Manfred Katz, a Holocaust survivor, places some of the last of six million buttons into the outdoor memorial designed to symbolize the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Katz was the keynote speaker at the dedication on Sunday April 23 at Peoria Riverfront Museum. See the Community Word interview with Katz here: http://thecommunityword.com/online/blog/2017/03/31/remember-evil/

Clockwise from top left: About 30 students from Spoon River College attended the rally for science  at the Gateway Building in Peoria. 

Marlene Brockman holds a sign in support of Earth.

A crowd that grew to about 500 attended the Peoria science rally Saturday.

BY CLARE HOWARD

Science is not a partisan issue but is at the core of our national interest, Dr. Karen Bartelt said to about 500 people at the Peoria Rally for Science Saturday at the Gateway Building.

It was a theme repeated throughout the country and around the world as people protested by the thousands against climate change deniers and politicians who cut funding for science at the same time they cut taxes for corporations.

Saturday was the 47^th Earth Day, and Bartelt said she remembers attending the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, a celebration founded by Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis.

Science saves lives, Bartelt said, noting that in 1952, there were 52,000 cases of polio but after the discovery of the polio vaccine, there were 161 cases and that eventually fell to none by 1994.

“There are no polio deniers in Congress,” she said.

Respect for science started to change in 1980 when presidential candidate Ronald Reagan declared that evolution was only a theory.

She urged the crowd to never back down in support for science.

“Work to remove politicians ignorant of the laws of physics and chemistry,” she said.

Dr. Jeff Walk, director of conservation programs with The Nature Conservancy in Illinois, told the crowd his nephew recently asked him if he believed in climate change.

“Science is based on facts. I don’t believe in climate change. I know facts, and I know climate change is real,” he said, adding that the most devastating harm from climate change falls upon the most vulnerable.

“Stepping away from science is an enormous mistake for us, for nature and for our future,” he said.

One of the organizers of the rally in Peoria was Megan Pulley. She said, “Science is our reality. We don’t get to opt out of reality. It is light in the dark. I want my daughter to be passionate about science.”

Pulley is urging people to donate to the science scholarship fund at the Peoria Public Schools Foundation.

About 30 students from Spoon River College attended the rally.

“We preach the importance of the scientific method and following the facts,” said Spoon River chemistry teacher Bridget Loftus. “I feel facts are under attack and an alternative narrative is being pushed.”

The policies of President Donald Trump spurred rallies around the world. Trump has disparaged climate change as a hoax, doubted the safety of vaccines and budgeted cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health and weakened protections for public lands and environmental protections. He talks about “clean coal” and bringing back the coal industry while loosening restrictions on carbon emissions.

Speaker Tracy Fox said at the Peoria rally that “clean coal” is the equivalent of “clean cigarettes.”

During his Feb. 28 hearing, Cleve Heidelberg walks slowly to the witness stand and for the first time in 47 years is able to testify under oath about his innocence.

BY CLARE HOWARD

Hill Correctional Center, the state prison in Galesburg where Cleve Heidelberg was incarcerated, determined it could no longer hold him following a hearing in Peoria Thursday where Judge Albert Purham vacated Heidelberg’s murder conviction.

Heidelberg was serving 99 to 175 years in prison for the May 26, 1970 shooting death of Peoria County Sheriff’s deputy Ray Espinoza at the Bellevue Drive-In movie theater.

In months of often emotional testimony, Heidelberg’s attorney Andy Hale dismantled the case against Heidelberg and asserted there was no ballistic evidence, no fingerprints and no credible eyewitnesses proving Heidelberg was the shooter.

Special prosecutor Matt Jones immediately appealed Purham’s ruling vacating Heidelberg’s conviction. The judge declined to set bail, and a bond hearing was set for Friday April 28.

However, when Heidelberg was transported back to the state prison in Galesburg, prison officials determined they had no jurisdiction to hold him and the Peoria County Sheriff could pick him up or the prison would release him.

The Peoria County Sheriff’s Department had Heidelberg picked up and transported to the Peoria County jail on Friday where he is being held most likely until the bond hearing April 28.

Hale expects his client will be released following the April 28 hearing.

“We showed that all the evidence presented at the trial was not credible,” Hale said. “We have dismantled the evidence that was used to convict in the first place.”

