PeoriaStory

Wacky evaluation for Wacky Wednesdays

PEORIA -- So Peoria School District 150 paid a Bradly University prof $1,500 to evaluate its 'Wacky Wednesdays' program wherein middle school children are released early on some Wednesday afternoons so the teachers can experience 'professional development.'

First, read the Peoria Journal Story on the evaluation. Be sure to read the comments, as well.

Then consider: this study is so badly flawed it would never be published in a reputable journal. It's basically anecdotal, and tells the taxpayers and the school administrators little or nothing of value.

The statements of the teachers in the newspaper story and their comments are at least first hand quotations, based on their experiences. They agree, WW is worthless. Not what District 150 wants to hear.

But back to the study itself. Here's the huge question -- why would a Bradley prof who presumably knows better participate in such a flawed study?

He used a non representative sample, which was not random, and basically selected for his convenience.

Good thing medical studies aren't done this way (we hope) or we would all be dead by now from flawed medications or procedures.

Not every teacher had an equal chance to participate in the interviews, which were amazingly, conducted in front of their colleagues and bosses!

Now there's a great way to find out the truth!

The WW study also omits vital information: a look at the social implications of this released time. Are these children, perhaps left on their own, getting into trouble?

Did anyone talk to the police, or pull the police reports on these dates to see if juvenile crime increases? Does vandalism and crime go up? "We see it in our neighborhood," one person who is critical of the WW plan told me. That's anecdotal, though.

And what about attendance on these Wednesdays? Many parents apparently find it easier to keep the kids home than deal with a split school day.

How much does District 150 lose in state funds, based on attendance, because of the flawed WW plan? Now that would be an interesting figure for the prof to reveal.

So taxpayers are ripped off again, $1,500 for a worthless study, somehow appropriate for a worthless Wacky Wednesdays plan that likely is helping to push District 150 down the drain.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Commanday to lead new classical music group

PEORIA -- The Heartland Festival Orchestra has organized, with former Peoria
Symphony Orchestra music director David Commanday as its leader.

The Journal Star has the story, including the first soloist, the great pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi.

Commanday has the contacts to bring in the best.

And there's more. The group behind this new orchestra envisions something that may save classical music for the future. It will involve only highly skilled musicians, along with multi-media events and innovative programming.

Heartland initially wanted to use Northwoods Community Church as a venue for the performances. That auditorium has a good multi-media setup, an organizer said.

But that idea fell through -- wonder why! (Hint -- keep asking!)

So Heartland found a new venue, at least for the first performance on Aug. 28, Five Points Center in nearby Washington. With Antonio Pompa-Baldi. For only $27.

Using community facilities cuts the high cost of the Peoria Civic Center, which arts groups have complained about.

Heartland also will be less expensive than the pricey Peoria Symphony, and more exciting and new. Though the Heartland organizers deny it, the new Festival Orchestra most likely will compete with the Peoria Symphony for audience members and support.

The Peoria Symphony board fired Commanday last winter even though more than 900 people signed petitions asking the board to keep him. For details see stories under Peoria Symphony category.

Who knew classical music could be so dramatic!

So -- goodbye to our great but expensive center seats tied to our season tickets to the Peoria Symphony. Someone else can stumble over the other audience members in the CC theater with no center isle. Goodbye to parking expenses, too. We'll be attending Commanday's group.

-- Elaine Hopkins

HOI Fair includes exploited animals

PEORIA -- Here's a post from Monica Ball, an animal advocate:

Thankfully, this year’s HOI Fair (July 10-18 at Expo Gardens) will NOT include the elephant and tiger exhibit that we protested against last year!

However, Woody’s Menagerie will be at the fair this year. From their website http://www.woodysmenagerie.com/index.php?pg=welcome , it’s obvious they are just profiting off of the animals, most likely breeding them, since they have lion and liger cubs in most photos.

Ligers are a cross between a lion and tiger which doesn’t happen in the wild and serves no educational or conservation purpose but is done because people will pay to see ligers.

They certainly are not acting in the animals’ best interests.

I won’t be scheduling a protest, but I encourage anyone interested to write a letter to the editor (forum@pjstar.com) and the HOI Fair board (expo@mtco.com) urging them not to include any wild animal acts in future years because they are simply a form of animal mistreatment for profit.

For more information on why these types of traveling exhibits are bad for animals, visit www.wildlifepimps.com.

Back from travel and domesticity, sort of...

PEORIA -- Ten days of travel and interaction with a visiting 7-year-old has left no time to blog. Until now.

(Kids are great but they are a lot of work. They like to eat, and home cooked meals are best for them. No more frozen dinners for a while.)

