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Home / Albomlar / Las Vegas, fall 1994 26
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PHOTO: A man in a sun glasses and a suit stands in a doorway, a police officer behind him. To his left someone is video taping him. In front a mass of wheelchairs face right into him. A standoff at the door.
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USA TODAY Wednesday, October 5, 1994 Nevada Las Vegas- 44 protesters in wheelchairs were arrested after attempting to enter the Convention Center where nursing home operators were meeting authorities said. The 200 to 300 disabled protesters say Medicaid funds should go to home attendant care.
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A woman in a manual wheelchair (Julie Farrar) smiles at the small child she holds in her lap. She is holding a red clapper in the shape of a hand. The two have a poster across their laps that reads "My mommy doesn't belong in a nursing home and neither does yours!!" Behind them a woman stands, possibly holding the back of the wheelchair.
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A line of ADAPT activists in wheelchairs, many in the front being pushed snakes across a large parking lot. Some ADAPT vans are in view. In the front is Tubby ____ and Kim ______, behind them Bobby Simpson and many more.
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LAS VEGAS VOL. 45 / NO. 103 LAS VEGAS SUN P.M. STREET WEEKEND SUN FRI/SAT/SUN, SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 2, 1994 [Headline] Metro gears up for protest By Bob Shemeligian Metro Police are bracing for planned demonstrations by disabled people at next week's American Health Care Association convention. The convention runs Sunday through Thursday at the Las Vegas Hilton. In terms of strength of conviction, the demonstrators are no different from animal rights and environmental activists. But in other ways, these demonstrators - members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today- are special. Many don't walk. They use wheelchairs. Others use respirators. In other cities, ADAPT activists have chained themselves to buildings and thrown themselves from their wheelchairs onto the pavement to draw attention to the issue of how money is spent in nursing homes. Disabled demonstrators have been arrested during AHCA conventions in cities such as San Francisco, Orlando, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn. Metro officers have been planning for months on how to maintain public safety during the planned demonstrations. "We're working closely with the fire department, paramedics, the staff of Clark County detention and others to make sure there's adequate medical and support personnel on the scene and that our transportation vehicles are equipped," Lt Carl Fruge said. Members of ADAPT say they have nothing against the Las Vegas Hilton, which is hosting the 45th annual AHCA convention. Nor do they bear any grudges against the Las Vegas community. "We didn't come to this city to interfere with the lives of the residents," said Mike Auberger, ADAPT national organizer. Auberger, who uses a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury, co-founded ADAPT 12 years ago. He lives in Denver. During the past 10 years, ADAPT activists have been arrested and jailed numerous times during demonstrations. They have battled for accessible public transit now required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Four years ago, the group began to focus its attention on the nation's nursing home system. ADAPT wants Congress to redirect 25 percent of $23 billion in nursing home funds to home care for the disabled. Activists argue that more than 1.6 million disabled Americans are being cared for in nursing homes, many against their will, and that this shift in funding is more practical and more humane. "We're talking about a $60 billion industry, and Medicaid dollars pay for the lion's share of nursing care," Auberger said. "If you redirect some of that money into the community, it would allow some individuals in nursing homes a path home." Auberger acknowledges the demonstrations could get a little hectic and could cause disturbances to area motor and pedestrian traffic. "Bear with us," Auberger said. "We have a reason for doing this." Auberger said as baby boomers get older, many of them will develop age-acquired disabilities. He fears many will be placed in nursing homes against their will. Moreover, Auberger said many young Americans received spinal cord injuries in traffic and sports accidents. They also deserve a choice about what type of care they will receive. "We're talking about 500,000 people with spinal cord injuries," Auberger said. "They could fill a city almost as big as Las Vegas." Not only Metro has prepared for the demonstrators. Kathy Shepard, director of Communications for Hilton's gaming division, said hotel security officers will take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of guests and employees during the demonstrations. The Hilton is not taking a position. AHCA officials are not planning any demonstrations. "We don't have a quarrel with their position on the need for a tenant care program," said Dave Long, AHCA spokesman. 'But we're not the right audience. They probably need to talk to Congress and other folks about that." Long said AHCA officials have met with representatives of ADAPT several times in recent months. "We continue to try to have a dialogue with the group, to see if we can help bring about a resolution," Long said. Fruge believes the department has accomplished at least one thing with ADAPT. The department has asked each demonstrator to carry a "Vial of Life," which is a small plastic bottle containing a slip of paper with crucial medical information such as medical history, allergies and other specific conditions. Fruge explained that if one of the demonstrators loses consciousness or is unable to communicate with officers, the information could save his life.
