Blog Archives - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Drug Policy Public Forum

1/28/2019

the PACG Drug Policy Forum presents the
Drug Policy Coalition Public Forum
Saturday, February 16th, 10am - Noon
St. Ambrose University - Rogalski Center
W High Street, Davenport IA 52803 (map)

The PACG Drug Policy Forum is networking and organizing with other groups to address medical cannabis and decriminalization in Iowa. We hope you will join us!

Speakers:

Joe Bolkcom, Iowa State Senator, who said that "Iowa's medical cannabis law is convoluted and offers false hope to sick Iowans."

Here's a captioned video of what Joe said at the meeting of the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board on August 3, 2018.

Grant Tietjen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice

Aaron Schoenemann, Former President of Iowa NORML

Shelly Servadio, Iowa's ONLY Registered Cannabis Nurse

Please save the date!! Join us on Facebook: PACG Drug Policy Forum

Please download the flyer below to share with your friends.

We need volunteers! Contact Caroline if you are willing to volunteer at the event and join us at our next planning meeting on Friday, Feb 1st, 6pm Fresh Deli, Davenport Freight House.
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There will be some tabling at the event; please contact Caroline if your organization would like to provide drug policy related or restorative justice information at the event.

Thanks for all you do!

Caroline Vernon & Dan DeShane

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News from the Environmental Forum

1/28/2019

Here's What We Are Working On! Join Us!

The PACG Environmental Forum welcomes newcomers to our Forum, which meets on the first Monday of each month.

We are discussing upcoming goals for 2019 and reviewing primary efforts including:

Partnering with other area groups to host a PACG Environmental Forum Earth Day weekend event on April 20 (9:00 to 1:00) at The Freight House (outdoor event including speakers and displays).
March 2019 - PACG Environmental Forum will host a last-Thursday-of-the-month (5:00-7:00 p.m.) Green Drinks networking opportunity at Fresh Deli at the Freight House.
Expanding our networking to local colleges, specifically their environmental groups, professors teaching courses in environmental science, and administrative staff who control the college's energy systems.
Meeting with Iowa and Illinois state legislatures and federal representatives and meeting with volunteers from specific districts to join us when we meet with congresspersons. We will listen and share our concerns about environmental issues.

Join us for this planning meeting!

Shirley Johnson
uffdauffda@hughes.net

Save the Date: Toast the Resistance!

1/28/2019

Save the Date: Toast the Resistance
Saturday, February 23, 2019 4:30 - 6:30 pm

the Key
Union Arcade Building
229 Brady Street
Davenport IA (map)

PACG Message to Our Membership

The year has gotten off to a great start with PACG being active in many progressive issues!

I want you to know how much we appreciate your involvement in our endeavors and invite you to an event on February 23rd!

We will be holding our 2nd Annual "Toast the Resistance" party at one of Davenport's newest restaurants: The Key, in the Union Arcade building from 4:30 to 6:30. This is not only a celebration of all that "the Resistance" has been able to accomplish since 2017, but acts as a membership drive and member appreciation event as well.

We have lots of fun things planned, and I challenge each of you to bring one new potential PACG member to the event. Our causes can be aided by numbers!

Look for more details in future weekly email updates as well as on social media, but for now, SAVE THE DATE: February 23rd, from 4:30 - 6:30. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Allison Ambrose
PACG Board President

Event UPDATE - Dinner Location Change

1/23/2019

PACG Out & About - Movie and Dinner
Thursday, January 24th

Dinner at 6:00 pm
Movie at 7:30 pm

Civil Rights Forum and Book Club Invite You to a PACG Out & About Event

Dinner - Zeke's Island Cafe at 6:00 pm
1509 N Harrison St, Davenport IA (map)

Movie - St. Ambrose Rogalski Center at 7:30 pm (map)
W High Street, Davenport

The PACG Book Club and Civil Rights Forum invite you to join us for the movie, The Hate U Give, at 7:30 pm at the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose. Before the movie some of us will go out to dinner. Unfortunately, our original restaurant choice, The Olive Tree Cafe in Davenport, is closed for renovations.

