- D'Reiefolleg, an där zortéiert gëttStandard
Numm vum Bild,A→Z
Numm vum Bild,Z→A
Datum erstallt,nei→al
✔ Datum erstallt,al→nei
Datum verëffentlechen, nei → al
Datum verëffentlechen, al → nei
Bewäertung, héich →niddereg
Bewäertung, niddereg →héich
Visitten,héich→niddreg
Visitten,niddreg→héich - SproochAfrikaans Argentina AzÉrbaycanca
á¥áá áá£áá Äesky Ãslenska
áá¶áá¶ááááá à¤à¥à¤à¤à¤£à¥ বাà¦à¦²à¦¾
தமிழ௠à²à²¨à³à²¨à²¡ ภาษาà¹à¸à¸¢
ä¸æ (ç¹é«) ä¸æ (é¦æ¸¯) Bahasa Indonesia
Brasil Brezhoneg CatalÃ
ç®ä½ä¸æ Dansk Deutsch
Dhivehi English English
English Español Esperanto
Estonian Finnish Français
Français Gaeilge Galego
Hrvatski Italiano Îλληνικά
íêµì´ LatvieÅ¡u Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuviu Magyar Malay
Nederlands Norwegian nynorsk Norwegian
Polski Português RomânÄ
Slovenšcina Slovensky Srpski
Svenska Türkçe Tiếng Viá»t
Ù¾Ø§Ø±Ø³Û æ¥æ¬èª ÐÑлгаÑÑки
ÐакедонÑки Ðонгол Ð ÑÑÑкий
СÑпÑки УкÑаÑнÑÑка ×¢×ר×ת
اÙعربÙØ© اÙعربÙØ©
Staartsäit / Albumen / Schlagwuert jail 6
Publikatiounsdatum / 2017
« 2016
2018 »
Januar
Februar
Mäerz
Abrëll
Mee
Juni
Juli
August
September
Oktober
November
Dezember
Alles
- ADAPT (278)
Jim Naubacher disabled In Detroit [column] Drawing of a man's head Title: He’s got access -—— to anger Before the week even started, I was teed off. The American Public Transit Association was coming to Detrolt and so were American Disabled for Accessible Puplic Transit. APTA versus ADAPT. There was insensitivity to handicappers on the part of city officials; apathy and collaboration by local handicappers nervous about ADAPT's presence, and a general lack of commitment by anyone other than ADAPT to the principle of public transit for all, accessible buses for all. I wrote a column in mid-September outlining the approaching confrontation. lt had happened in other cities. ADAPT, an outgrowth of an independent living organization in Denver called Atlantis, had fought for and won a commitment from the City of Denver for total accessibility on its main buses. ADAPT wanted the American Public Transit Association, at its 1983 Denver national convention, to take a similar public stand. lt did not, and ADAPT promised to appear each time APTA convened and protest that decision. Then I turned the story over to others, since I knew I could not be impartial. They covered the story with words and pictures, but let me tell you about some of the strange, ironic, disappointing and disturbing things that took place beginning Oct. 3 in Detroit. SAD BUT perhaps not unexpected was the reaction of city officials. In many ways, the city acted like any other city would react. It had wooed and won the APTA and promised APTA officials a safe and peaceful convention in the face of expected ADAPT protests. APTA had faced challenges from ADAPT in Denver, Los Angeles, Washington, San Antonio and Cincinnati before the Detroit convention. City officials were pretty sure they knew what to expect. What would ADAPT do? They would "do" civil disobedience. They would block buses that were not lift-equipped for wheelchair users. Wheelchair users would try to crawl onto some of these inaccessible buses. But while putting the best face possible on a woefully inadequate mass transit system, the city put the worse possible face on its position toward a mass translt system that is accessible to all. Just before the APTA delegates arrived, Mayor Young announced that the City of Detroit was buying 100 new buses. He emphasized that the service-poor city would use its own money. Thls point was notable, since Young made no mention of the new buses' accessibility. Federal regulations require non-discrimination toward handicapped riders and require communities to develop a plan to make their systems accessible. Michigan law requires that each bus bought with the aid of state money must be lift-equipped. ln response to questions, city officlals said that perhaps as many as 20 - one of five — of the new buses would be lift-equipped. NOT COINCIDENTALLY, the City of Detroit had entered into an out-of-court settlement 14 months earlier in a federal lawsuit brought by four handicappers against the city on a variety of complaints of non-compliance with federal law regarding non-discriminatlon and accommodation of handicappers. in that settlement, the city had agreed to maintain the lifts on buses and to train drivers in their proper use. But little has been accomplished. Young's announcement that the city had bought at least 80 percent inaccessible buses underlined the city's position regarding access. it also reminded handicappers that the settlement had not committed the city to providing future accessible, well maintained buses. In the meantime. efforts were under way to neutralize ADAPT. The Detroit City Council denied the group a parade permit. ADAPT had contacted Rosa Parks, the Detroit woman whose refused to move to the back of a Montgomery, Ala., bus in 1955 gained national attention and sparked protests during a different civil rights struggle. Her representatives said she would not lead a parade, but would hold a news conference. She later said she might attend a press conference, but did not. CBS reporter Ed Bradley from "60 Minutes" delivered a keynote speech at the APTA convention Oct. 6. Bradley said he had investigated ADAPT found their complaints "didn't hold water." FORD MOTOR CO. allowed a [bus] full of APTA delegates to use its private property to gain access to a coctail party site that ADAPT members planned to barricade. The Southeastern Michigan Transportatlon Authorities (SEMTA), which has committed itself to total access of its bus systems by the end of decade, loaned the Detroit police an accessible van so they could [take] ADAPT protesters to jail. Frank Cl[-]one of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against Detroit, provided sensitivity training to Detroit police officers who were expected to be arresting ADAPT wheelchair users. But the training only extended [so] far. Although there was no "arm twisting or head-beating," as a [police] representative described it, police were unable to appropriately house protesters and provide medical necessities, food and bedding to some who were arrested. On Oct. 7, Detroit Recorder's [County?] Judge George Crockett felt compelled to issue a writ of habeas corpus, freeing them because of these conditions.J As ADAPT members went home Oct. 8-9, I was still teed off. This will not be the end of the debate on transportation access in Detroit and across the country. - ADAPT (285)
The Detroit News, Section B Metro/ Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1986 pp. 1b and 6b News Focus: HANDICAPPED ACCESS PHOTO News Photo by Howard Kaplan: Three dark uniformed officers encircle the back of an older, thin man in a an old style manual wheelchair (Frank McComb). The officer on the left looks frustrated but determined, the one in the middle looks somewhat worried and the one on right is bending forward as if trying to speak to Frank. Frank looks freaked out. He is wearing a button down shirt and jacket with an ADAPT button. Caption reads: Handicapped protester arrested at Federal Building in downtown Detroit. There are two articles side by side. [These articles both are continued on ADAPT 275, but the entire text of both has been included here for easier reading.] Title of first article: 2nd day of protest brings 37 arrests By Louis Mieczko and David Grant, News Staff Writers A group of jailed wheelchair-bound protesters found themselves confronted Tuesday night with the kind of access problems they've been protesting all week. Thirteen protesters spent the night in a gym at Detroit Police Headquarters after the Wayne County sheriff's department refused to admit them to the county jail. A spokeswoman for the sheriff's department said the protesters weren’t accepted at the jail because over-crowding forced the county on Friday to stop incarcerating people accused of misdemeanors. MEANWHILE, UP to 60 people -- most in wheelchairs — descended on the area around Police Headquarters to protest the jailings. They wheeled slowly along the sidewalks around the building, chanting, “Let our people go" and vowed to spend the night. About 20 police officers stood near the protesters but did not intervene. The 13 protesters were among 37 people arrested Tuesday, after they blocked one of two entrances to the McNamara federal office building in downtown Detroit. Of the 37 people arrested, 31 were in wheelchairs. Police said the 13 jailed protesters were being held in lieu of $1,000 cash bail each. The rest of the protesters were released on $100 [personal bond]. BAIL WAS set at $1,000 for the 13, a police spokesman said, because their arrests Tuesday violated the conditions of their release Monday on $100 personal bond after a similar protest. They had been ordered to avoid further arrest until a court appearance set for Oct. 24, police said. Their incarceration posed special problems for police. The protesters were being held in a gym at Police Headquarters, which has barred windows and doors and is occasionally used to hold prisoners temporarily when processing of prisoners is backed up at the jail, police said. The bathrooms in the gym are not equipped for the handicapped and guards were carrying the protesters in the toilets, police said. The protesters were arrested early in the afternoon. By the time they had been processed and carried into the gym by police, the cafeteria at the Wayne County Jail had closed, police said. Officers at Police Headquarters, who declined to be named and who wouldn't provide details, said they secured from the county jail meals of roast beef and pot roast with lettuce, salads, ice cream, milk and juice. The protesters ate about 8:30 p.m. Title of second article: Costly bus lifts are key to dispute By Louis Mieczko, News Staff Writer It costs an estimated $20,000 to install wheelchair lifts on a typical city bus, and sometimes they don't work. That's the crux of a dispute between transit agencies across the country handicapped groups protesting the lack of access to public buses and rail cars. Americans [sic] Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) wants every bus and rail car in the county available to wheelchair-bound people, a move which transit officials say would bankrupt most agencies. HANDICAPPED