PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good - Blog

Green Drinks - After Action Report

10/20/2020

Green Drinks - After Action Report
Tuesday, October 6th at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

We have had a series of virtual Green Drinks since the COVID shutdown, meeting on Zoom the 1st Tuesday of each month from 5-7 pm. Since May we have enjoyed 6 excellent speakers, including: Joel Vanderbush/Niabi Zoo; Kurt Liske/Scott County Waste Commission; Pete Vogel/Food Rescue Partnership; Rachel Loomis/Living Lands and Waters; Deb Heitman/ Sustainability Director Davenport School District; and Sarah Gardner/Sustainability Coordinator Iowa City. We look forward to our two final speakers for 2020, with Cassie Druhl from Partners of Scott County Watershed in November, and Myles Brainard from the City of Rock Island in December. Join us!

Lori McCollum

Support Minority-Owned Businesses - No Hate In Our States

10/20/2020

Support Local Minority-Owned Businesses in the Quad Cities

No Hate In Our States

The Quad City Times recently wrote about local black-owned businesses.

If you’d like to learn how to support these businesse read the article here:

qctimes.com/business/black-owned-businesses-to-support-in-the-quad-cities

Julie Ross

Open Enrollment for ACA Nov 1st to Dec 15th

10/20/2020

Spread the Word About the ACA! Open Enrollment Starts Soon
November 1st through December 15th

Health Care Reform Forum

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is still the law of the land!

Uninsured families, including those who have lost health insurance or have lost income due to the pandemic, may qualify for insurance and/or a subsidy on the ACA Marketplace. Open enrollment is from November 1st through December 15th.

You can help share this good news by:
1. Encouraging any friend, neighbor or family member that you think might need health insurance to check out their eligibility on HealthCare.gov.

2. Distributing or posting a flier about the ACA enrollment on community bulletin boards, in barber shops, salons laundromats, churches, etc. Place these wherever (especially, low income) people might see them.

3. Download and print “Need Health Insurance?” fliers like the one below, or contact me for copies.

Frank Samuelson

need_health_insurance_2020.pdf
File Size:	42 kb
File Type:	pdf

After Action Report - The Environmental Voter

10/14/2020

The Environmental Voter: A Path to a Just and Stable Climate - After Action Report
Friday, October 2nd at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

On October 2nd over 40 participants attended our Happy Hour with Donald Addu from Citizens Climate Lobby. Local speakers discussed issues such as health complications and economic issues related to environmental factors. Don was an excellent speaker who interwove his personal stories with a history of environmental racism and injustice. This was recorded and is available upon request. Please contact me for a link if you are interested in seeing it.

Lori McCollum

Your Vote Matters ! Vote Early! - What You Can Do Now

10/14/2020

Your Vote Matters! Vote Early!
Various Times and Dates

PACG Message to our Membership

The 2020 election has begun. Please remember to vote. Support the candidates who best align with your visions and values. Be sure to wear your mask and maintain social distance when you do. For those who prefer to vote early, here are the links to the Scott County locations, dates and times of the satellite voting sites and a list of the same for Rock Island County.

Iowa
Scott County Satellite Voting sites opened on October 5th. Ballots from all precincts are available at each location. For addresses, dates and hours for these sites, go to: https://www.scottcountyiowa.gov/auditor/post/2020/10/05/2020-early-voting-satellite-locations.

Illinois
Early Voting at the County Clerk's Office:

Rock Island County Office Building
First Floor - 1504 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL, 61201-8624 (map)
Monday to Friday, September 24th to Friday, October 16th: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Monday, October 19th to Monday, November 2nd: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 7 pm
Saturdays, October 24th and 31st: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sundays, October 25th and November 1st: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Early Voting at Off-Site Locations (note - there is only ONE early voting off-site location for this election):
Western Illinois University, 3300 River Drive, Moline, IL (map)
Monday to Friday, October 19th to October 30th: 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Check this link for more details about voting in Rock County: https://www.rockislandcounty.org/AbsenteeVoting/#Early.

Keep in mind that all of these times and dates are only for early voting, not election day voting.

Susan Leuthauser

Annual Picnic and Pie Auction a Virtual Success! - After Action Report

10/14/2020

PACG's Annual Picnic and Pie Auction via Zoom Was a Success! - After Action Report
Sunday, October 4th

A Message from the President

PACG held its 8th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction (and first done virtually) on Sunday, October 4th and it was a GREAT success!

In the spirit of keeping the picnic similar to what would happen at a live event, we were able to entertain participants with music, offer a meal, allow for social time, update members on PACG happenings and hold a pie auction. And we did it all virtually!

