September 22, 2006

BY LESLIE BALDACCI
Sun-Times Staff Reporter

Four years ago, State Sen. Debbie Halvorson's doctor asked her to come into the office for some news he didn't want to deliver over the phone.

Halvorson (D-Crete) learned that her annual Pap smear showed abnormal cells. Follow-up tests revealed precancerous cells on her cervix. She had never even heard of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. Knowing her mother, Joyce De Francesco, now 68, had breast cancer at 49, Halvorson says she had "a panic response."

"I was pretty scared. If I had let this go, I would have had cervical cancer," she recalls. She told her doctors: "Just get rid of everything. I want to be done with this."

Halvorson had a complete hysterectomy. She was 44.

Now, there's a vaccine to prevent HPV. But that's not enough. Halvorson wants to take it a step further. She's writing legislation to require all Illinois girls be inoculated at age 11 or 12, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What's more, she wants the state to pay for those not covered by insurance. Halvorson, who is running for a fourth term, plans to introduce the bill early next year.

"It is a huge medical triumph, the first vaccine that can eliminate cancer. That's what people have to realize," says Halvorson, the state's first female Senate majority leader, speaking publicly for the first time about her personal experience and her planned legislation. "It is our responsibility as policy people to make sure we raise awareness and do whatever we can to eliminate cancer, and I plan on doing that.

"I'll make it my mission to increase the budget line, so if we require them to have this vaccine, we'll make sure the money is there," she says.

Made by Merck & Co. and sold under the name Gardasil, the vaccine is given in three shots over a six-month period. The vaccine specifically protects against four types of sexually transmitted HPV that cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

The cancer prevention benefits of the vaccine snuffed concerns of conservative and religious groups that vaccinating young girls before they became sexually active would encourage early sex. After the vaccine was recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in July, groups agreed that the vaccine's cancer prevention benefit is a good thing, but vaccination should be up to the discretion of parents, not mandatory.

Halvorson found the same philosophical divide on the state's Cervical Cancer Eradication Task Force, on which she sits. "It is bipartisan and there is some disagreement with Republican legislators whether to mandate the vaccine. We have agreed to disagree."

They concur that the best prevention against disease is an informed public, annual Pap tests and reminding young women that lifestyle choices can reduce their chances of contracting HPV.

What task force members -- and the public -- don't agree on is adding Gardasil to the required vaccinations for schoolchildren.

"I am not [writing the law] on behalf of the task force. It's me on my own putting forth legislation saying we should mandate it and pay for it as a state," Halvorson says. "I believe it is my duty to bring attention to this. My own experience caused me to want to get very involved and work on eliminating cervical cancer. I can't in good conscience not do something that I know will eliminate cervical cancer eventually."

Bill pending in Michigan

Last week, Michigan became the first state to move toward mandating the newly approved vaccine -- though the proposed law allows exceptions for medical, moral or philosophical reasons. Halvorson said her bill will probably include similar language. Michigan lawmakers could vote as early as next week.

The soonest a new law could be acted upon in Illinois is January.

Meantime, Halvorson's staff is gathering data on how many 11- and 12-year-old girls in Illinois would not have the vaccine covered by insurance, and how much aid Illinois will get from the federal Vaccines for Children program.

Illinois had about 90,000 11-year-old girls and another 90,000 12-year-old girls in 2005, according to Census data. The Census estimated about 10 percent of Illinois children are uninsured. The cost for vaccinating 9,000 uninsured girls each year could top $3 million.

"For those who can't afford it themselves, if their insurance is not going to cover it, we have to have something in place in the state to pay for those," Halvorson said. "We need to know exactly where we stand and how much money is coming from the feds for this. The amount [allocated for vaccines] has been flat since 1993."

According to a Merck spokeswoman, 80 insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Wellpoint and United Healthcare, presently cover the three-shot series, which costs $360. Meanwhile, nonprofits such as Planned Parenthood are negotiating with the drug company while seeking private funding to offer the vaccine to clients at reduced rates.

