TALESPINNER TAKES TO THE AIR
Local writer and Illinois
Times contributor Roberta Codemo is the
host of a new storytelling show that airs at 3 p.m. each Monday on WQNA
(88.3 FM).
The two-hour program, named Tale Bites, features an interview
segment with a guest, then an hour of stories, including fairy tales, folks
tales, and “whatever piques my curiosity,” Codemo says.
The show made its debut this week with guest Mike
Anderson, a Jacksonville storyteller and musician. On the June 13 program,
Codemo will examine creation stories and myths.
For more information, visit Codemo’s Web site,
talespinner.ciretex.com.
BLOOD DRIVE ON MONDAY
Volunteers are asked to help replenish local blood
supplies, which are expected to run low during the summer holiday season.
Area hospitals and the Central Illinois Community Blood Center are
co-sponsoring a drive from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, June 13, at the Illinois
State Police, 500 Iles Park Place.
The ISP is one of five local public-safety
organizations supporting blood-donation efforts as part of the
“Badges for Life” blood challenge.
For more information about donating blood or
sponsoring a drive, call 866-GIVE-BLD (866-448-3253).
FORMOSA PLANT FEATURED
Biologist Sandra Steingraber takes critical look at
the production of polyvinyl chloride and last year’s explosion at the
Formosa Plastics Corp. resin plant in Illiopolis in the current edition of Orion, an environmental
magazine.
The April 2004 explosion killed five workers; in the
article, available at www.oriononline.org, Steingraber argues that exposure
to PVC production poses significant long-term health risks.
A visiting scholar at Ithaca College, Steingraber is
the author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist
Looks at Cancer and the Environment and Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood (see www.steingraber.com).
Although Formosa vowed to reopen the plant in eastern
Sangamon County, company officials have since acknowledged that they are
looking at other sites, according to industry reports.
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2005.
