Aging inmates force death row move; pickup truck funeral; total smoking ban
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from the Midwest.
- By TIM LANDIS The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
- Updated
CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — Forcing high volumes of water through more than 133 miles of pipe in the village of Chatham is not as simple as opening fire hydrants and letting the water roar.
The first system-wide main flushing in recent memory is not likely to end the now years-long debate over the taste, quality and even safety of Chatham water. But the practice of "scouring" water mains and pipes through a systematic, neighborhood-by-neighborhood flushing program has become standard practice for some communities as a way to improve water quality.
Effective programs, according to experts, are designed down to the feet-per-second of water flow.
"If you don't have a clean system, you're going to have water-quality issues," said Amy Barrilleaux, spokeswoman for the Madison Water Utility in Madison, Wisconsin.
The city spends $300,000 a year to flush 900 miles of water lines serving 68,000 customers. The annual flushing program begins in April and typically continues area by area of the city into November.
Madison officials approved the program nearly a decade ago in response to customer complaints of discolored, bad-tasting water resulting from years of sediment buildup. The traditional twice-a-year program of opening hydrants was not sufficient to clean out impurities such as manganese and iron, according to the city. The utility since has won statewide prizes for water quality.
The city also spent $5.3 million on filters specifically designed to remove manganese and iron that were the source of many of the quality complaints. The improvements have been well worth the time and expense by sharply reducing quality complaints, according to the utility.
"Water-main flushing," Barrilleaux said, "is a lot of time and effort."
The Chatham Village Board approved a $2.50-a-month fee for a year to pay the $160,000 cost of flushing water mains. Work began Monday in neighborhoods near Interstate 55 and will move west over the next few weeks. It could take up to two months, according to the village.
Theresa O'Grady compares the process to washing a drinking glass.
"You turn on the faucet higher to get the soap off the sidewall of your glass," said O'Grady, manager of the water resource group in the Aurora office of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly of Springfield.
CMT is the engineering and design firm for the village of Chatham. O'Grady designed the Chatham program using a technique known as "unidirectional" flushing. Rather than simply opening hydrants and letting water flow, unidirectional flushing increases volume and speed by forcing water in one direction. A flow of 5 feet per second is considered the minimum for effective flushing, said O'Grady.
"Back in the day, they would just open up a hydrant as far as it could go and run it a few minutes until the water was clear, and then shut it down," she said. "It was more of a fire hydrant exercising program than it was a flushing program. You didn't really know what results you were getting."
Water flow is monitored and water quality regularly tested with unidirectional flushing, O'Grady explained. She added that a regular main flushing program is now considered a good standard practice.
Aurora flushes one-fourth of its water system each year, so that the entire network is cleaned every four years, O'Grady said.
City Water, Light and Power spokeswoman Amber Sabin said in an email that the Springfield utility regularly flushes its mains.
"CWLP primarily flushes for new water main installations, following repair work and also at dead-end mains to ensure fresh water to those areas" Sabin said. " We also flush mains for testing hydrants and valves. During warm weather, or when water use is low in an area of our system, we sometimes flush to maintain adequate chlorine residuals."
The central Illinois community of Morton switched to unidirectional flushing after years of taste and other quality issues, including periodic boil orders, said Craig Loudermilk, director of public works for the community of 17,000 that's just east of Peoria.
He said Morton has begun replacing aging pipes and water mains at a pace of about a mile a year. The community also is moving toward an annual, community-wide flushing program, he added.
"We're making some modifications and will probably do it annually working with the state EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)," Loudermilk said.
The first week of main flushing in Chatham resulted in a series of boil orders. Village officials also warned customers of discolored water, and not to do dishes or laundry until the water had cleared. The water is considered safe to drink, according to the village, unless there is a boil order.
Critics of Chatham water are skeptical.
"We don't believe it's going to help. The same water that put sediment in there is going to put more sediment in there," said Jewel Brant with the Chatham Water Quality Interest Group.
Members of the group contend problems began with water-plant design flaws and the chemistry of the water when Chatham switched in 2012 from CWLP to the newly created South Sangamon Water Commission.
"The design wasn't ideal from the get-go," Brant said. "This seems more like putting a Band-Aid on it."
Interim Village Administrator Pat McCarthy said complaints were anticipated as the flushing program moved through the community. He also pointed out that the flushing was recommended by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
"Things are going to happen, but every day, you get better at it. You also find out where the weaknesses are (in the system)," McCarthy said. "It's expensive, it's time consuming, and you wish you didn't have to do it."
Plans are to flush the water mains in the first few weeks and then move deeper into neighborhoods, McCarthy said. He added that he expects the village will adopt a more systematic, long-term program once the current flush is complete.
"Once we get our model, I could see us doing it every year and maybe doing just a third of the town," McCarthy said.
___
Source: The (Springfield) State Journal-Register, http://bit.ly/2e5sbOb
___
Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by The (Springfield) State Journal-Register.
- By KYLE POTTER Associated Press
- Updated
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two Minneapolis police officers followed proper procedure in a confrontation that led to the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark in November, and won't face discipline, the city's police chief announced.
Chief Janee Harteau said Friday that an internal investigation found the officers were warranted in using deadly force in the death of the 24-year-old black man.
Clark was shot in the head on Nov. 15 in a confrontation with Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze on the city's north side. His death set off protests that lasted several weeks, including an 18-day encampment around the area's police precinct.
A local prosecutor and the U.S. attorney both declined earlier to charge the officers — both white — in Clark's death, citing conflicting testimony from witnesses.
"These officers did not dictate the outcome of this incident," Harteau said. "I can say with absolute certainty that I support the actions of Officers Ringgenberg and Schwarze the night of Nov. 15."
Some witnesses told police that Clark was handcuffed at the time.
But an investigation by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found that the officers had tried and failed to handcuff Clark, and he was shot in the ensuing confrontation after one of the officers shouted that Clark had his hand on the officer's gun.
Investigators said Ringgenberg wrestled Clark to the ground but wound up on his back atop Clark and felt Clark's hand on his weapon. Schwarze then shot Clark in an encounter that lasted barely a minute.
An attorney for Clark's family said they were anguished and frustrated by the decision.
"To say they couldn't find any policy violation verges on the absurd," said Albert Goins, who represents Clark's sister Tiffany Roberson. He said the family will file a civil lawsuit, but wouldn't say when.
