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Home / Albums / Tags Mike Auberger + handicapped 8
- ADAPT (364)
San Francisco Chronicle WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1987 This story continues in ADAPT 365 and ADAPT 360 but the entire text is included here for easier reading. Title: Chains Halt the Cable Cars Photo by Jerry Telfer/The Chronicle: Two people in wheelchairs block a cable car. One sits in a manual chair with his back to the camera and another sits sideways to the camera (Mike Auberger) in front of the Cable Car door. They are chained with a long chain to the cable car. From inside, a man (Frank Lozano) stands in the stairwell talking with them. Caption reads: Handicapped demonstrators chained themselves to cable cars yesterday at San Francisco's Powell Street turntable, halting the system for more than two hours. Police arrested 75 people. The protesters have lobbied the American Public Transit Association convention at Moscone Center for improved access to transportation for the disabled. Story on Page A2 Title: Disabled protesters block cable cars; police arrest 78 By John D. O’Connor, of the examiner staff Chanting “We will ride!,” 78 disabled protesters used their wheelchairs and their bodies to block the Powell Street cable car line for more than two hours Tuesday before police moved in to arrest them. Urged on by at least 100 supporters who ringed the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets and cheered like fans at a boxing match, some of the demonstrators chained themselves to the cow guards of the little cars as bemused tourists looked on. Forty-three of the protesters wound up spending the night in the not-yet-opened $1 million-plus gymnasium on the seventh floor of the Hall of Justice, Sheriff Mike Hennessey said. “There’s nothing but generally pleasant feelings among them,” Hennessey said after inspecting the facilities for the wheelchair-bound demonstrators, who had refused to sign citations issued by the police. Hollyann Fuller Boies, an organizer with the September Alliance For Accessible Transit, said the group selected the cable cars as the focus of their protest because they symbolized the general inaccessibility of all public transit vehicles. "This is a problem that needs attention now,” Boies said. “It’s not just the cable cars, it’s almost every form of public transportation, and nothing is being done to remedy the situation.” But MUNI spokesman Tom Rockert said the protesters’ wrath was misdirected. “A cable car is just the very last thing we could modify to accommodate a handicapped person,” he said. “It has no power. We’d need an awful lot of batteries to power a lift of the type they’d need. Besides, we’re committed to making our rubber-wheeled fleet more accessible to the handicapped.” Rickert said MUNI’s Elderly & Handicapped Advisory Committee, which is made up of elderly and handicapped people, decided “that cable cars could not be modified to be accessible and that from a technical point of view such a proposal is not feasible, practical or safe.” Boies said the people arrested were willing to stay in jail to draw attention to their cause rather than sign the citations offered by the police. By 5 p.m., most of those arrested appeared ready to do just that. Lt. John Gleeson of the police Tactical Detail said 48 of the 78 arrested had refused to sign and were preparing for a night in jail. Henessey said 43 were housed in the new gym. He said the rest were let go for a future court date because they had no prior arrests in the three days of demonstrations. Hennessey said he and his staff, knowing about the demonstrations in advance, had planned for the protesters to be housed in the gym by borrowing cots from San Francisco and Laguna Honda hospitals and other city-operated medical facilities. “Actually, we anticipated 75 to 80 persons,” Hennessey said. Outside the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street, 75 wheelchair-bound sympathizers held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night and chanted, “Let our people go.” The protesters, who also staged noisy demonstrations outside a convention of American Public Transit Association members at Moscone Center Monday and on the steps of City Hall Sunday night, said that they hope their actions will force APTA to adopt a national policy regarding handicapped access to public transit. Photo by Examiner/Katy Raddatz: A little girl in a wheelchair (Jennifer Keelan) leans forward resting her head on a heavy rope barrier. Behind her, holding a push handle of her chair, a woman (Cyndy Keelan) in an ADAPT no steps/we will ride T-shirt stands among a crowd. All are watching something beyond the camera. Caption reads: Cynthia Keelan and daughter, Jennifer, of Tempe Ariz. From behind cable car rope, they watch protest of disabled. - ADAPT (243)
