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Domov / Albumi / Oznaka wheelchairs 39
- ADAPT (542)
collection of articles from TN papers The Tennessean Wednesday, March 14, 1990 National news 104 handicapped protesters arrested WASHINGTON (AP) — Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol yesterday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. Police said 104 people were arrested. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Wednesday, March 14. 1990 75 arrested as disabled seek rights 2nd day of protests urges passage of bill By Associated Press WASHINGTON -— Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol on Tuesday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. The arrests came after deliberate acts of civil disobedience by the demonstrators and a confrontation in the Capitol's cavernous Rotunda with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and Minority Leader Robert H. Michel. Some 75 protesters were arrested, many of them in their wheelchairs. Removing them and loading them into vans took about two hours. Those arrested were charged with two misdemeanors, unlawful entry and demonstrating within the Capitol, police said. Both carry maximum sentences of six months in jail. In addition, those convicted could be fined $100 for unlawful entry and $500 for demonstrating in the Capitol. The arrests marked the second day of dramatic lobbying by people with disabilities, who are seeking passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Monday, some 60 people crawled out of their wheelchairs and up the West steps of the Capitol. The bill would outlaw discrimination based on physical or mental disability in employment, access to buildings, use of the telephone system, use of public and private transportation and in other uses. It would require ramps or other means of access in all new buildings used by the general public, including private businesses and offices. The Senate passed the bill last year but the measure has bogged down in the House despite widespread predictions of ultimate approval. While the demonstration was in progress. the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill 40-3 at a meeting in another building. The measure still must go to two other committees before reaching the full House. Before the arrests, Foley assured demonstrators that he and other congressional leaders were pushing the bill. His words were met with skepticism. Nashville Banner, Wednesday March 14 1990 Scores of protesters arrested in push for disability rights Associated Press WASHINGTON — A House committee took this year‘s first significant action on a major civil rights bill for disabled Americans on the same day that scores of protesters demanding its immediate enactment were arrested and carted off in their wheelchairs. "It is a priority for passage in this session of the Congress." House Speaker Thomas S. Foley. D-Wash., told unpacified demonstrators Tuesday. The Energy and Commerce Committee, meantime, approved the Americans With Disabilities Act by a 40-3 vote after amending it to soften the impact on Amtrak and make other minor changes. Police arrested 104 people many of whom had chained their wheelchairs together, after deliberate acts of civil disobedience following a confrontation in the Capitol Rotunda with Foley and House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel. (Diane Coleman of Nashville, who uses a wheelchair because of a degenerative muscle condition, was one of four Tennesseans arrested. She said the demonstrators, whose chants including “Access is a civil right" could be heard throughout the Capitol, were charged with misdemeanors for demonstrating within a U.S. Capitol building and refusing to obey police orders to leave.) Foley tried to assure the demonstrators on Tuesday that the bill eventually will become law. "Will it be on the (House) floor in 24 hours? No " - ADAPT (515)
Photo (by John Spink/Staff): Close up of a manual sports wheelchair's wheels. Person in chair is only partially shown holding the push rim. On the spoke guard of the back wheel are 4 bumper stickers that form a square around the hub: 2 read Proud and disAbled, one partially obscured sticker reads I (heart) Park Mill and the 4th one is unreadable. A second manual wheelchair is just visible behind the first one and the legs of someone standing behind that second chair. Caption: A disabled protester uses wheelchair stickers to make a point during Wednesday’s demonstration at the Greyhound bus station. 