Wednesday, July 3 |
DHS violating
judge’s order,
AFSCME claims
[JULY 3, 2002]
The Department of Human Services is not following a
judge’s order to inform parents and guardians of residents that they
have a choice about moving family members from the Lincoln
Developmental Center, union officials said today.
|
Dan Senters,
spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, said the state is in "blatant violation" of Judge
Don Behle’s
order that parents must be told there is a chance the embattled
Lincoln facility may not be closed on Sept.1, as Gov. George Ryan
has ordered.
Judge Behle’s ruling,
handed down in Logan County Circuit Court on Monday, blocked DHS
from moving residents out of LDC without their consent until a
permit is issued by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
The board is not expected to announce its decision on the permit
until mid-August.
Behle also ruled that
parents or guardians of residents who have already consented to
leave LDC must be informed of the court’s decision and given a
chance to reconsider.
AFSCME officials said
this morning they have identified three parents or guardians who
were not given that choice or informed of the court’s ruling. They
said Steve Yokich, the attorney who represents AFSCME and other
plaintiffs in the lawsuit, will be conferring with attorneys for the
state of Illinois and with Judge Behle sometime today.
Attorney Steven
Puiszis, attorney for DHS, said at the hearing Monday that parents
and guardians of 51 residents had agreed to have these residents
moved from LDC. According to the ruling, parents and guardians of
all 51 were to be notified before any moves took place.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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About 40 of the
residents are wards of the state and represented by the Office of
the State Guardian, Senters said. He said he expected at least 28 of
them to be moved quickly with the consent of their guardians.
On Monday 18
residents left LDC for other state facilities, Senters said. Three
went to Fox Developmental Center in Dwight, six to Ludeman Center in
Park Forest and nine to Shapiro in Kankakee. Eight or nine more are
scheduled to leave today, and another group is set to leave on
Monday, he said.
The ruling on Monday
was the latest skirmish in the ongoing battle to keep the Lincoln
facility open. In February of this year, Gov. Ryan announced LDC was
to be downsized to 100 residents because of allegations of abuse and
neglect. By that time DHS had already moved about 130 residents to
other facilities.
In March the AFSCME,
parents of an LDC resident and state Sen. Larry Bomke sued for an
injunction to halt the moves until the IHFPB had issued a permit.
Judge Behle granted the first injunction, which the state later
appealed. The 4th District Appellate Court heard the appeal June 26
but has not yet announced its decision.
The city of Lincoln has applied to the
IHFPB for a public hearing to be held in Lincoln before that board
makes its decision whether to allow the state to close LDC, but no
hearing date has as yet been set.
[Joan
Crabb]
|
|
Hot days
ahead?
[JULY
3, 2002]
"With
planting delays due to the wet spring, there is growing concern
about the effects of July’s typically hot weather on crops with less
mature root systems. Hot weather and associated slight drops in
rainfall are more likely to occur in mid-July — almost a 50 percent
higher likelihood than in the first and last week of July," says Jim
Angel, state climatologist with the
Illinois State Water Survey, a
division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
|
Using historical data
across Illinois for July, the number of days at or above 90 F and
the average rainfall total per week are as follows: 1.9 days at or
above 90 F, 0.99 inches rain, June 30-July 6; 2.7 days, 0.80 inches,
July 7-13; 2.8 days, 0.87 inches, July 14-20; 2.1 days, 0.95 inches,
July 21-27; and 1.8 days, 0.78 inches, July 28-Aug. 3.
For Illinois, average
high temperatures in July typically range from 90 in the far south
to 82 in the far northeast, where Lake Michigan has cooling effects.
As a result, days with temperatures 90 or higher are more common in
southern Illinois than in northern Illinois. However, data indicates
the greatest likelihood of hot weather during the three middle weeks
of July, regardless of the location in the state.
Looking across the
state, historical data shows a fairly even distribution of
precipitation throughout July, with some tendency to be drier in the
second week of July. The average amount of rainfall during July is
4.05 inches, says Angel.
[to top of second column in this
article]
|
For June, cool, wet conditions early
in the month were balanced by warm, dry conditions later on. As
a result, June was near average in terms of both temperature and
precipitation. Soil moisture levels were generally adequate,
although the warm, dry weather has dried out the surface layer at
some locations.
The National Weather
Service forecast calls for equal chances of above average, below
average and average temperatures for July. Historical records also
indicate that hot days in June do not necessarily lead to hot
weather in July and August.
"Historical records give us an idea when
heat waves are most likely to occur. Unfortunately, specific heat
waves are hard to predict more than a few days in advance," says
Angel.
[Eva Kingston, editor,
Illinois State Water Survey]
|
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|
Governor
releases fourth accomplishments report
[JULY 3, 2002]
On Monday, Gov. George Ryan
marked the beginning of state government’s new fiscal year with the
release of the fourth edition of "For
The Record: Administrative and Legislative Accomplishments," an
annual review of initiatives, programs and actions undertaken by the
Ryan administration.
|
"A lot has changed in Illinois since I
issued our last accomplishments report. Fiscal Year 2002 turned into
a very difficult year financially for the state. The General
Assembly and I were forced to make hard decisions that scaled back
many programs, laid off workers and closed facilities as a way to
restore order to the budget," Ryan said.
"Nonetheless, state government was
still able to accomplish a lot for the people of Illinois in the
areas of education, economic development, public safety, homeland
security, human services, environmental protection and government
management. Those successes are detailed in this report," the
governor added.
"I am very
proud of what we have been able to do in a year that was marked with
uncertainty due to the budget. I am very proud of the thousands of
state employees who are dedicated to serving the people of our great
state."
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
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