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الرئيسية / الألبومات / كلمة دلائلية Bob Conrad 20
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ADAPT (317)
Tues., April. 7, 1987, The Phoenix Gazette Title: Vice mayor derides disabled group's tactics By Pat Flannery, The Phoenix Gazette Vice Mayor Howard Adams denounced the tactics of a group of wheelchair activists protesting in Phoenix, saying their actions cloud the “tremendous job” the city has done to make public transit accessible to the disabled. The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit has staged several protests in the city to dramatize its demand that all public transit buses in the nation be equipped with wheelchair lifts. On Monday, about 30 wheelchair-bound protesters blocked two entrances to the Mansion Club in an effort to prevent 40 American Public Transit Association conventioneers’ spouses from attending a luncheon there. The delegation had arrived via a taxpayer-supported Phoenix Transit charter bus. In a later incident at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Phoenix, police said five protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The were: Marilyn Golden, 33, of Oakland, Calif.; Arthur Campbell Jr., 43, of Louisville, Ky.; Kenneth Heard, 36, of Denver; Chris Hronis, 47, of Haywood, Calif.; and Robert Conrad, 38, of Dallas. ADAPT has staged protests in every city in which the APTA - an industry lobbying group — has held a major convention. The APTA is holding its Western regional conference this week at the downtown Hyatt Regency. “Arizona and Phoenix have absolutely nothin to be ashamed of,” Adams, who himself uses a wheelchair, told the editorial board of The Phoenix Gazette and The Arizona Republic Monday. “At this point, disruption doesn't serve the cause," Adams said. The Phoenix Mayor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped has taken the same position, saying in a position paper that it endorsed the protesters’ goal but not their methods. “The type of demonstration usually conducted by ADAPT serves only to shed a very negative light on a very worthy cause," committee chairwoman Michelle Goldthwaite wrote. APTA has been ADAPT’s primary target since 1982, when APTA successfully fought a federal regulation requiring all city transit systems to equip at least half their buses with lifts to qualify for federal funds. But Adams said the local protests could unfairly malign the city's efforts to meet the needs of the Valley's disabled. "l would hate for the public to think overall that this is aimed at Phoenix," he said. City transit director Richard Thomas said Phoenix is doing “reasonably well" to accommodate the needs of the disabled through a mix of lift-equipped buses, “dial-a-ride” vehicles and an experimental program in which private transportation for the disabled is subsidized by the city.
ADAPT (267)
THE PLAIN DEALER, THURSDAY, MAY 22; 1986 page 19-A PHOTO by AP: Four policemen in their fancy police hats are "rolling" a man (Rick James) up a 150 degree (ie. almost vertical) "ramp" into a van. Rick is sitting with his hands up by his chest. His hat is missing and his hair is flying out in all directions. His expression is a mix of amazement, disgust and resignation. Caption reads: Cincinnati policemen push Rick James of Salt Lake City, Utah, up a ramp into a van after he was arrested outside a downtown hotel as part of a demonstration by American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation. Title: Cincy arrests disabled in protest of bus access By BILL SLOAT STAFF writer CINCINNATI — Police arrested l7 disabled people yesterday after they blockaded the entrance to a downtown hotel or chained themselves to the doorway of an adjoining office building that houses Queen City Metro, this city’s public bus service. Eleven of them refused to post bond and were in Hamilton County Justice Center under cash bonds ranging from $1,500 to $3,000. Five were released late yesterday on personal bonds. One pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and was found guilty. Sixteen were in wheelchairs from polio, paralyzing spinal accidents, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and amputations. One was blind and walked carrying a white cane. The arrests were made during a non-violent, noon demonstration that challenged lack of access to city buses here and around the nation. Chants of “We will ride" and “Access now” came from about 52 demonstrators outside the Westin Hotel. Some removed footstands from their wheelchairs and banged on metal barricades. Police stood behind the barricades and refused to let the demonstrators into the hotel. All 17 taken to jail said they were members of a national handicapped rights organization called American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation. “This is a civil disobedience action," said Wade Blank, 47, a Presbyterian minister who helped organize yesterday's protest. Blank, who now lives in Denver, was involved in anti-war demonstrations at Kent State University in the 1960s when he lived in Akron. Several of the people loaded onto vans and hauled away to the Hamilton County Justice Center on disorderly conduct charges compared Cincinnati to Selma and Montgomery, two Alabama cities where civil rights activists were jailed by authorities in the 1960s. “The message needs to be sent out that we can’t ride a bus because we're handicapped,” said Glenn Horton, 46, of El Paso, Texas. "It's discrimination it’s segregation and it’s appalling that it could still be happening in this country." Horton said he had been confined to a wheelchair since age 9, when he fell and broke his back. Bill Bolte, 54, of Los Angeles, said handicapped people needed mainline bus service to get to jobs, movies, dates, shopping, banks and