Category Archives: Local Events

Your Second Priority

Posted on September 10, 2005 by Trish Nelson

Your Second Priority

NicholasJohnson.org

Nick Johnson (pictured above) was formerly an FCC Commissioner and Iowa City School Board member and now teaches at the University of Iowa College of Law.  These are his remarks to the Iowa City Federation of Labor Labor Day Picnic, September 5, 2005


“Whatever is your first priority, your second priority has to be media reform.”

I've been saying that to gatherings of labor, and other progressive organizations, for 40 years now.

Your first priority may be a fairer shake for labor. Healthcare for Iowans. Rights for women and minorities. Improvements in local schools, or the environment. Electing your candidates to public office.

Whatever is your first priority, you have little hope of making any progress with it if you can't get media coverage – fair and favorable media coverage.

For no group is this more true than for labor.

“Yeah, so what else is new?” I hear you say.

I'll tell you what's new.

For the first time in the history of Iowa, so far as I know, two currently sitting commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission – Michael Copps and Jon Adelstein – are coming to Iowa City because they want to hear from you.

The national organization Free Press is seeing to it that Wednesday, October 5th, a month from today, probably at the IMU, hundreds of Iowans will be coming forward to tell the FCC what they think about our local media.

There are petitions that give you a chance to participate. The petitions ask the FCC to at least hold hearings before automatically granting license renewals to Iowa's television stations.

All those Iowa stations have to file for renewal by October 1st. If their licenses are renewed they will be able to keep up what they've been doing for another 8 years.

Meanwhile, a local group called Iowans for Better Local Television,  and anyone else in the state, has from now until the end of December to get comments and petitions to the Commission. IBLTV's Web site actually lets you sign the petition online.

So why should labor care?

You can probably answer that better than I.

 – When did you last see a documentary favorable to organized labor on local television?


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Posted in Calls to Action, How You Can Help, Iowa in the News, Jobs, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Media Bias, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Your Second Priority

Reminder: DFA/DFIA Statewide Meeting This Saturday, September 10

Posted on September 6, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Reminder: DFA/DFIA Statewide Meeting This Saturday, September 10 September 10 Iowa Room, Iowa Memorial Union Iowa City Iowa 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This will be the first such statewide DFA meeting for Iowa.  At this meeting we will: – Have direct … Continue reading →

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Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Jim Hughes

Posted on September 5, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

Honoring Those Who Go Before Us: Jim Hughes – December 6, 1935

by Caroline Vernon

Jim said, “I made a commitment to myself and the world that if I was ever able to get out of that chair, I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping those who are less fortunate than I had been in my life.”

On December 6, 1935, Jim Hughes was born the youngest son of a union carpenter in Montgomery County, Illinois.

Upon graduating from high school in 1953, most of Jim’s former classmates were drafted into the service. Jim himself received orders to report 6 different times before finally receiving notification that he had been wrongly classified, 3 months prior to his 25th birthday. Instead of having a classification of 1A, he should have been classified as 3A, which meant he would only have been called up in the case of a homeland emergency. In the meantime it was difficult to get hired on with a 1A classification because employers knew it wouldn’t be long before workers were required to report for duty.

During the late 50's, early 60's, the economy was shaky and jobs were hard to come by. In the construction and building trades, as an example, you were lucky to accrue 600 hours a year. Jim worked on various union jobs, the first of which was as a laborers local, then he moved over to the Operating Engineers and worked on permit. He later worked for the Boiler Makers Union and the UAW.

By 1965, many of Jim’s friends had returned home from the service and were taking advantage of going to school through the GI bill while he was still bouncing from job to job. By then, Jim had gotten married and had children so it was at that time that he decided to go to St. Louis to work with the Teamsters. Jim stayed with the Teamsters for quite some time before being forced to take an early retirement due to health problems.

The family later moved to the Quad Cities in 1980 and Jim started RDS Walcott, a truck transportation brokerage business.  Jim and his wife Doris, successfully ran this business for many years until selling it in 2000. Jim and Doris had married on March 15, 1963, They have 10 children between them.
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Posted in Corporate Greed, DFQC, Education, Health Care & Medicare, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Jim Hughes

Iowa to Accept Storm Victims

Posted on September 3, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Iowa to Accept Storm Victims by Mike Owen, West Branch, Iowa Iowans should be proud to have Governor Vilsack speaking for them about the state's interest in helping up to 5,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina relocate to our state. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Posts, How You Can Help, Iowa in the News, Jobs, Local Events, Main Page, National News | Comments Off on Iowa to Accept Storm Victims

First DFA/Democracy for Iowa Statewide Meeting September 10

Posted on August 30, 2005 by bfialindathieman

First DFA/Democracy for Iowa Statewide Meeting September 10 by Dennis Roseman, Iowa City DFA Organizer Preliminary Agenda for a Statewide Meeting of Democracy for Iowa September 10 Iowa Room, Iowa Memorial Union Iowa City Iowa 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This will … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, David Loebsack, How You Can Help, Introducing DFIA, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Progressive Community | 3 Comments

IOWA’S NEW BOHEMIA SOLAR PROJECT

Posted on August 28, 2005 by bfiamollyreagan

Iowa's New Bohemia Solar Project by Cliff Day A group of enthusiastic volunteers recently completed installation of the LARGEST PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY EVER CONSTRUCTED IN IOWA (7,200 Watt) in the New Bohemia neighborhood of Cedar Rapids (3rd Street and 10th Avenue … Continue reading →

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LOUISE HARRISON COMES BACK TO IOWA

Posted on August 22, 2005 by bfiamollyreagan

LOUISE HARRISON COMES BACK TO IOWA Ten days ago LOUISE HARRISON, sister of GEORGE HARRISON (above), one of THE BEATLES, was back in Scott County.  She is manager of a great group called LIVERPOOL LEDGENDS. These 4 young men look, … Continue reading →

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Peace Vigil Gets Wide News Coverage; Spin Goes Against Bush

Posted on August 18, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Peace Vigil Gets Wide News Coverage; Spin Goes Against Bush The Iowa Channel almost spins it correctly, calling Cindy Sheehan “Peace Mom.”  That's a far cry better than other media who have been smearing her this past week.    Anti-War … Continue reading →

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Tonight, Vigils for Cindy Sheehan Across Iowa

Posted on August 17, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Tonight, Vigils for Cindy Sheehan Across Iowa It's a coming together of three of the biggest and most active progressive groups in the country.  Democracy for America, MoveOn.org, and TrueMajority are teaming up to sponsor/organize tonight's Vigils for Cindy Sheehan. … Continue reading →

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Iowa State Fair: JOIN ICAN AS A VOLUNTEER IN THE “IOWANS FOR SUSTAINABLE FAMILY FARMS” BOOTH

Posted on August 9, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Iowa State Fair: JOIN ICAN AS A VOLUNTEER IN THE “IOWANS FOR SUSTAINABLE FAMILY FARMS” BOOTH Spend a day at the Iowa State Fair, volunteer for 3 hours in the agriculture building, and get your admission paid for by ICAN. … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, Farming, How You Can Help, Local Events, Main Page, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Iowa State Fair: JOIN ICAN AS A VOLUNTEER IN THE “IOWANS FOR SUSTAINABLE FAMILY FARMS” BOOTH