Now armed with more information, Halvorson wishes she'd chosen a less drastic remedy than the complete hysterectomy that sent her into menopause. Hysterectomy has the lowest recurrence rate, but is major surgery.

Other options for women with precancerous conditions, called dysplasia, are less radical. Procedures include freezing bad cells, excision using a fine electric wire or removing them through laser surgery. Another procedure, a cone biopsy, removes part of the cervix.

Halvorson's 25-year-old daughter, Stephanie Faraci, mother of 6-month-old Ellissa, plans to get the vaccine for herself and for her daughter, when the time comes.

"I really believe if we bite the bullet and do this, we could do it in one generation," Halvorson said. "This isn't about sex. It's about cancer."

Annual Celebrity Goat-Milking Contest

Phil Angelo / The Daily Journal
August 4, 2006
 

It's a Democratic year.

At least that's what Kankakee County goats say.

Thursday, Mary K O'Brien, Democrat and Third District Appellate Court judge, won the annual celebrity goat-milking contest at the Kankakee County Fair. Last year's winner, Republican State Sen. Gary Dahl of Granville, did not return to defend his title.

O'Brien, originally a Reddick farm girl whose family raised sheep and cattle, won once before, in the very first contest in 1998.

"It's all about the goat being willing," she said, after she drained "Tinkerbelle," a Nubian.

The cheering section helped, too, she said. O'Brien and husband Todd are expecting their fourth child. Sons Mason, 4; Michael, 2; and Matthew, 11 months; were there to cheer her on.

Fair Board president Pete Schafer from Limestone, who raises beef cattle, was second. State Sen. Debbie Halvorson of Crete was third.

Other Democrats did not fare so well. Rep. Careen Gordon's animal drop-kicked the bucket. Rep. Lisa Dugan's goat was just "dry."

Ordinarily, goats are milked twice a day, and they produce about a half-gallon of milk. But that's by machine. Hand milking relies on warm fingers and a firm grip that squeezes without pulling. There also has to be a willingness to kneel next to the goat and look at what you're doing, so the milk hits the bucket.

Rick Radtke of Clifton has raised goats for 20 years and currently has a herd of 45. He sells some kids to 4-Hers to raise.

Goat's milk, he said, makes dynamite vanilla ice cream.

Yours truly worked M.C., a crossbred goat brought in by Nicole Brammer of Papineau, a former 4-Her.

"She's witchy," Nicole said, describing the goat's personality. Kneeling on the rug to work with both hands, I got along just fine, though, with M.C. She produced enough visible milk to cover the bottom of the plastic bucket, but not enough to be in contention for the purple ribbon.

"This is all about a moment when we don't take life too seriously," said Chad Miller of the Kankakee County Farm Bureau. He also hopes the dozen celebrities take the time to get acquainted with the fair and farm life.

State officials ask IDOT to end demolitions

The demolition of homes in the footprint of the proposed south suburban airport might be postponed indefinitely.

State Rep. Lisa Dugan, D-Kankakee, and state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, are asking the Illinois Department of Transportation to cease plans to tear down the houses. The two lawmakers want to tour the properties themselves, checking IDOT claims the houses are too dilapidated to save.

Halvorson said she is working to arrange a meeting between IDOT and upset residents this week.

"I don't want things to go forward until the people in my community know what's going on," Halvorson said. "I need everybody to get together."

IDOT was planning this week to start bulldozing 14 houses purchased on land targeted for the airport. One of the those houses, at the corner of Eagle Lake Road and Kedzie Avenue, was bought for $415,000 by IDOT four years ago.

IDOT deemed the structures uninhabitable because they are filled with building code violations. Some of the worst cases were hit hard by vandals or trashed by the previous owners before they were turned over to IDOT.

The houses need to go, IDOT said, because the repairs will be too costly.

But Dugan said she doubts the homes are in as bad of shape as IDOT maintains. Dugan was planning to walk through the properties today. IDOT is willing to accommodate Dugan and Halvorson, spokesman Matt Vanover said.

