Join 9-mile walk/ride Memorial DayPosted May 20, 2013 On Memorial Day, Mon., 5/27, 8 a.m., begin the annual walk/ride from the current nuclear weapons parts plant to the new plant. … |
Photo by Marc Saviano |
After-election reflection: No regrets!Posted May 14, 2013 So what! if Question 3 didn’t pass. We did pass in getting it on the ballot in the first place. We did pass in persuading 23 percent of Kansas City to feel the way we do. We did pass in further educating the public about the new plant. We did pass in demonstrating what a grassroots group can do to address the Military-Industrial Complex. Listen to what people had to say after the election. … | |
Edge of DarknessMay 6, 2013
The single candle of conscience still flickers |
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Join July 12-13 protest of new nuclear weapons parts production plant in KCPosted April 24, 2013 Come expose the horror of America’s commitment to its nuclear arsenal. Join members of PeaceWorks, Kansas City, and other groups in supporting civil resistance at KC's new nuclear weapons parts plant this summer. … |
Joshua Armfield and Fr. Carl Kabat |
Photo by Esparta Palma Peacemakers Are Like WaterApril 23,2013
Rocks and water are quite different |
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Responding to propaganda with TRUTHPosted April 22, 2013 The supporters of the initiative, Question 3, want jobs created that are good for the economy of the community, good for the health of the workers and surrounding residents, and good for the Earth. … |
PeaceWorks-KC members and friends rally at the new NNSA facility site during the Community of Christ Peace Colloquy in October 2012. |
Minister advises, ‘vote yes’ on ballot measurePosted April 22, 2013 ... Let us not say with helpless apology to our grandchildren, as we endow them with a poisoned planet, bristling with nuclear weapons, “There must have been a time, somewhere along the line, when we could have said no.” … | |
Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control
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Support Bradley ManningPosted April 17, 2013 Feb. 23 marked the one thousandth day of Bradley Manning’s confinement without trial for exposing truths about war crimes of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. ... Over 70 events took place worldwide, including one at Fort Leavenworth, where Bradley was awaiting transfer to hearings in mid-April and mid-May before his court-martial trial in June. … |
Bradley Manning |
Arrested: Midge Potts of Springfield, Mo. Stoever, Potts expect state-level trial June 10; y’all come!Posted April 14, 2013 Henry Stoever and Midge Potts, who stepped onto the property of KC’s new nuclear weapons parts plant April 14, 2012, have a June 10 court date and have requested a jury trial. … |
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Peace measure wins almost one-fourth of vote, succeeds in public educationPosted April 3, 2013 Kansas City, Mo., voters received a barrage of negative publicity from the “vote no” camp before the April 2 election, but 23 percent of the voters still said yes to stopping future KC financing for producing parts for nuclear weapons. … |
Banner saying "Protect Workers Vote Yes Question 3" above Highway 670. |
by Mark Bartholomew Open letter to all who worked to stop KC from supporting nuclear weapons productionPosted April 5, 2013 I think a huge thanks to all of you is in order for your courage of resistance to fight Goliath! I know we lost the April 2 election in worldly terms, but I also know this is the beginning of an evolution that ends in truth and love. … |
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Annual meeting focuses on April 2 ballot: Question 3Posted April 14, 2013 Rachel MacNair, winner of the 2013 Charles E. Bebb Peace Merit Award, addressed the PeaceWorks Annual Meeting March 10 before learning she had won the group’s highest honor. Offering an overview and pep talk, she explained that after three efforts to get the measure on the ballot—success! … |
For all her work on gathering petitions and initiating ballot measures, Rachel MacNair received the Charles E. Bebb Peace Merit Award, presented by Jane Stoever, 2012 recipient of the award. |
PeaceWorks election resultsPosted April 14, 2013 The PeaceWorks election was held during the PeaceWorks Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 10. Congrats to all elected! … | |
The deafening sounds of silencePosted April 14, 2013 I was amazed by the deafening silence in the chamber, so in my parent’s living room I created my own applause line. Because I’m of the opinion that the primary legacy of the Obama presidency may not be saving the U.S. middle class, but saving the world from nuclear extinction. … |
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The letter of the year goes to Bill WickershamBill Wickersham, April 2012: "Nuclear weapons are immoral, illegal, criminal, dangerous and exorbitantly costly. They are illegal and criminal because they are designed to kill hundreds of millions of people instantly and indiscriminately in violation of international and U.S. constitutional law." … | |
Updates on Facebook, websitesBesides this website, for breaking news about PeaceWorks activities, including resistance to nuclear weapons, predator drones, and the imprisonment of Bradley Manning, see our Facebook page and two other websites. … | |