anywhere else they might want to go. “We're already in prison," said Bolte, who had polio 51 years ago. “We're going to see that what few rights we have are not going to be taken away. Our rights to public transportation are being deprived, and we will not sit for it." Organizers of the protest said they took to the streets because about 600 executives of public and private transit companies in the eastern United States and Canada were attending a convention in the hotel that ends today. Protesters said the convention should adopt a resolution supporting the installation of wheelchair lifts on all public buses in the nation. Many came from Denver, which has such lifts in use on its bus fleet. The demonstration also came a day after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced in Washington, D.C., a new regulation that allows transit authorities to establish alternative services for the disabled instead of putting lifts on regularly scheduled buses. Demonstrators complained the rule meant that buses, subways and rail lines wouldn't be made accessible to people in wheelchairs. Police Chief Lawrence Whalen said the comparisons with Alabama in the 1960s were unfair when it came to the police. Police in the South during the civil rights era often brutalized protesters. Whalen yesterday said, “Our officers handled themselves very admirably. The group has had their chance to protest and get their point across." He said the police assigned to make arrests had attended special briefings on how to handle disabled people and were instructed to ask the people in custody the best way to lift them into vans. “We wanted to be sensitive to their special needs." Whalen said. Three of those arrested yesterday were out on $3,000 bond after incidents Monday when two climbed aboard city buses, paid fares and refused to leave when ordered off by Queen City Metro officials. The third interfered with a bus. The three, Robert A. Kafka, 40, of Austin, Texas; George Cooper, 58, of Irving, Texas; and Michael W. Auberger, 32, of Denver, were charged yesterday with Criminal trespassing when they chained themselves to the entranceway of Queen City Metro's offices. Police Capt. Dale Menkhaus told his men to use bolt cutters to get them out of the building. Kafka, Cooper and Auberger had been ordered Tuesday not to set foot in Cincinnati by a Municipal judge at the time they posted bond, but another Municipal judge lifted the banning order shortly before yesterday's protests started. Police Chief Lawrence Whalen said 14 others were charged with disorderly conduct for their activities outside the hotel. Bond was set at $3,000 each, a Hamilton County Municipal Court official said. Before the demonstration began, the group gathered in a Newport, Ky., motel for a strategy session on civil disobedience. They agreed not to carry anything but identification with them when they confronted police in downtown Cincinnati and they voted not to post bail. None of the people arrested were from Ohio. The 11 who refused to post bond and were in jail last night are: Bolte; Bob Conrad of Denver; Joe Carle of Denver; Auberger; Horton; Jim Parker of El Paso, Texas; Cooper; George Roberts of Denver; Earnest Taylor of Hartford, Conn.; Lonnie Smith of Denver; Kafka. Kelly Bates of Denver pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail, which she is to start serving tomorrow. Those released on personal bond are Ken Heard of Denver; George Florman of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Frank Lozano of El Paso, Texas; Rick James of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Arthur Campbell of Louisville, Ky.
ADAPT (253)
The Cincinnati Post Tuesday May 20 - Photo by Lawrence A. Lambert/The Cincinnati Post: A man (Jim Parker) in a big straw hat and a manual wheelchair sits holding a wooden structure on his feet. Beside him, on his left, a man with dark hair and a dark beard (Frank Lozano) kneels, attaching a folded manual wheelchair to the crossed wood. To his left, another man (Bob Conrad) in a power chair a jacket and an ADAPT shirt, with the access symbol and an equal sign in the wheel, points at what Frank is doing and looks off to his right. Over Bob's right shoulder you can see Bobby Simpson and an African American woman (Gwen Hubbard?) up against some police barriers; the woman is talking with someone. To their right and over Frank's head you can see another man in a wheelchair watching as a woman stands beside him. Over Jim's shoulder you can see another protester in a wheelchair. In the background is the cavernous black of the hotel entrance which is blocked by metal barricades and guarded by police. caption reads: Three members of a national group protesting lack of access to public transportation prepare to lift a cross bearing a wheelchair into place today in from of the Westin Hotel as part of a demonstration. The three are Jim Parker, left, Frank Lozano and Bob Conrad. Title: Activists ordered to leave 3 protesters awaiting trial By Edwin: Blackwell, Post staff reporter Three wheelchair-bound activists were ordered by a judge today to get out of town until their trials or face being jailed on disorderly conduct charges. “This is ludicrous and unconstitutional," said Robert Kafka of Austin, Texas, one of the three. "We got on a public bus and so he is throwing us out of town." The order came after a night when 15 other members or American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation pitted their wheelchairs against the steel frames of buses in a protest over the rights of the handicapped to public transportation. The protesters rolled their wheelchairs into the paths of buses traveling 40 mph on Kings Island Drive in Warren County and carrying conferees of the American Public Transit Association to a reception. No one was