Bob Kroll, the head of the police union, said it was about time the officers were cleared. He noted they have been through nearly a year of investigations and relegated to desk duty.
"It's been devastating for them," he said, adding that he expected them to return to patrols.
Police have said Ringgenberg and Schwarze were responding to a reported assault when they arrived to find Clark interfering with paramedics trying to help the female victim. They said the officers tried to calm him, but a struggle ensued.
In explaining her decision, Harteau cited what she called two key findings by the BCA investigation: That Clark wasn't handcuffed and that his DNA was found on Ringgenberg's holster and gun. She called it a dangerous situation that justified deadly force.
She said Ringgenberg's takedown of Clark after he refused to take his hands out of his pockets was "not a chokehold" and was appropriate as a move to bring Clark to the ground — "the most effective place to gain control of someone."
A separate U.S. Department of Justice inquiry is underway into the city's response to the protests. Demonstrations were largely peaceful, but one on Nov. 18 included skirmishes between officers and protesters that sparked at least one federal lawsuit.
Eight months later, protests were reignited when police fatally shot another black man, Philando Castile, during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. The gruesome aftermath of the shooting was streamed live on Facebook by Castile's girlfriend. Prosecutors are still weighing a decision on whether to charge the officer involved.
___
Associated Press writer Doug Glass contributed.
- By ED WHITE Associated Press
- Updated
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit's lighting agency was alerted about two downed power lines — weeks before a 12-year-old girl was electrocuted in a friend's yard in September, a utility said Friday.
DTE Energy said one of its employees noticed the lines on July 27, marked the area with yellow caution tape and even went door-to-door to inform the neighborhood.
Kabrinanna Griffin was playing in a friend's yard weeks later on Sept. 7 when she was electrocuted. One of the inactive lines that belonged to the city was on top of a live DTE wire and became energized.
"DTE was under the presumption that the hazard was being repaired or removed" by the city, the utility said in a report to the Michigan Public Service Commission.
The girl's death angered neighborhood residents, who said there were too many lines hidden in vegetation. At the time, Mayor Mike Duggan said the electrocution was a "terrible tragedy that never should have happened."
DTE provides power to Detroit residents, but street lights are maintained by the city.
In its report, the utility said it notified Detroit's public lighting department about the lines. The service request was transferred to the city's Public Lighting Authority, or PLA.
A PLA crew took pictures of the scene on July 27 but didn't do anything with the downed lines, DTE said.
"PLA incorrectly noted in its own internal system that it was a DTE line," the utility said.
PLA spokeswoman Kelsey Hartung said Friday there would be no comment "until we fully evaluate the report."
The electrocution has brought changes. DTE said it is following up on repair jobs referred to the city. There were 559 "trouble jobs" from April through September, although not all were hazardous.
___
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap
- Updated
ESSEXVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A deceased man who had a passion for cars has been taken to his grave in a restored, classic pickup truck in Essexville.
More than 100 people attended Gene Thompson's funeral on Thursday, MLive (http://bit.ly/2dGEXkh ) reported. The 81-year-old, who worked at General Motors in Bay City for more than 30 years, died Saturday after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease and kidney failure.
Thompson's friend, Richard Spencer, drove Thompson's coffin to the cemetery on a 1947 white Ford pickup truck. The gate on the bed was kept open, and the coffin was harnessed into the back.
"He never got a chance to finish up his truck and I know that he really wanted to," Spencer said. "I know he's looking down on us and happy that he got one more ride."
Thompson and Spencer had been working together to rebuild a 1951 Ford pickup truck. Spencer said he plans to finish the project in the coming year.
A restored 1950 Plymouth Super Deluxe was also included in the procession.
Thompson drove a similar gray Plymouth when he was a teenager and when he met his wife, Barbara Thompson.
She said the first time she saw her future husband, she told her friend that she would marry him some day.
"He was a charmer," Barbara Thompson said. "I prayed every day that my daughters would be as lucky as me to get a husband like him."
On Sunday Oct. 23, the Thompsons would have celebrated 62 years of marriage.
___
Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
- Updated
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nearly 34,000 Wisconsin students have enrolled in the state's private school tuition subsidy program this year, according to data the state Department of Public Instruction released Friday.
The program provides subsidies, also known as vouchers, to students in Milwaukee, Racine and the rest of the state to defray the cost of private school tuition. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade get $7,323 vouchers. Students in grades nine through 12 receive $7,969. No more than 1 percent of students from a district outside Milwaukee or Racine can enroll in the program.
The money for students who enrolled in the voucher program prior to last year comes out of the state's general purpose revenue. The money for incoming students comes from reduced aid to the public school district where the student resides.
The new DPI data shows 33,781 students have received a voucher to attend one of 209 participating schools, including 28,188 Milwaukee students, 2,532 Racine students and 3,061 students from other districts. The total cost of the program is estimated at about $244 million this year.
The state also offers $12,000 vouchers to students with special needs for the first time this year, and 206 students received those. They are paid through a deduction in state aid to the public school district where the student resides. The special needs program is expected to costed 22 districts about $2.4 million in aid, according to the data.
- Updated
CHICAGO (AP) — A retired Chicago police detective has turned in his nephew to the FBI for allegedly robbing a downtown bank.
The FBI says Ramses Longstreet is accused of robbing an Associated Bank branch Wednesday. The suspect left behind a cellphone when he fled the bank. After getting descriptions of the robber from witnesses, the FBI released photos of Longstreet.
The federal court filing by the FBI indicates the 42-year-old Longstreet went to the uncle's home and asked him to hold on to the cash. It was shortly afterward that the uncle was told by Longstreet's mother she believed her son may have robbed a bank.
On Thursday, the uncle picked up Longstreet on a pretense and took him and the cash to the FBI.
It wasn't immediately known if Longstreet, who ordered held Thursday, has legal representation.
- Updated
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Ghouls, clowns and zombies will take over an Aberdeen park this weekend for an annual Halloween event, but gun props will be missing this year.
The Optimist Club, which hosts the "Haunted Forest," is honoring a police request to nix anything that simulates gunfire, the Aberdeen News (http://bit.ly/2esGeub ) reported.
Aberdeen Police Chief Dave McNeil said there isn't a law preventing concealed weapons at parks. But anyone attending the event with a concealed handgun must follow applicable laws, and have a permit, said McNeil.
