Memorial Day Peace Rally 2023

No to War, No to Fascism

Link to the Video

– The Progressive and Veterans for Peace –
at Gates of Heaven

Emcee Norm Stockwell, publisher of The Progressive

Keynote Speaker Matt Rothschild, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, former editor and publisher of The Progressive

Music by Old Cool

Speakers: Father David Couper, Daryl Sherman, Paul McMahon and Will Williams

Bagpipes by Sean Michael Dargan

Thank you for everyone involved in making this event possible, and much appreciation to everyone who was able to join us. Thanks to Norm and The Progressive for producing the video. Photos from the event by Phil Fransen.

As we leave the event, we lay carnations at the base of the memorial for the actions of the Lincoln Brigade a who resisted fascism and promoted freedom.

Critical thought trumps fascism.

Fascism: A guide for study and resistance

Gates of Heaven Synagogue
James Madison Park
302 E. Gorham Street
Madison, WI 53703

“As people pass the little chapel in James Madison Park, few realize that the chapel was built in 1863. First located at 214 West Washington Avenue, it was designed and built by the first group of Jewish immigrants to arrive in Madison…”

The Progressive Inc. publishes The Progressive magazine and Progressive.org. They also operate the Public Schools Advocate and the Progressive Media Project/Progressive Perspectives as well as the annual “Fighting Bob Fest.”

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Photo by Terry Talbot, Talbot Gallery 2118

Chris Hubbuch | Wisconsin State Journal Oct 3, 2021

original link

useful links:

Alders for City of Madison

Dane County Board of Supervisors

Contact other elected officials – Safe Skies Website

“With its strip malls, auto repair shops and used car lots, the stretch of East Washington Avenue between Aberg Avenue and Stoughton Road shows no signs of the revitalization happening a couple of miles to the west, near Downtown.

That could soon change with the addition of a planned bus rapid transit system.

Bill Connors, who heads a coalition of real estate developers, envisions three- and four-story buildings with ground-floor retail stores below apartments, much like those that have sprung up on the Isthmus.

City plans call for high-density housing that would both provide equitable access regardless of income and support a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system that’s expected to begin shuttling commuters between the city’s East and West sides in 2024.

But with the Air National Guard expected to begin flying a fleet of new F-35 fighter jets from nearby Truax Field in 2023, this ¾-mile strip is expected to be subject to noise levels considered too loud for residential development without significant soundproofing.

The conflict has created a dilemma for leaders of a fast-growing city in desperate need of more housing: By allowing the type of high-density development that would support rapid transit, Madison could also subject thousands more people to unhealthy levels of noise.

Connors argues the market will solve the problem, as builders who don’t do enough to muffle the sound will struggle to keep their buildings full.

City Council president Syed Abbas has appointed a council workgroup to explore possible alternatives, including a development moratorium or zoning changes, in an effort to prevent a situation where poor and minority people bear a disproportionate share of the environmental impacts.

“I have to see the situation with the lens of environmental justice,” Abbas said. “If you go historically, the market decided to put all the people of color there — Black and brown folks.”

Military decision

The Air Force last year selected the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing as one of the first Guard units to fly the military’s new F-35 fighter jets.

There is disagreement on just how much louder the F-35s will be compared to the F-16s that currently fly out of Truax. But there would be more takeoffs and landings, at least initially, which would increase the overall noise exposure for those living near the airport.

In its environmental study, the Air Force estimated at least 1,019 homes would be subject to average daily noise levels above 65 decibels, a level deemed “incompatible” with residential use. Poor and minority residents would be disproportionately affected.

Noise models created for the study show that the 65-decibel zone would extend south into the Carpenter-Ridgeway, Darbo-Worthington and Hawthorne neighborhoods, enveloping a section of East Washington considered ripe for redevelopment.

Areas to the west of the airport would also be subject to more noise, including several parcels being eyed for development such as the 63.6-acre Raemisch Farm, where the council earlier this year nixed a development proposal over noise concerns.

Within the new noise zones, the city’s planning staff has identified a total of 10 sites considered ripe for development that could support up to 1,600 housing units, including as many as 1,200 on BRT routes.

Potential noted

That’s not to say that there are proposals on the table or that the sites are even for sale, though many along East Washington are identified in the neighborhood plan as targets for redevelopment. Yet most have changed little since that plan was adopted 20 years ago.

“The East Washington corridor is important,” said Heather Stouder, the city’s director of planning. “It’s an important piece of the puzzle in regards to accommodating a large amount of growth … in a way that’s fiscally and environmentally responsible and puts more people in easy reach of sustainable transportation options.”

Connors, executive director of Smart Growth Greater Madison, envisions the same type of construction boom that has revitalized parts of East Washington on the Isthmus.

“It just keeps spreading north and east,” Connors said. “The next area that’s probably going to go would be out by the airport.”

As an example, Connors points to the Ella Apartments, a $30 million development under construction just a couple of blocks to the west at 2902 E. Washington Ave.

“At a minimum I would see a bunch of buildings like that in this stretch. Some possibly larger, like the ones closer to the (Capitol) Square,” Connors said. “There’s a lot of very underutilized properties there.”

Buyer beware?

Touyeng Xiong lives in the Truax Apartments, a public housing complex a couple of blocks north of East Washington. Even outside the 65-decibel zone, Xiong said the noise can be “unbearable” when F-16s take off, shaking the building and making it impossible to talk or concentrate.

“You cannot do anything until the sound goes away,” Xiong said. “It’s not just one. It’s one taking off followed by another, for a good minute or two. It’s extremely uncomfortable.”

As long as developers build market-rate housing, Connors said no one would be forced to live there.

“Why don’t you just let renters and developers figure this out?” he said. “Renters are free to go. Maybe not to a place with similar amenities and conveniences, but that’s how the world works: You’re always making these tradeoffs.”

But Xiong questions why anyone would choose to live near the airport and is dubious of claims that people who don’t like the noise would be able to move away given the current cost of housing in Madison.

“It’s not that easy,” Xiong said.

For Abbas, whose district includes the neighborhoods just west and south of the airport, the noise exposure is a matter of public health policy, which he says should be set by elected leaders and not the market.

Research has shown prolonged exposure to noise disrupts sleep and can contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease and impair cognitive development. And while buildings can be insulated to dampen noise, there’s no way to mitigate sound outdoors.

Leaders of the council workgroup did not respond to interview requests, but at a recent meeting Ald. Tag Evers said markets aren’t always transparent.

Veterans for Peace

Chapter 25

Tag Archives: democracy

Watch Our Annual Peace Rally – Recorded May 29, Memorial Day at the Gates of Heaven in Madison, Wisconsin

Memorial Day Peace Rally 2023

No to War, No to Fascism

Link to the Video

– The Progressive and Veterans for Peace –
at Gates of Heaven

WI State Journal, Hubbuch: Future noise concerns could scuttle housing along planned transit corridor

Military decision

Memorial Day Peace Rally 2023

No to War, No to Fascism

Link to the Video

– The Progressive and Veterans for Peace – at Gates of Heaven

Military decision

Potential noted

Buyer beware?

Wait and see

– The Progressive and Veterans for Peace –
at Gates of Heaven