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4A LAS VEGAS SUN LAS VEGAS SUN P.M. STREET Wednesday, October 5, 1994 [Headline] AHCA tries to prevent protests By Bill Gang LAS VEGAS SUN Having been besieged by ADAPT at its last three conventions, the American Health Care Association sought a temporary restraining order to limit this year's demonstrations. But District Judge Bill Maupin declined to issue any court orders, stating that Metro Police should have an opportunity to control any illicit activity. Maupin left the door open, however, to a court order if continuing confrontations require more intervention than Metro can muster. AHCA asked the court to prohibit ADAPT "from interfering with AHCA's business or trespassing" at the Las Vegas Convention Center for its 45th annual convention and exposition that ends Thursday. In an affidavit that accompanied the lawsuit, AHCA Chief Financial Officer David Long detailed how the ADAPT disruptions began with 75 protesters at the 1991 convention in Orlando, Fla., grew to 200 at the 1992 San Francisco gathering and reached 250 at the Nashville, Tenn., convention in 1993. Demonstrators, Long stated, "stormed hotel doors in their wheelchairs, occupied and refused to leave private property and blocked entrances." He said AHCA has had trouble negotiating contracts for future conventions and attracting conventioneers because of ADAPT's persistence. The affidavit indicated that 5,000 AHCA members registered for the Las Vegas convention, filling 1,790 of the Hilton's 2,800 rooms. Long added that AHCA spent $85,000 bringing Lee Iacocca and Dan Quayle to speak at the convention and $185,000 for Kenny Rogers to entertain. [Image] Through the bars of a police barricade you see a man [Alfredo Juarez] holding his arms out and giving the thumbs down sign. He is chanting and wearing a T-shirt that reads Personal Attendants Now on an outline of the United States. Behind him you can see more protesters. [Image caption] ALFREDO JUAREZ of El Paso, PHOTOS BY BRAD TALBUTT / STAFF Texas, chants, "Down with the AHCA." [Headline] PROTEST Continued from 1A [This article continues from. Image 885. Please refer back to 885 for full text] [Image] Seen from inside the vehicle, four police officers stand on either side of a person in a scooter-wheelchair backing onto a lift. Two cameramen are filming the scene. [Image caption] POLICE LOAD a protester into a specially equipped CAT bus. [Headline] Federal officers required to curtail demonstration By Rachael Conlin LAS VEGAS SUN Eleven federal police officers are stationed outside the Foley Federal Building this week to provide additional security in the wake of protests by ADAPT. The U.S. Marshals Service requested additional officers after it learned that ADAPT members planned to include the Foley Federal Building as a protest site. Members have been known to sharpen the metal parts of their wheelchairs and ram into police officers, and throw themselves from wheelchairs and then sue. The 11 officers brought in from San Francisco and Los Angeles are part of the U S. Federal Protection Service. There are no federal police officers based permanently in Las Vegas. In 1987, about a dozen San Francisco police officers were injured when demonstrators rammed their wheelchairs into their legs, said District Commander Michael Jentoft of the protection service. "And the group has gotten more militant since then," he added. A few Metro Police officers suffered bruised shins during altercations with activists Tuesday, according to a spokesman. ADAPT was founded in the 1970s and was instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires equal access to disabled people, Jentoft said.
