Blog Archives - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

" This Criminal " Podcast - No Hate In Our States

8/31/2021

Podcast: “If It Ever Happens, Run.”

From the podcast description at This Criminal: “What I recall most is the way that she grabbed my wrist and, shaking a bit, she said over and over again, ‘If it happens, run. Don’t let that happen to you. Run. If it ever happens, run.'

"It was years before Cynthia Brown understood what her great-grandmother, Athalia Howe, was talking about.

"Athalia Howe grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 1890s. At the time, Wilmington was called 'the freest town in the country' for Black people, and by 1898, Black men had become integral in Wilmington’s government. White Supremacists in the state were determined to stop them, by 'ballot or bullet or both.'"

Listen here: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-158-if-it-ever-happens-run-2-12-21/

Julie Ross

Update Regarding Annual Picnic - Message from the Board

8/31/2021

Picnic and Pie Auction Update - Vaccinations and Masks

A Message from the Board

As you know, the PACG Board has been considering CDC guidance regarding the pandemic when making decisions about how we hold meetings and events. At this time, we believe it is still safe for us to have our Picnic and Pie Auction out-of-doors, as planned. However, the severity of the Delta Covid variant has left us in unique and uncertain times. As a result of our desire to protect the most vulnerable of our members, the Board has decided unanimously that vaccinations will be required to attend this year's picnic.

Dr. Alta Price, M.D., recently spoke to the Scott County Health Department about our Picnic & Pie Auction plans. She described our situation and told them that we are requiring attendees to be vaccinated. Given the size of the event and that it is out-of-doors, they were not concerned about viral transmission. Although they haven’t had problems locally with events such as ours, they said that outdoor transmission of the Delta variant is possible in prolonged, crowded, large events, such as concerts.

For those who are concerned, we encourage you to wear a mask and bring a chair to use for increased social distancing. Removing your mask to eat may not feel safe to some attendees, so consider bringing a food container to take your meal home to eat later.

We believe this is the correct - albeit conservative - decision, and will allow those in attendance an extra level of reassurance. Thank you for your understanding.

Changes to Zoom Platform - Message from the Board

8/31/2021

Important Information Regarding Zoom

A Message from the Board

Many of you know that when the pandemic began, PACG bought Zoom licenses for several other progressive organizations in our community who are doing important work. Zoom continues to be a vital means for communication and coordination for us. Did you know that they have recently made important changes to their platform? If you have one of our Zoom licenses (or your own), you will have received an email this week explaining the changes.

The email reads:

Beginning November 1, 2021, customers will be required to update their Zoom software to ensure it is no more than nine months behind the current version, at any given time. From that point on, users will be prompted to update their software when using the platform should their version fall behind this nine-month window. For example, if on November 1st the latest version of the Zoom Client was released in September 2021, customers who try to access Zoom services with a version prior to January 2021 will be prompted to update to a more recent version in order to access the platform.

This change is in line with industry practices and designed to help ensure that Zoom users receive the latest Zoom features, as well as any privacy and security enhancements we make to the platform. To prepare for the new schedule, we recommend customers update to the latest release supported by their organization or at minimum software version 5.5.0, prior to November 1st. Starting in September, we will introduce a prompted update to help customers update to the latest version of the Zoom client. If you have prompted updates turned off for your organization, you will not see the prompt.

As always, we recommend you regularly download and update to the latest version of the Zoom software by checking for updates within the Zoom client or by navigating to zoom.us/download to take advantage of all our latest security and functionality features.

This policy will affect:

Zoom Client: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android (5.5.0)
Zoom Rooms (5.5.0)
Zoom Rooms Controller (5.5.0)
Zoom Phone Appliances (5.6.0)
Outlook Plug-in (5.5.1)
Browser Scheduler Extensions for Chrome (1.6.3) & Firefox (2.1.13)
VDI Client (5.5.0)
Virtual Room Connector (4.4.6)
Meetings Connector (4.6.3)
Recording Connector (3.8.41)
Client SDK (5.5.0)

Please note that while the minimum Zoom Client software version required for this schedule is 5.5.0, we may require additional updates outside of this release window to address larger security or compliance features. We always encourage customers to look at our release notes for any included security enhancements.

We will continue to share reminders and additional information as we approach the implementation of this policy. Thank you for your partnership as we continually work to make our platform more secure and deliver a better experience for our customers. Please feel free to reach out to the Zoom Support Team if you have any additional questions or need assistance to update your organization.

Team Zoom

It's imperative that you know how to update your Zoom application and keep it up-to-date. If you are in need of assistance, please contact our Office Manager. Thank you.

Allison Ambrose

World Clean Up Day - September Environmental Celebration

8/31/2021

World Clean Up Day - September Environmental Celebration
Saturday, September 18th

Environmental Forum

World Clean Up Day is an annual global social action program aimed at combating solid waste and marine debris. Since the origin of this event in 2008, 180 countries and over 50 million volunteers have participated in clean up events. There is beauty in cooperation and collaboration, and by the simple act of cleaning, we can bind groups together throughout the planet. There are a number of local clean up events happening throughout the year, many of them organized by Xtreme Clean-up, through each city’s park services, or by state or county parks. What if everyone picked up one bag of litter? It doesn’t have to be an organized event. You can participate in an informal clean up yourself, or with family or friends. In these days of COVID, it’s a perfect activity to do with your own safe pod of people.