ADAPT demonstrators clashed this week with the American Public Transit Association (APTA), which is holding its annual convention in Detroit. It was the fourth such confrontation in as many years tied to the APTA conventions. Dozens of protesters have been arrested since Sunday for interfering with bus traffic and blocking entry to the McNamara Building as they sought to meet with staff members of U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Donald Riegle Jr. ADAPT has strongly criticized Detroit's Department of Transportation (D-DOT), which serves the city, and praised the suburban Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA). “We fought for five years in Denver to get wheelchair lifts on all city buses there, and when we won in Denver, we went national," said Wade Blank, a Presbyterian minister whose 15-year-old daughter is confined to a wheelchair. THE PROTEST group, which Blank helped start, is upset with APTA for opposing its goal of wheelchair lifts on all buses. Five years ago, APTA won a lawsuit knocking down a requirement that the devices be installed on buses purchased with federal funds. Jack R. Gilstrap, APTA executive vice-president, called that too costly. “In Washington, D.C., $60 million was spent to provide elevators for the ‘subway stations, but only 36 handicapped people use those elevators on a given day," said Gilstrap. “We would much rather let each transit authority develop dial-a-ride and other more cost-effective services.” Gilstrap said it costs an average of $20,000 a bus to add wheelchair lifts, which often are unreliable. "THEY’VE NEVER given the wheelchair lift system a chance to work," said Frank A. Clark, chairman of the Detroit-based Coalition for the Human Rights of the Handicapped. “How much does it cost to keep these people at home or in a nursing facility." A 10 year old Michigan law, one of the most stringent in the United States, requires that all new buses bought with state funds have wheelchair lifts. California is the only other state with such a requirement. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, 1,186 of the 2,127 publicly owned buses in the state have wheelchair lifts. Detroit recently bought 100 buses, but equipped only 20 with wheelchair lifts. The city did not have to follow the state law because it used city funds. ONLY 196 of the city's 606 buses — about 32 percent —— have the wheelchair equipment. By comparison, 140 of SEMTA’s 202 buses — more than 69 percent — are equipped with the lifts. And 440 of Denver's 760 buses — 58 percent — have the lifts. Denver's policy is to equip all new buses with the lifts: and the handicapped groups say they consider Denver's system a model that should be adopted by others. Clark complained that the Detroit lifts often don't work. “They don't maintain them at all," Clark said. “We'll be going into federal court soon to complain about the situation." CLARK’S GROUP has a five-year-old lawsuit pending before Federal District Judge Richard Suhrheinrich, charging Detroit with violating U.S. handicap access laws for mass transit, public buildings and walkways. The law requires that public property be accessible to the handicapped. Clark said members of his group monitor Detroit buses for operating lifts by attempting to board them while in wheelchairs. He said the group annually checks five routes Gratiot, Woodward, Grand River, Crosstown and East Warren — designated by D-DOT for handicapped access. "But even on those routes," Clark said, "we can't find any that work." By contrast," he said, "SEMTA maintains its lift equipment. D-DOT officials could not be reached for comment. Mayor Coleman A. Young’s press secretary, Robert Berg, referred questions on Detroit's recent bus purchase in state officials. NEIL LINCOLN, a spokesman for the Denver system, said it has come a long way quickly. “The lifts still break down," he added, “but not nearly as often." However, some cities like Chicago and Cleveland have not bought any wheelchair lifts because of the cost and maintenance problems. Spokesmen for those cities said they prefer to develop dial-a-ride and van service for the handicapped. Detroit has no dial-a-ride or van service. NEWS GRAPHIC: Handicapped accessible buses Here's a look at the number of buses that are handicap accessible and average number of daily riders on 6 transit systems: Wheelchair Lifts: Baltimore has 100. Chicago has 0, Cleveland has 0. Denver has 440, Detroit has 196, SEMTA has 140. Total Buses: Baltimore has 900, Chicago has 2,275, Cleveland has 656, Denver has 760, Detroit has 603, SEMTA has 203. Daily Riders: Baltimore has 240,000, Chicago has 1.6 million, Cleveland has 263,400, Denver has 160,000, Detroit has 180,000, SEMTA has 203,000. (59 small vans for handicapped, all wheelchair accessible.) end of news graphic. PHOTO: News Photo by W. Lynn Owens: A man in a jean jacket and hoodie, with bushy dark hair and a beard stands, back to the camera, by the door of a Denver Transit bus. On the steps at the doorway a thin young person is sitting, hands raised to grab on, as this person tries to lift themselves backward up and onto the bus. On the curb in front of these two people sits an empty manual wheelchair. Inside the bus you can see the silhouette of the bus driver sitting in the drivers seat. - ADAPT (329)
