “There are no more shootings than there were last year, the lethality has increased, not the shooting rate,” said Settingsgaard in a telephone interview on May 25.

He also attributed much of the violence to gang and drug related activity. He reiterated “[Looking] over the eight homicides this year, and I would comfortably say that more than half of them are attributable to gangs and/or drugs. Some of the remaining may be indirectly related but it is difficult to say with surety.”

Many Peoria residents may feel that the surge in homicides is indicative of a crime wave. However, statistics of crime in Peoria tell a different story. In the early months of 2007, violent crimes and property crimes were down 20%. Also, the chances of being killed in a homicide in Peoria are 1 in 14,113.

These numbers seem encouraging, unless one finds themselves or someone close to them a victim. Chief Settingsgaard has also been working to prevent crime.

Upon his arrival Settingsgaard set new schedules to better reflect the police needs in the city. He created overlapping shifts during the busiest hours, between 5 p.m. and 12 a.m. He also revived the Gang Unit, putting officers in positions to monitor activity as well as recognize known gang members.

The previous system for identifying gang members relied on ‘street names.’ The new system, which is accessible to all officers via in-car computers, identifies known gang members by their street name, real name, physical description, and identifying marks such as scars of tattoos. An officer can enter any piece of information and be instantly presented with name, address, description and criminal record.

Settingsgaard is hoping that be being able to identify known gang members and where gangs are concentrated he will be better able to saturate these areas with patrolmen and women thus reducing crime.

Peorians should feel safer knowing that Chief Settingsgaard and his officers are working hard to make Peoria a safer place. When looking at comparable cities, Peoria’s homicide rate of 14 in 2006 was below that of rate in Toledo with 28, Wichita with 29, Fort Wane with 25, but above that of Springfield IL with 5.