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[This page continues the article from image 901. The full text is available under Image 901]
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[This page continues the article from image 901. The full text is available under Image 900] [Image description] Behind a wall of police barricades that have bars and come up to their necks, a line of people in wheelchairs have their arms up and are chanting. One man {Alfredo Juarez] has a bullhorn. They have large posters in front of their legs which read "The Nursing Home [unreadable word with a scales of justice picture]", "Family Values not AHCA dollars" and "Redirect [not readable.]
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[Headline] SHOWDOWN ON PARADISE ! What happens when you combine over 400 ADAPT folks from 34 states, 10,000 plus AHCA (American Health Care Association) members, a hotel that is still smarting from the Tenderhook scandal, and the raw energy of Las Vegas? Well, ADAPT hit the jackpot! ADAPT's annual protest at the AHCA nursing home lobby group's October 2 -7, 1994 convention was a great success. Three great days of actions, record numbers of ADAPT folks from more places, 486 arrests for acts of civil disobedience show that despite Health Care Reform's set backs, our momentum continues to grow. [Subheading] THEY FEEL THE HEAT AHCA tried to buy us off with a promise to support the idea of a national attendant services program, but refused to include anything about redirection or other funding for such a program. (ADAPT hasn't just fallen off the turnip truck, and wouldn't fall for that old trick; services without funding -- equal no service.) Even as they tried to "negotiate", however, AHCA -- true to form —was conniving behind the scenes. Behind closed doors AHCA worked from day one to try and get a court injunction to stop ADAPT's protests. [Subheading] DON'T GAMBLE WITH OUR LIVES Just to raise the tension, Monday evening, a group of 25 ADAPT folks went over to the Hilton, where AHCA was staying, to mingle and "welcome" the convention-goers. AHCA was horrified to have to brush elbows with ADAPT. [Subheading] FLUSH AHCA ROYALLY Protests began Tuesday, October 4, 1994 with a march on AHCA. In single file, the troops marched down Paradise Street to the front of the Hilton, where we held a press conference explaining why ADAPT was in Las Vegas. Mark Johnson laid out ADAPT's demand: that 25% of Medicaid dollars currently going to nursing homes some $60 Billion is be redirected to fund home and community-based attendant services. Then Cecil Rawlins and Monique Alexander spoke of their own experience with the personal cost of warehousing people. Cecil, who is dying to get out of a nursing home, spoke of the loss of dignity, liberty and hope. Monique, a vent user who recently has moved from a nursing home to her own apartment, spoke of the sense of freedom and worth she has found since she has her own home. After the press conference the march continued on down Paradise to the Las Vegas Convention Center. For hours MICA members had to file past ADAPT's protest, confronted by the wrath of those they allegedly "care" for ADAPT, with chants and signs, held AHCA accountable for their oppression of people with disabilities. [Subheading] RAISING THE ANTE A pre-selected group of 75 people eventually left the larger group to deliver the resolution ADAPT has asked AHCA to address since 1990. Marching down the main drive, ADAPT brushed past Convention Center officials who feebly tried to stop us. There was a rush on the doors which, surprisingly, were not locked. Many managed to get inside before security started to tussle and block. Eventually all were arrested but not before some confronted AHCA establishment inside. That evening a small group again slipped over to the Hilton to remind the AHCA folks of whose lives were being spent to fund AHCA's fun. [Image] [Image caption] Diane Coleman, Alfredo Juarez and Alfonso Williams cry out for justice. Photo: Tom Olin [Subheading] A SQUARE DEAL Day two we used a Nashville technique, as all 400 ADAPT folks marched down in front of the Hilton and took over the crosswalks at Paradise and Riviera, the intersection right in front of the Hilton. Old-time ADAPT member Rev. Willie Smith mastered a brief ceremony in honor of those who had escaped from nursing homes, those who had died there and those who were still locked away. We erected a giant cross and hung a wheelchair from it to symbolize the sacrifice of lives of people with disabilities, young and old, for a nursing home industry which cares only for the profits to be milked. [Subheading] VEGAS ACTION The traffic snarl spread and spread, admittedly an inconvenience for the Las Vegas public, but a minor inconvenience compared with what people with disabilities have gone through just to try and live in their own homes. Eventually the cops moved a They pulled on their latex gloves preparing for arrest, only to find ADAPT pulling on our latex gloves equally prepared. Over 200 people were arrested. [Subheading] ALOHA AHCA The last day ADAPT returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center. A little man littered the driveway as he tried to pass out court orders AHCA had gotten that morning forbidding ADAPT from going into the Convention Center. Again the cross was erected, ADAPT rallied and MICA members had to pass right by their ADAPT "fans" to get from one part of the convention to another. ADAPT had learned AHCA's next party designation was Hawaii so we all waived our leis as they skittered by. On a designated signal three groups moved out to the edges of the Convention property and simultaneously blocked each of the driveways to the Convention Center. Another 200 were arrested that day. After processing, ADAPT went back into the Hilton to visit the one and two armed bandits.