Hale believes Peoria needs an independent conviction integrity unit, a relatively new mechanism designed to provide a post-conviction procedure to determine wrongful convictions. Hale believes Heidelberg’s wrongful conviction resulted in an innocent man spending 47 years in prison.

“This should be an independent search for the truth, and the state’s attorney should welcome this with open arms,” Hale said.

Heidelberg “has to be the longest-serving prisoner to have his conviction vacated,” Hale said.

Matt Jones held a press conference following the hearing on Thursday and explained there is little legal precedent to determine the difference between new evidence and cumulative evidence. Judge Purham had to base his decision on new evidence, and Jones contends there was no new evidence presented only “cumulative” evidence.

At that press conference, Jones introduced Ray Espinoza’s daughter Phyllis Espinoza who said she was disappointed in the judge’s decision and “worries if Mr. Heidelberg is freed, who his next victim will be based on his violence.”

Heidelberg, now 74, has congestive heart failure, walks with difficulty and has steadfastly maintained his innocence for the past 47 years.

Hale said because his client’s conviction was vacated that will allow him to pursue civil remedies.

clockwise from top left: Marcella Teplitz, private investigator on the Cleve Heidelberg case, joins an emotional huddle following the judge’s ruling to vacate Heidelberg’s conviction.

Cleve Heidelberg turns to smile at his sister, Mae Winston, after the judge’s ruling.

Attorney Amy Hijjawi wipes her eyes after Heidelberg’s conviction was vacated.

Attorney Andy Hale, left, introduces Heidelberg’s sister Mae Winston during a press conference after the court hearing. He said Winston has been a steadfast supporter of her brother for the past 47 years. 

BY CLARE HOWARD

Cleve Heidelberg’s 47-year-old murder conviction was vacated Thursday following months of often emotional arguments before Peoria County Judge Albert Purham.

Attorneys Andy Hale and Amy Hijjawi embraced Heidelberg in a long, tearful huddle, but the joy was brief and gave way to indignation when Matt Jones, special prosecutor in the case, immediately filed an appeal.

Hale and attorney Don Jackson, on speaker phone, argued that bond should be set so Heidelberg could be free pending the appeal.

In frustration over the state’s appeal, Hale argued, “I don’t see how the state could retry this case.”

He said during two years of work, he was able to totally dismantle the case against Heidelberg. During numerous court hearings, Hale asserted there was no ballistic evidence, no fingerprints and no eyewitnesses proving Heidelberg was the shooter. In fact, Hale relied on the police radio transcript from the night of May 26, 1970, to point out discrepancy after discrepancy between events as they were unfolding and the official police reports. He has charged that when the police were left with no evidence, they manufactured their reports.

Purham declined to set bond, and Heidelberg is back at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg waiting the appeal process.

“His conviction was vacated. He is no longer a convicted criminal. He has to be the longest serving prisoner to have his conviction vacated,” Hale said. “I hope to see Cleve walk out a free man. I was hoping that would be today, but we are close.”

He characterized the appeal by the state as “frivolous.”

“The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s office fought us every step of the way, putting up roadblock after roadblock . . . . Today, the conviction was vacated. That was the hard part. The final step is coming,” Hale said.

Heidelberg was arrested 47 years ago in the early morning of May 26, 1970, following the shooting death of Peoria Country Sheriff’s Deputy Ray Espinoza at the Bellevue Drive-In movie theater.

He had loaned his Blue Dodge Rambler to another man who loaned it to James Clark who latter confessed to using the car in a robbery at the Bellevue Drive-In movie theater that resulted in gun fire and the death of Espinoza.

Following the court ruling, Jones held a press conference. Phyllis Espinoza, daughter of Ray Espinoza, said she was disappointed in the judge’s decision and “worries if Mr. Heidelberg is freed, who his next victim will be based on his violence.”

Heidelberg, now 74, has congestive heart failure, walks with difficulty and has steadfastly maintained his innocence over the past 47 years.

Jones said he has relied on facts to argue this case and has not resorted to emotion and the “beyond hyperbolic statements” made by Heidelberg’s attorneys.

During a press conference outside the courthouse, Hale said, “The state knows damn well it is not going to retry Cleve Heidelberg. He should have been let out today . . . our case is on very solid ground.”