The Phoenix Gazette, Saturday, April 4, 1987 Picture top left by Rick Giase of The Phoenix Gazette: Two police barricades cover most of the view of a city street. Between them a motorcycle police officer sits on his cycle in front of a building. Caption: A Phoenix police officer watchers over barricades that were set up Friday at the Hyatt Regency. Title: Police prepare for wheelchair demonstration By Scott Luck and Scott Craven Phoenix police have set up a command post at the downtown Hyatt Regency to monitor actions of a group of wheelchair activists that plans to protest a convention this weekend. Although the American Public Transit Association convention is not scheduled to begin until Sunday, 20 officers Friday blockaded Monroe Street by the Hyatt. In addition to the officers, two police buses were at the scene, which police spokesman Ken Johnson said would be used, if needed, to take protesters to jail. The protesting group, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, plans to picket the convention to demand installation of wheelchair lifts in every bus and transit system that receives federal transportation funds. The group says efforts by the APTA to install equipment for the disabled have been unacceptable. The group has held similar protests in other cities across the country. Members have chained themselves to buses, obstructed bus routes, thrown themselves on to the steps of buses without lifts and generally raised havoc. The conference is scheduled to run until Wednesday. ADAPT organizer Michael Auberger said he is trying to draw 150 people together to participate in demonstrations throughout the week. “I can’t imagine why the police would be there today (Friday), especially in that location,” Auberger said. “I met with the police chief, and I didn’t tell him anything that would lead him to believe we were going to demonstrate today.” Johnson said police chief Ruben Ortega met with Auberger to help minimize any problems that might arise but said Auberger did not outline any plans for his groups protest. “We understand they (ADAPT) have a right to demonstrate just as anybody else would, but were going to make sure the demonstration is done lawfully and peacefully Johnson said.” Past ADAPT demonstrations have led to numerous arrests. “We would rather not make any arrests, but we will if we're forced to,” Johnson said. “This is something between them (ADAPT) and the transit people and we don’t want to be caught in the middle. We must, however, be prepared for the worst.” Picture to the left by Nancy Engebreston of The Phoenix Gazette: A quadriplegic man (Mike Auberger) in a motorized wheelchair sits with his arms hanging by his sides. His hair is pulled tightly back and he has a neat beard. He is wearing an ADAPT T-shirt that is partially obscured by a chest strap on his wheelchair. Caption reads: Wheelchair activist Michael Auberger. The end - ADAPT (338)
The Phoenix Gazette, Monday 3-30-87 [This article is in ADAPT 338 and 337 but the entire text has been included here for easier reading] Title: Wheelchair Activists to Picket in Phoenix By Pat Flannery Phoenix will be the next stop for a traveling road show that, despite its mayhem, carries a message that has stirred debate across the country. About 150 wheelchair-bound members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit will converge on the downtown Hyatt late this week to picket the Western Public Transit Association, which will be in Phoenix April 5-8. If ADAPT’s performance in more than a half-dozen cities over the past several years is any indication, Phoenix may witness militant wheelchair-riders defying police and transit officials by chaining themselves to city buses, obstructing routes, throwing their bodies onto the steps of buses unequipped with wheelchair lifts and generally raising havoc to make their point. The Denver-based ADAPT, according to organizer Michael Auberger, is a single-issue advocacy group with one goal: putting a wheelchair lift on every bus in every transit system that receives federal transportation funds. And it will go to great lengths to dramatize its goal. "That’s the issue, right there,” Auberger said. “As disabled people, we have the right to ride a bus down the street just like everybody else.” And the right to go to jail like other unruly demonstrators, Phoenix police say. Though Auberger said ADAPT members will meet with police and city officials on arrival to “lay down the ground rules,” neither he nor police are overlooking the possibility of arrests. “We’re looking at all scenarios, including making arrests if pushed to that point,” police spokesman Sgt. Brad Thiss said. “We’ve talked to other police agencies, and historically their goal is to get arrested...and they haven't let up until it occurs. “All we can really say is we're prepared for any contingency.” ADAPT has focused its animosity since its creation in 1982 on APTA. That year the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as