9/98 [Headline] Demonstrators Get Suspended Fines by Alma E. Hill, Staff Writer Twenty disabled protesters pleaded no contest Thursday in Atlanta Municipal Court to disorderly conduct charges growing out of a demonstration at the Greyhound bus station that blocked buses for almost five hours. Each of the protesters received a $75 fine that was suspended by Chief Judge Andrew Mickle in a plea bargain agreement. State criminal trespass charges filed against six other protesters were dismissed. A hearing on two aggravated assault charges against another demonstrator was rescheduled for early January, Judge Mickle said. The court session marked the end of three days of demonstrations by more than 100 ADAPT activists to protest the lack of wheelchair lifts on public buses and private intercity carriers. Although the group did not succeed in its initial demands to obtain an executive order from U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner requiring all new buses purchased with federal dollars to have lifts, ADAPT leaders were claiming a victory. The demonstrators obtained promises from transit and federal transportation officials to meet with them. Also, they are counting on federal transit officials to discourage transit operators from making hurried purchases of buses without lifts before federal law mandates the devices. - ADAPT (513)
FRI. SEPTEMBER 29, 1989 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution [Headline] ADAPT: ‘Militant Group' Takes on the Mainstream Disabled Protesters Tired of ‘Lousy Way to Live’ By Pat Burson, staff writer Sallie Bach said she used to look at people with disabilities “like they were nothing.“ “When you're able to walk, you see people like this and you stand up and laugh at them. l know. l did it," said the 50-year-old Chicago woman, a waitress for 21 years until she became physically disabled after jumping from a third-floor window to escape an apartment fire. “l know what it feels like now," she said. “Now I understand.“ Ms. Bach joined more than 100 other disabled and non-disabled people who are members of American Disabled for Accessible Transportation, or ADAPT, as they blockaded a federal office tower and the Greyhound bus station in Atlanta this week to call attention to their demands that wheelchair lifts be installed on all new buses purchased with federal dollars. ADAPT, based in Denver, promotes non discriminatory, mainline public transit system that are accessible to people who use wheelchairs. This week's protests were planned to coincide with the American Public Transit Association‘s (APTA) annual convention ADAPT has held similar protests in Denver, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Montreal, trying to persuade APTA members to support total accessibility of public transit systems. The transit group and ADAPT differ on the federal government's role in mandating access to public transportation. APTA agrees that transit systems should make their buses and trains accessible, but the group believes local government not Washington, should decide. Whether or not members of the disabled community agree with ADAPT's more radical tactics, they applaud its members unceasing demand for access. “They are a militant group, and l think their militancy had been imposed upon them," said Jay W. Brill, a longtime activist for disability rights and manager of the Initiative on Technology, Disability and Post-Secondary Education at the American Council on Education in Washington. "There's a point where the community [of disabled people] becomes so frustrated with transit authorities, and a door opens wide for ADAPT," said Mr.Brill. ADAPT founder Wade E. Blank, a 48-year-old minister with shoulder-length blond hair, said he got the idea to start the group when he worked as a nursing home orderly. "l said to myself, 'What a lousy way to live your life," he said Wednesday, standing behind a police barricade as 25 fellow protesters at the Greyhound station were loaded onto a lift-equipped bus by police. Co-founder Michael Auberger describes ADAPT as “a fringe group‘ that has become mainstream." “It attracts the person who has been within the system and tired of it and the person who is locked out of the system,... somebody who's really disabled, on a fixed income and needs to use public transportation." The organization, formed in 1983, has about 1,800 members and 33 local chapters. As protesters tried to close down the Richard B. Russell Federal Building this week, linking arms and wheelchairs at the tower's main doors and elevators, some compared the demonstration to those during the civil rights movement of a quarter-century ago. "The civil rights movement started because of busing" said Jerry Eubanks, a 31-year-old-dispatcher for the Chicago Sanitation Department, whose legs were amputated below the knee after a train accident. “We just want the right to ride the bus." - ADAPT (509)
This story in its entirety is on ADAPT 496. - ADAPT (496)