Instead we will meet at 6 pm at Zeke's Island Cafe. The address is 1509 N Harrison St in Davenport.

Join the PACG Out & About Facebook group, where you can sign up to go. But your can come even if you are not on Facebook.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate! See you at dinner and the movie!
Alta Price

Email Comments to the EPA

1/21/2019

Stop the Rollback of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
The Comment Period Ends Friday, February 22nd
From the Environmental PACG Forum

Please visit the Sierra Club Advocate Group Campaign Website to send a quick email now!

On December 27, 2018 the EPA proposed a rollback to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) that require coal-burning power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) like arsenic.

The new proposal’s bottom line: Regulating HAP from power plants under the Clean Air Act is no longer “appropriate and necessary.” It’s just too costly.

According to EPA Acting Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, it’s just not right to count the cumulative health benefits of regulating mercury and HAP emissions from power plants. The annual cost to comply with MATS is $7.4 to $9.6 billion.

EPA estimated annual health benefits from MATS range from $37 billion to $90 billion and include: preventing up to 11,000 premature deaths and more than 100,000 asthma and heart attacks; a decrease in 5,700 emergency room visits; and, over 3 million days of restricted activity each year would be prevented. The quantifiable benefit of rollbacking MATS will benefit industry $4 to $6 million annually.

Read more from the current EPA here.

If you are concerned about the health impact of mercury and toxic pollutants on you and your family, it is critical that you let EPA know that they must not weaken the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Take Action:

EPA will accept written comments for 60 days (from 12/27/2018).

Unfortunately, this docket, (EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0794) is not posted on the regulations.gov website to accept comments as it should be. The government shutdown may have interrupted this process.

You can join the Sierra Club campaign to “Protect Our Air From Toxic Mercury!” here. They have a message ready to be submitted to Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. All you need to do is add your name to it. Please do so as soon as possible.

Susan Leuthauser
swleuthauser@gmail.com

Government Shutdown Is Unacceptable!

1/21/2019

Call NOW (and Daily) to ReOpen the Government

PACG Board President

Call the White House and Your U.S. Legislators TODAY! Demand that they think of all the people who are not receiving their paychecks and open the government ASAP!

White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111
U.S. Senate Switchboard: 202-224-3121
U.S. House of Representatives Switchboard: 202-224-1904

Allison Ambrose,
PACG Board President

January 2019 PACG Out and About MLK/Civil Rights Week

1/18/2019

Join PACG Out and About group at St. Ambrose University's Civil Rights Week

St. Ambrose University
2019 Civil Rights Celebration Schedule
St. Ambrose Events (except where denoted *)
Use #SAUCivilRights all week!

Weekend of Reflection and Community Support
Monday, January 21st
9:00 am – 2:00 pm **PACG will have a table at this event**

Martin Luther King Service and Project “FROM WHENCE WE CAME, a celebration of civil rights history.” Service Project goes from 8:00 a.m. – 5 p.m. at KWQC, 805 Brady St. At Sacred Heart Cathedral, a Civil Rights History display opens at 9 am. The Unity Service begins at 11 a.m. followed by a free lunch. Sponsored by P.U.N.C.H, Friends of MLK, and Sacred Heart Cathedral at 422 E. 10th St., Davenport, IA 52803

10:30am - Noon

36th annual MLK Jr. Memorial Service & Awards "Accepting evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
Martin Luther King Center at 630 -9th Street, Rock Island, IL.

Monday, January 21st - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
St. Ambrose University will be closed in observance of the holiday. We invite students, faculty and staff to honor this day by attending weekend or Monday events, and listening to the KALA airing.

KALA Radio 88.5 FM airing of ‘From Atlanta to the Mountain Top’
Noon – 3:00 p.m. - Listen at 88.5 FM or at 106.1 FM; go to www.sau.edu/kala to listen online; or download KALA’s new mobile app(see website for directions).