In another legal argument in this case, the judge set May 25 for a status report on the independent review of the case by the Illinois State’s Attorney’s office.

Top left: Theresa Brockman holds a sign at the “Build Bridges” rally in Peoria. Top right: Becca Taylor, organizer of the “Build Bridges” rally addresses more than 200 people at the event at the Gateway Building in Peoria. Bottom left: Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, a Democratic candidate for Illinois governor in 2018, said nothing good results when public policy is based on fear.

More than 200 people attended a rally for immigrant and refugee rights Sunday at the Gateway Building in Peoria. There were some shouts of support and applause during the forum, and nearly everyone acknowledged we are living during a fearful period when united action is urgently needed and tearing families apart is not an American value.

Charlotte Alvarez, an attorney with The Immigration Project, said many of her clients are facing  wrenching deportation actions.

Her organization provides pro bono legal help for immigrants in central and southern Illinois.

Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2018, said, “When public policy is built on fear, bad things happen.”

He said bigotry and racism are being conflated with political campaigning and we find ourselves in a position of having to protect our friends from our federal government.

Retired judge Richard Grawey, pro bono immigration attorney, recommended these steps for fighting back:

Ask your church to become part of the sanctuary movement

Ask local police and prosecutors to be immigrant friendly

Contribute financially to organizations that help immigrants

Contact politicians and express your support for immigration rights

Other speakers included Dr. Jawad Javed, neonatologist; Serene Musaitif, Muslim poet, activist and student; Dr. Rahmat Na’Allah, physician and board member for Peoria City/County Health Department; Janet Bantz Glavin, volunteer with www.one.org and Congressional district leader; Aozora Brockman, Japanese-American poet; Sonny Garcia, board member of Illinois Peoria’s Action; Alvaro Cruz, second year doctoral student at University of Illinois and participant in the DACA Program for immigrant children; moderator Dr. Farhana Khan, physician in internal medicine.

A nationwide “Day Without Immigrants” protest is planned for May 1.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., expressed fear for the human and economic toll if Congress proceeds with a Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

BY CLARE HOWARD

Minutes before U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan announced he couldn’t deliver majority support and postponed the vote to replace the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Dick Durbin was in Peoria speaking at Heartland Health Services about the devastating human and economic costs the Ryan bill would impose.

If there is anything positive about this bitter, emotional national debate over health care, it’s that more Americans understand what the Affordable Care Act means to them and even those who were once critical now support the ACA, Durbin said.

People are now aware of what they stand to lose, he said, noting that no major medical groups in the country supported Ryan’s replacement bill, the American Health Care Act.

The ACA resulted in the largest expansion of Americans covered by health insurance in history.

Also speaking at Heartland was David Gross, vice president of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association representing 200 hospitals and 50 health systems. He said under the Republican bill, Illinois stands to lose 25 percent of federal Medicaid funding, amounting to at least $40 billion over 10 years.

Gross said the impact of these cuts on the state would be more than $8 billion in reduced economic activity, 55,000 to 60,000 lost jobs, 5,000 of those lost jobs in Peoria’s two Congressional districts.

Durbin said he’s been told House Republicans have called hospitals and medical associations in their Congressional districts to explain they have no choice but to vote for the Republican plan, but they expected the Senate vote next week would kill the Republican plan.

The Republican plan would force 63,400 people in the 17th Congressional District in Peoria to lose health insurance. Nationwide, an estimated 24 million would become uninsured by 2026.

Clearly, enough Republicans refused to pledge support for a dramatically flawed plan, and Friday’s vote, at least, was postponed.

Gross said his organization has urged representatives not to support the Ryan plan.

Durbin cited skyrocketing costs of pharmaceuticals as one factor in rising premiums under ACA. He said the same drugs sold at extremely high prices in America are available in Canada at a fraction of the cost.

He supports a “Medicare-like plan” that would provide universal coverage.

Heartland CEO Charles Bandoian said the ACA “opened the door for high quality health care for many in central Illinois” and Heartland was disappointed with the proposed replacement plan.

Under ACA, he cited improved health care for diabetic patients resulting in dramatic health improvements that likely made the difference between life and death for some and eliminated the prospect of limb amputations for others.

Heidi Yerbic of Canton said the Affordable Care Act meant her family had coverage shortly before her husband had a type A aortic dissection. Today her husband, 40, is back to work and on medication that costs more than $2,000 a day paid by health insurance.