Tues., September 26, 1989 [Headline] Disabled Try to Block Access To Elevators [Subheading] Protesters Continue Russell Building Sit-In By Alma E. Hill and Pat Burson, Staff Writers [This is the full text of the story that appears on ADAPT 496, 509 and 488.] Protesters in wheelchairs moved to block elevators in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building today in their second straight day inside the building, as federal officials increased security. Ed Driver, chief of law enforcement for the General Services Administration, said six security guards were brought in “so that we can maintain access to and from the building." “We're not going to do anything, we just want to be able to maintain an element of safety in the building," Mr. Driver said. At 11:50 a.m., leaders of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) gave the signal and protesters began to chant and roll their wheelchairs in front of the doors on the plaza level of the federal building to restrict access to and from the building, as they had done Monday. Moments later, in an apparent shift in tactics, the group moved toward elevators to cut off access to upper floors in the high-rise. Protesters said they will continue to demonstrate until President George Bush or Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner complies with their demands to issue a federal mandate requiring new buses purchased with federal dollars to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Judges who work in the federal building avoided problems getting out of the building by leaving before the noon takeover. And the doors to the Peachtree Federal Employees Credit Union, located in the southwest corner of the building, closed as soon as protesters began to shout. Visitors are being directed out of the basement and second floor exits. The Rev. Wade Blank, of Denver, said officials from the Urban Mass Transit Administration came over to the building to meet with pro- Disabled Group Stages Protest For Wheelchair Lifts on Buses from page A1 [starts on 496, continues here 509, ends on 488. Overlap with 509 and 488] ...test organizers. However, the meeting never took place. “They got on the elevator and didn't tell us what floor they were going to. so we said, ‘The hell with it."' the Rev. Blank said. The protesters began their demonstration Monday to coincide with an appearance by Mr. Skinner at the American Public Transit Association (APTA) convention at a downtown hotel. After occupying the plaza floor of the federal building for eight hours Monday, more than 100 disabled activists were evicted at the close of the business day, only to be allowed back inside after President Bush personally intervened. “We're here until the order gets signed." Michael W. Auberger, of Denver, one of the co-founders and organizers of ADAPT, said Monday. Mr. Auberger and other demonstrators from throughout the country lined their wheelchairs two and three deep near the doorways to the federal building. located at the corner of Spring Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, trying to stop anyone from leaving or entering. Mr. Auberger, who has been disabled since he suffered a spinal cord injury 17 years ago, and others blocked revolving doors by attaching chains and iron bicycle locks around their necks and locking them to door handles, a tactic used to prevent security from simply lifting protesters out of their wheelchairs to clear the doorways. At one point Monday afternoon Mr. Auberger, 35, said, “They'll have to carry everybody out or arrest them." At 6 p.m. Atlanta police and officers from the General Services Administration, who provide security for the building, ordered the protesters to leave and began carrying them outside. The guards used large bolt cutters to sever the chains holding some demonstrators to the doors. At about 8 p.m., as guards were removing the last of the demonstrators, Gary C. Cason, regional administrator of the General Services Administration, told police and maintenance workers to allow the protesters back into the building. “The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest." Mr. Cason said. Mr. Cason said Mr. Bush also said he was concerned about the protesters sitting outside in the chilly overnight temperatures and rainy mist. Maintenance crews appeared a half-hour later with blankets. Mr. Cason said the protesters would be restricted to the lobby floor and would have access to the restrooms. Protest organizers credit White House counsel C. Boyden Gray for Mr. Bush's action. Mr. Auberger said they contacted Mr. Gray, who took their case to Mr. Bush. The president then called the head of the GSA, Richard G. Austin in Washington, telling him to allow the demonstrators back inside. The protest forced most visitors to the building Monday to use a basement entrance adjacent to an underground parking lot. Mr. Auberger said the group planned to stay in the building overnight and would block the entrances again at noon if the Transportation Department does not order changes in transit-access rules. “At noon the administration has to decide whether or not they are going to arrest us, or we’re closing the building down again,” he said shortly before 11 p.m., as the protesters ate Chinese food they had ordered and made themselves comfortable in the hallway on the Spring Street side of the building. The demonstration was the second in as many days held by ADAPT, a nationwide organization. The event was held in Atlanta