too broad a federal regulation requiring all city transit systems to equip at least half of their buses with lifts. The challenger of the regulation was APTA. “They (ADAPT) want each and every bus in the U.S. to be lift-equipped for wheelchair bound people,” Albert Engelken, deputy executive director of APTA, said. “We want those decisions made locally, not nationally. We've never been against wheelchair lifts for buses, but we’re strictly for local decision-making.” Local factors include the cost of equipping buses with lifts, the availability of “parallel” services such as paratransit vehicles for the disabled, and the ability to provide adequate service with the more expensive equipment. In the end, Auberger argues, there is no excuse for denying disabled people access to every bus on which members of the general public ride. “The number of disabled people is constantly increasing, and by the year 2000 it’s going to double again,” Auberger said. “Eighty-five percent of the disabled population is unemployed, and this is a big factor. It allows you to live where you want, work where you want. It gives you options. You can participate in the community.” Whether the kind of protest that has appeared in other cities materializes in Phoenix depends on what ADAPT finds after arriving, said Auberger, who visited the Valley in February. The Regional Public Transportation Authority earlier this month adopted a broad policy statement promoting, among other things, the use of wheelchair accessible buses on all fixed routes. “That takes them out of the view of being an adversary," Auberger said. “lt’s obviously a growing system, and realizing it’s a regional system... that’s the way it should be." The Phoenix public transit department has not adopted such a policy, though director Richard Thomas said more than 10 percent of the 327 buses serving Phoenix are lift-equipped. In addition, about half of the city's paratransit fleet is so equipped. Auberger said the Phoenix bus system could be a protest target if it does not adopt a policy, which Thomas said is virtually impossible given the timing. Likewise, Auberger said Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard may be targeted because he refused to meet with ADAPT members to discuss the issue. The end - ADAPT (354)
Austin American-Statesman Sunday, October 25, 1987 Lifestyle section Title: Streetcars and Desire Activist couple dedicate lives to tearing down walls between city buses and the disabled By Carlos Vidal Greth, American-Statesman Staff (This is a compilation of the article that is on ADAPT 354 and ADAPT 353. The content is all included here for easier reading.) Most visitors to the Bay Area relish the opportunity to hop a cable car and "climb halfway to the stars," as Tony Bennett croons in his signature song, I Left My Heart in San Francisco. Stephanie Thomas, organizer for Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, had other ideas. "To mobility-impaired people, keeping those historic symbols of public transit alive memorializes inaccessibility and makes it seem like a positive thing," she said. ADAPT, a national civil-rights group, strives to make it easier for disabled people to ride city buses. They differ from mainstream disability-rights groups in that members sometimes commit acts of civil disobedience when the usual political channels clog or hit a dead end. Thomas, her husband Bob Kafka, and eight other Austinites went to San Francisco in late September to conduct a protest during the national convention of the American Public Transit Association, a lobbying organization. Kafka and 15 others were arrested when they climbed out of their wheelchairs and staged a sit-in at the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets. Thomas was arrested twice, once for blocking a shuttle bus and once for blocking a cable car. "I've been arrested eight times or so," she said. "I've lost count. Bob has been arrested 14 times. The police are usually aware it's a demonstration about civil rights, and that we're not out to hurt their city. But it's scary. We're not automatons. Some members break down and cry when they go to prison." As far as Thomas is concerned, the suffering has been worth it. "The demonstrations got national exposure. More important, we got the transit association's attention. They are beginning to listen." Thomas, who is also executive director of the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities, could sit for a poster portrait of the committed political activist. Her shock of amber hair shifts of its own accord like the wind ruffling a field of grain. Wide, blue eyes fix visitors with the riveting gaze of a woman who believes she fights for what is right. She was born 30 years ago in New York to parents who fought for justice in their way. Her father organized political campaigns and worked for arms control. Her mother, a writer, was involved in the women's movement. "Mom taught me to question people's perceptions," Thomas said. "The women's and disabled movements have something in common: We're defined by our bodies. You have to fight that all the time." Her first protest occurred