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NEWSFRONTS CONTEMPORARY LONG TERM CARE NOVEMBER 1994 [Headline] Disabled Advocates Renew Cries For Home Care Funding at AHCA Show [Image] Behind police barricades a mass of protesters raise their power fists in protest. In the front row a woman in a wheelchair smiles at her fellow protesters. Beside her a man [Gordie Haug] in a scooter looks determined. On his other side another woman in a wheelchair [Sharon Wilkenson] has a poster that reads " Nursing Homes = Jail." Beside her a man standing [Mark Pasquesi] looks down at someone [Spitfire?] who is speaking to him. Mike Oxford stands behind them, hands on hips and many others are there in rows behind them. [Image caption] For the fourth year, ADAPT members used the convention as a forum to air their views. SMARTING FROM THE DEFEAT OF healthcare reform and its promised support for home and community care, about 400 disabled and their attendants greeted conventioneers at the American Health Care Assocition's annual meeting in Las Vegas early last month with renewed cries for spending on home care services. Members of the Denver-based American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), a loose confederation of people and groups who favor home care services for the disabled, drew attention to their cause with three days of demonstrations. Activities, which started on October 4, included disrupting traffic on a main city thoroughfare. Half a dozen demonstrators also made an end run around police, briefly gaining entry into the convention center's exhibition hall. For those among the 5,000-plus attendees who had to walk through chanting pickets or wait for doorways to be cleared of protesters in order to get to their meetings, it was déjà vu all over again. This was the fourth straight year that ADAPT members used the convention as forum to air its views, which include a demand that 26 percent of the nation's Medicaid budget for nursing facility care be channeled into attendant programs for the disabled. "We want to continue to educate the public that the nation's largest lobbying association for nursing homes helped defeat health-care reform," says James Parker, a member of ADAPT. Overall, the three days of protest were orderly and had minimal impact on the week's events, although police issued 424 arrest warrants and citations to protesters who sought to block attendees from entering the convention center or to block traffic on the corner of Paradise and Riviera Avenues. All of those arrested, though, were released on promises to appear in court. "The demonstrators lived up to what their leaders said coming in, that they would use nonviolent methods. Our hats are off to them for that," says Lt. Carl Fruge of the Las Vegas Police Department. Benefitting from a month and half of preparation for the event, the police department earned praise from both ADAPT and AHCA officials. Preparations included training a special group of officers on dealing with the disabled and briefings from officials in San Francisco who had coped with ADAPT at the AHCA show two years ago. The police also briefed the public on the tactics and traffic tieups expected from demonstrators and lined up special transportation, advisers, and medical staff for the event. In addition, the police dispensed to protesters 1000 "vials of life,"bottles containing stickers and information sheets the disabled can use to inform others of their conditions. "This was the best police force that we have ever dealt with. They understood the problems that people with disabilities have. Police in the past in many cases have created a lot of ten-sion," says Parker. "The police did a wonderful job," agreed Dave Kyllo, AHCA's spokesman. Hoping to defuse the protest, AHCA officials met several times with ADAPT members throughout the year in an attempt to draft a joint resolution:) AHCA representatives and ADAPT members continued to confer at the convention, but the two groups couldn't reach a consensus. Both agree that more funding should be made available for attendant care services. The question is where that funding will come from. ADAPT wants to channel money to home care from nursing home care; AHCA disagrees. "We think the way to bring about more attendant care services is through compre-hensive healthcare reform," says Kyllo. ADAPT members made it known that the debate will go on. Attendees at the convention's last day were greeted by protesters bedecked, in flowered shirts and leis. Clearly, they were thinking of next year's convention in Hawaii. BY DAVID VACZEK [Image] A mass of protesters on Rivera Blvd cluster around a giant wooden cross with a wheelchair and small coffin hung from it. Behind the group is a very large ADAPT flag with the wheelchair symbol. [Image caption] Protesters sought to block traffic on a main city thoroughfare.