Without the ACA, the family would have lost everything, she said.

At one time, Durbin and his wife had a sick baby and were without health insurance.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through that,” he said.

He pledged to sit at the table and negotiate changes to the ACA if Republicans pull the plug on their “repeal and replace” campaign.

After the press conference Heartland’s CEO said he and his organization have given serious consideration to a complaint from the ACLU about inadequate access to contraception among female patients at Heartland. He said the organization soon will be announcing new locations without religious restrictions on dissemination of comprehensive contraceptive counseling.

The sixth annual Native American Spring Gathering is scheduled for Saturday March 18 at Dickson Mounds Museum.

“Celebrate, honor and remember the gifts of our ancestors,” is the purpose of activities throughout the day.

Activities start at 11 a.m. and include a heritage program at 2 p.m., a pipe ceremony at 3:15 p.m. and a drum and dance ceremony at 3:45 p.m. Vendors will be set up from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Dickson Mounds Museum, 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road is located between Lewistown and Havana. It is across from Emiquon Nature Preserve. The museum is part of the Illinois State Museum system. For more information call 547-3721.

Cleve Heidelberg walks slowly to the witness stand — for the first time in nearly 47 years able to testify under oath about his innocence.

BY CLARE HOWARD

For the first time in nearly 47 years, Cleve Heidelberg testified under oath Tuesday about events before and after Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Ray Espinoza was shot and killed.

Now 74, stocky and slightly stooped, Heidelberg walked slowly to the stand and began answering questions about a night in May when he was 27 years old.

He told the court he has spent the past 46 years, nine months and three days in prison for a crime he did not commit.

He testified he had been at the T.T. Club in downtown Peoria the night of May 26, 1970. He had loaned his car to a friend who wanted to pick up his girlfriend. Hours later, Heidelberg learned his car had been involved in a crash. His last walk as a free man was to the corner of Blaine and Butler to retrieve his Dodge Rambler.

Later, he learned the car had been used in committing an armed robbery at the Bellevue Drive-In movie theater.

Andy Hale, Heidelberg’s attorney, said by the time his client was arrested in the early morning hours of May 27, the police were already convinced they had the shooter. Hale has spent nearly two years investigating the case and contends sloppiness and Constitutional violations merit either a retrial or release of Heidelberg.

Also testifying Tuesday for the first time was Lester Mason, the man who had borrowed Heidelberg’s car.

With shackles around his ankles, Mason, 73, entered the courtroom. He and Heidelberg fist-bumped as Mason walked past the defense table.

“I never killed anyone, raped anyone, molested anyone,” he said. But he’s in prison for life following three convictions, at least one an armed robbery.

He testified he knew Heidelberg was innocent but didn’t testify in his behalf because he had been coerced and promised leniency by prosecutors in the Heidelberg case. Mason took the Fifth, refusing to testify at the original trial.

Mason said in court Tuesday that he has regretted that decision.

He and Heidelberg had been together at the T.T. Club in Peoria when Mason asked to borrow Heidelberg’s car to go pick up his girlfriend. But instead, he met with James Clark and Junius Whitt, and the three talked about doing a “stickup.” When Clark and Whitt decided to rob the Bellevue Drive-In movie theater, Mason bailed out and went to the Blue Shadow Club, he said.

He told Judge Albert Purham he thought the idea of driving to the Bellevue Drive-In was “ludicrous” and questioned how much cash the drive-in would even have on hand.

Later that night, Mason said he got a call from Clark who told him, “Things didn’t go right on the robbery. It was kill or be killed.”

The car had been driven as a get-away car and had crashed at the intersection of Blaine and Butler.

Prosecutor Matt Jones asked why anyone should believe Mason’s story now and Mason said, “It’s the truth. I have nothing to gain. I know James did it. There is no watermelon, fried chicken or apple pie in this for me. I have no reason to lie.

“I have no dog in this fight.”

He said Heidelberg was the only one who had a job at that time in 1970 and he was perplexed why he even hung out with the other three guys.

Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Emanuel Manias had been the lead investigator in the case in 1970, and he was also called to testify in Tuesday’s hearing.