by Chuck Trapkus Faust’s probation cut to 1 year; Terrell in prison camp for 6 monthsEarly this year, Judge Matt Whitworth “had a change of heart” and reduced the probation sentence for Faust. “I’m grateful,” says Faust, “but there also is a vacuous feeling of why we should go through this charade of justice when we saw the trespassing charge as disproportionate to the more serious charge of killing innocent children by using predator drones." … |
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Samantha Smith wins Peace Scholar AwardSamantha “Sam” Smith, the fall 2012 recipient of PeaceWorks’ Peace Scholar Award, is an Avila University senior majoring in social work. … |
Samantha Smith |
Plumes of toxins contaminate groundwater under the Bannister complex. Source: National Nuclear Security Administration, 2006 |
Trying to get pay for sick workers from Bannister complexDonna Hand, a paralegal advocate from Tampa, Fla., since 2010 has helped Bannister Federal Complex employees seek compensation for illnesses related to working at BFC. The payment is hard to come by. BFC houses federal agencies including the Kansas City Plant, where non-nuclear parts have been made for nuclear weapons for 63 years. In this Q&A, Hand comments on her KC advocacy. … |
Spread the word re blocking future support for nuke-parts plantPeaceWorks members got a measure approved for placement on the April 2 ballot, to let KC, Mo., voters prevent future financial dealings between the city and producers of parts for nuclear weapons. … |
Photo by Nick Pickrell |
by Jim Hannah The un-stoppable nuclear genie?I worry when the Department of Energy’s 5-year plan ending in 2011 acknowledges, “Fifty years of nuclear weapons production and energy research generated millions of gallons of radioactive waste, thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and special nuclear material, along with huge quantities of contaminated soil and water.” … |
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Stoever, Potts move nuclear weapons trial to state levelHenry Stoever, chair of the PeaceWorks-KC Board, and Midgelle “Midge” Potts of Springfield, Mo., a longtime nuclear weapons resister, may have a jury trial for the charge of trespass on April 14 at the new nuclear weapons parts plant in KC. On Oct. 12, they worked out an agreement with Municipal Court Judge Elena Franco and pleaded “technically not guilty.” Franco found them guilty and sentenced them to three days in jail. They immediately appealed to the state level—to the Jackson County, Missouri, Circuit Court in KC. … |
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Nabi Saleh villagers in the West Bank |
Visit to the West Bank
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Peace Colloquy features trip to new nuclear weapons plant siteAbout 25 people took a field trip Oct. 26 to pray at KC’s new plant for making parts for nuclear weapons. The people were attending the annual Peace Colloquy in Independence, Mo., held by the Community of Christ. This year, the theme was Engaging Nuclear Questions, and the bus wound its way from the church’s peace temple to the current nuclear weapons parts plant at Bannister Federal Complex and then to the new plant site. … |
Peace Colloquy attendees on the nuclear weapons site bus tour hold signs promoting peace outside of the new nuclear weapons facility. |
Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, former mayor of Hiroshima |
The world’s turning toward peace, says Hiroshima’s former mayor… Citing progress toward cooperation instead of alienation, Akiba reminded his listeners that in 1986, Reagan and Gorbachev almost agreed to eliminate nuclear weapons in the U.S. and Soviet Union. The passing of time is bringing the escalation of reason, Akiba said. “People regard violence as a problem to be solved rather than a contest to be won.” … |
Farewell, Sister Mary McNellis!“Sister Mary spent her whole life working for, nurturing, and living peace. Mary’s spirit is with us always and standing with us at every event that asks for peace in the world. What a gift her life was to all who knew her and were touched by Mary’s smile.” … |
Sister Mary McNellis. Photo by Tamara Severns |
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Carl Kabat protests nuclear weapons, gets ‘time served’Father Carl Kabat, of St. Louis, in a Municipal Court trial Oct. 12 in Kansas City, Mo., got “time served” on two charges—trespassing this July 4 at the site for the new KC Plant, and breaking probation from his July 4, 2011, trespass. Urging that we all go out to the plant, he said, “It’s ours! We should be able to walk in the front gate and walk around the 170-180 acres.” … |
Judge convicts civil resisters who “put drones on trial”
Ramsey Clark, left, says at the news conference before the trial, “Drones are singularly cruel because they come out of nowhere, they strike anywhere, and they leave fear which creates hatred everywhere.” Mike Nickells photos In the first federal trial related to drone warfare, the judge ruled Sept. 10 in Jefferson City, Mo., that two civil resisters were guilty of trespass April 15 at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Defendants Ronald Faust and Brian Terrell on April 15 sought to present to the Whiteman AFB commander an indictment of all involved in drone warfare. The defendants said Sept. 10 they were not guilty of trespass but had simply tried to bring a grievance to a government authority about the drone strikes. 