"There are countless ways someone could get themselves in trouble if they weren't following the law," he said.
According to McNeil simulated firearms are a safety concern because it would be difficult to determine if there was gunfire that wasn't part of the event.
McNeil said the police department is going to have extra staff at the event and will provide additional lighting in the parking lot to keep suspicious behavior to a minimum.
"With large-scale events in this day and age, it's good planning and practice to have law enforcement on hand," he said.
The event takes place Friday and Saturday.
___
Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com
- Updated
ST. IGNACE, Mich. (AP) — A drunken driver has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an Upper Peninsula teenager who was killed after playing in his school's football game and attending the homecoming dance.
Mitchell Snyder was a senior at LaSalle High School in St. Ignace. He was on his way home from a dance a year ago when he was killed in a head-on crash. Darrell Lovegrove's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
The 41-year-old Lovegrove was convicted of two crimes Thursday, including involuntary manslaughter. The trial was held in Charlevoix.
The victim's family felt second-degree murder was appropriate, but the jury disagreed.
Defense lawyer Michael Hackett says the fatal crash was "tragic" and "terrible" but not murder. Lovegrove will get his sentence on Nov. 11.
- Updated
MESERVEY, Iowa (AP) — Northern Iowa authorities say they've arrested a man whose girlfriend reported that he kidnapped and tortured her and let his dog bite her.
Court records say 41-year-old Charles Albright, of Meservey (meh-ZUR'-vee), is charged with kidnapping and willful injury. His attorney declined to comment Friday.
The records say the woman was held for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey, where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and bitten by the dog. She also told officers she was then taken to Sheffield, where he continued attacking her. Her injuries included burns, sinus damage and broken bones in her face as well as bruises on her body and face.
Albright was found and arrested Wednesday in rural Rockwell.
- Updated
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — An 11-year-old boy in North Dakota who raised money by mowing lawns all summer to buy a headstone for the father he never knew in Illinois has realized his goal.
WDAY-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2duO1Fp ) that Brandon Bakke traveled to Chicago earlier this month and saw his dream come true.
Brandon never knew his biological father, who died recently. But he felt enough of a connection to want to personally buy a grave marker, and the Fargo family who had adopted him supported his quest.
Dakota Monument of Fargo surprised Brandon by donating the headstone. The cemetery in Chicago also waived its normal fees.
___
Information from: WDAY-TV, http://wday.com
- Updated
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Smoking would be completely banned on Purdue University's main campus in West Lafayette under a proposal from school President Mitch Daniels.
Smoking is already prohibited in residence halls and all other campus building, but Purdue designated 21 smoking areas around the campus in 2010.
The (Lafayette) Journal & Courier reports (http://on.jconline.com/2dtxKjY ) Daniels told the University Senate this week that he's seeking feedback from employees and students about the smoking ban, but wants the group to make a final recommendation.
Purdue Student Government president Geri Denger says the change could drive more students to live off campus. She worries the smoking ban could hurt the school's appeal to international students, who she said tend to smoke at a higher rate than U.S. students.
___
Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com
- By KURT CHRISTIAN The Herald-Times
- Updated
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Typically obscured by a veil of national security, officials shed light Wednesday on the Crane Army Ammunition Activity to showcase the work they envision fostering job growth on the base.
Established in 1977 and located on more than 51,000 acres near the junction of Interstate 69 and U.S. 231, the Army-run portion of the Crane military base far exceeds the space used by the Navy. The 80 percent of the base dedicated to the Ammunition Activity produces, stores and distributes approximately a quarter of the Department of Defense's conventional munitions. Valued at $9.8 billion, those munitions include pyrotechnic flares, illumination candles, components including bombs and other explosives and much more.
During the Crane Army Demilitarization media day, Col. James Hooper, commander of the activity, explained the need for transparency and how the base's enigmatic nature has been a help for security and a hindrance to the public's understanding of what the base's 740 civilian workers and three military officials are doing with everyone's tax dollars. Wednesday's tour highlighted the base's demilitarization of ammunition, which makes up a fourth of the Army's activities on base, along with distribution, storage and production efforts.
"We've decided to be a little more aggressive in educating the public," Hooper said.
Ammunition goes through life cycles just like anything else that's manufactured, he said. Some munitions have degraded to the point of failure; some are so old the weapons to fire them have gone out of production; and some are still operable but must be destroyed to satisfy international treaties dictating stockpile quantities.
The current systems in place to dispose of ordnance include an 80-acre demolition range, a 40-acre open burning ground and phosphorus processing facilities that can't be found anywhere else. In destroying the ammunition, the Ammunition Activity is able to sustain itself with revenue generated from the recycled materials. Recovered metals are inspected and sent to Bedford Recycling, while white phosphorus salvaged from countermeasure decoy flares is superheated and turned into phosphoric acid to be used for agricultural purposes, such as fertilizer. Metal components from 1970s grenades can be re-used to create new training munitions for a third of the price of a new round.
"We compete with commercial industry for workload," Hooper said. "It has made us extremely focused on bringing our costs down. There is competition — we call them commercial partners, but we compete with them, too."
According to Hooper, the Army Working Capital Fund business model pushes innovation and efficiency. In the 2015 fiscal year, the Crane Army Ammunition Activity generated $184 million in annual revenue, $174 million in annual expenses and was able to charge its customers $115 per hour per worker for their services. Once machines designed to recover red phosphorous from grenades are proved effective, Paul Allswede, commodity manager for demilitarization, said, reserves and the unique facilities will assure a workload — and therefore jobs — for years to come.
"Finally, an awakening has occurred that this is truly a business," Allswede said. "Everything we do here can be done elsewhere in industry."
Able to destroy munitions up to a 16-inch battleship round, the workers at the shot-loading facility can load a barrel with powder in seven to 10 minutes. It's then shipped to the 80-acre open demolition range, where it's not uncommon for anywhere from 30-50 shots to be buried under about 15 feet of dirt.
Detonations are staggered, and there's a 500-pound explosive weight limit, but there's still a 2,800-foot ground clearance and a 4,100-foot sky exclusion zone for safety. Using a remote detonator that can send a signal at 22,000 feet per second, officials can demilitarize 450-480 pounds of explosive in a day. Crane works with the Indiana State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and other institutions when things such as repossessed illegal fireworks need to be rendered inert.
