The Sidebar

September 14, 2022

The Hon. Kwame Raoul
Illinois Attorney General
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62701

Dear Mr. Raoul:

I'm writing regarding your office's 12+ year investigation of a tainted nonprofit, the Chicago-area Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF). SALF, which from 2006-2020 has been the subject of dozens of media exposes, was dissolved as an Illinois corporation in 2009.

SALF was founded in 1993 by the late Carol Jean Spizzirri, a convicted shoplifter and child batterer, according to an order of protection filed in 1992 by her daughter, Christina Jean Pratt. To perpetrate the SALF scam, Spizzirri falsely claimed to be a registered nurse and relentlessly promoted a fabricated backstory about Christina's tragic 1993 death.

SALF reportedly received over $10 million in tax dollars and what I estimate to be tens of thousands of dollars in private grants. Based on media reports and my estimates, about $7 million came from Illinois state taxpayers (including $200,000 to buy an office building in Springfield) and over $3 million came from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the first million of which was arranged by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in 1999.

To obtain the funding, SALF claimed the money would be used to provide training in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver to students in Illinois schools.

In 2009, Spizzirri told the Chicago Tribune her organization trained about two million students in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), then-headed by future U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who called Spizzirri “one of my heroes.” As documented on my web site, Duncan personally arranged a $174,000 contract for SALF to provide first aid training classes for 18,000 CPS students from 2004-06.

However, in response to my FOIA requests, CPS failed to produce a single training record. Further, in 2003 your agency awarded $25,000 to SALF to provide first aid training to students in these schools:

Salem School District #111 (Marion County)
South Central Community Unit School District #401 (Kinmundy, Marion County)
Camp Point CU School District #3
Beardstown CU School District #15
Rantoul City School District #137 (Champaign County)
Cass County School Districts (Cass County)
Edwardsville CU School District #7
Greenview CU School District #200

Per IL Senator Tim Bivins' 2012 emails to then-IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan (which include thorough documentation), none of the eight schools had records of any training.

In a 2015 interview, Senator Bivens said, "(SALF) claimed they had trained thousands and thousands of children...We can't substantiate that all of these children were trained."

As you may know, in approximately June 2010, your office initiated an investigation into SALF. According to a 2010 IL Public Radio report, "The Illinois Attorney General's office confirms it is reviewing how the funds were used, as is done whenever a charitable organization disbands."

To learn the outcome of the investigation, every six months or so, I file FOIA requests with your agency, asking for related records.

In an August 15, 2022 response to my most recent FOIA request, Assistant Attorney General Mark Rogina wrote: "(This office has reviewed) its records, and we determined that approximately 10,000 pages of records are maintained only in physical, hard copy form."

Based on the volume of documents, he suggested I narrow my request. I did so, resubmitted it, and received this August 22, 2022 response from Mr. Rogina:

Please be advised that because this investigation remains ongoing, we have no records responsive to your request.

It's unclear why it's taking your office over 12 years to investigate a long-defunct, thoroughly-discredited organization. Still, I hope you agree that the public is entitled to learn what happened to the millions of misappropriated tax dollars.

With that hope in mind, this is to respectfully request that you initiate a review to determine if the investigation of SALF has been conducted properly.

This is also to respectfully request that you provide me with the name of the staff member leading the SALF investigation and an approximate date when the investigation will be completed. I appreciate your consideration and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
Peachtree Corners, GA 30096 USAphone/text: (678)322-7984‬
email: peter.heimlich@gmail.com
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/medfraud_pmh
bio: http://tinyurl.com/ych7o7dr

source

If I come across factual information in mainstream press reports that I know is false, I do what I can to fix it.

In fact, according to Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple, I may hold the record for published corrections for a single news topic.

That's one reason it bugs me when journalists refuse to publish corrections for straightforward factual errors.

And that's one reason why the other day I filed a misconduct complaint against Margaret Holt, Standards Editor at the Chicago Tribune and a prominent figure in the newspaper business.

The tale starts with a July 16, 2018 Tribune story, Family members of Dr. Henry Heimlich say Red Cross guidance on choking victims could end in death by reporter Ese Olumhense. 