Brian Terrell, left; Elton Davis of Des Moines; and Col. Ann Wright- -delighted to demonstrate at Whiteman AFB just hours after the “drones on trial” convictions of Terrell and Ron Faust. | |
Photo by Jim Hannah Finally, we're in! Kansas City votes on April 2, 2013On August 30, 2012, the Kansas City Missouri City Council voted to place the citizen’s initiative on the ballot for April 2, 2013: “Prevention of the City’s Future Financial Involvement in Nuclear Weapons Components Facilities.” | |
Testimony exposes ‘idolatrous faith’ in nukes"Our cultural creed as a nation is an idolatrous faith in nuclear weapons. We propose to be fighting terrorism by our own terrorist, aggressive postures and behaviors. …" |
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Resisting drones: ‘Let justice flow like a river’Mark, Ron and I had been summonsed here by the powers after having been apprehended on April 15 at Whiteman Air Force Base. … The God whose words are cast in bronze on the floor of the courthouse rotunda regards the weapons amassed at Whiteman Air Force Base not as resources to be protected by riot police or defended by putting the likes of Mark behind walls, but as swords waiting to be beaten into plowshares. … |
Photo by Marc Saviano |
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Photo by Marc Saviano |
Activists march from current to new nuke-parts plantA few days after the Memorial Day Walk, I’m trying not to scratch the chigger bites I got at the walk’s end, at the entry to the new nuclear weapons parts plant on Mo. Hwy. 150. In some perverse way, I stay grateful for the bites. They remind me of the 35 people who carried signs, sang, and supported each other along the road. … |
Seven arrested as Trifecta Resista stages 3 ralliesOne weekend, three rallies, seven arrests for civil resistance. How’s that for ambition? The Midwest Trifecta Resista April 13-15 maxed us out but still wowed us: such great people, such cohesive action. |
Photo by Robyn Haas |
From trespass line to jail cellby Lu MountenayI started to have second thoughts--fearful thoughts. Do I really want to do this? … As I faced the line of “peace” officers, I felt my knees go weak. I said a fast and silent prayer for courage. … After our third warning, I was arrested for trespass. 
Mark Kenney of Omaha and PeaceWorks leaders Henry Stoever and Lu Mountenay hold their ground April 14 after crossing onto property for the new nuclear weapons parts plant. --Robyn Haas photo |
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SANE plea to Congressby Lu MountenayA sane message is reflected in a bill introduced recently in the House of Representatives: H.R. 3974, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act. |
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City Council unanimously passes peace initiativeThe KC, Mo., City Council unanimously passed a peace initiative March 22, a petition on planning for alternative work for local employees making parts for nuclear weapons. … |
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Trespass vs. nuke-parts production
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Photo by Robyn Haas |
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UNplaza Art Fair wild success! |
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Photo by Patti Nelson |
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PeaceWorks, Kansas City seeks a world of peace and security for all, both today and for future generations. We are dedicated to:
- affirming the worth of all human beings living on this planet
- opposing war and militarism and global weapons of mass destruction
- abolishing nuclear weapons
- promoting non-violent resolutions to conflict
- calling for the reordering of federal priorities in support of human needs
- co-operating with other groups to help promote a world of common security and human rights
- reaching out, speaking out and providing educational materials to the public.
Kris and Lynn Cheatum took time for fun at an AFSC peace-and-justice festival at UMKC in 2008. |
In MemoriamMary Kristine Cheatum, 5/1/37 - 6/6/10Lynn Max Cheatum, 8/12/38 - 6/27/12Lynn Cheatum helped found a committee in 1982 that became PeaceWorks, and Lynn and Kris for many years co-chaired the PeaceWorks Board. They're remembered for their tenacity, their endless hours of peace-and-justice work and witness, their civil resistance, their uncivil conversations, their joy! |
Lynn Cheatum, a founder of PeaceWorks-KC, dies |
In memory of Lynn Cheatum, my neighbor |
