TRIAL UPDATE: Truck driver pleads guilty 9/13/2010

The defendant in the criminal case plead guilty yesterday as set out in this brief news clip:http://www.19actionnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=13146612. He was sentenced to four years. We indicated that we would not object to him serving only 30 months in prison if he then performs a supervised community service obligation for another 18 months. We said it was our strong desire that the service he is ordered to perform relate to the bike/vehicle street safety issues we now so very much care about. We are of course relieved that the defendant took responsibility for his actions and hope that his sentence sends a loud message to drivers that conduct due to drugs or recklessness that causes the death of someone on a bicycle will have severe consequences.

We are surrounded by Sylvia's friends here in Cleveland. Today, September 15, on the one-year anniversary of her death, we will participate in a memorial bike bike traveling the route Sylvia was taking exactly a year ago on her way to work at Hard-Hatted Women. Friday we will participate in a city-wide festival to promote sustainable transportation in Cleveland (the second item at this link: http://www.gcbl.org/planning-development-projects/city-sustainability-program).

Thanks to all of you who sent notes to us. Steve and Francoise.

Bike Ride of Silence, Wed, May 19th at 7pm

Just a reminder that the national Ride of Silence is 2 weeks from this Wednesday, May 19. http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php. Sylvia's name is on the memorial page listing hundreds of people killed on bikes. People from all over the country are organizing rides that will begin at 7 pm local time.

I hope all of you will find ways, large and small, to participate and/or encourage others to participate in a ride near you. If a ride is not organized near you, you can organize your own and have it posted on the Ride of Silence website for others to see and join. It doesn't have to be a big event. Five people riding together and reflecting on those who died biking, especially Sylvia, would mean much to Francoise and me.

We still have "I Ride for Sylvia" T-shirts we could mail out, $10 each to cover cost plus mailing. One shirt free to the organizer of a ride. This amount for the shirts should be in a check to me as we haven't integrated the sale of the shirts into the Foundation's finances. Any additional tax-deductible amount you'd like to contribute should follow donation directions on the website www.sylviabinghamfoundation.org. We plan soon to shift money to another foundation but the instructions on the site are still good.

For those of you not able to be with us on April 24, we had a wonderful gathering of family and friends to remember Sylvia whose 23d birthday was Earth Day, 4/22. We planted a fig tree in our back yard in her memory and included some of Sylvia's ashes. The tree is thriving as are many other plants that guests brought. We also raised funds for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, something we know Sylvia would have supported. A couple of pictures are pasted below.

Thank you all for whatever you can do on May 19,

Steve

Happy Birthday Dear Sylvia

A Great Soul Serves Everyone All The Time
A Great Soul Never Dies
It Brings Us Together Again and Again


Maya Angelou

Message from Steve and Francoise, Jan 16, 2010

We are Sylvia's parents. We haven't posted on this blog as we're not bloggers but we would love to hear from anyone who knew Sylvia and has a story to tell - funny, sad, irreverant, about food, green politics, knitting, whatever! Sylvia's tastes were eclectic and we know her friends were also.An update from us: we spent 3 days over Christmas holidays with Sylvia's friends in Cleveland. Wonderful people. We spent time in Connecticut and saw Sylvia's grave stone for the first time. Very hard to look at but it has a flower and butterfly on the back side. We'll post some pictures on the website. We both returned to work in October. Hard to do but necessary and in some way good for us. We miss Sylvia so very much but cherish our memories of her - and yours. Please add to this blog.

Steve and Francoise