May 22, 1986 - Cheyenne Wyoming State Tribune—27 [Headline] Handicapped Protesters Arrested CINCINNATI (UPI) — A group of handicapped protesters charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass refused to post bond and spent the night in the Hamilton County Justice Center. The demonstrators, protesting the lack of access to public transportation for the disabled, were arrested Wednesday for blocking entrances to the Westin Hotel and the building housing offices of the city's bus system. The Westin was singled out because the American Public Transportation Association was holding a regional conference there this week. Barricades had been erected to keep the protesters from entering the hotel. Several of those arrested were released on unsecured appearance bonds for medical reasons. The first defendant's trial was scheduled for next Wednesday. “If the Cincinnati transit system, police and judicial system deny access to disabled people, why can't the disabled block the access to the system,” said Michael Auberger of Denver before his arrest. “We just want to be treated like everyone else.” Auberger was among those who spent the night in jail. About 40 wheelchair-bound members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, based in Denver, participated in the demonstration. Fourteen were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Robert Kafka of Austin, Texas, George Cooper of Dallas and Auberger, all of whom had been arrested earlier in the week, were charged with criminal trespassing for blocking the entrance to the building where Queen City Metro's offices are located. The three men, confined to wheelchairs, had been arrested Monday for refusing to get off a bus they had paid to board. A Hamilton County Judge had ordered them to leave Cincinnati until their trial, but another judge rescinded the order Wednesday morning. Auberger, Cooper and Kafka attempted to speak to Queen City officials but were not permitted to enter their offices. When they returned to the ground floor, they chained their wheelchairs together to block the entrance. One worker was forced to use an alternative route to return to her office. "We asked one lady to wait a few minutes," Auberger said. “The disabled are told to wait a lifetime.” The Rev. Wade Blank, director of ADAPT, said some staff members would remain in Cincinnati and that local clergy would be asked to monitor and support those arrested. - ADAPT (124)
Rocky Mountain News Photo by Rocky Mountain News staff photographer David L. Cornwell: An officer pushes a man in a motorized wheelchair [George Roberts] across a wide brick sidewalk, as 2 buses and a car go by on the downtown street. Further up the sidewalk 2 other uniformed officers are standing and even further down, a motorcycle policeman. Caption reads: Officer Gerald Fitzgibbons pushes George Roberts from scene of Friday's demonstration. Roberts and Renate Rabe were arrested in protest. Pena staff to mediate RTD tiff with handicapped By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer As handicapped demonstrators blocked Regional Transportation District buses with their wheelchairs for the second straight day Friday, Mayor Federico Pena's staff stepped in to referee a growing dispute over broken wheelchair lifts. “Perhaps part of the ultimate answer will be to allow the disabled community to be part of the decision-making process," Pena aide Dale Sadler said Friday. “What we're hoping for now is to get everyone to talk." But Sadler could only watch as Denver police quickly arrested George Roberts and Renate Rabe as the pair rolled their wheelchairs in front of an RTD bus at 17th and California Streets at 12:25 p.m. Roberts and Rabe were the second and third members of the militant disabled-rights group known as ADAPT to be booked into city jail in two days in connection with obstructing a government agency and blocking traffic. Mike Auberger of Denver was arrested Thursday at the intersection of East Colfax Avenue and Cherry Street when he rolled his wheelchair in front of a bus with a broken lift. Auberger, who was jailed for about three hours, is scheduled to appear in Denver District Court March 12. He faces $250 in fines. Roberts and Rabe were released Friday afternoon. Roberts is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 25. Rabe is scheduled to appear March 15. ADAPT protesters have vowed to block buses at busy intersections throughout the six-county transit district for 80 days — or until the RTD