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Nevada Review-Journal/5B Friday, September 30, 1994 [Headline] Activists to protest for the disabled [Subheading] A group called ADAPT wants to focus attention on the issue of independent living for the disabled. By Jan Greene Review-Journal A debate over how federal money is spent on the disabled could spill into Las Vegas' streets next week, when an estimated 500 disabled activists demonstrate at the national convention of a nursing home group. The activists' group, called ADAPT, has held high-profile demonstrations n the last four cities where the National Health Care Association has met, shutting down a major thoroughfare in San Francisco in 1992 and prompting 107 arrests last year in Nashville. Metropolitan Police Department officials are taking the group's appearance in Las Vegas seriously enough to train 120 officers in techniques to arrest people in wheelchairs. The Police Department held a news conference Thursday to alert the public that there may be traffic problems near the Las Ve- gas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton next week. Police spokesman Lt Carl Fruge said police met with ADAPT leaders Wednesday but were told few details of what the group plans. Fruge said the activists had canceled plans for a march from the Plaza Hotel downtown to the convention center, a 21/2-mile trip. Still, Fruge said police are preparing in case ADAPT stages an impromptu parade. As for the potential for arrests, Fruge was circumspect, saying that police would "be patient" and act only if public safety is threatened. "We're not going to rush in there," Fruge said. "We would be very reluctant to make arrests. It's when they leave us no choice." Fruge said protesters' previous tactics have included blocking building entrances, chaining themselves to buildings, closing streets and flinging themselves from wheelchairs to the ground. Mike Auberger, national organizer for ADAPT, offered no specifics about tactics for this year's protest. "It's hard to say exactly what we'll be doing," Auberger said. "We'll be focusing on the convention center and hotel." Auberger said the group wants to focus attention on the issue of independent living for the disabled, not disrupt life for Las Vegans. "Our intention certainly isn't to screw with the Vegas public at large," he said. Asked about disruption caused by the closure of a major street in San Francisco for several hours during a previous protest, Auberger said it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if traffic had to be rerouted from Paradise Road for a few hours. "From an inconvenience level it's unfortunate, but it's not nearly as bad as being forced into a nursing home for the rest of your life," he said. ADAPT wants 25 percent of the Medicaid and Medicare budgets for nursing home care shifted to programs that would allow the disabled to move into independent-living arrangements. The group argues that powerful lobbyists for nursing homes have stalled efforts to move funds to home nursing care and personal attendants, which Auberger said would save money. "Morally we have an obligation to elderly adults and young disabled adults ... to provide as much freedom as we can," he said. Dave Kyllo, a spokesman for the American Health Care Association, said his organization supports more money for independent living, but not at the expense of nursing homes. He said already too little money is spent caring for an ever-increasing number of elderly people who need long-term care.