Tuesday, January 22nd
March to Remember: Silent March – Christ The King Chapel
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Join the St. Ambrose community as we participate in a silent march to commemorate the Civil Rights Movement,
reflect on its impact, and consider what those efforts mean for us today. This year we will meet in the gathering space of Christ the King Chapel to begin our march. From there we will commence our march to Marquette Street, commemorated by the City of Davenport as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Alumni Thomas Mason will share some insights regarding the process for recognizing that designation through the sign project. We will return to campus where participants are invited to join us for hot chocolate and the unveiling of the Hands that Help canvas in the Food Court area of The Rogalski Center.

LGBTQ Laws, Support, & Accountability – Ambrose Hall BeeHive
7:00 –8:30 p.m.
Ric Tennenbaum of Iowa Safe Schools will discuss law that protect LGBTQ folks in Iowa. She’ll discuss the importance and limits of these legal protections, and then consider what we can do in our everyday lives to show up for LGBTQ people. Session will be interactive and very informative.

Wednesday, January 23rd
Courageous Conversations – Rogalski Center - Gottlieb Conference Center
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Courageous conversations are dialogues in which participants commit to engage each other with honesty, open-
mindedness, and vulnerability. This will be an opportunity for members of St. Ambrose and the community to listen deeply to better understand each other’s perspective when it comes to race. Facilitated by: Latrice Lacey, Director of Davenport Civil Rights Commission, and Jennifer Boedeker, Director of Field Education at St. Ambrose School of Social Work. The Kokjohn Fund supports this event as an example of critical reflection and dialogue, which is a core aspect of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Overcoming Bias through Agility – Rogalski Center – Third Floor Ballroom
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Spark Creative will lead a series of research-based (but still fun!) interactive exercises and debriefs to help us enhance agility in our communications and relationships. We will learn skills to help bring about positive change in others and ourselves. These skills are helpful as we face conversations around race/gender and, also, beneficial in nearly all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Participation is limited, RSVP to diversity@sau.edu required.

Civil Rights and Human Liberties Mass – Christ the King Chapel
9:15 pm
Fr. Thom Hennen and the Campus Ministry staff will highlight the legacy of civil rights and human liberties work
during the weekly student mass. Prayers used will be from the "Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice" that evening. All are welcome.

Thursday, January 24th
Survivor Voices – Ambrose Hall BeeHive
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Survivors of trafficking and other forms of violence and their allies will read poetry to raise their voices against
violence. Sponsored by SAU SAAT, Triota, WGS, Family Resources Survivor Services , Braking Traffik, and the Midwest Writing Center. Ryan Collins of the Midwest Writing Center will MC the event and advocates from SAAT and Braking Traffik will have a resource table with more information about counseling, prevention, legislative advocacy, and volunteer opportunities to help our community stand together against violence and to support human rights in our world. For more information, or to volunteer as a reader, please contact saat@sau.edu.

Community Service Project – River Bend Food Bank *
3:15 – 5:45 pm
Students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in a service project at the River Bend Food Bank warehouse,
where food is received and distributed to food pantries in 26 Iowa and Illinois counties. We will sort donated items, and pack backpacks with food for school children to take home on weekends via the “Backpack Program.”Carpool transportation will be provided; if you can help driving others, please let us know when you register. Please gather in the Rogalski Center foyer at 3:15 that day. Pre-registration is asked of volunteers, please email Kaitlin Bormann at bormannkaitlina@sau.edu by January 23rd to register.

Typecast Exhibit – Morrissey Gallery in Galvin Fine Arts Center
4:00 – 7:00 pm
Join artist Ben Blount as he discusses the exhibit entitled “Typecast”. Blount’s work explores questions of race and
identity and the stories we tell ourselves about living in America. Truth tellers and rabble rousers in all areas of popular culture inspire his work--from Dave Chapelle and Kara Walker to Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Amos Kennedy. This exhibit will be in the Morrissey Gallery from January 14th - March 2nd. It is free and open to the public.

Movie “The Hate U Give” – Rogalski Center Ballroom (map) 7:30 pm
**PACG Out and About will be gathering at 6:00 pm at Zeek's Island Cafe, 1509 N Harrison St, Davenport IA (map) and then going to the movie together. If you can't join us for dinner, we hope to see you at the movie!**
7:30 –9:00 pm (movie)
Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right. Written by Twentieth Century Fox. All are welcome.