Participants picked up their Tamales for Hope enchilada meals ahead of time, and then signed on to Zoom to be entertained by really good music before the official program started. "Totes Magotes" musicians Christy Todtz, Jim Severe, John Kinser and Doug McCollum played and sang lively, popular songs. The official program started with members being put into Zoom Break Out rooms (randomly assigned small groups) to discuss "What is the best thing about the pandemic?" A spokesperson for each group shared with the larger Zoom meeting once we re-convened. It was encouraging to hear so many positive messages!

I updated the membership on the success of the Y15K fundraising initiative, which was held to celebrate PACG's 15th Anniversary. We were able to infuse $20,000 into the community to help those in need. Book Club and Forum Facilitators also gave updates about their recent activities, plans for the future and upcoming meeting dates.

Thirteen pies were auctioned off in grand VIRTUAL fashion, which allowed us to raise close to $500 for PACG. Finally, gift certificates from minority-owned businesses were distributed as door prizes.

Feedback indicates that the picnic was generally a success, with some technical difficulties. We realize that some people did not receive the Zoom links and we apologize for that. At our picnic debriefing meeting we figured out how to do better at future large events that we hold online. We appreciate your patience as we navigate these uncharted waters.

We are proud that we were able to hold our 8th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction, despite this crazy year! A big Thank You to all the folks who helped plan and execute the event, to the pie bakers, and to all of you who participated!

Allison Ambrose

"Knock and Announce" Podcast - No Hate

9/30/2020

“Knock and Announce” Podcast

No Hate In Our States

Do you want to better understand the mechanisms that led to the death of Breonna Taylor by police in Louisville, Kentucky? This excellent podcast details a very similar situation. Taylor is even mentioned near the end.

Listen here: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-143-knock-and-announce/

Julie Ross

Y15K Funds Distributed to Cobblestone

9/26/2020

Y15K Funds Distributed to Cobblestone Place
Saturday, September 26, 2020

A Message from the President

On Saturday, September 26th the last of our Y15K Initiative Funds were delivered to Cobblestone Place in a very small ceremony. PACG has rented office space in this affordable housing building in downtown Davenport for a number of years, and we often have meetings, parties and events in their public area.

I spoke briefly about our Y15K Initiative, Alta Price spoke about the founding of PACG and our issue forum model, and then we made the presentation.

Juanita Eucker and Diane Wolak received our check and explained that the funds will be used for a bench outside as well as furniture for the common space inside the building.

Cheryl Bruce from Bruce's Furniture in Davenport was also on hand. Her store is going to supply Cobblestone with furnishings.

Funds will also be used to purchase MetroLINK passes and HyVee gift cards for residents. Alta surprised Juanita and Diane with a donation of high quality masks for all employees and residents. "We at Progressive Action take the pandemic very seriously and we encourage people to always wear masks in public," stated Dr. Price.

Here are some of the images we took today of this event.

Allison Ambrose

Hannah-Jones 1619 Conversation

9/22/2020

Nikole Hannah-Jones: “In Conversation about 1619 and the Legacy that Built a Nation.”
Tuesday, September 22nd at 7:00 pm

Several weeks ago PACG suggested an excellent podcast called “1619 Project.” The University of Iowa is hosting a free online event with its Pulitzer Prize-winning creator Nikole Hannah-Jones.

To kick off the semester on Tuesday, September 22nd at 7:00 pm they will be virtually hosting Nikole Hannah-Jones: “In Conversation about 1619 and the Legacy that Built a Nation.” This event will be moderated by the UI's own Dr. Ashley Howard. Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering racial injustice for The New York Times Magazineand the creator of the landmark 1619 Project. This event is virtual, free and open to the public.

Here is a link to this event: https://fb.me/e/1CZBEpTNc

Here is a link to the 1619 Project podcast: www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html

Julie Ross

Fourth Informed Voter Town Hall - Canceled

9/22/2020

This even has been canceled.

Fourth Informed Voters Town Hall via Zoom - Update
Thursday, October 8th from 6:00 to 7:00 pm

Environmental Forum

CANCELED - Informed Voter 4th Town Hall - Environmental Policy and the Climate Crisis has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

As an organization, PACG has learned a lot about what we can improve on with events like the Informed Voter series. With the time crunch of an election upon us, the candidates were unable to attend this town hall. And early voting means that people are already voting in Illinois and Iowa.

We are disappointed to have not heard from these candidates on issues that are so important to us all. For the next election cycles, we hope to plan farther ahead. Thanks for your continued support.

The Environmental Forum is a cosponsor of the Fourth Informed Voter Virtual Town Hall. Candidates for the US House of Representatives for Illinois and Iowa have been invited to participate in this Zoom event. We will ask candidates to explain their views on climate change and give us an understanding as to what their environmental policies will entail if they are elected.

More information will be in next week's WEU.

Susan Leuthauser