Another option for disposal is for pyrotechnics, flares, propellant and small explosives, which are burnt in six pans. Mickey Wager, the senior supervisor of the burn range, conducts four to five burns a day, destroying 700 pounds of materials across the six pans. Though each propellant is different, some can burn up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, though the burn only lasts for about five to 10 seconds.
Wager has been with Crane for 14 years, and though he served in the Army, he wound up overseeing 40 acres and handling dangerous materials because he couldn't stand working indoors in productions. Now, burning an average 1,500 pounds of propellant a day is normal, something he doesn't really talk about when he's home with his wife.
"I don't talk about it, to tell you the truth," Wager said, comparing it to the way he never talked much about his service. "The danger, it's there every day. That's why we preach safety all the time."
Of the two types of phosphorus discussed during the media tour, white is currently being turned into phosphoric acid and red is on its way to being utilized for the same purposes. Red phosphorus, the same chemical that's found in match heads, is machine-extracted from grenades in about two minutes. Then, it's packed into tubes that resemble the containers white phosphorus is stored in and sent to the white phosphorus salvaging facility. It's a process not unlike drilling into a box of match heads and trying to get it to not burn, Allswede said.
Robert Johnson, an operator of the machine that salvages the red phosphorus, has been working on this new project for three weeks. He's been with the Army Ammunition Activity for 18 years and is used to change, saying operators are flexible. He may also be the most relaxed person to handle live grenades with an unproven machine ever.
"In 18 years, I believe — with the amount of ammunition and the amount of people — there are enough safety measures that everyone goes home at night," Johnson said.
White phosphorus can be found in countermeasure decoy flares used by planes to throw off enemy tracking systems. When a canister is set for demilitarization, it is sent to the white phosphorus plant, one of the only facilities mentioned Wednesday that can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The recipe for how many minutes one of these canisters spends being superheated and pushed down a long cooling pipe differs between munition types, but the end product is a two-part moneymaker.
The phosphorus inside is turned into phosphoric acid, which is sold to private companies to use as fertilizer. The remaining, scorched steel is taken to a recycling center and could wind up as a fork. To fill a roughly 4,000-gallon tank with phosphoric acid, it takes 48 hours and 1,050 155mm-type rounds.
For each of these systems, the Crane operation looks for closed-system alternatives to increase operating capabilities and to reduce hazardous emissions, despite being far below the rates allowed. According to Allswede, if the open systems could ignore limiting factors such as the weather, changing seasons, daylight hours and neighbor concerns and operate 365 days a year, they still wouldn't hit their emissions limits.
"We have generations of families that live here; we live here," Allswede said. "It's going to be environmentally safe. We're always pushing the envelope (on environmental conservation) because this is our neighborhood."
Environmental considerations and worker safety supersede any such revenue goals, though, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management regularly and unexpectedly inspect soil composition, wastewater, air contaminate levels and more. Deer, frog and bird specimen have been collected and autopsied, showing no signs of irregularities.
All of the processes are headed toward more efficient closed systems that mitigate emissions, clear storage, increase capability and create workload. In addition to a promise of future work, Allswede said he believes there's a workforce to match.
"There are people that are qualified, and there's an availability of labor in the region," Allswede said. "And not just on the labor side; we have to ramp up the technician side of the house, too."
About 50 percent of workers have a military background, Allswede said, with Hooper acknowledging the familial relations between workers by referring to the Army Activity as "government owned, family operated." It's a mature workforce with experience that allows for most anybody to pause production in the interest of safety. Standards are re-evaluated as workers denote everything — including near-miss accidents — and influence operations.
"Good ideas can come from anywhere," Allswede said.
___
Source: The (Bloomington) Herald-Times, http://bit.ly/2dSkruJ
___
Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com
This is an AP-Indiana Exchange story offered by The (Bloomington) Herald-Times.
- By RILYN EISCHENS Minnesota Daily
- Updated
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — In response to accessibility complaints, menstrual care products will now be more accessible in University of Minnesota restrooms.
University Facilities Management will stock the school's gender-neutral restrooms with pads and tampons, as well as add new informational signs to restrooms about where to find menstrual supplies, the Minnesota Daily (http://bit.ly/2dMa6jR ) reports. The changes come after a push by the Minnesota Student Association (MSA).
MSA members noticed the sparse availability of menstrual products and began discussing ways to deal with the issue, said MSA President Abeer Syedah.
"We had countless encounters with people . (walking) into the MSA office and asking if we had tampons," she said.
MSA Infrastructure Committee Director Erin Deal said she wanted to work on the project because she's experienced the lack of supplies herself.
"At the University, I've heard a lot of stories about people needing (pads or tampons) and not being able to find (them)," she said. "I've personally stopped people in the restroom . and been like, 'Can you help me out?'"
Physiology senior Melissa Hiniker said she also has been unable to find pads or tampons in University buildings when she needed them.
Once, she had to go home midday just to get supplies, which was inconvenient, she said, adding that she thinks more products and signs in restrooms will help people avoid stressful situations. Non-degree-seeking student Anna Hogan said she always carries tampons and pads with her, but she thinks the expansion is a good idea.
"It's horrible not to have them," she said. "It's every woman's nightmare."
In September, MSA representatives met with Facilities Management and learned that the policy called for one female restroom in each building to be stocked with menstrual hygiene products, Deal said.
The policy states the designated restroom should be located on the floor with the most foot traffic, said University Associate Director of Custodial Programs Mike Hofer.
But without signage, students won't know which restroom to go to, Deal said.
"If you're in class and you only have a few minutes, you don't want to go to a different floor," she said.
Facilities Management addressed the issue by designing signs that will direct people to the restroom, Hofer said. The signs will be installed by the end of the month.
Because of concerns about accessibility for people who identify as transgender, Syedah said, MSA also asked Facilities Management to stock gender-neutral bathrooms with pads and tampons, which the University has agreed to do.
Eventually, MSA would like to see menstrual care supplies in all restrooms, she said.
But Hofer said that would be difficult because the costly process would be labor-intensive. Still, the University is open to discussion.
Many people believe that if colleges can provide free condoms to students, Syedah said, they should also be able to provide pads and tampons.
"We've found the finances and the budget for something that is a little more controllable than periods," she said. "I can't opt in to my period on a Friday night."
___
Information from: The Minnesota Daily, http://www.mndaily.com/
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Minnesota Daily.