Manias had filed a report some time after Heidelberg was arrested contending Heidelberg had confessed to him and wanted to make a statement and speak with a lawyer. Manias arranged a late night meeting between Heidelberg, then in the old Peoria County jail, and his public defender. Manias then wrote up a report about eavesdropped snippets of conversation said during that attorney-client consultation.

Attorney Hale questioned Manias, 79, about the alleged confession. He suggested that if this alleged confession had been true, it would have been introduced into evidence in the original trial, and it was not.

“This whole thing was a ruse to get the attorney to come to jail so you could eavesdrop on the client-attorney conversation held after 10 p.m. at night,” Hale said.

Manias strongly denied that.

At one point, Hale said he wanted Manias declared a hostile witness.

Manias denied there was ever any effort to coerce or bribe Mason about testimony at the original trial.

Prosecutor Jones said Hale was trying to create unsubstantiated allegations of eavesdropping.

“There is no basis for improper police work. No basis for a Sixth Amendment violation,” Jones said.

Heidelberg testified that he felt spied on constantly when he was in the Peoria County jail. When he spoke with his parents and sister on the phone about contacting eyewitnesses who could place him at the T.T. Club, police always seemed to get there first.

At one point, Heidelberg said he called the daytime bartender at the T.T. Club and the guy was irate because the parking lot was filled with police cars.

Heidelberg said it was tough because he knew his life was in the hands of his public defenders but he couldn’t trust them because he couldn’t figure out where the leaks were coming from.

Jones told Heidelberg he could not identify one of these eyewitnesses who didn’t testify. Over Hale’s objection, Jones solicited from Heidelberg that he had a couple of felony convictions in his past and one armed robbery in the 1960s.

Judge Purham set 1 p.m. March 31 for final arguments in the case.

As he has in almost every hearing, Heidelberg, who has congestive heart failure, objected to scheduling the next hearing weeks in advance because he thinks the evidence is clear he’s innocent.

Sid Ruckriegel, left, chairman of the board of Peoria Riverfront Museum, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the relocation of the Peoria Holocaust Memorial. Dignitaries and elected officials line up, shovels in hand, for the groundbreaking on an unseasonably mild Sunday afternoon in February.

BY CLARE HOWARD

After 11 years at Shoppes at Grand Prairie, the Peoria Holocaust Memorial is relocating to Peoria Riverfront Museum. Groundbreaking for the new location was Feb. 26 with dedication scheduled for Holocaust Remembrance Day April 23.

The memorial includes glass structures holding 11 million buttons representing those killed in the Holocaust. Six million buttons represent the six million Jewish adults and children murdered in the Holocaust, and five million buttons represent enemies of the state who were killed.  The glass structures will be installed on the south west corner of the museum on Washington and Liberty streets.

“The new location will allow for a more sensory experience and more ability to contemplate the meaning of the memorial,” said Sid Ruckriegel, chairman of the museum board of directors.

The museum will be planning lectures, films and exhibits to strengthen the message of the memorial.

Mayor Jim Ardis commended the new location that’s near the museum, the sculpture walk, Caterpillar Visitors Center and the Warehouse District.

“Our country is going through a challenging time right now and the more we can have displays and talk about our history and be inclusive, the better we will be as a community moving forward,” Ardis said before the groundbreaking.

In his formal remarks, the mayor said it is critically important to remember the Holocaust and remember it could happen again.

“We can’t rest on history. We have to make sure it never happens again,” he said. “In some cases, it’s again starting to happen.”

He was referring to the proliferation of hate incidents that have been documented around the country leading up to and following the November election.

Susan Katz, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Peoria, said “This is the perfect space for our mission near the museum that can address these important issues.”

Hate spreads when people turn a blind eye to racism and bigotry, she said, urging people to step forward when they witness incidents.

“Be an upstander not a bystander,” she said.

Katz explained the significance of indicating six million Jews were killed and five million enemies of the state by quoting Elie Wiesel who said, “Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.”

Michelle Eggert and Brian Smith were co-chairs of the Peoria Holocaust Memorial Re-Birth Project.

Rabbi Robert Feinberg, Congregation Anshai Emeth, led a prayer.

Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand referred to efforts to force Amazon to stop selling books that deny the Holocaust. He said bigotry, racism and bullying of any kind stand in opposition to all that is good in humanity.

For more information go to www.peoriaholocaustmemorial.org.