Blog Posts - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

"The Country We Have" Podcast - No Hate

11/30/2021

NPR: “Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Country We Have”

From the podcast description at NPR: “Is history always political? Who gets to decide? What happens when you challenge common narratives? In this episode, [NPR's] Throughline's Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei explore these questions with Nikole Hannah-Jones, an investigative journalist at the New York Times and the creator of the 1619 Project, which is set to be released as a book later this year.”

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1056618320/nikole-hannah-jones-and-the-country-we-have

Julie Ross

World Soil Day - Environmental Monthly Celebration

11/28/2021

World Soil Day - Sunday, December 5th
December Environmental Celebration

In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly designated December 5th as World Soil Day to focus on the critical nature of healthy soil, and to advocate for the sustainability in soil management.

Soil is an important ecosystem that contributes to human health. It is a habitat for many species, and combats climate change by storing carbon. Currently one third of global soils are damaged by hazardous waste, pesticides, fertilizers and other debris. Soil pollution is often invisible, but it, nonetheless, degrades soil and poisons our food and water.

Half of the earth’s habitable land is used for agriculture. Practices like diverse crop rotation, nutrient management and conservation tillage help rebuild healthy soil. Successful soil management feeds the soil, reduces erosion, improves soil structure, enhances nutrient cycling and water retention, increases soil biodiversity, and sequesters carbon.

Today, American lawns occupy 30-40 million acres of land. Lawn care adds chemicals to the soil, and fuel spilled from lawn equipment further pollutes the soil. Small changes like using organic fertilizer, replacing gas-powered equipment with electric, changing the type of grass, interplanting with clover or native plants, and watering more efficiently, will help regenerate the soil.

Take Action Steps:

If you aren’t doing it, start composting. You don’t need a backyard to do it.

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home or
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-create-and-maintain-indoor-worm-composting-bin

Take care of your lawn in an environmentally friendly way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4r88u8euYU

Susan Leuthauser

"Solomon's Sword" Podcast - No Hate In Our States

11/24/2021

Podcast: “This Land: Episode 1 Solomon's Sword”

From the Crooked description of the first episode: “ALM – as referred to in court documents – is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. So they sued.”

Listen here: https://crooked.com/podcast/1-solomons-sword/

Julie Ross

December Green Drinks - PACG Event

11/24/2021

December Green Drinks - Restoration of the River
Tuesday, December 7th at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

Join us on Tuesday, December 7th at 5 pm to find out how to restore the Mississippi River. Olivia Dorothy, Director, Upper Mississippi Basin at American Rivers, is going to talk to us about how floodplain restoration can be used as a tool to remove downstream nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that runs off from agricultural land.

Please register in advance at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcoduGpqTIsH9fD6ssFCjEteY09ZHZ41w6m

Susan Leuthauser

Green is the New Black - What You Can Do Now

11/24/2021

Green Is the New Black

Environmental Forum

We encourage you to re-think your holiday gift-giving spending! Here are some suggestions. And visit https://betterworldshopper.org to learn how to be a more responsible consumer.

Download this flyer below and share it with your family and friends.

Lori McCollum

green_is_the_new_black.pdf
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Action Alert - Petition to Repeal Iowa Voting Restrictions

11/21/2021

Petition to Repeal Iowa's New Restrictive Voting Laws -
Action Alert

petition_to_repeal_new_voter_laws.pdf
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A Message from the President

PACG has joined a coalition of Iowa organizations to support the effort of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, Iowa (LWVJC) to oppose the changes to Iowa's new voting laws (HF413 and SF568). These laws are restrictive and unnecessary. They make it harder to vote! Per the LWV, the restrictions:

Invalidate some mail-in ballots that, even when mailed promptly, cannot be returned before polls close
Impede voting by medical and other workers with 12-hour shifts by closing the polls earlier on primary and general election days
Obstruct returning absentee ballots by limiting the use of ballot drop boxes to one per county, regardless of population, and by unnecessarily restricting who may return absentee ballots
Drastically shorten the early voting period from 29 days to 20 and needlessly limit ballot request periods
Invite interference in our elections by allowing political parties to challenge Iowa elections in court
Limit county auditors’ abilities to adapt to local conditions and criminalize good-faith errors
Provide less time for voter registration and move voters who miss any general election to an “inactive” list

To get an even better understanding of what changed in these new laws, see this PACG blog post.

The list of voting law changes summarized by the Iowa State Association of County Auditors in the flyer below.

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is collecting signatures to oppose these changes from now until December 15th. The goal is to collect thousands of signatures across the state. These signatures will be delivered in person to the Iowa Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, the Speaker of the House and Minority Leader in January of 2022. LWV will host a press conference at that time.

LWVJC is offering both a paper petition or online signature. Here’s more information about the petition:

For further details about the petition, and to sign in online click this link: https://www.lwvia.org/petitions
To sign the online petition without further details, click this link: https://www.lwvia.org/anti-voter-laws
All signees must be Iowa residents, at least 18 years old and eligible to vote. However, a signee does not have to be registered to vote.
Paper copies of the petition can be printed from pdf we have attached above. Susan Leuthauser will pick up your signed petition or you may mail it to the address below.
Each person can sign only one petition - either online or a paper copy.