board of directors agrees to spend $753,059 budgeted to fix the balky electrical systems on 303 lift-equipped buses. RTD has one of the nation's most accessible public transit systems with lifts installed on about half of it's 750-bus fleet. However, disabled passengers complain that they frequently suffer frostbite in the winter as four or five buses with broken lifts pass them. They said they have a right as taxpayers to ride regular bus service, rather than plan their lives days in advance around the limited schedules of van services. “A wheelchair lift on a bus means a disabled person can live wherever he wants and shop wherever he wants," Auberger said. “The (RTD) board doesn't have the right to tell me where to live and shop. They might as well put me back in a nursing home." The demonstrators offered to cancel Friday's rally in exchange for a meeting with RTD General Manager Ed Colby. RTD officials said Colby had taken the day off Friday, but agreed to meet with the protesters minutes before their scheduled protest. That wasn't good enough, ADAPT leaders responded. “Colby had all last night and this morning to respond to us,” said Wade Blank, an able bodied demonstrator who organized the protests. “He was just a little late." RTD board members will discuss the transit agency's handicapped access policy for the handicapped and its lift repair record Tuesday at a committee meeting. - ADAPT (122)
Denver Post [This article continues on in ADAPT 123, but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] Photo by Lyn Alweis: A short haired man in a jacket and dark slacks [Mel Conrardy] is lifted in his wheelchair from the sidewalk to a bus. The lift comes out of the front door of the bus and has railings on either side of the lift almost as tall as the seated man. Just by the bus door is a sign on the side of the bus that says "RTD Welcome Aboard." Caption: An RTD bus with wheelchair lift provides mobility for Mel Conrardy Title: Leaders of handicapped rate RTD service best in country By Norm Udevitz, Denver Post Staff Writer Disabled Denverites just a few years ago had as much chance of riding a bus as they did of climbing Mount Everest. “It was brutal the way RTD treated us,” said Mike Auberger, an official in the Atlantis Community, for the disabled and a leader in the fight that has turned the Regional Transportation District’s handicapped service around. In the 1970s and early 1980s, RTD busses then rarely equipped with wheelchair lifts, often left wheelchair-bound riders stranded on streets. Drivers, lacking training in dealing with visually or language impaired people, panicked when blind or deaf riders tried to board buses. “It used to be that even in the dead of winter, when it was below zero, those of us in wheelchairs would wait 2 or 3 hours for a bus to finally stop," Auberger recalls. “And often the lift was broken and we couldn't get on the bus anyway. And usually the drivers were rude and angry. They would tell us that we were ruining their schedules." But conditions have changed, Auberger says: “Right now, Denver has the most accessible public transit system for the handicapped — and all the public - in the country." Debbie Ellis, a state social services worker who heads the agency's Handicapped Advisory Council, agrees, saying: “It took a lot of pressure, but RTD has responded and now the bus system is doing a good job of serving the handicapped." Leaders of national programs for the disabled also agree. In fact, the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped will bring 5,000 delegates, many of them handicapped, to its national conference in Denver in April. This will be the first time in four decades the group has held its national session outside of Washington DC. “One of the key reasons we're meeting in Denver this year is because it just might be the most comfortable city in the country for the handicapped,” says Sharon Milcrut, head of the Colorado Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, which is hosting the conference. “A very important aspect of that comfort," she notes, “is how accessible the transit system is for the handicapped.” It didn't get that way easily. In the decade between 1974 and 1984, handicapped activists had to pressure indifferent RTD administrators and directors. Each gain was hard won. “We used every tactic in the book, from lawsuits to bus blockades on the street and sit-ins at the RTD offices," says Wade Blank, an Atlantis group director. “The lawsuits didn't help much but when we took to the streets in the late 1970s, I think that's when we started getting their attention." Blank and others also say the 1984 hiring of Ed Colby as RTD