injured in the protest, and no one was arrested. Kafka and two other activists, George Cooper of Dallas and Michael Auberger of Denver, were arrested earlier Monday during a demonstration in front of the Westin Hotel, where the transit association conferees are meeting this week, and the U.S. Courthouse. Kafka and Cooper were arrested on trespassing charges after they boarded a Queen City Metro bus that stopped at the boarding plaza in front of the Courthouse. Auberger was arrested for grabbing a wheel of the same bus. They appeared in Hamilton County Municipal Court today and were told by Judge David Albanese to leave Cincinnati today or forfeit their $3000 bonds. A pre-trial hearing was set for June 26. The three contended the order violated their constitutional rights to free speech but said they will abide by it. They are staying in a motel in Newport, Ky. They said they will discuss possible federal civil rights court action with their attorney, Joni Veddern Wilkens of Reading. "I can’t believe it; this is America," Cooper said. “When you invoke law like it was west of the Pecos, before Texas even became a state . .. get out of town by sundown ... it's scary, it's frightening. I feel it's a basic infringement of my freedom to travel as an American citizen." Cooper, a U.S. Air Force Korean Wax veteran, said it was the first time in ADAPT protests in half a dozen cities that any of its members had been ordered out of town. He said it was the first time they had ever faced actual barricades, as they did in front at the Westin Hotel Monday. “I thought I came from the most conservative city in the country, Dallas," Cooper said. "We just can't believe this." During Monday night's protest near the College Football Hall of Fame, Warren County police moved the ADAPT members from in front of the buses but made no arrests. Police had set up barricades by the hall earlier, but that didn't keep the protesters from roiling their wheelchairs onto the roadway. “I remember flashing in my mind that these might be the first deaths of the civil rights movement of the handicapped," said the Rev. Wade Blank of Denver, Colo., co-founder of ADAPT. “Although I trained them, it just told me how serious it is to these people." Members of the Denver based group say their action shows how far they are willing to go. The protesters want the transit officials to change their national policy on accessibility and Queen City Metro to have wheelchair lifts on all new buses. Today ADAPT members continued to demonstrate in front of the Westin Hotel by hanging a wheelchair from a 10-foot-tall wooden cross to signify “the way APTA is crucifying disabled people." Eleven Cincinnati police officers, including Chief Lawrence Whalen, watched but made no arrests as they guarded the hotel atrium and entrance from some protesters chanting “We will ride. Access is a civil right." Wade Blank said no further attempts to block buses will be made because the group does not want to inconvenience Cincinnati riders.
ADAPT (237)
The Cincinnati Post, Thursday, May 22, 1986 [We don't seem to have the beginning of this article] Protest (from page 1B) 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 El Paso. Those pleading not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and given higher bonds because of prior records were Robert Conard, 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 Lozano, 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. The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission is investigating complaints that some handicapped people may have been denied access to the Westin Hotel. Robert Harris, the commission’s community representative for the disabled, said today at least four handicapped persons not connected with ADAPT were at least temporarily denied entrance to the hotel. “The process was geared against people in wheelchairs,” Harris said.
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HCC [Handicapped Coloradan?] 2/84 Two photos by Bob Conrad: Top photo of person in a sports jacket and in a manual wheelchair on a lift getting ready to enter a bus with "Ride" written on the side. He is facing in toward the door of the vehicle. Bottom photo is of a person in a wheelchair sitting on a lift facing out the door of a bus. A man [Wade Blank] with long blonde hair and a plaid jacket stands beside the lift watching. Wheeler for a Day Jay Bear Baker, an RTD district director, finds out first hand what it's like to travel via "The Ride" when you're in a wheelchair. Baker was accompanied on the mid-February excursion by members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). Baker boarded buses at Broadway and Colfax and traveled along Lincoln and Alameda. Four out of the five buses he attempted to ride had functioning lifts. in the bottom photo ADAPT member Wade Blank watches as Baker is lowered to the curb. Baker's rides included a trip on one of the 89 new articulated buses. Those are the buses which were equipped with lifts only after the newly elected RTD board voted to reverse a decision made by the old appointed board and former RTD General Manager L.A. Kimball. "The lift worked beautifully, " Blank said. "I've heard that a lot of drivers are praising it, too. " The expedition with Baker is part of a plan by ADAPT to encourage RTD to continue to make its system totally accessible to wheelchair riders. Blank said he's encouraged by some of RTD's 177 more lift-equipped buses as well as to correct wiring problems in many of like current lifts. RTD has also approved the use of a lift equipped over-the road coach on the Denver-Boulder run on an experimental basis. Blank said he has met with new RTD General Manager William Colby and warned him that Colorado’s three favorite sports were "skiing, hiking, and criticizing RTD."