when she was in elementary school. Mothers in the apartment building where her family lived wanted to establish a day-care center. The owners didn't want to provide the space. "Women and children took over the building," Thomas said. "We weren't angry college protestors. We were non-threatening moms and kids. But our presence made a difference." Despite her progressive upbringing, she was a shy girl who hid from the world behind the covers of books. When she was 17, her legs were paralyzed when she fell off a farm tractor while doing chores. What could have been a tragedy turned her life around. "I realized that life doesn't go on forever, and that you need to make the most of every moment," Thomas said. Thomas attended Harvard, where she and other disabled students organized a group to help make campus more accessible. "When I look back, I see we were very tame,” she said. “We were polite but usually got what we asked for.” Over the years, Thomas became increasingly active in disability rights. She got involved in independent living centers, communities of disabled people supporting one another so they can live with dignity outside institutions. In the early 1980s, she joined the Austin Resources Center for Independent Living. She went to work for the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities in 1985. The 9-year-old coalition lobbies for, represents and coordinates 90 organizations (including ADAPT) concerned with disabilities, as well as the more than 2 million disabled Texans. “It is the collective voice for the disabled in Texas,” said Kaye Beneke, spokeswoman for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. "They’re committed - the members live every day with the problems they try to solve. “Stephanie understands there’s a spectrum of political views in the coalition, which tend to be more middle-of-the-road than ADAPT. She takes responsibility for the representing of all those views. But don’t call the coalition passive. They’ve had their way in the legislature and on the local level.” As a leader in two of Texas major disability-rights organizations, Thomas has her hands full. It helps having Bob Kafka, who broke his back in a car accident in 1973, at her side. The experienced trouble maker -- albeit trouble for a good cause -- has made a name for himself. He won the Governor’s Citation for Meritorious Service in 1986. Appropriately, Kafka met Thomas at a disability-rights conference. “Stephanie was real involved, real committed and real attractive,” he said. Sharing home and office has increased their commitment to the cause they serve- and to each other. “Bob and I are an activist couple,” Thomas said. “It’s intense because we work so closely. But it’s rewarding. It has made us an incredibly tight couple.” Thomas has to rework her concept of activism when she joined ADAPT. “Demonstrations force the public to look at disabled people in a different light,” she said. “The cripple is the epitome of powerlessness. We say we’re sorry if it scares you to look at me, but we have to live our lives.” Confrontation, however can cost allies as well as foes. This year, the Paralyzed Veterans of America severed ties with ADAPT and any organization "advocating illegal civil disobedience.” “Our charter states that we must act in accordance with the laws of the land,” said Phil Rabin, director of education. “To act otherwise would be to violate our charter. “The veterans and ADAPT members share first-hand the frustration of living in a society that is not accessible to the disabled. We don’t want to fight ADAPT. It’s a waste of precious resources to divert our energies.” Though Thomas’ group is controversial, it has achieved many of its goals. Albert Engleken, deputy executive director for the American Public Transit Association in Washington, D.C., acknowledged that ADAPT’s street theater has had some effect. In September his organization created a task force to study the issue of providing service for disabled, he said. Engelken, however is not a convert to their cause. “ADAPT wants a lift on every transit bus in the country,” Engelken said. “We believe it should be left to local transit authorities to decide how to handle transportation for disabled people. Transit officials are not robber barons. We’re paid by the public to provide the most mobility for the most people.” Thomas knows how to work within the system. Ben Gomez, director of development for Capital Metro, said ADAPT members have been effective on the Mobility Impaired Service Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on service to the transit authority board of directors. “They’re well-organized,” Gomez said. “We don’t always agree on the approach and issues. We’ve made many of the adjustments they’ve asked for, but not always within their time frame.” The concessions have been gratifying, but Thomas has only begun to fight. “ADAPT took a dead issue änd made it hot again,” she said. For information on American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, write to ADAPT of Texas, 2810 Pearl, Austin 78705/ To learn more about the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities, call 