- By TIM LANDIS The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — Forcing high volumes of water through more than 133 miles of pipe in the village of Chatham is not as simple as opening fire hydrants and letting the water roar.
The first system-wide main flushing in recent memory is not likely to end the now years-long debate over the taste, quality and even safety of Chatham water. But the practice of "scouring" water mains and pipes through a systematic, neighborhood-by-neighborhood flushing program has become standard practice for some communities as a way to improve water quality.
Effective programs, according to experts, are designed down to the feet-per-second of water flow.
"If you don't have a clean system, you're going to have water-quality issues," said Amy Barrilleaux, spokeswoman for the Madison Water Utility in Madison, Wisconsin.
The city spends $300,000 a year to flush 900 miles of water lines serving 68,000 customers. The annual flushing program begins in April and typically continues area by area of the city into November.
Madison officials approved the program nearly a decade ago in response to customer complaints of discolored, bad-tasting water resulting from years of sediment buildup. The traditional twice-a-year program of opening hydrants was not sufficient to clean out impurities such as manganese and iron, according to the city. The utility since has won statewide prizes for water quality.
The city also spent $5.3 million on filters specifically designed to remove manganese and iron that were the source of many of the quality complaints. The improvements have been well worth the time and expense by sharply reducing quality complaints, according to the utility.
"Water-main flushing," Barrilleaux said, "is a lot of time and effort."
The Chatham Village Board approved a $2.50-a-month fee for a year to pay the $160,000 cost of flushing water mains. Work began Monday in neighborhoods near Interstate 55 and will move west over the next few weeks. It could take up to two months, according to the village.
Theresa O'Grady compares the process to washing a drinking glass.
"You turn on the faucet higher to get the soap off the sidewall of your glass," said O'Grady, manager of the water resource group in the Aurora office of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly of Springfield.
CMT is the engineering and design firm for the village of Chatham. O'Grady designed the Chatham program using a technique known as "unidirectional" flushing. Rather than simply opening hydrants and letting water flow, unidirectional flushing increases volume and speed by forcing water in one direction. A flow of 5 feet per second is considered the minimum for effective flushing, said O'Grady.
"Back in the day, they would just open up a hydrant as far as it could go and run it a few minutes until the water was clear, and then shut it down," she said. "It was more of a fire hydrant exercising program than it was a flushing program. You didn't really know what results you were getting."
Water flow is monitored and water quality regularly tested with unidirectional flushing, O'Grady explained. She added that a regular main flushing program is now considered a good standard practice.
Aurora flushes one-fourth of its water system each year, so that the entire network is cleaned every four years, O'Grady said.
City Water, Light and Power spokeswoman Amber Sabin said in an email that the Springfield utility regularly flushes its mains.
"CWLP primarily flushes for new water main installations, following repair work and also at dead-end mains to ensure fresh water to those areas" Sabin said. " We also flush mains for testing hydrants and valves. During warm weather, or when water use is low in an area of our system, we sometimes flush to maintain adequate chlorine residuals."
The central Illinois community of Morton switched to unidirectional flushing after years of taste and other quality issues, including periodic boil orders, said Craig Loudermilk, director of public works for the community of 17,000 that's just east of Peoria.
He said Morton has begun replacing aging pipes and water mains at a pace of about a mile a year. The community also is moving toward an annual, community-wide flushing program, he added.
"We're making some modifications and will probably do it annually working with the state EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)," Loudermilk said.
The first week of main flushing in Chatham resulted in a series of boil orders. Village officials also warned customers of discolored water, and not to do dishes or laundry until the water had cleared. The water is considered safe to drink, according to the village, unless there is a boil order.
Critics of Chatham water are skeptical.
"We don't believe it's going to help. The same water that put sediment in there is going to put more sediment in there," said Jewel Brant with the Chatham Water Quality Interest Group.
Members of the group contend problems began with water-plant design flaws and the chemistry of the water when Chatham switched in 2012 from CWLP to the newly created South Sangamon Water Commission.
"The design wasn't ideal from the get-go," Brant said. "This seems more like putting a Band-Aid on it."
Interim Village Administrator Pat McCarthy said complaints were anticipated as the flushing program moved through the community. He also pointed out that the flushing was recommended by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
"Things are going to happen, but every day, you get better at it. You also find out where the weaknesses are (in the system)," McCarthy said. "It's expensive, it's time consuming, and you wish you didn't have to do it."
Plans are to flush the water mains in the first few weeks and then move deeper into neighborhoods, McCarthy said. He added that he expects the village will adopt a more systematic, long-term program once the current flush is complete.
"Once we get our model, I could see us doing it every year and maybe doing just a third of the town," McCarthy said.
___
Source: The (Springfield) State Journal-Register, http://bit.ly/2e5sbOb
___
Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by The (Springfield) State Journal-Register.
- By KYLE POTTER Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two Minneapolis police officers followed proper procedure in a confrontation that led to the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark in November, and won't face discipline, the city's police chief announced.
Chief Janee Harteau said Friday that an internal investigation found the officers were warranted in using deadly force in the death of the 24-year-old black man.
Clark was shot in the head on Nov. 15 in a confrontation with Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze on the city's north side. His death set off protests that lasted several weeks, including an 18-day encampment around the area's police precinct.
A local prosecutor and the U.S. attorney both declined earlier to charge the officers — both white — in Clark's death, citing conflicting testimony from witnesses.
"These officers did not dictate the outcome of this incident," Harteau said. "I can say with absolute certainty that I support the actions of Officers Ringgenberg and Schwarze the night of Nov. 15."
Some witnesses told police that Clark was handcuffed at the time.
But an investigation by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found that the officers had tried and failed to handcuff Clark, and he was shot in the ensuing confrontation after one of the officers shouted that Clark had his hand on the officer's gun.
Investigators said Ringgenberg wrestled Clark to the ground but wound up on his back atop Clark and felt Clark's hand on his weapon. Schwarze then shot Clark in an encounter that lasted barely a minute.
An attorney for Clark's family said they were anguished and frustrated by the decision.
"To say they couldn't find any policy violation verges on the absurd," said Albert Goins, who represents Clark's sister Tiffany Roberson. He said the family will file a civil lawsuit, but wouldn't say when.
Bob Kroll, the head of the police union, said it was about time the officers were cleared. He noted they have been through nearly a year of investigations and relegated to desk duty.