to coincide with the annual conference of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), meeting this week in Atlanta, and to attract the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner, who spoke to APTA Monday morning. APTA opposes legislation pending in Congress — that ADAPT supports — called the Americans With Disabilities Act. The proposal would remove barriers in public transportation by requiring public transit authorities to have wheelchair lifts on any new buses purchased 30 days after the measure was enacted. APTA officials say they oppose that portion of the measure because it would cut into limited federal funds. While Mr. Skinner has said he supports the bill, ADAPT wants him to issue an executive order so the stipulation can take effect immediately — prior to congressional action. Protesters demanded to talk with Mr. Skinner while he was in Atlanta, but Mr. Skinner departed for St. Croix without meeting with them. Robert Marx, a spokesman for Mr. Skinner, said the secretary does not have the authority to issue such an order, only the president. Spokesmen for ADAPT believe Mr. Skinner is not championing their cause because of a lawsuit the group won against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) two years ago, when Mr. Skinner was chairman of the city's Regional Transportation Authority. The court ruling required the CTA to purchase wheelchair lifts when ordering new buses. Photo: Looking down the long narrow glass walled lobby. In the foreground a man is lying bundled in a blanket on the floor. Beside him his motorized wheelchair sits empty. A little further back in the lobby several people sit in their wheelchairs and scooters by a cardboard box and some bags and papers. photo by ANDY SHARP caption: Woody Osburn of Tulsa, sleeping, and others, seen early today in the Russell Building. - ADAPT (261)
The Cincinnati Post Thursday May 22, 1986 1B [This article continues in ADAPT 251, but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO by Patrick Reddy/The Cincinnati Post: A lone man in a wheelchair (Glenn Horton) sits in front of a metal police barricade. He wears his pale ADAPT T-shirt with the ADAPT no steps logo imprinted in black on the front. He looks casual but determined, with one foot resting higher on his chair than the other, and his hands folded in his lap. Behind him is cavernous black, some kind of entrance. And around him stand four police officers dressed in dark colors, with light colored hats with eye shades. Each officer is looking determinedly in a different direction. Caption reads: Four police officers look on as Glenn Horton of El Paso, Texas, waits for a van to take him to the Hamilton County Jail after he was arrested at a protest at the Westin Hotel. Horton was among 17 disabled protesters arrested Wednesday. Title: Protesters ready for long jail stay Post staff report Comparing Cincinnati to Selma, Ala., in the 1960s, 11 members of a handicapped activist group are vowing to stay in jail to end alleged discrimination against the handicapped. Of 17 disabled protesters arrested Wednesday, 14 were charged with disorderly conduct for blocking the Westin Hotel entrance. Three were charged with criminal trespassing after chaining themselves to the front doors of Queen City Metro’s offices at 6 E. Fourth St., downtown. Scheduled court dates ranged from May 28 through June 2, so some of the protesters could be in jail for as long as 12 days. Demonstrating against lack of access to Queen City Metro buses, members of Americans Disabled tor Accessible Public Transportation have timed protests this week to coincide with an American Public Transit Association conference at the Westin. The five-day conference ended Wednesday night. “This (Cincinnati) is the Selma, Ala., of the disabled civil rights movement,” said the Rev. Wade Blank of Denver, a founder of ADAPT. “People from all over the country have been calling to say they are willing to get arrested. This has not happened in many cities.” Access Service, Queen City's alternative transit system for the elderly and handicapped, is inadequate and overloaded, ADAPT members say. “We are committed and the people who got involved in this knew it would be more than an overnight stay in jail," said Stephanie Thomas, an ADAPT organizer. “We will not post bond for them." The 11 jailed ADAPT members have been separated from the rest of the prison population and have a full-time employee watching over them at the Hamilton County Justice Center, said Victor Carrelli, Hamilton County chief deputy sheriff. Hamilton County Municipal Judge David Albanese held a special two-hour hearing Wednesday for the 17 under judicial orders covering mass arrests or civil disobedience cases. Those charged with crimi nal trespassing were Michael W. Auberger, 32, of Denver, Colo.; George Cooper Jr., 58, of Irving, Texas, and Robert Kafka, 40, of Austin, Texas. Albanese set bond for the three, who pleaded not guilty, at $3000 cash and "banned