443-8252, or write to P.O. Box 4709, Austin 78765. [curator note: addresses and phone numbers no longer valid] Staff Photo by Mike Boroff: A man (Bob Kafka) with Canadian (wrist cuff) crutches, a plaid shirt, light colored jeans and sneakers sits in the lap of a woman (Stephanie Thomas) with wild big hair and a button down shirt. She is sitting in a manual wheelchair. Caption reads: "Bob and I are an activist couple,” says Stephanie Thomas who met Bob Kafka at a rights conference. “It’s intense because we work so closely. But it’s rewarding.” Photo by Russ Curtis: A group of protesters are looking up at something over their heads and their mouths are open shouting. In the front of the picture a woman in a manual wheelchair (Stephanie Thomas) is sitting on a line on the pavement that reads passenger zone. She has her finger raised pointing and is wearing a t-shirt with the ADAPT no-steps logo. Beside her is a man (Jim Parker) with a headband looking back over his shoulder, beside him another man in a wheelchair. Behind Jim stands a woman (Babs Johnson) with her arms by her sides and her mouth open yelling. Behind her a line of other protesters is arriving. Caption reads: ADAPT organizer Stephanie Thomas traveled to San Francisco to participate in a rally protesting the policies of the American Public Transit Association. - ADAPT (396)
St Louis Post Dispatch May 19, 1988 Title: Protesters Plead Guilty, Are Released By William C. Lhotka and Mark Schlinkman Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Thirty-seven disabled people arrested at wheelchair protests here this week entered guilty pleas Wednesday afternoon to charges of peace disturbance and then were released under an agreement worked out by lawyers. The court action came after members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) held a final protest rally outside Union Station, where an association of transit systems completed its five-day regional convention Wednesday. No new arrests were made at the 45-minute gathering, which involved about 90 people, most of them in wheelchairs. But about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, two able-bodied men who police said were associated with ADAPT were arrested on assault charges after fighting with police on the parking lot of the Holiday Inn, 2211 Market Street. Police were called to the scene by hotel security guards who reported a disturbance. The incident had no connection with any protest or demonstration. Police said one of the officers had suffered a potentially serious eye injury. In an interview Wednesday afternoon, an ADAPT leader, the Rev. Wade Blank of Denver, denied that the two men were members of The organization. He said they were with a disabled woman from Lawrence, Kan., who had arrived in St. Louis early Wednesday. Blank said she apparently had come here to take part in the rally later in the day; he said he was unsure whether she had done so. Most of the members of ADAPT here have been staying at the Holiday Inn on Market. The protesters want the transit group, the American Public Transit Association, to push for the installation of mechanical wheelchair lifts on all buses in the United States. Association officials say that they support access for the disabled but that each local system should have the right to decide for itself how to provide such access. Protesters were arrested Sunday for blocking entrances and hallways at the Omni International Hotel at Union Station and on Tuesday for blocking buses entering and leaving the Greyhound Lines depot at 801 North Broadway. Under the agreement worked out by prosecutors and defense attorneys, Associate Circuit Judge Thomas C. Grady accepted the time the defendants served in jail after their arrests in lieu of any further sentence or fines. The judge also waived court costs. The agreement meant that the demonstrators were free to leave St. Louis. On the other hand, they have misdemeanor convictions on their records. Three of the 37 faced charges from both the Sunday and Tuesday protests. Arrested in the separate incident early Wednesday were Mike Knowlen, 22, of Lawrence, Kan.., and Dana Dower, 22, of Viburnum Mo. Police said Dower faced a felony charge of second-degree assault and misdemeanor charges of peace disturbance, resisting arrest and destruction of city property. Police said Knowlen faced misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault, peace disturbance, cruelty to an animal and interfering with an arrest. Police said the fight had erupted as police officers attempted to arrest Knowlen. Police said Knowlen had been slapping and swinging a dog by its tail on the lot and had been shouting profanities. In the scuffle, police said, Dower fell face forward onto the trunk lid of a police car. Police said Officer Barry Hinchey had been treated at Bethesda Eye Institute for an injured retina after he was struck on the face Hinchey also was treated, at St. Louis University Hospital, for a human bite wound. Officer Mark Chambers was also treated there for bruises. Bill Bryan of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed information for this article.