Take Action Steps:

You can participate by joining this mission through their website: www.worldcleanupday.us, and register for an individual or public clean up event, or find a registered clean up near you.
Additionally, upcoming Xtreme clean-up events can be found here http://www.xstreamcleanup.org/upcoming-events.
And, the Waste Commission of Scott County’s environmental outreach program, iLivehereqc.org, offers clean up supplies for FREE to anyone that would like to do a clean up in their community. Get more information at https://www.ilivehereqc.org/. They request that participants send in results after their clean up which can be submitted through the website: https://www.ilivehereqc.org/Cleanup-Events/Report-Results.aspx.

'Light-Skinned Privilege' - No Hate In Our States

8/24/2021

"What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition"

No Hate In Our States

From the NPR description of this podcast: “Maria Garcia and Maria Hinojosa are both Mexican American, both mestiza, and both relatively light-skinned. But Maria Hinojosa strongly identifies as a woman of color, whereas Maria Garcia has stopped doing so. So in this episode, we're asking: How did they arrive at such different places? To find out, listen to our latest installment in this series about what it means to be Latino.“

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/21/1008735322/what-does-it-mean-to-be-latino-the-light-skinned-privilege-edition

Julie Ross

September Green Drinks - Take CAARE

8/24/2021

September Green Drinks
Tuesday, September 7th at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

Join us on Tuesday, September 7th from 5 to 7 pm and learn about the Conservation Program at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. Jared McGovern, Curator of the Conservation Program, will introduce us to his new Take Conservation Action through Advocacy, Research and Engagement (CAARE) initiatives.

Please register for September Green Drinks

Susan Leuthauser

Picnic Update - A Message from the Board

8/24/2021

Picnic Update - Sunday, September 12th at noon

A Message from the Board of Directors

As you know, the PACG Board has been considering CDC guidance regarding the pandemic when making decisions about how we hold meetings and events. At this time, we believe it is still safe for us to have our Picnic and Pie Auction out-of-doors, as planned. However, the severity of the Delta Covid variant has left us in unique and uncertain times. As a result of our desire to protect the most vulnerable of our members, the Board has decided unanimously that vaccinations will be required to attend this year's picnic. We believe this is the correct - albeit conservative - decision, and will allow those in attendance an extra level of reassurance. Thank you for your understanding.

Allison Ambrose

Recycling Centers Closing in Rock Island

8/17/2021

Closing of the Rock Island County Recycling Centers
Tuesdays, August 17th and
September 21st at 1:00 pm

1504 3rd Avenue
Rock Island, IL Room 320 (map)

Environmental Forum

News Release: Appeal to Rock Island County Waste Management Agency to keep drop-off sites.

Attend August and September Board meetings to share your concerns.

(Rock Island, IL) – Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) announces a call to action in response to the closure of recycling drop-off centers!

Please join PACG representatives in attending the Rock Island County Waste Management Agency (RICWMA) Board meetings on both Tuesday, August 17th and Tuesday, September 21st at 1:00 pm at the Rock Island County Office Building at 1504 3rd Avenue, Room 302, Rock Island, IL 61201.

The RICWMA Board has announced that they are closing the recycling drop-off centers on September 30th. Their press release, reported by the QC Times and Argus/Dispatch on July 8th, stated that this decision was based on a budgetary shortfall due to decreased revenue in solid waste tonnage attributed to businesses being closed during the pandemic. They did not explain why other options were not pursued, nor did they obtain public input for this decision.

Many Rock Island County residents have no curbside recycling option, and discontinuing this program will create a massive increase in waste sent to our county landfill. A great deal of the material will include plastics, which do not degrade for hundreds of years. This is not an equitable arrangement for the county’s citizens, and we would like them to explore alternative solutions. If you share these concerns, please join PACG in asking the RICWMA Board to reconsider this plan.

Shirley Johnson

Inequality in Evictions - No Hate In Our States

8/10/2021

Inequality in Evictions
Online

NPR Report: “Corporate Landlord Evicts Black Renters At Far Higher Rates Than Whites, Report Finds”

Listen here: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/03/1001404416/corporate-landlord-evicts-black-renters-at-far-higher-rates-than-whites-report-f

Julie Ross

Register for Our Picnic and Pie Auction! - WYCDN

8/3/2021

Register Now for Our
9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction
Sunday, September 12th at 12:00 noon

Fejervary Park (Shelter # 1)
1800 W. 12th St.
Davenport, Iowa (map)

We are back LIVE for our Annual Picnic and Pie Auction with some exciting new, family-friendly activities in the works!

Please register here: https://pacg.app.neoncrm.com/event.jsp?event=516&.

Allison Ambrose