"We are certainly going to work with interested legislators who want to tour these properties," Vanover said. "They will see just the type of condition they are in."

Dugan is prepared to ask IDOT to stop all demolitions if she sees evidence the houses can still be rented.

"All we can do is make our feelings known," Dugan said. "To take down homes that are perfectly good homes is a waste of money. Why tear down perfectly good homes?"

Legislators Discuss Farm Business

The Daily Journal ~ Mary Baskerville
August 3, 2006

PEOTONE -- State Rep. Lisa Dugan and Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson depend on telephone calls, e-mails and letters from Will County Farm Bureau members to keep current on agricultural issues.

Enjoying a grilled pork chop dinner at the farm of Glenn and Bonnie Ginder in Peotone Tuesday night, the legislators said it's important that the members continue to contact them, "because the more we know, the better off it is for us when we go take these actions," Dugan said.

She said she gains insights from her Agriculture Advisory Committee. "That's where I get all my ag experience, and certainly advise," she said.

Dugan, D-Bradley, and Halvorson, D-Crete, both serve on the Agriculture and Conservation committees.

The legislators were quizzed about issues ranging from the budget and education funding to road repairs.

The meetings are designed to "find out what's on their mind and tell them what's on ours," said Ginder.

Farmers expressed gratitude the state retained sale tax exemptions on certain products.

"We want to thank you for keeping the sales tax exemption in place for feed, fertilizer and chemicals and machinery," said Jerry Davidson, chairman of the Will County Legislative Affairs Committee. "The average person wouldn't have any idea how much that would hurt the farm economy."

The policymakers talked about the new state budget, which has allocated funds to encourage the development of alternative fuel sources.

The budget includes $20 million for grants to assist companies that want to construct ethanol and bio-diesel plants throughout the state.

"Also included, is $5.5 million to fund research, development and promotion of Illinois' alternative fuels," Halvorson said.

In other issues, the group learned that increased funds also were allocated for state road improvements and for education, where per pupil spending was raised by $170 per child, to $5,334.

Dugan is a member of the following committees: Agriculture and Conservation, International Trade and Commerce, Elementary and Secondary Education , State Government Administration, Veterans Affairs , Health Care Availability Access, Government Accountability and Streamlining, Rapid Growth District and Special Education.

Halvorson, D-Crete, is on the following committees: Agriculture and Conservation, Transportation, Subcommittee on Airports, Subcommittee on Tollways and the Subcommittee on Railroad Safety.

 

Chinese Get A Look At Local Products

Herald News - Staff Reports
July 26, 2006

A south suburban business group last week visited China as part of its effort to promote local U.S. products.

The visit was part of Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce's China Market Project, a new program in which the chamber promotes members' products in the Asian nation.

Southland Chamber President Kevin McNulty, in a written statement about the visit, said the China Market Project is designed to provide "great access for medium and small U.S. firms" by providing representatives for local companies and creating a "unique showroom arrangement" for industrial products.

Illinois Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, joined the chamber delegation.

Representatives from the group spoke to the China International Cooperation Promoting Council for Small & Medium Enterprises, an organization that consists of 40,000 companies.

The organization, according to the chamber, includes companies often overlooked by U.S. marketers more familiar with larger businesses in China.

Leaders of local communities have begun to explore economic opportunities in China.

Last year, Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar led a group that visited China. That group included John Greuling, chief executive of the Will County Center for Economic Development, and Bolingbrook business people.

The Chicago Southland Chamber delegation last week visited Wenzhou, where representatives from more than 200 Chinese companies were gathered, and Guangzhou, where they met with an audience of 500 business people.

The chamber's office is in East Hazel Crest. It serves an area that stretches from Joliet to the Indiana border.

Halvorson to Teach University Course

Chicago Tribune - Dennis Sullivan
July 12, 2006
 

UNIVERSITY PARK -- State Sen. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete,) the state's first female senate majority leader, will teach a graduate-level public administration course at Governors State University, where she received bachelor's and master's degrees.

