Documentary screening on guns drew mixed audience

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DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STAR

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STAR

“Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA” drew an audience of about 50 people Thursday evening at a free public screening at Peoria Public Library North Branch. In the audience were both gun advocates and gun safety advocates. The documentary seeks common ground between those two groups.

The free public screening was co-sponsored by Community Word and Peoria NAACP.

The film looks at gun violence tragedies and how the NRA and gun manufacturers make billions of dollars in profit from maintaining the current culture of guns.

Following the film, a panel answered questions from the audience.

On the panel:

Deputy Police Chief Chris Ahart, Peoria Heights

Marcella Teplitz, former Peoria Police Detective; Private Investigator

Sharon Williams, Peoria County Board

Karen Wilson, Peoria NAACP

Addressing the panel, one audience member stated there was no gun violence in the film, only violence by people. In response to that, Teplitz said as a former police officer she saw far too many children killed by guns in Peoria not to take issue with that characterization of the film.

Chief Ahart stated that reasonable gun regulation does reduce gun violence.

Wilson noted that she was the only person of color at the screening. The film noted that African American men are 10 times more likely that white men to be killed by guns.

Williams said she and her husband are responsible gun owners and compromise does not mean taking guns away from law-abiding people.

At one point, attorney Jack Teplitz explained the evolution of the legal interpretation of the Second Amendment regarding gun ownership by a militia and by private citizens.

The film presents important statistics to understand the crisis and help further the role of reasonable background checks and waiting periods.

Statistics in the film:

  • 48 percent fewer on-duty police are shot to death in states with background checks.
  • Chicago police seize an illegal gun every 72 minutes.
  • More Americans died of gun violence in Chicago between 2001 and 2010 than died in the war in Afghanistan.
  • 74 percent of NRA members support universal background checks yet 40 percent of gun owners did not go through background checks.

“Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA” is a Robert Greenwald film by Brave New Films. For more information on the documentary go to: www.MakingAKilling.com.

Coverage of the event:

WMBD TV: http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/locals-discuss-gun-debate-try-to-understand-opposite-perspectives

 

WEEK TV: This link is not yet posted; it will be added when available.

 

Caterpillar Inc. CEO talks about the importance of diversity

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In his remarks at a recent Peace for Peoria event at the Civic Center, Caterpillar Inc. CEO Doug Oberhelman said his company is successful not just due to its products but also due to its diverse workforce.

“It’s because we welcome employees, customers, dealers, suppliers and contractors without regard to race, religion, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability,” he said.

Read his complete remarks here:

http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/content/Caterpillar/C10887980

 

Mika’s Bistro chef demonstrates “quick & easy” recipes with early spring produce

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Ruth Moser, chef and manager at Mika’s Bistro, 112 S. Main St., Eureka, cooks using produce raised without chemicals by Henry Brockman on his nearby farm.

Moser, a graduate of the culinary school at Joliet Junior College, has cooked in hotels around the country and in Switzerland. The former pastry chef is now back in her hometown of Eureka running the daily operations at Mika’s Bistro where the menu changes seasonally and includes a selection of chef-prepared items in a take-out cooler.

At the May 11 cooking demonstration, Moser used early spring produce including rhubarb, chives, sorrel, choy, beet greens, lamb’s quarters and green garlic in “quick and easy recipes.”

Brockman has farmed following organic practices on his rich, chemical-free bottomland between Congerville and Eureka for 23 years. He is taking applications for his CSA. For more information visit his website at http://www.brockmanfamilyfarming.com/henrys-farm.

For more information on Mika’s, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MikasBistro/

Cleve Heidelberg case assigned to Circuit Judge

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Cleve Heidelberg has been in prison for 45 years, always maintaining his innocence in the murder of Peoria County Sheriff’s Sgt. Raymond Espinoza. His case will now be reviewed by an associate judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court.

A petition seeking a special prosecutor for Heidelberg has been assigned to Judge Kirk Schoenbein.

Six days after receiving the petition on April 21 from attorneys Andy Hale and Don Jackson asking for a special prosecutor to review the Heidelberg murder conviction, Chief Judge Stephen Kouri assigned the case to Schoenbein.

Hale and Jackson are the first attorneys to study this case and become convinced of Heidelberg’s innocence.