them from the city if they chose to post bond. They did not. Kelli Bates, 21, of Denver, the only woman arrested, was the only ADAPT member to plead no contest to a disorderly conduct charge against her. Albanese found her guilty and sentenced her to 30 days in jail if she has not left the city by Friday or enters the city before Friday. Lonnie Smith, 30, of Denver, charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, pleaded not guilty. Albanese set a $2500 10-percent bond for the resisting charge and a $1500 10-percent bond for the disorderly conduct charge. Those pleading not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and placed on a $1500 10 percent cash bond were Ernest Taylor, 31, of Hartford, Conn.; William Bolte, 54, of’ Los Angeles; Glenn Horton, 46, of El Paso, Texas; Joseph Carl, 47, of Denver, and James Parker, 40, of E1 Paso. Those pleading not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and given higher bonds because of prior records were Robert Conrad, 32, of Denver, on a $2000 10-percent cash bond and George Roberts, 37, of Denver on a $3000 10-percent cash bond. Those pleading not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and released on a $1500 unsecured bond because of medical problems were Arthur Campbell, 39," of Louisville; Kenneth Heart, 36, of Denver; Efrain Lozazno, 35, of El Paso; George Florom, 43, of Colorado Springs, Col; and Rick James, 36, of Salt Lake City. In all cases where bond could be posted, Albanese warned the people not to return to Cincinnati except for court appearances or meetings with their attorneys. Prosecutor Charles A. Rubenstein in many of the cases protested Albanese’s decision to allow the prisoners to be released on bonds. “There is a great likelihood if they are released on bond they would create "further problems and turn this court into a revolving door,” he said. However, James Nicholas of the public defenders office, who was appointed to aid the group's privately hired legal counsel, said "the group would cause no further problems. “The reason that they came, here is finished. They have no reason to remain." After the hearings were finished, Nicholas said most members of the group had vowed to remain in jail. - ADAPT (88)
Rocky Mountain News 7/6/78 [This story continues in ADAPT 91 but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] NEWS Photo by Dick Davis: A city bus is parked at an angle to the street across 2 or 3 lanes. In front, a small woman in a power chair and dark sunglasses, sits holding a very large sign that reads "Taxation without Transportation" and has a wheelchair symbol of access. Two other people in wheelchairs are backed up to the side of the bus and a small group of other people in wheelchairs are in the street by the blockers. Mel Conrardy is in the wheelchair closest to the camera. Caption reads: A group of handicapped persons "seized" two RTD buses Wednesday, protesting what they called the firm's insensitivity to handicapped. [Headline] Buses seized, police decline to make arrests [Subheading] DISABLED SNARL TRAFFIC IN PROTEST By GARY DELSOHN News Staff Protesting what they said was the Regional Transportation District's insensitivity to Denver's handicapped, about 25 disabled persons "seized" two buses during Wednesday morning's downtown rush hour, snarling traffic and daring police to make arrests. While supporters helped them board two eastbound buses on Colfax Avenue at Broadway, several persons in wheelchairs surrounded the crowded vehicles. Early morning commuters had to walk two blocks to catch other buses while RTD drivers radioed their headquarters for assistance. Shortly after the 8:30 takeover, police arrived, admitting they weren't sure what to do. As commanders came to assist, police decided not to arrest any handicapped protesters because, as one sergeant said, “We don't want to be the fall guys on this.“ Police said they didn't want to risk injuring any of the severely disabled persons by loading them into police vans, nor did they wish to be pictured in television newscasts or newspapers arresting persons in wheelchairs. TWO PERSONS WERE arrested for refusing to obey police orders, but they were local counselors - not in wheelchairs - who work with many of Denver's approximately 8,000 handicapped. John Simpson, RTD executive director, arrived at the scene about 10 a.m. and talked with the demonstrators, asking them to leave the street and explain their grievances away from traffic. The protesters refused to move, saying Simpson and RTD have been meeting with the handicapped for years and done little to solve their transportation problems. "Handicapped people have a right to ride the bus just like everyone else," said Lin Chism, a disabled University of Colorado at Denver student studying rehabilitation counseling. “Today is the first of many times we will have to do this to get RTD to come to some agreement with us.