[mpen-dayton] Greater Miami Valley Events & News
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· (Jan. 21) FW: [Reminder] Community Organizing Training with Journey for Justice
· (Jan. 22) FW: Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra's 'Lift Ev’ry Voice' at Schuster
· (Jam. 24) FW: Public Safety & Justice Recruitment Event
· (jam. 26) FW: Women's Interfaith Discussion
· FW: e-news from Grace UMC
· FW: "Dayton, Ohio transit workers strike over wages, health care" | World Socialist Web Site
· FW: DDN story about cost of fed investigation of H1B visa at WSU
· FW: Friday The 13th And It's Great In Dayton
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From: Racial Justice NOW!
Subject: [Reminder] Community Organizing Training with Journey for Justice
From: DrLA Lucas
Subject: Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra's 'Lift Ev’ry Voice' at Schuster
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Celebrates the Human Spirit Through Music as the DPO Stained Glass Concert Church Choirs Come Together for One Glorious Afternoon in the Schuster Center
CONTACT: ANGELA WHITEHEAD
Communications & Media Manager
Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
Phone 937-224-3521 x 1138
awhitehead@daytonperformingarts.org
DAYTON, OHIO (December 22, 2016) – The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates the human spirit through the universal medium of music as it marks 10 years of its acclaimed Stained Glass Community Engagement Concert Series this coming January 2017 in a program called Lift Ev’ry Voice. Church choirs from around the Dayton area, including congregations that have hosted the Stained Glass series over the years, will join the DPO for a glorious afternoon of uplifting music on Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. on the Mead Stage of the world-class Schuster Center in downtown Dayton.
The DPO’s Stained Glass Concerts are part of a series of community outreach efforts called the Norma Ross Memorial Community Concerts, in honor of the late Mrs. Norma Ross, a tireless advocate for music and minority youth. This special January performance at the Schuster Center has been generously underwritten by the Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts.
Lift Ev’ry Voice will combine the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO), under the leadership of Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman, with the church choirs from Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Inspiration Church, Omega Baptist Church, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Tabernacle Baptist Church, and Trinity Presbyterian Church.
The program opens with the uplifting concert title of Hale Smith’s “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” setting the stage perfectly for the afternoon of spiritual celebration. Then, the DPO will dazzle with Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony, described by E. M. Forster as “the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man.
After a brief intermission, the second half of the program will be bursting with rousing works for chorus, including “Hallelujah, You’re Worthy to Be Praised,” “More than Enough,” “Ride Up in the Chariot,” “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” with “Blessed Assurance,” “Even Me,” and the guiding anthem “Jesus Is a Rock in a Weary Land.” Dayton Opera Chorus mezzo-soprano Grecia Vaughn will perform a solo presentation of the moving hymn “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
A special thank you goes out the to the choir and music directors of the churches who have joined the DPO for the divine afternoon of song:
· Jacqueline Hall-Moore, Calvary Missionary Baptist Church
· Bill Caldwell, First Baptist Church
· Shalanna Bell, Inspiration Church
· Tommy McGuffy, Jr., Omega Baptist Church
· Robert Stockton, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
· Kathy Pullen, Tabernacle Baptist Church
· Terry Grimes, Trinity Presbyterian Church
Spend a few hours at the start of the new year surrounded by the inspirational sound when classical and gospel music come together to unite our Dayton community.
Tickets for Lift Ev’ry Voice are $10 and are available for purchase by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or online at
http://www.daytonperformingarts.org/philharmonic-performance/lift-evry-voice.
For more information or to order subscriptions to the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance 2016-2017 Excite Season, including flexible subscription types that include performances by Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Opera and Dayton Ballet, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.
From: John Huber
Subject: Public Safety & Justice Recruitment Event
Public Safety & Justice Recruitment Event
The following is the list of the confirmed attending departments for the upcoming recruitment event:
Ohio Department Montgomery County Juvenile Court, Sinclair Police, Mason Fire,
Washington Township Fire, Dayton Police, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Corrections (Southwest Region), Montgomery County Sheriff and Kettering Fire
From: Ladies Interfaith
Subject: Women's Interfaith Discussion
Shalom to all in this new year as we invite you to a warm winter gathering of the Women's Interfaith Discussion from 11am-1pm on Thursday, January 26th. We will meet upstairs in the Fazle Umar Mosque, whose unique history includes being the first mosque built in the U.S. by African American Muslims, and the first building in Ohio specifically built as a mosque. An elevator is available, as is easy safe parking and access to the mosque.
With your gracious feedback, we hope this month's topic "Social Justice in our Faiths" will encourage community and inspire us to connect our diverse faiths with the urgent need for social justice. We will also have a guest speaker from the Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship as we add a little bit of knowledge about the meaningful ways faith is expressed.