Now 73 and in declining health, Heidelberg has been in prison since his conviction in 1970 for the Espinoza murder. Heidelberg has steadfastly maintained his innocence but has failed to convince a legal ally until Hale agreed to look at the case a year ago.

Hale said he began his review with skepticism but was shocked by problems with the investigation and prosecution. He reconstructed the crime with the assistance of private investigator Marcella Teplitz, and the two have concluded police arrested the wrong man.

Reached Monday evening, Hale indicated by email that Judge Kouri decided to assign the case to another judge rather than hear the case himself. It does not mean Kouri made any initial assessment of the merits of the petition.

Hale had sent a letter to Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady in December asking him to reopen the case. Brady declined, saying he did not find any compelling new evidence to convince him Heidelberg was innocent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petition filed to reopen Cleve Heidelberg murder conviction

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Attorneys Don Jackson, left, and Andy Hale speak at a press conference Thursday announcing a court petition they filed seeking a special prosecutor to re-examine the murder conviction of  Cleve Heidelberg who has been in prison since 1970.

 

What could prove to be one of Peoria’s most egregious criminal prosecutions was dissected, analyzed and challenged in a 98-page petition filed Thursday morning in Peoria County Court.

The trial was 46 years ago, and the defendant has been in prison since then.

Attorneys Andy Hale and Don Jackson are seeking a special prosecutor to review all records and additional new evidence they have unearthed regarding the conviction of Cleve Heidelberg for the murder of Peoria County Sheriff’s Sgt. Raymond Espinoza in 1970. Heidelberg, now 73, has been in prison since he was 33.

The petition begins:

“In the early morning hours of May 26, 1970, a lynching took place in Peoria, Illinois. There was no rope or tree and the man did not lose his physical life. But make no mistake; Cleve Heidelberg’s life was taken from him through the unspeakable abuse of State power as surely as if his body had been left hanging from a tree.”

During a press conference held after filing the petition Hale said that after spending more than a year reviewing court documents, examining evidence and conducting interviews, he is convinced of Heidelberg’s innocence.

“No doubt in my mind,” he said.

Jackson, who is president of the Peoria NAACP, said there are many troubling aspects to the case, including items taken from the scene of the accident that were flown to an FBI lab in Washington, D.C. Yet the FBI report was never submitted to the court, most likely because it was labeled “negative” meaning no fingerprints from Heidelberg were found on the gun used in the crime.

Evidence was withheld, witnesses were coached, one witness was paid and normal police investigative protocol was ignored in this case, the two attorneys said.

More surprisingly, another person confessed to the murder before Heidelberg was convicted. That person was James Clark who died shortly after Hale started investigating the case a year ago.

The 1970s was an era when racial tension was sweeping the country and Black Panthers were in the news. This case involved the murder of a white police officer by a black man.

Jackson said during the press conference that it was especially troubling to look back through the records and see how many African American men testified Heidelberg was not in the car, not part of the discussion leading up to the crime and not involved in the crime.

Hale said he sent letters to all names of people involved in the case in 1970 asking to meet and discuss the case. He would like to hear from anyone who has evidence of Heidelberg’s guilt because he has not found any, he said at the press conference.

Before filing a petition with the court, Hale had asked Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady to examine the case, but Brady refused to do so saying the evidence does not support reopening the case.

At the press conference, Hale said Brady has a conflict of interest because even though he was not state’s attorney at the time, he was being asked to investigate his own office.

Hale also said Brady was obligated under a new rule that went into effect Jan. 1, 2016, to reopen a case when clear and convincing evidence is submitted that a defendant did not commit a crime.

“Jerry Brady did not follow the rules of professional conduct,” Hale said.

Brady responded that he reviewed all the information Hale submitted and other material before deciding not to reopen the case.

He said he’s very aware of the new rule that went into effect Jan. 1 and there was no violation on his part.

“We don’t try these things in the press,” he said, noting that Hale could file for post conviction relief in which he would set out the basis of seeking a new trial, and he has not done that.

Chief Judge Stephen Kouri met briefly with Hale and Jackson when the petition was filed and indicated he would review the documents and be in touch with the two attorneys within a week.

The press conference was held in the offices of private investigator Marcella Teplitz who is working with Hale and Jackson on the case.