ADAPT (99)
The Denver Post PHOTO by John Prieto, Denver Post: A woman in a wheelchair (Carolyn Finnell) is surrounded four able-bodied persons. One man is kneeling down in front of her to talk with her. Caption reads: Carolyn Fannell (In wheelchair) discusses the protest with RTD executive director L.A. “Klm" Kimball. Boxed Text: "You were talking about a separate and unequal system." -- Protester Wade Blank Threat of Sit-In Over RTD Lift Plans Dissolves By GEORGE LANE, Denver Post Urban Affairs Writer [This story continues on ADAPT 113, but the entire text has been included here for easier reading.] After tense negotiations, Regional Transportation District officials avoided use of police force Thursday night to break up a threatened all-night wheelchair sit-in at RTD headquarters. The protesters want RTD to reconsider a decision not to put wheelchair lifts on new buses — a decision they say broke an agency promise made to them last year. Three district board members promised about 25 disabled persons they would try to call a special meeting to reconsider the anti-lift action. The sit-in was staged in the fifth-floor executive offices of the RTD at 1325 S. Colorado Blvd. by members of the Atlantis Community for the disabled. The promise, contained in a policy statement adopted by the RTD board a year ago, was that 50 percent of the existing bus fleet of more than 600 vehicles would be retrofitted with wheelchair lifts, and all new buses would be ordered with lifts. When the statement was approved, there was a federal regulation demanding that all federally financed transit agencies make transportation modes accessible to the handicapped, and all new buses purchased had to have the lifts. RTD was one of the only transit agencies in the country to take steps toward complying with the regulation. But the regulation was repealed last July. Thursday afternoon, the RTD board voted to save more than $1 million by canceling the order to have the lifts installed on 89 high-capacity, articulated buses expected to be delivered in 1983. Wade Blank, co-administrator of Atlantis, pointed out to board members before the vote was taken that the day the regulation was rescinded, RTD officials said lifting the regulation would have no effect on the district's commitment to serving disabled persons. “A week ago I came to a meeting, and about 10 minutes to four, it was casually mentioned" there would be no lifts on articulated buses, Blank said. "I was dazed... it took a few days to realize that you were talking about a separate and unequal system." Robert Conrad, also an Atlantis administrator, told RTD board members he feels "betrayed" because he has worked closely with RTD on providing service to the handicapped “and all of a sudden you spring this on us." Board member Flodie Anderson explained to the approximately 75 angry persons attending the meeting that RTD intends to use the articulated buses on express routes and other heavy routes. Under that plan, Anderson said, other buses will be freed that will be lift-equipped and able to provide better service to disabled people than is provided now. Board member Edward Cassinis told the group that buses currently equipped with wheelchair lifts are carrying a maximum of 270 wheelchair passengers per week. RTD's “handiride,“ which provides front-door service to disabled passenger, is handling 831 riders per week. When the vote was taken on the action, the outcome was 12-4 against installation of the lifts. Members of the Atlantis Community and several other disabled organizations then gathered ln hallway outside the first-floor meeting room and decided to “resume civil disobedience." The group of about 25, all from Atlantis, then rode the elevators to the fifth floor of the building and began their sit-in shortly after 4 p.m. Motorized wheelchairs were parked in the doorways of the three elevators to make it impossible for them to be used. Shortly after the beginning of the demonstration, Bob West, RTD’s director called for police assistance and paramedics “because we don’t want anybody to get hurt.” The police, however, didn’t arrive for more than an hour and when they did arrive, the negotiating session that would end the sit-in already was in progress in a fifth-floor conference room. During that session, board members Mary Duty, Kathi Williams and Thomas Bastien agreed to try to get their fellow board members to meet again to possibly reconsider the issue. L.A. “Kim” Kimball, RTD’s executive director and general manager, also agreed not to execute the board action until an effort is made to set up the special board meeting. “But I can’t guarantee they will” Kimball added. “We can guarantee that if they don’t, we’ll file suit for breach of promise,” responded Mary Penland, an Atlantis employee. “And we’ll guarantee those articulated buses won’t roll unless they roll over our bodies.”
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Denver Post Thurs., Sept., 14, 1978? or 9? [Headline] One arrested during confrontation Photo by Denver Post photographer [Kunn B*s*0?]: Two people in uniforms carry a woman along a corridor. One has her under her arms, the other by the legs, which are crossed. A man in a suit looks from a distance down the corridor. Caption reads: Demonstrator Patsy Castor is carried from RTD building. She was one of more than 20 ejected after refusing to [unreadable.] Handicapped Protesters Forcibly Ejected From RTD Offices By BRAD MARTISILS, Denver Post Staff Writer One man was arrested and more than 20 handicapped protesters, some wailing and yelling and others kicking and resisting, were ejected forcibly from RTD headquarters Wednesday afternoon after they refused to leave voluntarily. The single arrest was made after Jeff Franek, 24, or 1123 Adams St. [unreadable] struck and knocked down an RTD employee. Franek, who isn't handicapped, was booked on suspicion of assault and released on a $50 cash bond. The demonstrators were removed from the building by about eight Denver policemen assisted by ambulance crews from Denver General Hospital. The ambulance [unreadable] there to assist demonstrators confined to wheelchairs included paramedics trained to handle disabled persons. Police also arranged for [unreadable] ambulance cabs to provide transportation for the demonstrators desiring it. THE PROTESTERS had occupied the fifth floor of RTD offices at 1225 S. Colorado Blvd earlier Wednesday. lt was one of a number of demonstrations over the past few months aimed at pressing RTD officials to provide more service for handicapped persons on regular bus routes. Protesters said they had planned to stay in the offices for three days. But when RTD's Executive Director John Simpson met with them shortly after 5 pm he explained that the building was closing and that they couldn't stay. The protesters refused to meet with him in a downstairs conference room. SIMPSON WAS interrupted by catcalls several times as he tried lo speak to the protesters. "You're not leaving me many choices," he told them when they refused to leave. Bob Conrad, 29, of 750 Knox Court, acted as spokesman for the protesters. When