This evening, July 5, a full moon graced one of Peoria's under-praised attractions -- the Peoria Municipal Band concert at Glen Oak Park. We took a picnic supper and enjoyed the lawn, the band, the nearby playground and the moon -- an experience that somewhat rivaled Ravinia near Chicago.

The band sounded terrific, as usual. The moon was spectacular. The 7-year-old had to be bribed away from the playground with a dessert treat from the concession stand.

Large signs at Glen Oak Park screamed "no alcohol" in the park. Luckily we forgot the bottle of wine at hone.

Nobody set up elegant tables on the lawn, a la Ravinia. We packed sandwiches in a cooler and carried in lawn chairs and a quilt to sit on.

But the event was free, versus substantial sums at Ravinia. At last, something fun and free from our city taxes.

Full moon July 5 at Glen Oak Park Bandshell.

The recent travel, to collect the 7-year-old, also was enlightening. One stop was at the Morton Arborteum, outside Chicago on U.S. Route 53. That's a wonderful place with a new children's garden that features real wading ponds and tree houses to climb into.

If there's a kid in your life, go this summer.

We also stopped for a couple of days in Bar Harbor, Maine -- a beautiful resort town at Acadia National Park, a gem of a place with a sandy, rocky beach, Cadillac Mountain, named for the founder of Detroit, wildlife including a convenient-to-the-road beaver pond, as well as brick carriage roads to hike and bike on.

It's loaded with history and somewhat redeems the wealthy in the US. Around the turn of the 20th century the Gilded Age robber barons so enjoyed this place they began buying the property and gave it to the US for a national park.

So what have the recently rich done for the US? Not much comes to mind. But here is an article about today's rich that will frighten and infuriate you -- about how Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, not only engineered last year's oil crisis by speculating in oil as a commodity, it has ripped off the taxpayers for bailouts and now plans to rape the cap-and-trade program designed to cut back on greenhouse gases.

And Goldman Sachs former executives run the government under Obama, protecting their friends in that company as if they still worked there. (Obama, are you listening? Do you care?)

The piece is called "The Great American Bubble Machine" by Matt Taibbi, and it's in Rolling Stone.

Here's a link to some of the article. It's not completely on the web yet, but likely will be soon. Read it all if you can, and weep for our nation and our 7-year-olds, as their future is at risk!

-- Elaine Hopkins

7/6/09: Also check out this link, another story by Taibbi on Goldman Sachs.

7/10/09: Comment by Rebecca Carey: I enjoyed reading about the band concert at Glen Oak. I pretty much grew up in Glen Oak, and we spent a number of Sunday evenings at the Band Shell by the Pavillion. Back before anybody had residential AC. Sometimes when the wind was right, we could actually hear part of the concert all the way down to Park & Monroe. Sometimes we could hear the lions at night at the zoo.

I love the amphitheater at night. I did Cat on the Oregon Trail in Children's Community Theater circa 1965. Under cover of darkness all of us "Indians" snuck around to the grassy knolls at the back of the amphitheater and then made our entrance through the center of the audience. It was sooooo cool! -30-

Schock hypocrisy

PEORIA -- Here's a tidbit that the Peoria Journal Star likely won't run:

Hypocrisy Schocker: Aaron Schock “Awards” COPS Funding To East Peoria That He Voted Against

Posted by DCCC Press
Jun 24, 2009
In a stunning act of hypocrisy, Congressman Aaron Schock held a press conference with members of the East Peoria Police Department to "award" a $410,000 federal COPS Technology Grant that he voted against on the House floor. During the event, Congressman Schock claimed "here in East Peoria, the police department, they make great investments in their people, and it only makes sense to continue to invest in the technology and tools they have in order to keep the citizens of East Peoria safe and police officers safe in the line of duty."

"Opposing much needed law enforcement funding is bad enough, but it is simply outrageous for Congressman Schock to then hypocritically take credit for securing the very money he voted against," said Gabby Adler, the Midwestern Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Aaron Schock not only misled the people of East Peoria, he lied to the faces of the men and women of the East Peoria Police Department who put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect the community."

The $410,000 COPS Technology Grant for the East Peoria Police Department was requested by former Congressman Ray LaHood, and included in the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill that Aaron Schock voted against. According to local reports, this funding is being used by the East Peoria Police to upgrade their communication capabilities to ensure future interoperability with other area first responders and to upgrade two dozen squad cars with digital in-car camera video systems.

BACKGROUND

Congressman Aaron Schock voted against the final passage of the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill. [HR 1105, Vote #86, 2/25/09]

The FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill included a $410,000 COPS Technology Grant requested by former Congressman Ray LaHood.

Here's the link to the PJStar story.