Read past coverage of the case in Community Word at:

 

http://thecommunityword.com/online/blog/2016/02/01/unimaginable-injustice-45-years-in-prison/

 

http://thecommunityword.com/online/blog/2016/03/01/states-attorney-declines-to-reopen-heidelberg-case/

 

http://thecommunityword.com/online/cwnotes/2016/04/01/attorney-to-petition-court-to-reopen-heidelberg-case/

Dr. Tyrone Hayes talk on atrazine, frogs and corporate spin: 7 p.m. April 20, Knox College

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Knox College’s spring EquiKnox Lecture will feature a discussion on the herbicide atrazine and its impact on the environment, especially how it adversely affects frogs. Biologist Tyrone Hayes, a professor at University of California-Berkeley who is known for his research on the subject, will present the lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts.

The event is free and open to the public.

Hayes will speak about his work and his conflict with Syngenta, an agribusiness company that manufactures atrazine.

He was invited to the Knox campus by Knox Advocates for Recycling and Environmental Sustainability, a campus environmental group also known as KARES. According to KARES, Hayes began researching atrazine in 1997, and when his research revealed unexpected toxicities, he was refused funding for future research.

The EquiKnox Lecture is one of several activities planned at Knox as part of Earth Month. Other events include a 5K run/walk and an Earth Day festival.

Join Hundreds to Rally in Springfield for CleanEnergy

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PEORIA RESIDENTS To Join Hundreds to Rally in Springfield for Clean Energy and Climate Action for Earth Day

Citizens from Across Illinois Will Voice Support for Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (HB 2607/SB1485)

WHAT: Caravan of Peoria residents heading to Springfield to demand clean jobs and climate action; support Illinois Clean Jobs Bill

WHEN: Thursday, April 21, 2015 at 8 AM CT

WHERE:

Unitarian Universalist Church, 3000 W Richwoods Blvd, Peoria, IL 61604

 

WHO:

  • Gene Mialkowski (tentative), Artist and Local Small Business Owner

  • Robin Garlish, Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance

  • Other speakers TBA

 

BACKGROUND: On Thursday, April 21, a caravan of Peoria residents driving hybrid vehicles will join citizens from across the state of Illinois will rally for clean energy and climate action at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. The citizens will be in Springfield to voice support for the bipartisan Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (HB 2607/SB1485), and many of the bill’s legislative co-sponsors will rally with citizens outside the Capitol.

 

Energy policy is among the key issues that’ve been debated in the Illinois legislature in the past year. In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Clean Power Plan, giving states the opportunity to create plans to cut carbon pollution and grow clean energy jobs.

 

Illinois, once a clear leader in clean energy jobs in the Midwest, is losing jobs due to broken renewable energy policies. Moreover, if the state’s budget impasse is not resolved by May 31, it would mean a loss of $76 million for energy efficiency projects across Illinois. Schools, libraries and fire stations will receive these funds for energy efficiency upgrades, but will miss out on the funding if no budget is passed.

 

The Illinois Clean Jobs Bill will strengthen policies to ramp up renewable energy like wind and solar to 35 percent by 2030 and cut energy use through efficiency by 20 percent by 2025. These efforts will save consumers money while bringing clean energy investment to new communities to strengthen local tax bases and create family-sustaining jobs. The bill will also create an estimated 32,000 new jobs annually once fully implemented.

 

The crowd in Springfield will include faith leaders, students, clean energy businesses, health advocates and many more.

 

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The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is made up of Illinois businesses and organizations representing the state’s environmental, business and faith communities. Currently more than 160 businesses and 60 organizations have formally joined the coalition to promote steps to improve the Illinois environment, help consumers, improve public health, and create tens of thousands of new jobs across the state.

League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria Announces Final Redistricting Events

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The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria is sponsoring two final redistricting events on Wednesday, April 20 from 11 am to 1 pm.

Both will take place at the two Thirty-thirty Coffee locations, at 5901 N Prospect Rd #7 in Junction City and 734 Main St. in downtown Peoria.

Registered voters can sign the redistricting reform petitions, get their finished petitions notarized, and turn in completed sheets.

This good government effort would change the way district lines are drawn for the Illinois House and Senate, from politicians drawing the district lines to an independent commission drawing the district lines. This would stop gerrymandering and hopefully lead to more competitive districts and more candidates running.