general manager helped. Before he arrived, less than half of the 750 RTD buses had wheelchair lifts, which often were in disrepair. Training for drivers to learn how to deal with handicapped riders was minimal. Agency directors resisted change. RTD relied heavily on a costly special van operation called Handyride - a door-to-door pickup service for handicapped. It has cost $13[? glare makes number hard to read] million to run since it began in 1975. “Over the past couple of years the turnaround has been phenomenal," Auberger says. “All of RTD's new buses are being ordered with lifts and older buses are being retrofitted." By 1986's end, almost 80 percent of the bus fleet — 608 of 765 buses — had wheelchair lifts; 82 percent of the fleet's 6,242 daily trips are now accessible for the disabled. Plans call for the fleet to be 100 percent lift-equipped by 1987's end. “The lifts aren't breaking down all the time now, either," Auberger said, noting that agency officials found drivers had neglected to report broken lifts: “That way the lifts stayed broken and drivers had an excuse for not picking us up. A bunch of people were fired over that and others realized that Colby wasn't kidding about improving handicapped service." Driver training also has improved dramatically. “It isn't perfect yet,” Ellis of the advisory council says. "But everyone is working hard at it. What we are finding is that 20 percent of the drivers understand that they are moving people, all kinds of people, and they're really great with the handicapped. “Another 20 percent figure their job is to move buses and to heck with passengers, all kinds of passengers. That bottom 20 percent probably won't ever change. So we're working real hard on the 60 percent in between," Ellis says. Drivers, for example, learn to help blind riders. “That’s an improvement that helps the disabled, but it also helps regular passengers who are newcomers to the city,” Ellis says. All the improvements haven't come cheap. Since 1974, more than $5million has been spent on lifts and lift maintenance, most of the expense was incurred in the last three years. RTD plans to spend $9 million more in the next six years to keep the fleet up to its current standards and pay for more driver training. Another $4 million will be spent on HandyRide service. Ironically, Auberger and Ellis both say one of the biggest problems remaining is getting more handicapped people to use mass transit. “There are no reliable figures," Ellis says. “But we think there are about 20,000 handicapped people in the metro area and only about 200 or 300 are using buses on a regular basis." Auberger, confined to a wheelchair after breaking his neck in an accident ll years ago, complains: “The medical system builds a bubble around handicapped people and makes them think they have to be protected. "That's just not true in most cases. So one of the things we're doing now is educating the handicapped to overcome their fears. We've finally got a bus system that works for us and we want the disabled to use it." Photo by Lyn Alweis: A rather straight looking man [Mel Conrardy] in a white jacket, big mittens, and a motorized wheelchair, wears a slight smile as he rides the bus. Someone in a dark jacket stands beside him, and behind him, further back on the bus, other riders are sitting on the bus seats. Caption reads: A bus seat folds up to anchor Mel Conrardy's wheelchair to the floor. Conrardy commutes to work at the Atlantis Community. - ADAPT (166)
El Paso Herald-Post PHOTO (Herald-Post photo by John Hopper): Of an angry looking protester, Jim Parker, sitting in a manual wheelchair. He has shoulder length hair, a bandana headband, a goatee and moustache, black leather gloves with no fingers, and a black biker t-shirt. He is chained with a white link chain, to the doors of a business and has a sign in his lap, but it's not readable. Caption reads: Jim Parker. a handicapped El Pasoan, readies his placard after chaining himself to a restaurant door Friday. [Headline] Handicapped criticize lack of support By Robert Palomares, El Paso Herald-Post A group of protesters chained their wheelchairs to the doors of the McDonald's restaurant on Piedras Street and I-10 to protest the chain's “lack of commitment” to handicapped people. Before his wheelchair was locked to door handles Friday, El Pasoan Jim Parker said that although McDonald’s provides funding for disabled people, the commitment doesn't include making the restaurants accessible to the handicapped. "McDonald's has raised money for disabled people, but they don't make their restaurants accessible to us” Parker said. “It's like saying, ‘We will give you this money, but you can't eat in our restaurants.”’ he said. “This doesn’t mean they are exempt from providing us accessibility." said Mike Auberger of Denver. Robert Keyser, a spokesman for McDonald's Corp. also was in El Paso for the protest. Keyser said the protesters are not accurate when they say that the restaurants do not provide accessibility for handicapped people. “Since 1979. McDonald’s standard building designs provide accessibility to the handicapped, even though local codes do not necessarily call for it.” Keyser said. "In new construction table heights are considered" Keyser said. “We're not saying the restaurants should be modified overnight," said Bob Conrad, another protester from Denver. “But certainly new construction should have handicapped accessibility plans.” Auberger, Conrad and others have traveled from city to city, protesting at McDonald’s restaurants. The protesters say the height of the tables in the restaurant make it necessary for those in wheelchairs to sit in the restaurant's aisles. “So far, these people have not made an attempt to talk to us,” Keyser said. “These people are using McDonald's to make a political statement. We don't do business as a result of threats,” he said. The atmosphere inside the restaurant remained calm during the protest although customers did not know what was going on. The protesters said they believed the action was successful and after about an hour unlocked themselves and left the restaurant. Keyser said that McDonald's provides accessibility, “and will continue to work on ways to make our restaurants even more accessible, including improvements such as tables that are more convenient for our disabled customers,” he said. - ADAPT (617)
Atlanta Journal Constitution Disabled end protest siege at Morehouse By Ben Smith III, Staff writer (This story continues on ADAPT 630 but the entire text is included here for ease of reading.) PHOTO (by Dianne Laakso/Staff): A medium close up of a glass doorway framed in metal. Slightly opened you can see through the opening and the glass a woman (Julie Nolan) in a manual wheelchair seated and blocking the door. She is looking out a far away look in her eye and one arm rests on the inside push handle of the door, while her other strong hand is spread on her leg. She is wearing a teal T-shit and jeans. The writing in her T-shirt is partially obscured by folds and by the door frame but you can make out what appears to be "EQUAL ACCESS NOW" and around these words what appears to be a circle saying "Cape Organization for [Rights of the Disabled]. Disabled activists ended their occupation of a Morehouse College administration building today, leaving with what they said was a statement from the college saying it sympathized with the group’s concerns. About 50 members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, left the building carrying a statement written on Morehouse President Leroy Keith's stationery. But the statement was not signed or read by any college official, and college officials refused to comment or come out of the building. Meanwhile, another group of disabled activists continued their protest against the nursing home industry and the federal government’s policies on the disabled by barricading the Georgia Health Care Association’s (GHCA) office in Decatur. More than 75 protesters in wheelchairs blocked the entrances and driveways of the GHCA’s headquarters on Memorial Drive early this afternoon, trapping six people in the office. The protesters delivered their demands to GHCA executive vice president Fred Watson, who refused to honor them. The protesters were demanding that Mr. Watson fax a list of their demands to the American Health Care Association, with which the Georgia organization is affiliated. The demands included redirection of federal and state money away from nursing homes to home care. Mr. Watson said, “I’ll send a letter, but not right now.” DeKalb County police who arrived at the scene said they have no plans to arrest the demonstrators. “That’s the last thing we want to do," said Lt. J.W. Austin. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place." The disabled activists had occupied the Morehouse College administration building for a day and a half. About 200 demonstrators had taken over Gloster Hall on the Morehouse campus in southwest Atlanta and barricaded the president's office Monday. David Veatch, 24, a Utica, N.Y., member of ADAPT, said, “We are going to let them know that the nursing home lobby needs to reform. We're talking to our captors about our rights.” Earlier, ADAPT members said they wanted Dr. Keith to write a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan, asking him to support the organization's position and meet with group members sometime in the near future. But Dr. Keith said he would not write or sign such a letter. “We have no business intervening in this situation where we have no authority," he said. ADAPT wants the federal government to redirect 25 percent of the Medicaid budget from nursing homes to home care. Mr. Veatch estimated the total federal budget for the disabled at more than $17.5 billion. Protesters argue that shifting federal funds to home care for the disabled is more humane and more cost-efficient. Michael Auberger, an ADAPT co-founder, estimated that 250,000 disabled people are being held in nursing homes against their will.” He said that redirecting funds to home care could aid an additional 150,000 disabled people. Mr. Veatch said it costs $30,000 a year to house a disabled person in a nursing home and only $6,000 to $8,000 to care for them at home. “But handicapped continue to be housed in nursing homes," Mr. Veatch said, because we don’t have to deal with the fact that we don’t have accessible communities or accessible buses if we lock them up.” “The ghetto in Soweto is no different than a nursing home,” Mr. Auberger said. You’re locked in there. You don’t have the freedom to leave. You don’t have a choice of what you eat, what time you go to bed or what time you get up. Your freedoms are so restricted that you’re better off being in the Fulton County Jail.” Group members were angry at Dr. Sullivan for not responding to their invitation to meet with them although he spoke at an AIDS symposium in Atlanta last week. “Morehouse Medical College invited him to speak. He came. This group invited him to speak on an issue as serious as AIDS. He chose to ignore the issue," Mr. Auberger said. The protesters said they chose to come to Georgia, in part, because the state is one of the worst at caring for the disabled. Mark Johnson of Alpharetta a spokesman for the Georgia branch of ADAPT, said the state offers no state-funded care for disabled people outside of nursing homes and no matching supplements for federal disability benefits. Most states offer such assistance, Mr. Johnson added. Protesters also complained that residential care facilities can be opened in Georgia with nothing more than a a business license. Staff writer Lyle Harris and The Associated Press contributed to this report. PHOTO, by Johnny Crawford/Staff: A line of people in wheelchairs and dark ADAPT "no steps" T-Shirts head toward the camera, traveling along the side of a road. Beside them are parked cars and onlookers. In the front is Lee Jackson in a white ADAPT sweatshirt; he is being pushed by Babs Johnson. Behind them is Mike Auberger, with his leg extended out in front of him. Behind him is Clayton Jones, and next is Frank McComb being pushed by Lori Eastwood, and behind them faces become blurrier, but you can see Arthur Campbell. Caption reads: More than 150 advocates for the handicapped move down Westview Drive at Morehouse College. At the front of the line is Lee Jackson. - ADAPT (443)
Two different articles included here Wednesday, April 12, 1989 Las Vegas Review Journal p7B [Headline] Handicapped protesters refuse food in Sparks Associated Press: SPARKS — Handicapped demonstrators who have been jailed as a result of their picketing outside a gathering of public transportation officials are now refusing to eat, Washoe County Sheriff Vince Swinney said Tuesday. Swinney said 30 people serving three-day sentences are only drinking water but won't take any meals. About 75 members of a national group calling itself The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit have been demonstrating outside the Sparks Nugget, where the American Public Transit Association is holding its regional meeting. The protesters contend the transit association is not doing enough to make it easier for people in wheelchairs to gain access to public transportation. Swinney said he realizes the handicapped face a number of barriers, but called the demands the demonstrators are putting on the sheriffs office, on police and on the courts an “inappropriate use of the criminal justice system to educate the public to what is a public problem." He said he doesn't know how much the overtime and extra staffing is going to cost Sparks and the county. Swinney and the jail were to have been the target of a Tuesday news conference called by protest organizer Mike Auberger of Denver, who earlier said the jailed demonstrators had not received proper medical treatment. But Auberger said most of the problems at the jail were worked out in a two-hour conference with officials. Swinney said the jail has brought in an extra