Simpson tried to explain RTD's policies, Conrad said he had been hearing the same explanations for years. "John, you've been telling us the same crap for three years," Conrad said. "We are being denied our rights because we can't ride the buses." Conrad said his group wants to take advantage of regular bus service. But Simpson said such service simply doesn't work for the handicapped. He pointed to a program in St. Louis, in which lifts were installed on 157 buses. In a year's time, he said, only 1,000 rides were given to persons in wheelchairs, at a cost of $200 per ride. THE IMPEDIMENTS to travel for the handicapped aren't primarily with buses," Simpson said. "Studies have shown that inability to get over curbs, to get to the bus stop, and to travel from the bus are much more important factors." Simpson said RTD's service -- which is due to be expanded -- is a better alternative than putting lifts on all buses. He said RTD's service accommodated more than 45,000 trips for handicapped persons in 1977, at a cost of about $10 per trip. He said service to the homes of handicapped persons is being provided by 12 special HandyRide buses. He said 18 more lift-equipped buses soon will begin running on fixed, circular routes, once their lift mechanisms meet the standards of the Denver Commission on the Disabled. Finally, he said 10 more specially equipped buses will soon begin running between RTD Park and Ride areas and various college campuses and shopping centers, where many handicapped persons need transportation. THE HANDYRIDE service operates by subscription, meaning the potential riders must arrange with RTD for the buses to stop at their homes. The fares are the same as for regular bus service. Simpson said the subscription service is filled to capacity, serving 55 wheelchair users and 78 persons with other disabilities. He said there is a waiting list of persons wishing to take advantage of the service. Simpson said equipping RTD buses with lifts to accommodate persons in wheelchairs would cost $4 million. Annual operating costs would be more than $6.5 million, he said. However, the protesters didn't hear his facts and figures because they refused to meet Simpson in the conference room and then were ejected. SEVERAL OF the protesters struggled violently when they were ejected from the building. At least one, Patsy Castor, 18, was slightly injured. She was hauled from the building struggling violently with ambulance crews call to assist police officers. A few onlookers said attendants purposely dropped her outside the door. Others said she struggled so violently that they dropped her accidentally. Wade Blank, director of the Atlantis Community for the handicapped in Denver, said the group was prepared for everything but forceful ejection. "We've asked to be arrested," he said, "But the way things look, I don't think we even have the right to expect that."
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The San Diego Union, Sunday, February 10, 1985, B-4 PHOTO by United Press International/Paul Richards: 11 people in wheelchairs sit facing away from the camera, beside a Trailways bus. The group includes Bob Conrad who is closest the bus door, and Beverly Furnice who is closest to the camera. They are looking at Wade Blank, who stands beside the bus and it looks like Mike Auberger is addressing the group. Caption reads: A dozen members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation block departure of this Trailways bus after a member was refused a ticket. [Headline] Wheelchair-bound stop Trailways bus By Ric Bucher, Staff Writer Claude Holcomb tried to take a 4:15 pm. Trailways bus from the depot on State and C streets to Los Angeles yesterday, but he was not allowed to buy a ticket. There were only two passengers aboard, but Holcomb is confined to a wheelchair. Trailways buses are not accessible to people in wheelchairs. “I have a friend in L.A.,” Holcomb spelled out on a homemade message board he uses to communicate. “I have to fly from L.A. to Hartford, Conn., tomorrow.” Holcomb lives in Hartford. Shortly before the bus was due to depart, Holcomb, 24, along with 11 other members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), hemmed the bus in with their wheelchairs and refused to move. Police officers arrived at 4:35 p.m. and told the group that they were breaking the law by obstructing traffic and trespassing. The ADAPT members will appear at the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) meeting this morning. They have been granted 30 minutes to air their plea for both wheelchair-accessible transit buses on both local and interstate lines. Twenty of 29 San Diego Transit bus routes have wheelchair access, but no such equipment is in use on intercity or interstate public buses. Joe Carle, an ADAPT community organizer in Denver, parked his wheelchair in front of the bus and tilted back his black felt cowboy hat. “This may seem like it’s drastic,” he said, “but it’s the only way to open people’s eyes. ... What good is it if a person has to stay in a one-block area?” Similar demonstrations were held recently in Denver and Washington, D.C., in conjunction with scheduled APTA meetings. Carle said the attitude toward the disabled seems to be “we'll do everything we can to keep you alive, but we don’t want you around.” He said ADAPT was specifically focusing on Trailways and Greyhound Bus Lines because they are owned by companies who manufacture their own buses, yet refuse to construct them to accommodate wheelchairs. The bus driver and two passengers, Michael Calloway, 23, and Claude Williams, 26, got off the bus and waited inside the depot. “I think they (the disabled) have the right to board the bus,” Calloway said. Williams nodded his head in agreement. “It throws us off schedule, but I’d like to see something done about it (bus access for the disabled). I don’t think it’s right for them to (delay the bus) but I understand. Sometimes it takes a little push and shove to get things done." Able-bodied Wade Blank organized the group's meeting at the bus station. Blank is one of the six founders of ADAPT. Two years ago, he adopted Heather, a 14-year-old girl confined to a wheelchair, and married her mother. He described the attitude toward the disabled as “just another ‘ism’ — paternalism. It's just like racism and sexism.” After police told the group they were breaking the law, Mike Auberger, spokesman for the wheelchair group, asked to speak with the manager of the terminal, Fred Kroner, who was summoned from his home in Chula Vista. Kroner spoke with Auberger and his group at the door of the bus. He was asked to set up a meeting in Denver with Trailways’ national representatives. “For what?” Kroner asked “To talk about making these buses accessible," said Auberger. Fifteen minutes later, Kroner said he could reach no one, and gave Auberger the phone number of Roger Rydell, vice president in charge of public relations at Trailways’ Dallas headquarters. The group let the bus leave. “I won't be satisfied until these buses are accessible,” Auberger said, “but this is the first step in the process.”