Saturday, January 26th
Race: Are We So Different? - Putnam Museum *
10:00 – 11:30 am
Diversity at St. Ambrose will sponsor a limited number of students and employees to attend the traveling exhibit on
Race. This exhibit aims to help visitors of all ages better understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life by investigating race and challenging its misconceptions through the framework of science. This insightful and impactful exhibit examines the history of the idea of race and looks at the experience of race in the United States with respect to housing, education and health. The exhibit is open to the public. --St. Ambrose students and employees wanting to attend as a group must, RSVP to diversity@sau.edu.

For more information e-mail us at diversity@sau.edu or follow us on Twitter @saudiversity.
Be sure to use #SAUCivilRights all week!

Immigration

1/15/2019

Let's Talk About Migrants at the Border

The Sanctuary Project of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities
3707 Eastern Ave, Davenport, IA 52807 (map)

Please join us for this enlightening discussion of why the migrants are leaving their countries, what are the causes of the problems in their countries, and what is happening at the border. Speakers are Dr. Peter Kivisto from Augustana College and Jody Mashek from American Friends Service Committee. This event is sponsored by The Sanctuary Project of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities.

John Dunsheath
j.dunsheath@aol.com

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A Message from the Health Care Reform Forum

1/14/2019

Have You Contacted Your Senators Lately About the ACA?

A month ago, we were all alarmed about a Texas judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. He ruled that, since the requirement for all to carry health insurance was eliminated in the 2018 tax law, the entire Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. If upheld, his ruling would strip away quality, affordable health insurance from millions of Americans, including protection for over 133 million Americans from losing coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Fortunately that ruling was widely criticized as faulty, or even frivolous, and Attorneys General of 17 states, including Illinois AG Lisa Madigan, have challenged the ruling in court. This and other legal appeals insure that the ACA benefits will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. So for now at least, the over 8.4 million Americans who signed up for insurance in 2019 on the ACA marketplaces will continue to have the security of good health insurance.

The midterm elections changed the political dynamics in the House of Representatives, and the new membership has already begun to take actions to support the ACA and to address the issue of the rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs. The majority in the new House has formally authorized attorneys to join those who are challenging the ruling of the Texas judge, and this past week 235 members voted to support the ACA protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

We recognize that actions by the people’s House will probably be buried in the Senate and/or be vetoed by the President, but they will send an important message to all legislators, and to the public, that quality, affordable health insurance is supported by most Americans.

Our forum will continue to monitor developments in health care and inform you of actions you can take to support positive reform proposals. In the meantime, continue to contact your legislators and urge them again to recognize the popular support for quality, affordable health care, including coverage for pre-existing conditions, and to add their voices and votes to legislation that moves toward the goal of effective, accessible, affordable health care for all Americans.

Thank you for all you have done—and keep up the good work!

Frank Samuelson,
Health Care Reform Forum
cfsam22@gmail.com

Register Now for January 22, 2019 Drug Policy Lobby Day in Des Moines!

1/8/2019

Register Now for January 22nd (Tuesday) Drug Policy Lobby Day in Des Moines!

***Event Postponed Due to Weather**** STAY TUNED FOR THE RESCHEDULED DATE

Advocates, please join us in Des Moines for a Day on the Hill.

We will be joining other drug policy related groups, CHAIN, Iowa One, Iowa Harm Reduction and others...

The focus of our forum will be:
- Expanding qualifying conditions of medical cannabis
- Raising the 3% cap to an actual therapeutic level
- Advocating for the decriminalization of cannabis

If you or someone you know would benefit from medical cannabis, or are passionate about pushing for the decriminalization of cannabis in Iowa, Please REGISTER at the link provided (ASAP) so we can organize our transportation. We will be departing Davenport at 10:30 am and returning immediately after the event.

Questions? Contact Caroline: carolina1961@gmail.com or 563.362.8113
Thanks for all you do!

REGISTER HERE

Caroline Vernon