doctor with expertise in helping handicapped patients and has called for additional nurses who can work with the handicapped. Meanwhile, Swinney said the inmates' hunger strike is causing him concern over one of the prisoners, a woman with a history of seizures brought on by a chemical imbalance when she doesn't eat. The sheriff said most of the protesters are serving their three days in regular cells or the infirmary because the jail has only two cells for the handicapped. Forty-nine people were arrested Sunday and while most were not fined or jailed, they were told not to get arrested again. Those who were among the 25 arrested on Monday received sentences and fines of $265 to $315 in exchange for their guilty pleas. end of article 1 Reno Gazette-Journal Thursday, April 13, 1989 [Headline] Most handicapped protesters decide to remain in jail By Susan Voyles/Gazette-Journal Sparks Municipal Judge Don Gladstone late Wednesday offered to release 30 jailed handicapped protesters if they pay $100 of their fins and promise to pay the rest later. Two accepted the offer, but Mike Auberger, leader of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT), said he doubts many other members of his group will. The prisoners are entering their third day of a hunger strike in the Washoe County jail today in protest of sentences by Gladstone they claim are too harsh. The 30 protesters were arrested in demonstrations held on Sunday and Monday against the American Public Transit Association, which ended its western regional meeting at John Ascuaga‘s Nugget on Wednesday. ADAPT is picketing the transit group because many of its members operate public bus systems that do not have lifts for wheelchairs. Of the 30, 27 pleaded guilty or no contest to charges of obstructing sidewalks and fire entrances. Most of them were sentenced to three days in jail, which would end today or tomorrow, and given $580 in fines. Gladstone said he will allow them to pay $100 in fines each if they promise to pay the rest later in installments or do community service work in their home towns. Auberger said his group has only $500 to pay the $3,200 in fines needed to release the group. Those arrested would have to sit in jail for another 23 days in order to pay off their fines, which are reduced at a rate of $25 a day. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they say they'll serve the days rather than give them any money," Auberger said. Auberger and others said Sparks is the only city where the handicapped demonstrators have been jailed for such offenses as obstructing sidewalks. Pat Gilbert, a Reno attorney, was to meet with the 30 protesters Wednesday night to see what they want to do. Gladstone was prepared to hold hearings in the jail to begin releasing them. Two people already have been released for medical reasons after receiving treatment at local hospitals, and one woman, still in jail, is having up to 80 seizures a day, Auberger said. Washoe County Sheriff Vince Swinney declined to comment on the condition of the prisoners Wednesday, saying it only provides more fuel for the media to publicize their plight. However, several officers said the jail now has two doctors and ll nurses on duty, two more than were on Tuesday and nine more than the number of nurses usually assigned to the jail. In an initial court hearing, Gladstone lectured the demonstrators, saying their mass arrests have “tarnished” their cause. “I think you need new leadership" he said. After the hearing Wednesday, Auberger and a band of about 20 demonstrators peacefully protested in front of the Nugget, making a final stand against the transit association. Auberger said most of those who aren't in jail will be leaving town today, although a few will stay to help those in jail. Sparks police say it will take at least a week and half to determine the overtime and other expenses incurred because of the demonstrators. Jerry Peltier, a transit association board member from Richland, Wash., said the protest had no impact on the 500 member group. Parley Johnson, spokesman for the Nugget, said the demonstration cost the Nugget extra money for security guards. He also said business at the Nugget slowed the last few days. - ADAPT (460)