"It's been devastating for them," he said, adding that he expected them to return to patrols.
Police have said Ringgenberg and Schwarze were responding to a reported assault when they arrived to find Clark interfering with paramedics trying to help the female victim. They said the officers tried to calm him, but a struggle ensued.
In explaining her decision, Harteau cited what she called two key findings by the BCA investigation: That Clark wasn't handcuffed and that his DNA was found on Ringgenberg's holster and gun. She called it a dangerous situation that justified deadly force.
She said Ringgenberg's takedown of Clark after he refused to take his hands out of his pockets was "not a chokehold" and was appropriate as a move to bring Clark to the ground — "the most effective place to gain control of someone."
A separate U.S. Department of Justice inquiry is underway into the city's response to the protests. Demonstrations were largely peaceful, but one on Nov. 18 included skirmishes between officers and protesters that sparked at least one federal lawsuit.
Eight months later, protests were reignited when police fatally shot another black man, Philando Castile, during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. The gruesome aftermath of the shooting was streamed live on Facebook by Castile's girlfriend. Prosecutors are still weighing a decision on whether to charge the officer involved.
___
Associated Press writer Doug Glass contributed.
- By ED WHITE Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit's lighting agency was alerted about two downed power lines — weeks before a 12-year-old girl was electrocuted in a friend's yard in September, a utility said Friday.
DTE Energy said one of its employees noticed the lines on July 27, marked the area with yellow caution tape and even went door-to-door to inform the neighborhood.
Kabrinanna Griffin was playing in a friend's yard weeks later on Sept. 7 when she was electrocuted. One of the inactive lines that belonged to the city was on top of a live DTE wire and became energized.
"DTE was under the presumption that the hazard was being repaired or removed" by the city, the utility said in a report to the Michigan Public Service Commission.
The girl's death angered neighborhood residents, who said there were too many lines hidden in vegetation. At the time, Mayor Mike Duggan said the electrocution was a "terrible tragedy that never should have happened."
DTE provides power to Detroit residents, but street lights are maintained by the city.
In its report, the utility said it notified Detroit's public lighting department about the lines. The service request was transferred to the city's Public Lighting Authority, or PLA.
A PLA crew took pictures of the scene on July 27 but didn't do anything with the downed lines, DTE said.
"PLA incorrectly noted in its own internal system that it was a DTE line," the utility said.
PLA spokeswoman Kelsey Hartung said Friday there would be no comment "until we fully evaluate the report."
The electrocution has brought changes. DTE said it is following up on repair jobs referred to the city. There were 559 "trouble jobs" from April through September, although not all were hazardous.
___
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap
ESSEXVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A deceased man who had a passion for cars has been taken to his grave in a restored, classic pickup truck in Essexville.
More than 100 people attended Gene Thompson's funeral on Thursday, MLive (http://bit.ly/2dGEXkh ) reported. The 81-year-old, who worked at General Motors in Bay City for more than 30 years, died Saturday after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease and kidney failure.
Thompson's friend, Richard Spencer, drove Thompson's coffin to the cemetery on a 1947 white Ford pickup truck. The gate on the bed was kept open, and the coffin was harnessed into the back.
"He never got a chance to finish up his truck and I know that he really wanted to," Spencer said. "I know he's looking down on us and happy that he got one more ride."
Thompson and Spencer had been working together to rebuild a 1951 Ford pickup truck. Spencer said he plans to finish the project in the coming year.
A restored 1950 Plymouth Super Deluxe was also included in the procession.
Thompson drove a similar gray Plymouth when he was a teenager and when he met his wife, Barbara Thompson.
She said the first time she saw her future husband, she told her friend that she would marry him some day.
"He was a charmer," Barbara Thompson said. "I prayed every day that my daughters would be as lucky as me to get a husband like him."
On Sunday Oct. 23, the Thompsons would have celebrated 62 years of marriage.
___
Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nearly 34,000 Wisconsin students have enrolled in the state's private school tuition subsidy program this year, according to data the state Department of Public Instruction released Friday.
The program provides subsidies, also known as vouchers, to students in Milwaukee, Racine and the rest of the state to defray the cost of private school tuition. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade get $7,323 vouchers. Students in grades nine through 12 receive $7,969. No more than 1 percent of students from a district outside Milwaukee or Racine can enroll in the program.
The money for students who enrolled in the voucher program prior to last year comes out of the state's general purpose revenue. The money for incoming students comes from reduced aid to the public school district where the student resides.
The new DPI data shows 33,781 students have received a voucher to attend one of 209 participating schools, including 28,188 Milwaukee students, 2,532 Racine students and 3,061 students from other districts. The total cost of the program is estimated at about $244 million this year.
The state also offers $12,000 vouchers to students with special needs for the first time this year, and 206 students received those. They are paid through a deduction in state aid to the public school district where the student resides. The special needs program is expected to costed 22 districts about $2.4 million in aid, according to the data.
CHICAGO (AP) — A retired Chicago police detective has turned in his nephew to the FBI for allegedly robbing a downtown bank.
The FBI says Ramses Longstreet is accused of robbing an Associated Bank branch Wednesday. The suspect left behind a cellphone when he fled the bank. After getting descriptions of the robber from witnesses, the FBI released photos of Longstreet.
The federal court filing by the FBI indicates the 42-year-old Longstreet went to the uncle's home and asked him to hold on to the cash. It was shortly afterward that the uncle was told by Longstreet's mother she believed her son may have robbed a bank.
On Thursday, the uncle picked up Longstreet on a pretense and took him and the cash to the FBI.
It wasn't immediately known if Longstreet, who ordered held Thursday, has legal representation.
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Ghouls, clowns and zombies will take over an Aberdeen park this weekend for an annual Halloween event, but gun props will be missing this year.
The Optimist Club, which hosts the "Haunted Forest," is honoring a police request to nix anything that simulates gunfire, the Aberdeen News (http://bit.ly/2esGeub ) reported.
Aberdeen Police Chief Dave McNeil said there isn't a law preventing concealed weapons at parks. But anyone attending the event with a concealed handgun must follow applicable laws, and have a permit, said McNeil.
"There are countless ways someone could get themselves in trouble if they weren't following the law," he said.
According to McNeil simulated firearms are a safety concern because it would be difficult to determine if there was gunfire that wasn't part of the event.
McNeil said the police department is going to have extra staff at the event and will provide additional lighting in the parking lot to keep suspicious behavior to a minimum.