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Los Angeles Times 4/10/85 PHOTO by Vince Compagnone, Los Angeles Times: A Trailways bus sits surrounded by half a dozen or more people in wheelchairs. One man in a manual chair with a golf style cap sits alone at the back left corner of the bus. One the right side of the bus, closest to the camera are three other people in manual chairs. They appear to be talking with Bob Conrad and a few others up at the front right side of the bus, by the entrance. Renata Conrad is in the white coat. On the back of the bus is a sign that reads "Got a Group? Charter this Bus. 1-800-527-1566." Caption reads: Handicapped people surround a Trailways bus Saturday, delaying its departure by two hours. [Headline] Disabled People Block Bus at Terminal by Kathleen H. Cooley, Times Staff Writer About 20 disabled people blocked a Trailways bus for more than two hours Saturday at the downtown terminal until the terminal manager agreed to ask a company executive to meet with the disabled group concerning difficulties wheelchair-bound people have with bus travel. The group which represents American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), was in town to meet with members of the American Public Transit Assn. today. Representatives of ADAPT said they want a legislation requiring all new buses operated by private companies such as Greyhound and Trailways to be equipped with wider doors, lifts and ramps. Most public transportation operators, including San Diego Transit, provide wheelchair lifts on at least some buses. ADAPT member Claude Holcom bought a ticket to Los Angeles, but when Trailways' personnel told him they would have to fold his wheelchair and carry him to his seat, Holcom declined to board the bus. "We don't think a person should have to be carried aboard a bus," said Wade Blank, one of the protest's organizers. “It's very dehumanizing. They’re taking away their legs." Blank and fellow ADAPT member Mike Auberger said the group is trying to draw attention to the frustrations of traveling by bus and being in a wheelchair. Although both Trailways and Greyhound buses are not equipped to handle wheelchairs, Blank said ADAPT met with Greyhound officials last week to discuss the possibility of fitting new buses with lifts. “This is a symbolic protest, just like the civil rights protests of the '60s, but we have the right to travel the same as anybody else," Blank said. "The wheelchair is like somebody's legs." The Los Angeles bus, with its two passengers, was scheduled to leave the C Street station at 4:15 p.m., but by the time terminal manager Fred Kroner arrived and negotiated with the ADAPT members, it was nearly 7 o'clock before it departed. The two passengers appeared surprised and baffled by the protest and by queries from members of the news media. One man opted to go to the Greyhound terminal two blocks away and catch another bus rather than wait out the protest. The other passenger, Mich Galloway, 23, said he was sympathetic to the group wanting equal access to buses and waited patiently until the protesters dispersed. “I see where they are coming from." Galloway said. "I hope something is done about it." After several phone calls to the Trailways corporate offices in Dallas proved fruitless. the ADAPT members agreed to accept from Koner the name, address and phone number of the company‘s public relations officer. who they intend to call Monday. "l really can't do anything about the situation. l'm just this terminal's manager." Koner said.
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Denver Post PHOTO by Fred Nelson, The Denver Post: Disabled people form a line as they picket. 3 face away, one of whom has an ADAPT NOW! sign on the back of his wheelchair. Facing forward, a man with a very short haircut wearing a baseball type jacket and necktie, has a sign that reads "Let us USE tokens, not BE tokens. Accessibility Now!" caption reads: Kent Jones of Chicago travelled to Denver to participate in this week's demonstration urging accessibility to public transit for the handicapped. [Headline] Handicapped Seek Change in Public Transit By George Lane, Denver Post Staff Writer Several dozen wheelchairs jammed the sidewalk of the Denver Hilton Hotel on Sunday afternoon as disabled activists from throughout the country urged public transportation be made more accessible to the handicapped. The rolling demonstration took place in front of the Hilton because the hotel is the headquarters for about 3,000 U.S and Canadian transportation officials attending the national meeting of the American Public Transit Association. Representatives of the group, the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, are scheduled to speak to the transit officials Wednesday, but a spokesman said they were on the sidewalks Sunday “to let them know they were serious.” Bob Conrad, an executive of Denver Atlantis Community Inc. and one of the wheelchair-bound demonstrators, said the purpose of attending the transit convention was to call the need for accessible public transportation to the attention of transit officials and bus manufacturers. “California has had a law for about 12 years saying all buses purchased must be accessible to all person, including riders in wheelchairs,” said Lew Nau of Los Angeles. “Michigan is the only other state I know of with a similar law.” Nau and his wife, Yvonne, both in wheelchairs, said they have devoted all their efforts since retirement to the issue. The couple said that during the Carter administration all public transit agencies were subject to a regulation that said 50 percent of all buses purchased had to be accessible to handicapped people. “The (regulation) was our civil rights act,” Mrs. Nau said. “Now Reagan has in effect rolled it back.”