Wednesday, APRIL 12 1989 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Photo by Tom Spitz/Gazette-Journal : A somewhat frail looking man, Randy Blatz, in a large wheelchair sits sideways looking at the camera. A sign is taped to the side of his chair; it reads "WE WILL RIDE." His legs are extended out in front of him and are covered by a blanket. Behind him another wheelchair protester looks at the camera with his arm up shading his face and his view. Behind them are other protesters in a line, pretty much filling the picture. Caption reads: BACKER: Randy Blatz of Hayward, Calif, shows support for his locked-up comrades Tuesday outside the Washoe jail. [Headline] Disabled protesters maintain hunger strike [Subheading] Jailed demonstrators getting care, sheriff says By Susan Voyles/Gazzette-Journal A hunger strike in the Washoe County jail by 22 handicapped prisoners — arrested for obstructing sidewalks while protesting a public Transit meeting in Sparks -— continued Tuesday night, although nine demonstrators broke their fast. Leaders of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) group encouraged jailed protesters to break their fast after Washoe County Sheriff Vince Swinney early Tuesday afternoon promised the inmates more nurses, if needed, and more medical supplies. But Lt. Rod Williams said the hunger strike wasn't over medical treatment. "They're protesting the fact they're here,“ he said, “not the conditions in the jail." The hunger strike began Monday night after 25 people were arrested and jailed in a demonstration against public transit officials meeting at John Ascuaga's Nugget. The meeting concludes today. Five others have been in jail since Sunday night, when ADAPT began a planned four-day protest. They're here to protest the western regional meeting of the American Public Transit Association, which is fighting ADAPT's legal efforts to require all federally funded transit systems to buy buses equipped with wheelchair lifts. Swinney said one female prisoner vowed to continue her fast even though she was warned by a doctor that she'll ultimately go into seizures. Another woman, Diane Coleman of Los Angeles, was released from Washoe Medical Center Tuesday morning after being given liquids intravenously for dehydration. She was taken to the hospital about 3 a.m. Tuesday when she began vomiting. Mike Auberger, organizer of the Denver based group, and Pat Gilbert, his Reno attorney, met with Swinney early Tuesday afternoon to discuss jailed ADAPT members complaints. "People in charge are now in the process of trying to respond to the situation, which they've never been in before," Auberger said at a news conference outside the jail. “It's a lot more positive than it was two hours ago." Swinney said the jail has put 11 nurses to work, nine more than usual. And more nurses and a doctor will be brought in if needed, he said. But he admitted the jail did not have enough medical supplies, such as catheter drainage bags, on hand and had to order more. Normally, the jail sees only about six handicapped prisoners a year. Sparks Municipal Judge Don Gladstone defended the sentences handed down to the protesters. Of the 30 in jail, the majority were sentenced to three days for obstructing sidewalks, fire entrances or a police officer, and given an average fine of $580. On Sunday, only five of 49 people arrested went to jail. Those five pleaded innocent and will have their trials Monday. Gladstone said he warned ADAPT members he'd get tougher on them. "Clearly, everyone was put on notice," he said. "We're not following their rules" Auberger, who was also arrested but paid a fine to get out of jail Monday night, was outraged so many of his people were arrested. "I have been in many cities where I have done civil disobedience and I wasn't arrested," he said. "Maybe it's the politics of Sparks that the city has to respond to what the Nugget wants. it's real clear (Gladstone) was being forced to do what he did." “They don't toss people in jail for blocking sidewalks in most cities," complained Pete Mendoza of Marin County, Calif. "They were researching ordinances to arrest us.“ Gladstone who said he supports the rights the handicapped are seeking, said he is simply doing his job and the demonstrators were amply warned. Among the 50 or so protesters outside the jail Tuesday was Beverly Furnice of Denver, with a thick, fresh bandage around one of her twisted legs. She claims her leg was broken Sunday night when a security guard tried to move her out of a doorway. She was treated at Sparks Family Hospital, but officials would not confirm that her leg was broken. She was arrested after the incident, and said she sat in Sparks Municipal Court for five hours before she was released with a verbal warning. Nugget spokesman Parley Johnson said he's not sure what happened to Furnice. "There was a lot of shoving and pushing going on," he said "If it did happen, I'm very sorry about it." Gladstone said he doubted she broke her leg. He said he and his staff held arraignments until midnight Sunday and were far more inconvenienced than Furnice or anyone else arrested.