"With large-scale events in this day and age, it's good planning and practice to have law enforcement on hand," he said.
The event takes place Friday and Saturday.
___
Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com
ST. IGNACE, Mich. (AP) — A drunken driver has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an Upper Peninsula teenager who was killed after playing in his school's football game and attending the homecoming dance.
Mitchell Snyder was a senior at LaSalle High School in St. Ignace. He was on his way home from a dance a year ago when he was killed in a head-on crash. Darrell Lovegrove's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
The 41-year-old Lovegrove was convicted of two crimes Thursday, including involuntary manslaughter. The trial was held in Charlevoix.
The victim's family felt second-degree murder was appropriate, but the jury disagreed.
Defense lawyer Michael Hackett says the fatal crash was "tragic" and "terrible" but not murder. Lovegrove will get his sentence on Nov. 11.
MESERVEY, Iowa (AP) — Northern Iowa authorities say they've arrested a man whose girlfriend reported that he kidnapped and tortured her and let his dog bite her.
Court records say 41-year-old Charles Albright, of Meservey (meh-ZUR'-vee), is charged with kidnapping and willful injury. His attorney declined to comment Friday.
The records say the woman was held for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey, where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and bitten by the dog. She also told officers she was then taken to Sheffield, where he continued attacking her. Her injuries included burns, sinus damage and broken bones in her face as well as bruises on her body and face.
Albright was found and arrested Wednesday in rural Rockwell.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — An 11-year-old boy in North Dakota who raised money by mowing lawns all summer to buy a headstone for the father he never knew in Illinois has realized his goal.
WDAY-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2duO1Fp ) that Brandon Bakke traveled to Chicago earlier this month and saw his dream come true.
Brandon never knew his biological father, who died recently. But he felt enough of a connection to want to personally buy a grave marker, and the Fargo family who had adopted him supported his quest.
Dakota Monument of Fargo surprised Brandon by donating the headstone. The cemetery in Chicago also waived its normal fees.
___
Information from: WDAY-TV, http://wday.com
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Smoking would be completely banned on Purdue University's main campus in West Lafayette under a proposal from school President Mitch Daniels.
Smoking is already prohibited in residence halls and all other campus building, but Purdue designated 21 smoking areas around the campus in 2010.
The (Lafayette) Journal & Courier reports (http://on.jconline.com/2dtxKjY ) Daniels told the University Senate this week that he's seeking feedback from employees and students about the smoking ban, but wants the group to make a final recommendation.
Purdue Student Government president Geri Denger says the change could drive more students to live off campus. She worries the smoking ban could hurt the school's appeal to international students, who she said tend to smoke at a higher rate than U.S. students.
___
Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com
- By KURT CHRISTIAN The Herald-Times
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Typically obscured by a veil of national security, officials shed light Wednesday on the Crane Army Ammunition Activity to showcase the work they envision fostering job growth on the base.
Established in 1977 and located on more than 51,000 acres near the junction of Interstate 69 and U.S. 231, the Army-run portion of the Crane military base far exceeds the space used by the Navy. The 80 percent of the base dedicated to the Ammunition Activity produces, stores and distributes approximately a quarter of the Department of Defense's conventional munitions. Valued at $9.8 billion, those munitions include pyrotechnic flares, illumination candles, components including bombs and other explosives and much more.
During the Crane Army Demilitarization media day, Col. James Hooper, commander of the activity, explained the need for transparency and how the base's enigmatic nature has been a help for security and a hindrance to the public's understanding of what the base's 740 civilian workers and three military officials are doing with everyone's tax dollars. Wednesday's tour highlighted the base's demilitarization of ammunition, which makes up a fourth of the Army's activities on base, along with distribution, storage and production efforts.
"We've decided to be a little more aggressive in educating the public," Hooper said.
Ammunition goes through life cycles just like anything else that's manufactured, he said. Some munitions have degraded to the point of failure; some are so old the weapons to fire them have gone out of production; and some are still operable but must be destroyed to satisfy international treaties dictating stockpile quantities.
The current systems in place to dispose of ordnance include an 80-acre demolition range, a 40-acre open burning ground and phosphorus processing facilities that can't be found anywhere else. In destroying the ammunition, the Ammunition Activity is able to sustain itself with revenue generated from the recycled materials. Recovered metals are inspected and sent to Bedford Recycling, while white phosphorus salvaged from countermeasure decoy flares is superheated and turned into phosphoric acid to be used for agricultural purposes, such as fertilizer. Metal components from 1970s grenades can be re-used to create new training munitions for a third of the price of a new round.
"We compete with commercial industry for workload," Hooper said. "It has made us extremely focused on bringing our costs down. There is competition — we call them commercial partners, but we compete with them, too."
According to Hooper, the Army Working Capital Fund business model pushes innovation and efficiency. In the 2015 fiscal year, the Crane Army Ammunition Activity generated $184 million in annual revenue, $174 million in annual expenses and was able to charge its customers $115 per hour per worker for their services. Once machines designed to recover red phosphorous from grenades are proved effective, Paul Allswede, commodity manager for demilitarization, said, reserves and the unique facilities will assure a workload — and therefore jobs — for years to come.
"Finally, an awakening has occurred that this is truly a business," Allswede said. "Everything we do here can be done elsewhere in industry."
Able to destroy munitions up to a 16-inch battleship round, the workers at the shot-loading facility can load a barrel with powder in seven to 10 minutes. It's then shipped to the 80-acre open demolition range, where it's not uncommon for anywhere from 30-50 shots to be buried under about 15 feet of dirt.
Detonations are staggered, and there's a 500-pound explosive weight limit, but there's still a 2,800-foot ground clearance and a 4,100-foot sky exclusion zone for safety. Using a remote detonator that can send a signal at 22,000 feet per second, officials can demilitarize 450-480 pounds of explosive in a day. Crane works with the Indiana State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and other institutions when things such as repossessed illegal fireworks need to be rendered inert.
Another option for disposal is for pyrotechnics, flares, propellant and small explosives, which are burnt in six pans. Mickey Wager, the senior supervisor of the burn range, conducts four to five burns a day, destroying 700 pounds of materials across the six pans. Though each propellant is different, some can burn up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, though the burn only lasts for about five to 10 seconds.