Please see the attached flyer with more details, and distribute as you can to those friends who might join you or pass our invitation on to others. We're excited to be growing, and want to be ready for everyone, so please RSVP if you can.
If you would enjoy bringing a dish or snack for the refreshment table, please let us know what you will bring as you RSVP to this invitation. Vegetarian dishes only, though, so all can enjoy! We really appreciate those who willingly offered the idea.
From: Lisa Pelphrey
Subject: e-news from Grace UMC
1. Saturday, January 14, 2017, “Celebration of the Dream” at 6:00 p.m.
McKinley United Methodist Church, 196 Hawthorne Street, 45402
Celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. on Saturday evening! Performances to include the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCdC), Central State University Chorus and Grace UMC vocalists and dancers. This event is the first in a series of events that will bring together McKinley, Dixon, Grace and Fairview United Methodist Churches in ministry partnership throughout 2017. Come and celebrate the Dream! Come and celebrate the partnership!
2. Sunday, January 15, 2017, 10:30am
Our Winter Worship Series, Make the World Great, is underway. This Sunday, Pastor Sherry will share her message entitled, “Resist Evil”. The scriptures telling is from Matthew 4:1-11. Grace is for Everyone!
3. MLK Day, Monday, January 16, 2017
Grace Offices will be closed for the holiday. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, January 17, 2017. Thank you.
Meditation: “I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. . . . There was a time when the church was very powerful. . . . In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society. . . . Things are different now. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s often vocal sanction of things as they are. . . . If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.” (from Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail)
May our partnership steps this year with McKinley, Dixon and Fairview be the beginning of authentic urban transformation in our city.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Sherry
From: Judy Brunette
Subject: "Dayton, Ohio transit workers strike over wages, health care" | World Socialist Web Site
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/10/dayt-j10.html
Dayton, Ohio transit workers strike over wages, health care
By Shannon Jones on 10 January 2017
Transit workers in Dayton, Ohio struck Monday for the first time in nearly six decades, impacting some 30,000 daily riders. The walkout, called by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1385, involves 463 drivers and mechanics who are opposed to management’s insulting wage offer and higher out-of-pocket health care costs.
Talks between the Greater Dayton Region Transit Authority (RTA) and the ATU had dragged on for two years. The most recent RTA offer included two percent wage increases in each of the next three years and up to a 10.5 percent wage increase for Project Mobility Drivers who provide services for disabled people. Management also proposed an additional two percent cash incentive. The union called the pay increases inadequate, and said it would not cover the proposed increases in health care costs. The ATU has also called for back pay from 2015.
The RTA said it has drawn up plans to operate the system using strikebreakers should enough qualified drivers become available. At a minimum it has indicated it plans to use management personnel to run Project Mobility.
The RTA called the most recent proposal by the ATU a “non-starter” and said it would increase costs to the system of $3 million. “We are truly disappointed by the union’s decision to strike, which will leave thousands of our citizens unable to travel to work or access medical and social needs,” RTA CEO Mark Donaghy said in a written statement to the media. No talks are currently scheduled.
RTA management and Local 1385 officials met Sunday morning at an undisclosed location for last minute talks. ATU officials said management rejected a union proposal for binding arbitration, which would put the fate of workers’ jobs and benefits in the hands of an appointed third party official.
Under the RTA’s proposed health insurance changes workers on a family plan would pay $4,472 in insurance premiums and a deductible of $5,000 before the plan contributes.
A retired RTA driver with knowledge of the situation spoke to the World Socialist Web Site Monday. Speaking of management’s contract proposal he said, “It was nothing but concessions and the workers turned it down. The workers just got tired of it.
“They want to increase health care co-pays and impose high deductibles. The two percent pay increase in the first year is no increase at all with the higher deductibles.”
He said the union was “in concession mode” and was doing nothing to mobilize support. “The union has not tried to spread the strike and the workers are pretty much being isolated.”
He said that previous contracts had imposed multi-tier pay rates and increased the time it takes for workers to get to top scale. “Whatever union officials you talk to, you get a different story on when your seniority starts and how much you are supposed to be paid.”
“There are all kinds of different designations: part time, full time, all with different levels of pay. Now you have a lot of young workers and a lot of part timers. They come in five days a week, but they don’t get to choose a run. They’ll get an assignment in the morning for 2-3 hours and then go out again in the afternoon for a school run, but they don’t get paid for the period between shifts. They might work 12-14 hours a day and still be part time.”