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Rocky Mountain News Tues. Oct. 2, 1984 Denver, Colo. PHOTO (AP LASER PHOTO): A protester in a manual wheelchair and a puffy coat (Renata Conrad), screams as police force her arms behind her back. One uniformed officer stands behind her forcing her forward. One stands in front, his arms stretched in front. The third stands watching with his notebook in his hand and his pen or maybe a cigarette in his mouth. Caption reads: Washington police restrain wheelchair-bound women during protest at transit conference. [Headline] Disabled Denverites held at D.C. protest By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer WASHINGTON — Fourteen wailing handicapped protesters, including some from Denver, were arrested here Monday when they used their wheelchairs, crutches and limp bodies to briefly blockade a national meeting of transit executives. Among those arrested were Mike Auberger, Bob Conrad, Mark Ball and Glen Damen, all of Denver. Richard Male of Denver, an able-bodied demonstrator, also was arrested, as were nine other protesters from New York, Texas, Illinois and Connecticut. The 14 were among more than 35 people who converged on the annual meeting of the American Public Transit Association at the Washington Convention Center. They were fined $50 apiece for blocking a public building. ADAPT, a Denver-based militant handicapped rights group, raised an estimated $30,000 this year to send the protesters to Washington and to train disabled groups nationwide in political demonstration and lobbying techniques. Two of the protesters who were arrested and fined were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released. "The police got pretty physical,“ said ADAPT spokesman Wade Blank of Denver. "We had been causing civil disobedience all week. We expected it (the arrests) to happen. It was just a matter of when." Monday's arrests capped a year of growing tension between handicapped activists and transit officials over the issue of accessibility to the handicapped. “This is not something that we are especially proud of,"said ADAPT member Mark Johnson, as he pounded on the plexiglass door of the convention center with a wooden crutch. "We are here because there has been a resistance to us," said Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully for the RTD Board of Directors in 1980. Johnson said ADAPT is demanding that the transit convention vote to make all public transit systems accessible to the handicapped, that those systems only purchase buses equipped with wheelchair lifts, and that the Federal Government reinstate a regulation mandating accessibility. Convention officials said the demonstrators delayed their program for a few minutes, but caused no damage. Last year, RTD hosted the annual transit convention. Although handicapped activists picketed the meeting, their protests were less forceful. In addition, the protesters last year were allowed to address the convention, a privilege refused them this year. "They requested a slot, but we already had everything filled," convention spokesman Albert Engelken said. "There have been some problems. They (protesters) have been pretty aggressive." The demonstrators suddenly appeared at 10 a.m, just as hundreds of transit executives arrived at the convention center on a convoy of shuttle buses from their hotels. Washington police tried to block the advancing wheelchairs. However, they quickly became entangled with the front line of handicapped men and women and were outflanked by the rest of the demonstrators. Chanting "we will ride. it's our right," the protesters wedged their wheelchairs between the doors of the convention center. Many of them threw themselves out of their chairs and sprawled on the sidewalk to block the doors. Monday's demonstration was the third in a series of protests organized by ADAPT. On Thursday, a dozen protesters blocked seven Washington Metro buses in front of the White House during the evening rush hour. On Sunday, another contingent blocked a chartered bus carrying the spouses of 50 transit executives who were touring the nation's capital. After being trapped for an hour, the spouses finally crawled over the crippled protesters to get to their hotel. The protest overshadowed the speeches to the packed convention by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole and New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Dole abandoned much of her highly partisan prepared speech, choosing instead to repeat the Reagan administration's compromise offer for accessible public transit. "Transit authorities receiving federal funds would be required to make at least half of their peak hour bus fleet accessible, provide para-transit for special services or offer some combination of these options," Dole said. Both sides are cool to the proposal. Transit executives complain it will cost too much considering that only 5 percent of the country's transit passengers are disabled. Many disabled groups, meanwhile, reject Dole's offer because they say it endorses separate but equal service.
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The Handicapped Coloradan, November 1983, Volume 6, No. 4, Boulder Colorado A Cartoon and Picture Top, Cartoon [signature might be Faniul?]: A bus is seen from the rear and labeled "ACCESSIBLE BUSLINES" and "Dept. of Transportation." Behind it, tied to the rear bumper is a little kids wagon labeled "Special Transit." In that wagon sits a person with under-the-arm crutches, holding on for his life, and his feet in the air as the wagon bounces along behind the bus. Inside the bus, someone who looks a heck of a lot like President Reagan is saying "Wow! Look at that. He's separate but EQUAL!" Bottom, photo by Gary Handschumacher: Shot from below looking up into a dark room, a line of people with disabilities facing forward with two microphones on stands in front of them. Mark Johnson, far left, looks on with the mike right in front of him. Beside him is Renate Conrad. Bob Conrad sits next to her and speaks into another mike. Two other people in wheelchairs are on his other side, the farthest one appears to be Mike Auberger. Caption reads: Mark JOHNSON and Trudy Knutson listen as Bob Conrad tells delegates at the national convention of the American Public Transit Association that the handicapped will be satisfied with nothing less than 100 percent accessibility to public transportation.