“ Calling themselves the Colorado Coalition of Disabled Citizens, the protesters, organized and led by Denver's privately owned Atlantis Community for the handicapped, said the demonstration was a response to last week's federal court ruling that RTD was not violating the constitutional rights of the city's handicapped by not providing them access to RTD buses. ATLANTIS AND OTHER groups representing the handicapped and elderly last year sued RTD to require installation on all new buses of devices providing access to persons in wheelchairs. Wade Blank, director of Atlantis, which helps handicapped persons adjust to non-institutional life, said demonstrators hoped to get the attention of U.S. District Court Judge Richard P. Matsch, who made last week's ruling, and "others in the judicial system so they know what we‘re up against. “Like Martin Luther King. we have tried to go through the system," Blank said. "Now, like Dr. King, we must practice civil disobedience until the judges change their minds or Congress makes new laws." A clerk for Judge Matsch said, “The judge does not respond to reporters‘ questions and makes no comment on a ruling he has made." Blank said Atlantis lawyers will appeal Matsch's decision. He said the group also plans additional disruptive protests. “These people have no place else to go," he said, adding that they would not even be able to attend meetings on the subject proposed by Simpson because they could not find transportation. Simpson, talking with protesters, police and reporters throughout the morning, said RTD is trying to help disabled persons get around town and is one of the most progressive agencies in the nation in that area. RTD HAS I2 BUSES equipped with hydraulic lifts and locking safety clamps for persons in wheelchairs. Simpson said. Transporting several hundred persons to and from work and school daily, the "special service", buses appear to be the best way to move handicapped persons, he said. Equipping other buses with elevator lifts wouldn't be feasible, according to Simpson, because many handicapped persons can't get to bus stops located throughout town. Simpson pleaded with the demonstrators to move and let the two stalled buses continue down Colfax Avenue, even ordering one of the special buses into the area to handle the crowd. He also took reporters through the bus, demonstrating its features. But the protesters refused to move, saying their problem wasn't one of immediate transportation but rather a long-term dilemma exacerbated by the fact that only nine of the 12 special buses are in use. The other three, they said, are in storage at RTD garages. Simpson said RTD will have another 28 buses designed to carry handicapped persons in operation by September but their use has been delayed by mechanical problems. POLICE COMMANDERS repeatedly tried to mediate an immediate solution to the the traffic jam created by the protesters, but demonstrators said they would not leave unless Simpson gave them a written promise that all RTD buses would be made accessible to the handicapped. Simpson, declining this offer, said he would meet "with anyone, any time" on the issue. "We have been sensitive," Simpson said. "But some of these problems Congress will have to address." Demonstrators also expressed concern that the waiting list to get on the special buses is 1,000 persons long and the only alternative for persons without friends or relatives to drive them around is a private cab service that charges about $16 per round trip. Many city and state officials were on the scene, watching and talking to police and demonstrators. Mary Krane, a supervisor in the city's social services department, said she quit RTD advisory committee on the handicapped and elderly last year in frustration. "I resigned because it was so hard to get anything done, " she said. "We messed around with a few things but nothing really happened. No one has been willing to make the capital investment necessary to make buses accessible to the handicapped." JEROME SPRIGS, A member of the Governor's Council on the Handicapped, said disabled persons "know they're getting the run-around from the RTD because many of these special buses are being used in rural areas." Lisa Wheeler, 20, an Atlantis counselor, and Bill Roem, who runs a Lakewood home for the physically handicapped, were arrested about 11 am after they ignored a police order to leave the street. "Police are doing their jobs, " Roem said from inside a squad car. "But there has to be some awareness of the problem." Ms. Wheeler and Roem were book at police headquarters and released on $100 bond. Police blocked traffic on Colfax Avenue from Delaware on the west to Lincoln on the east. Traffic during the evening rush hour didn't seem to move any slower than usual, as protesters said they probably would continue their vigil throughout the night. - ADAPT (152)