Dayton transit workers are angry over the use by RTA of private investigators to monitor workers suspected of “faking” illnesses. In a statement reported in the Dayton Daily News, Donaghy said, “Yes, we use surveillance at times. We use every tool in the tool kit. If we think someone is feigning illness, we are very aggressive with that.”
After a Freedom of Information Act Request RTA provided the Dayton Daily News with three December invoices totally $1,150 from Columbus-based Infoquest LTD. The names of the three employees being targeted were blacked out.
The ATU acknowledged that RTA fired three transit workers in December. In one case investigators video-taped a worker who had called in sick who later went to the store, using that as the pretext for dismissal. While Local 1385 President Glenn Saylor claimed the surveillance has been newly instituted on the part of management, Donaghy said, “He knows we’ve been doing this a long time. The only thing new is in the last several months attendance has been low here.”
Local news reports have downplayed the demands by drivers, and instead presented the strike as at least partially the product of personal animosity between Donaghy and Local 1385 President Salyer. In a stunt, apparently aimed at diverting workers anger over the union’s inaction relating to the contract, Salyer was arrested in August 2016 while passing out union literature on what RTA alleges was its private property. Salyer filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the state employment relations board but it dismissed the matter.
The city of 142,000, located in southwestern Ohio, just north of Cincinnati, is a former parts manufacturing center for General Motors. GM abandoned the city, nicked named “Little Detroit,” along with other major manufacturers during the deindustrialization of the 1980s and 1990s. Today the city’s largest employers are hospitals and higher education.
The walkout by Dayton transit workers follows a week-long strike by nearly 5,000 drivers and mechanics in Philadelphia in early November. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) shut down the powerful strike after seven days. The TWU sabotaged the strike in a failed effort to boost the vote for Hillary Clinton on election-day.
The union accepted a miserable 10.5 percent pay increase over five years, a raise that will not keep pace with inflation. In addition, the TWU agreed that workers will be saddled with higher health care costs amounting to between $46 and $115 per month. There was also an increase in copays for doctor or hospital visits, as well as increased copays for prescription medications.
The TWU did not address workers’ demands for proper rest and recuperation time, including bathroom time.
Meanwhile, with a January 15 contract deadline for 34,000 New York City transit workers approaching, TWU officials are seeking to dampen the militancy of workers. The workers, who live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, are seeking a real wage increase after suffering through a decade of a virtual pay freeze.
At a mass meeting Saturday transit workers were given virtually no information about the progress of contract talks and no strike vote was taken. Union officials did not allow rank-and-file workers to speak from the floor. The meeting was given over to promoting illusions in the Democratic Party. For his part New York City’s Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, has made it clear he opposes attempts by transit workers to recoup cuts the TWU accepted in past concession contracts.
From: James
Subject: DDN story about cost of fed investigation of H1B visa at WSU
Cost of WSU probe tops $2M
Federal investigation that began in 2015 is continuing.
Posted: 2:30 p.m. Friday, January 06, 2017
An ongoing federal investigation into possible immigration-related wrongdoing at Wright State University has cost the school roughly $2.2 million, according to calculations WSU officials made in response to questions from the I-Team.
Those costs — never previously revealed — show how deeply the investigation has financially impacted the cash-strapped public university, which has trimmed staff in the midst of a budget squeeze.
The tally of expenses includes salary and benefits for two employees who have been on paid leave since May 2015. The two — Sundaram Narayanan, formerly second in charge of the university as WSU’s provost; and researcher Phani Kidambi — also received pay raises in August 2016 despite being prohibited from showing up to work, an I-Team investigation found.
In addition to pay and benefits for Narayanan and Kidambi, the $2.2 million includes pay, benefits and legal settlements to fired administrator Ryan Fendley and former WSU general counsel Gwen Mattison; legal fees; and outside consultants.
The final tally from the investigation will most certainly be higher. The university’s calculation does not include the cost of WSU departments created or greatly expanded in response to oversight shortfalls the investigation brought to light.
Nor does it include looming liabilities such as the possibility of a fine if thefederal government deems WSU violated federal law.
RELATED: Visa fraud rarely prosecuted
The investigation, which began in 2015, focuses on possible violations of H-1B visas, or temporary work visas. H-1B visa fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and companies have paid millions of dollars to settle visa fraud allegations.
Other legal fees could come into play as well. Fendley has a wrongful termination lawsuit pending against WSU in state court seeking $249,000 in back pay, including accrued sick and vacation leave.
University officials say the cost of the investigation has contributed — though to a lesser extent than enrollment and retention problems — to a budget shortfall that has forced the university to shed jobs.
“Everything contributes to the budget challenges we have. Everything does,” WSU President David Hopkins said.
Doug Fecher, chairman of the WSU board of trustees finance committee, said the school administration has tried to responsibly respond to the investigation.