If you have visitors from Iowa over the holiday, encourage them to sign the petition. Feel free to forward the online signature link to friends and relatives living across Iowa, and encourage your neighbors and friends to participate in this campaign. Email them this link: https://www.lwvia.org/petitions

Contact Susan Leuthauser (by clicking on her name) with any questions. She will also coordinate the collection of the signed petitions. If you would rather mail your signed petition, send it to:

LWVJC
P.O. Box 5254
Coralville, Iowa 52241

Our growing list of coalition partners for this petition drive includes:

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Common Good Iowa
Sierra Club
Delta Sigma Theta
Episcopal Diocese of Iowa
Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Interfaith Alliance
Des Moines Chapter, The Links, Incorporated
Progressive Action for the Common Good
One Human Family of the QCA
QC Pride, Inc.
Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities

As usual, PACG is proud to be working for the common good in this important way.

Allison Ambrose

iowaelectionlawchanges.pdf
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Black Civil War Veterans Built Iowa - No Hate

11/19/2021

Black Civil War Veterans Built 'Vibrant' Iowa Communities

From Twitter account @BlackIowaNews: “The 1st Colored Regiment of Iowa – aided by Black women – fought in the American Civil War then returned to Iowa to build communities and advance civil rights. Historian Dwain Coleman uncovers little known details about the Black regiment.”

To learn more about this important part of Iowa's history, click this link:
https://blackiowanews.bulletin.com/446451477055610/

Julie Ross

Press Conference Regarding Juvenile Detention Center - Community Event

11/18/2021

CAN Press Conference Regarding Juvenile Detention Center
Sunday, November 21st at 3:00 pm

510 Warren ST
Davenport, IA

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
From: The QC Community Advocacy Network (CAN)
Event: COMMUNITY GROUP HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE NOVEMBER 21 TO VOICE YOUTH
CONCERNS AND CALL FOR COMMUNITY ACTION Contact: Avery Pearl, 563-320-6059
The QC Community Advocacy Network at qccommunityadvocacynetwork@gmail.com

The QC Community Advocacy Network announces a press conference at 3:00 PM, November 21, 2021, at 510 Warren St., Davenport, IA.

Presenters will share vital information addressing:

Expansion of the current Juvenile Detention Center
Disparities in the current Juvenile Justice System
Acquisition of the possible building site and its implications
Flaws in the Youth Assessment Center process
Lack of transparency and community involvement in the Juvenile Detention Center proposal
The Scott County Board of Supervisors refusal to accept professional opinions and best practices
Whether or not this constitutes the best use of Scott County taxpayer dollars for ongoing operating expenses
and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding
These issues concern all citizens because the County’s proposed expansion will require $16.8 million to build, and $1 million in annual operating costs, according to the 2019 plan. These numbers do not represent the current labor and material costs. Scott County supervisors are working around the referendum process by using $10 million in ARPA funding to evade public accountability. We all should ask where they are getting the rest of the money needed for site acquisition and land preparation. This will leave taxpayers saddled with paying an estimated $2 million in annual operating costs without your consent for years to come. You have the right to ask your Scott County supervisors, “Is this the best use of taxpayer dollars & ARPA funds?”

We are asking you to help make a difference by:

Voicing your opinion (in-person or virtually) during the Scott County Supervisors meeting at 9:00 AM, November 22, 2021, 600 W. 4th Street, Board Room, 1st Floor, Administrative Center, Davenport, Iowa
Calling or writing your elected officials and media outlets
Contact the Scott County Board of Supervisors:
** Tell them there is NO legitimate reason to rush this project and the community must be involved in the decision-making process.

Ken Beck (In favor of JDC proposal), Chair, ken.beck@scottcountyiowa.gov
John D. Maxwell (In favor of JDC proposal), Vice-Chair, john.maxwell@scottcountyiowa.gov Ken Croken (In opposition to JDC proposal), ken.croken@scottcountyiowa.gov
Brinson L. Kinzer (In favor of JDC proposal), brinson.kinzer@scottcountyiowa.gov
Tony Knobbe (In favor of JDC proposal), tony.knobbe@scottcountyiowa.gov
Thank you for your time, and together we CAN make a difference!

NAACP Press Conference on Juvenile Detention Center

11/9/2021

NAACP Press Conference on Juvenile Detention Center
Tuesday, November 9th at 10:30 am

Friends of MLK Interpretive Center
501 Brady ST
Davenport, IA 52803 (map)

Civil Rights Forum

On Tuesday, November 9, 2021, Davenport NAACP #4019 will host a press conference at 10:30 a.m. at the Friends of MLK Interpretive Center, 501 Brady St., Davenport, IA, addressing the proposed construction of a new Scott County Youth Detention Center which would triple the current capacity of 14 beds to a potential 60 beds.

NAACP President Mike Guster will be joined by Betty C. Andrews, President of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP State Area Conference of Branches and founder of the Iowa Summit on Justice & Disparities (www.IowaJusticeSummit.org); and Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul – Samad and other community leaders.

Please plan to attend if you are available. Thanks!

Julie Ross

No Hate - Prejudice and Indigenous Women

11/8/2021

How prejudice affects the cases of missing Indigenous women

PBS Newshour

From the Newshour description from 9/27/2021:

“While Gabby Petito's death has captured national attention, tens of thousands of people are reported missing or murdered every year in the U.S. Native women are murdered at rates 10 times the national average. In Wyoming alone, 710 indigenous people were reported missing from 2011 to 2020. Amna Nawaz discusses those statistics with Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute”.

Watch or read the transcript via this link: https://www.pbs.org/video/unsolved-crimes-1632779487/

Julie Ross