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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.
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Colorado Springs Sun PHOTO (by Mary Kelley): Close up of protester Beverly Furnice's angry face as she reclined in her wheelchair, holding a poster in her fists, which reads "Accessible Bathrooms Now!" Caption reads: Beverly Furnice holds a sign explaining one of the reasons she and other disabled people were picketing a local McDonald's Restaurant Friday. [Headline] Officials Defends McDonalds' Record By Ken Warren, Colorado Springs Sun McDonald’s Restaurants is the industry leader in providing barrier-free access to the disabled, a top official of the corporation said Friday. Robert L Keyser Ill. national director of media relations, rejected as “false" and “inappropriate" charges made by a group of wheelchair bound protesters that McDonald's discriminates against the handicapped. “We think we're the leader in the industry in barrier-free accessibility”, but there are always things we can learn, " Keyser said, watching protesters picket the McDonald's Restaurant at 207 N. Wahsatch Ave. As discussed, six weeks ago, he said, McDonald's plans to meet next week with representatives of the Denver-based Access Institute to discuss their concerns. “We want to listen. We also want them to learn a little more about McDonald's because we're committed to the community." Asked about the potential impact of the second protest against McDonald's in as many days on upcoming talks, Keyser said, "It's certainly not a sign of the good faith" in which we’ve been trying to deal with them in Denver." "He suggested "that the group had targeted McDonald's because of its size and visibility. “We clearly think it's not appropriate, but "they've done it, and we're going to speak proudly about our record." Keyser said ‘McDonald's had been striving since the 1960s to meet the needs of the disabled with ramps, drive-through lanes and other special accommodations. Robert Conrad, a protester confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy criticized McDonald's for failing to do more to make their 6,400 restaurants accessible to the disabled. “We've tried to negotiate with McDonald's, but all they want to do is dialogue," he said.
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[Headline] 7 Arrested as Handicapped Protest at Fast-Food Outlet By Jim Kirksey Denver Post Staff Writer Denver police arrested seven persons – six of them handicapped – during a demonstration at a near-downtown Denver McDonald’s Restaurant Thursday. Wheelchair-bound demonstrators from Denver’s Atlantis Community Inc., which represents disabled people in the area, blocked entrances to the parking lot at the McDonald’s at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street beginning about 11:0 a.m. to protest the lack of access to the restaurant for the handicapped. All of the arrests were based on traffic-obstruction charges. Police estimated there were about 20 demonstrators, but leaders of the demonstration estimated the number at 30 to 50. Richard Male, an organizer with the Community Resource Center, said the protesters want three things: access for the disabled to McDonald’s current restaurants, such access to be constructed at all new McDonald’s restaurants, and for the fast-food company to advertise its welcome and accessibility to the disabled. Joe Carle, 45, a community organizer at the Atlantis Community and one of the leaders of Thursday’s demonstration, said the point at issue is what he termed McDonald’s failure to live up to agreements made by the company in negotiations last month. He said McDonald’s officials met in Denver with members of the Access Institute, a national organization for the handicapped with which Atlantis is affiliated, following similar demonstrations at two McDonald’s restaurants in Denver in May. Organizers said McDonald’s agreed at that time to a June 19 meeting in Denver with a negotiating team from the institute. Carle said McDonald’s agreed to pay the costs of the Access Institute negotiators to return to Denver and to send a restaurant official with the authority to make an agreement. Now, according to the leaders of the local disabled group, McDonald’s says it won’t pay the transportation costs of the group’s members and won’t confirm that a representative with the authority to make an access agreement with the group will attend the meeting. The manager at the restaurant refused comment and a corporate spokesman for McDonald’s in Chicago didn’t return a telephone call to comment on the demonstration and the allegations. Sgt. Roy Clem of the Denver police said those demonstrators who were arrested had refused to get out of East Colfax Avenue, and they were arrested for obstruction of traffic. The one non-disabled person was arrested when she jumped in front of a car to block its path in support of the demonstration, Clem said. Detective George Masciotro identified those arrested as: Lori Eastwood, 26, of 1222 Pennsylvania St., who isn’t disabled; Donna Smith, 32, of 236 S. Elliot St.; Robert W. Conrad Jr., 35, of 750 Know Court; George Roberts, 36, of 1255 Galapago St.; Lawrence Ruiz, 30, also of 1255 Galapago St.; Terri Fowler, 28, of 3202 W. Gill Place; and Michael William Auberger, 29, of 1140 Colorado Blvd. Masciotro said they were booked into jail, then released on personal recognizance bonds.