“I don’t like that we had to spend the money. Nobody does,” Fecher said. “But I think it’s prudent to make sure that the long term cost to the university is minimized to every extent possible.”
Suspended workers get pay raise
Little has been made public about the investigation other than it’s related to “potential violations of federal criminal statutes surrounding previous use of the H-1B visa program on our campus,” WSU announced in August 2015.
While it is unclear exactly what the feds are looking at, an I-Team investigation in September 2015 found the university sponsored foreign workers to work at an area information technology staffing company in an arrangement experts say may have run afoul of immigration laws.
I-TEAM SPECIAL REPORT: Lost Jobs: Importing foreign workers
Federal officials will give no indication of how long the investigation may take. Narayanan remains on paid leave at a salary of $292,686 and Kidambi at $78,630. As members of the faculty union, both received the same 1.5 percent across-the-board pay raises other faculty members received in August, as well as a 1 percent merit increase.
“Wright State University suspended Drs. Narayanan and Kidambi with pay pending the outcome of the federal investigation. At this point, the university has taken no disciplinary action against either of them,” said WSU spokesman Seth Bauguess in a statement. “As bargaining unit faculty members, their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) entitles them to compensation increases.”
Martin Kich, WSU’s faculty union president, said no provisions of the union contract speak to how to handle someone put in such a lengthy paid suspension.
Kich said the contract does allow the university to take action against someone — including unpaid suspension or even termination — if they believe the worker has done something wrong.
Organization changes
The university did fire Fendley, Narayanan’s senior advisor who was not covered by the union, in August 2015. Fendley then sued WSU for wrongful termination and its applied research division for breach of contract. Wright State Applied Research Corporation settled its suit with Fendley for $13,209. The larger suit — claiming he was fired without due process — is scheduled for trial in May.
Mattison was forced to resign in August 2015 with a $301,331 separation payment. She was the university’s top attorney and had worked for the school for 33 years.
The university hired Larry Chan to replace Mattison in January 2016. It then expanded the legal department to now include three attorneys, two paralegals and an administrative assistant.
“Since the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation began, Wright State University has taken several notable steps to prevent the university from inappropriately using non-immigrant visa classifications. Included among them are sweeping organizational improvements that facilitate and buttress greater oversight of university compliance and review programs,” said a statement from Bauguess.
RELATED: Suspended WSU employees tied to IT contract
In addition to more lawyers, the university beefed up its compliance program with a director of research compliance, export control compliance officer, HIPPA and privacy compliance officer, and administrative staff support positions. And it contracted with the law firm Dinsmore and Shohl to manage Wright State’s employment of immigration-related employees.
Wright State has paid Dinsmore $525,072 since the investigation began for myriad services, including advising them on the investigation.
‘Ripple effects’
All of these changes have come with a price tag.
“It’s money you didn’t expect to spend that you have to spend,” Fecher said. “But, I think it’s fair to say you kind of have to spend it because you’re trying to minimize the long-term cost to the university.”
Many of the changes grew out of recommendations from an audit by the firm Plante Moran. Wright State has paid Plante Moran $363,550. The I-Team has repeatedly requested copies of the audit under Ohio public records law, but WSU officials refuse to release it claiming it falls under attorney-client privilege.
Kich said he hopes the faculty doesn’t pay a price because of the administration’s mistakes.
“If we clearly needed people in these offices to ensure we are complying with federal law and federal regulations, clearly there’s some administrative bloat in other areas that can be eliminated,” he said.
Kich noted that international enrollment has also declined during the investigation. While there are several reasons for this, he said, part of it is almost certainly increased scrutiny of international students amid the federal probe.
“The ripple effects of this are kind of amazing,” he said.
Staff Writer Max Filby contributed to this report.
Costs of the federal investigation at WSU
Sundaram Narayanan: $567,119 salary; $136,754 benefits
Ryan Fendley: $77,015.15 salary; $514 benefits;
Phani Kidambi: $152,735 salary; $37,708 benefits
Gwen Mattison: $68,862 salary; $541 benefits;
Fendley lawsuit settlement*: $13,209
Mattison separation payment: $301,331
Legal fees to Dinsmore and Shohl: $525,072
Plante Moran audit: $363,550
Source: Wright State University
Staying with the story
This newspaper is your only source for information about an ongoing federal investigation into activities that took place at Wright State University. The ITeam has revealed what the possible violations were, actions the university has taken to respond to the investigation and what the costs are to the public. Go to myDaytonDailyNews.com for other I-Team stories that seek to hold government accountable.
From: It's Great In Dayton
Subject: Friday The 13th And It's Great In Dayton
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