Rocky Mountain News 5-18-84 PHOTO (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID CORNWELL): A large meeting room in a business or hotel type setting. In the foreground a tough looking protester in a wheelchair holds a sign in front of him and looks sideways at the camera. Behind him more protesters in wheelchairs and men in suits stand around not looking at each other. Behind them is a table with 5 other people in wheelchairs sitting at it. Caption reads: Protesters meet with McDonald's representatives, standing from left, Joe Hill, Don Fowler and Dennis Morris. [Headline] McDonald’s officials, disabled to confer by Arnold Levinson, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer A group of people who have threatened to block selected McDonald's restaurants around the country will meet with the company’s national executives to demand that the chain improve access for handicapped customers. The agreement to hold higher-level discussions was reached Monday in a wheelchair-packed room of the Denver Holiday lnn, where two dozen disabled people bargained for several hours with regional officials of the fast-food company. Both sides said afterward that the McDonald's national marketing and construction directors, as well as the vice president for store licensing, would attend the next meeting, which isn't scheduled yet. The outcome of Monday's meeting suggested that McDonald's is taking seriously the demands - and the threats — of ACCESS, a small, loosely knit coalition of handicapped-advocacy groups nationwide. Last week ACCESS members, most in wheelchairs, picketed two McDonald's restaurants in Denver. Led by members of the Atlantis Community, ACCESS vowed to begin a campaign against McDonald’s in several cities unless certain demands were met. “They can stop this thing from spreading today, or they can stonewall us and it will spread,” the Rev. Wade Blank, Atlantis Community leader, said Monday before the meeting. Jim Parker, a 38-year-old quadriplegic from El Paso, Texas, said afterward that ACCESS wants McDonald’s to promise that: * Entranceways,‘bathrooms and seating in all future outlets be “fully accessible" to the disabled. * Handicapped people appear in 10 percent of the company's advertisements. * The company make restaurants handicapped-accessible within a period yet to be agreed upon. McDonald’s regional officials declined comment Monday beyond saying that negotiations will resume within 30 days to address "the issues brought to our attention today." The regional office oversees operations in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and part of Arizona. The company's national media office failed to respond to a request for information about McDonald's policies toward the handicapped. Behind the decision by ACCESS to target McDonald's are several factors, said Blank, not the least of which is the ripple effect that could occur if an accord is reached with a large, visible symbol of industry. If you can beat the big ones," said Blank, “the others will fall in place.” McDonald’s inaugurated the fast-food industry and leads competitors in the world market. Blank said the move on McDonald’s, which he called “symbolic of free enterprise," also represents a decision to take on the business sector after winning gains, such as bus lifts and curb ramps, from government. He acknowledged that last week's demonstrations were timed to coincide with the presence in Denver of about two dozen disabled people who arrived May 1 to study at the ACCESS Institute. The Atlantis Community uses the institute to teach its methods of advocacy. Alongside these political considerations is criticism of McDonald’s policies toward the handicapped, particularly what Blank called delays in remodeling older stores. “My daughter is in a wheelchair, and I can’t get her to a table," he said of one local McDonald's outlet “The only place she can eat is in the restroom, because it’s accessible." - ADAPT (541)
PHOTO (by Tom Olin): Three women, all with their mouths open yelling, make a diagonal line across the picture. In the front a slim white woman in a power wheelchair (Robin Stephens) in a red ADAPT no steps logo T-shirt holds her hand up in an intense, CP open fist; her head is tilted to the right. On the side of her armrest you can make out a bumper sticker that reads "Proud and DisAbled" in white print on a blue background. Directly behind her and in the doorway of an elevator, another woman in a power wheelchair (Lillibeth Navarro) tilts her head the other way from Robin's. She is wearing large tinted glasses, a black ADAPT T-shirt with yellow writing and has a yellow ADAPT bandanna with black writing and logos draped on her lap. Behind her an African American woman (Paulette Patterson) is kneeling on the elevator floor with her head tilted the same way as Robin's. She has on an ADAPT bandanna around her neck and is holding herself up against the door frame. Each woman's face holds a different form of passion. In the very back of the elevator, in the opposite corner from Paulette, is another African American woman (Anita Cameron?) in the shadows, you can make out her yellow ADAPT headband and a white logo on her T-shirt.