Wager has been with Crane for 14 years, and though he served in the Army, he wound up overseeing 40 acres and handling dangerous materials because he couldn't stand working indoors in productions. Now, burning an average 1,500 pounds of propellant a day is normal, something he doesn't really talk about when he's home with his wife.
"I don't talk about it, to tell you the truth," Wager said, comparing it to the way he never talked much about his service. "The danger, it's there every day. That's why we preach safety all the time."
Of the two types of phosphorus discussed during the media tour, white is currently being turned into phosphoric acid and red is on its way to being utilized for the same purposes. Red phosphorus, the same chemical that's found in match heads, is machine-extracted from grenades in about two minutes. Then, it's packed into tubes that resemble the containers white phosphorus is stored in and sent to the white phosphorus salvaging facility. It's a process not unlike drilling into a box of match heads and trying to get it to not burn, Allswede said.
Robert Johnson, an operator of the machine that salvages the red phosphorus, has been working on this new project for three weeks. He's been with the Army Ammunition Activity for 18 years and is used to change, saying operators are flexible. He may also be the most relaxed person to handle live grenades with an unproven machine ever.
"In 18 years, I believe — with the amount of ammunition and the amount of people — there are enough safety measures that everyone goes home at night," Johnson said.
White phosphorus can be found in countermeasure decoy flares used by planes to throw off enemy tracking systems. When a canister is set for demilitarization, it is sent to the white phosphorus plant, one of the only facilities mentioned Wednesday that can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The recipe for how many minutes one of these canisters spends being superheated and pushed down a long cooling pipe differs between munition types, but the end product is a two-part moneymaker.
The phosphorus inside is turned into phosphoric acid, which is sold to private companies to use as fertilizer. The remaining, scorched steel is taken to a recycling center and could wind up as a fork. To fill a roughly 4,000-gallon tank with phosphoric acid, it takes 48 hours and 1,050 155mm-type rounds.
For each of these systems, the Crane operation looks for closed-system alternatives to increase operating capabilities and to reduce hazardous emissions, despite being far below the rates allowed. According to Allswede, if the open systems could ignore limiting factors such as the weather, changing seasons, daylight hours and neighbor concerns and operate 365 days a year, they still wouldn't hit their emissions limits.
"We have generations of families that live here; we live here," Allswede said. "It's going to be environmentally safe. We're always pushing the envelope (on environmental conservation) because this is our neighborhood."
Environmental considerations and worker safety supersede any such revenue goals, though, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management regularly and unexpectedly inspect soil composition, wastewater, air contaminate levels and more. Deer, frog and bird specimen have been collected and autopsied, showing no signs of irregularities.
All of the processes are headed toward more efficient closed systems that mitigate emissions, clear storage, increase capability and create workload. In addition to a promise of future work, Allswede said he believes there's a workforce to match.
"There are people that are qualified, and there's an availability of labor in the region," Allswede said. "And not just on the labor side; we have to ramp up the technician side of the house, too."
About 50 percent of workers have a military background, Allswede said, with Hooper acknowledging the familial relations between workers by referring to the Army Activity as "government owned, family operated." It's a mature workforce with experience that allows for most anybody to pause production in the interest of safety. Standards are re-evaluated as workers denote everything — including near-miss accidents — and influence operations.
"Good ideas can come from anywhere," Allswede said.
___
Source: The (Bloomington) Herald-Times, http://bit.ly/2dSkruJ
___
Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com
This is an AP-Indiana Exchange story offered by The (Bloomington) Herald-Times.
- By RILYN EISCHENS Minnesota Daily
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — In response to accessibility complaints, menstrual care products will now be more accessible in University of Minnesota restrooms.
University Facilities Management will stock the school's gender-neutral restrooms with pads and tampons, as well as add new informational signs to restrooms about where to find menstrual supplies, the Minnesota Daily (http://bit.ly/2dMa6jR ) reports. The changes come after a push by the Minnesota Student Association (MSA).
MSA members noticed the sparse availability of menstrual products and began discussing ways to deal with the issue, said MSA President Abeer Syedah.
"We had countless encounters with people . (walking) into the MSA office and asking if we had tampons," she said.
MSA Infrastructure Committee Director Erin Deal said she wanted to work on the project because she's experienced the lack of supplies herself.
"At the University, I've heard a lot of stories about people needing (pads or tampons) and not being able to find (them)," she said. "I've personally stopped people in the restroom . and been like, 'Can you help me out?'"
Physiology senior Melissa Hiniker said she also has been unable to find pads or tampons in University buildings when she needed them.
Once, she had to go home midday just to get supplies, which was inconvenient, she said, adding that she thinks more products and signs in restrooms will help people avoid stressful situations. Non-degree-seeking student Anna Hogan said she always carries tampons and pads with her, but she thinks the expansion is a good idea.
"It's horrible not to have them," she said. "It's every woman's nightmare."
In September, MSA representatives met with Facilities Management and learned that the policy called for one female restroom in each building to be stocked with menstrual hygiene products, Deal said.
The policy states the designated restroom should be located on the floor with the most foot traffic, said University Associate Director of Custodial Programs Mike Hofer.
But without signage, students won't know which restroom to go to, Deal said.
"If you're in class and you only have a few minutes, you don't want to go to a different floor," she said.
Facilities Management addressed the issue by designing signs that will direct people to the restroom, Hofer said. The signs will be installed by the end of the month.
Because of concerns about accessibility for people who identify as transgender, Syedah said, MSA also asked Facilities Management to stock gender-neutral bathrooms with pads and tampons, which the University has agreed to do.
Eventually, MSA would like to see menstrual care supplies in all restrooms, she said.
But Hofer said that would be difficult because the costly process would be labor-intensive. Still, the University is open to discussion.
Many people believe that if colleges can provide free condoms to students, Syedah said, they should also be able to provide pads and tampons.
"We've found the finances and the budget for something that is a little more controllable than periods," she said. "I can't opt in to my period on a Friday night."
___
Information from: The Minnesota Daily, http://www.mndaily.com/
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Minnesota Daily.
Most Popular
-
2 men clash in Tucson traffic, pull over and fatally shoot each other, police say
-
Hotel on the rise at Tucson’s Uptown project -
Tucson DACA recipient detained after agents 'aggressively' enter home, family says
-
Bill seeks to end 'vulture practices' in kids sports: What it means
-
Tim Steller's column: The windshield view drives Tucson's image down