Halvorson's Topics in Public Policy class will cover public policy issues, including criminal justice, education, heath care and economic development.

Halvorson has represented the 40th District since 1996. She was appointed majority caucus chair within the Democratic caucus in 2003. She is a member of the Agriculture and Conservation Committee and Transportation Committee, and vice chair of the Executive Committee.

Promising to "go beyond the textbooks," she said, "Public policy issues should be studied from all sides and perspectives. I hope to bring the issues to life through my experiences in government," she said.

The three-credit class will be held Mondays from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the fall trimester, beginning in September. It is geared toward students in the political and justice studies program, but open to all other students until the class is filled. Registration begins July 17.

For more information, call 708 534-4490 or visit www.govst.edu.
 

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

'Every Seat in the Courtroom Was Filled'

BY TERRIE HENDERSON - Northwest Tiimes
July 5, 2006

CHICAGO -- Lynwood resident John Cook described how on any given day, a south wind could blow from the site of Lincoln Limited landfill toward his home.

Cook said the dust is sometimes thick enough to cover his car and lawn.

"We bought what we thought were luxury homes and then we walked out our front doors and there is this mountain," Cook said.

Since 2002, residents near the Ford Heights landfill have been concerned about their health as the site has continued to grow. To date, about 2.2 million cubic yards of material has been dumped in the landfill, covering 37 acres of land to a height of 80 feet, according to the Illinois Bureau of Land.

The state of Illinois is in the discovery stage of a civil lawsuit it filed against those connected to the landfill. Some state officials allege Lincoln Limited is an "illegal landfill" that is illegally dumping at the site.

About 20 residents met at Lynwood's Living Grace Church on Wednesday and boarded a bus provided by state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete. They traveled as a group to the Daley Center in Chicago, where they attended a court hearing regarding the suit.

In November, the Environmental Protection Agency conducted a soil and groundwater investigation to determine if hazardous substances were present in the debris deposited at the site.

The EPA announced its results from the soil and groundwater sampling June 20, and those results indicated there are various polynuclear aromatics, pesticides and inorganics or metals present in the debris pile.

Material containing asbestos also was identified on the surface of one area of the site.

Doug Scott, director of the Illinois EPA, said at the June public meeting that the Illinois Department of Health will have to determine the actual health risks based on the test results.

Jim Prendergast, an attorney with Chicago-based Richard J. Prendergast Limited, represents defendants Lincoln Limited and its owner, John Einoder. Prendergast said his clients believe no toxic materials have been found at the site.

Prendergast said every load of material brought to the landfill goes through a three-stage inspection. He said future plans for the site include building a recreational facility on top of the landfill.

"There would be snow-boarding, motocross trails, bike trails, things like that," Prendergast said.

Lynwood resident Robert Chancellor said he thinks the residents made an impression on the judge.

"Every seat in the courtroom was filled," Chancellor said.

Prendergast said his clients want to meet with the attorney general regarding the suit.

Attempts to reach the other defendants in the case were unsuccessful Wednesday.

[EXTRAS]
The case
* People of the state of Illinois
vs.
Lincoln Limited, John Einoder, Land of Lincoln Development Co., Donald P. Clarke, Leslie E. Clarke, Donald A. Demorest, Louis F. Cainkar, Ruth F. Cainkar, Standard Bank and Trust Co. of Hickory Hills, State Bank of Countryside and two groups of unknown owners.

* The next court date will be 10 a.m. July 26 at the Daley Center.

* The civil lawsuit claims the following actions:
Count one: Open dumping of clean construction and demolition debris
Count two: Open dumping of general construction and demolition debris
Count three: Conducting a waste disposal operation without a permit
Count four: Development and operation of a landfill without a permit
Count five: Disposal of waste at an unpermitted facility
Count six: Causing or allowing litter
Count seven: Failure to post landfill bond
Count eight: Conducting a sanitary landfill in violation of the act
Count nine: Failure to timely submit reports and pay fees

SOURCE: Civil lawsuit