The article's about a campaign against the American Red Cross (ARC) launched last month by my sister Janet Heimlich, a journalist/author/nonprofit executive in Austin, Texas, and my brother Phil Heimlich, a former elected official in Cincinnati.

They're on the warpath because the ARC recommends performing back blows along with our dad's namesake maneuver (abdominal thrusts) to respond to a choking emergency.

In my opinion, Ms. Olumhense's story has some serious reportorial problems. (Re: the medical issues, visit my web page for links to related published documents.)

For example, the ARC's current protocol has been in place since 2005, a fact that's not mentioned in her article, so it's unclear if Ms. Olumhense was even aware of that.

If she was, presumably she would have asked Janet and Phil why they waited 13 years to voice their concerns. (In e-mails last month I asked Janet and Phil about that and about other aspects of their campaign; I haven't received a reply from either.)

Moving right along, here's the problem at hand:

(Leading) U.S. medical and first-aid groups, including the American Heart Association, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the National Safety Council all advise people to use Heimlich-style abdominal thrusts only...

What's the problem? 

It's this word: only.

I wasn't sure about the National Safety Council (NSC), and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), but I knew that in addition to our dad's famous treatment, current American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines recommend back blows and chest thrusts for responding to choking emergencies. 

So the day her article appeared, I e-mailed a friendly note to Ms. Olumhense, explained that I had questions, and politely asked her to provide her editor's name and e-mail address so I could copy her/him on my correspondence.

A short time later I received this:

From: Margaret C. Holt <mcholt@chicagotribune.com>
To: Peter Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Subject: Tribune follow-up
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2018 16:37:49 +0000

Mr. Heimlich:
Your email was referred to me for response. The story is straightforward in quoting people about the topic, including a reference to a disagreement between some family members and the Red Cross. There is nothing further beyond what is in the published article.
Sincerely,
Margaret Holt
Standards Editor

Since I knew the part of the sentence about the AHA was wrong, I realized Ms. Holt didn't know what she was talking about.

And since she didn't ask what my concerns might be, presumably she didn't care, so I same-day replied:

Margaret,

Would you please provide me with your superior's name and e-mail address?

Thank you for your continued attention and I look forward to your reply.

Cheers, Peter

A week later I hadn't received a reply, so on July 23 I sent a friendly "can you help me?" e- mail to Tribune Managing Editor Peter Kendall who some years ago had capably assisted me with an unrelated editorial problem.

He passed the baton back to Ms. Holt:

Mr. Heimlich,
Thank you for your email.
I am copying Margaret on this so you can share any specific questions or concerns about the story.
She is the appropriate person to handle this.

After thanking him, I e-mailed media representatives at the AHA, NSC, and ACEP and asked for their organizations' positions.

An AHA Vice President e-mailed me this, taken from the organization's current guidelines (my emphasis):

“…chest thrusts, back slaps, and abdominal thrusts are feasible and effective for relieving severe FBAO [Foreign Body Airway Obstruction] in conscious (responsive) adults and children over 1 year of age.

The NSC rep replied that their organization adheres to AHA guidelines.

And an ACEP manager in that organization's communications department e-mailed me that their organization "does not have a formal policy on the Heimlich maneuver."

Based on those e-mails, the Tribune's claim that the three organizations "all advise people to use Heimlich-style abdominal thrusts only" is unequivocally wrong, ain't it?

Along the way I also identified what may be the source of Ms. Olumhense's error. 

Her article was apparently triggered by a July 10 e-mail and press release snet by a publicist representing Janet and Phil which included this sentence:

The American Heart Association teaches the Heimlich Maneuver as the only method to be used to save a choking victim, as does the National Safety Council and the American College of Emergency Physicians.

In any event, after obtaining the information from the AHA, NSC, and ACEP, I was on firm ground, so on August 7 I e-mailed the facts to Ms. Holt and requested a published clarification.

A week later I hadn't received a reply from Ms. Holt, so -- you guessed it -- on August 15, I asked Peter Kendall to step in.
 
A short time later I received this...

Mr. Heimlich:
We have reviewed your correspondence and disagree with your conclusion about factual
errors. There is no correction planned.
Sincerely,
Margaret Holt

...to which I replied:

The information I provided to you from the AHA, the NSC, and ACEP clearly contradicts the sentence in Ms. Olumhense's article, therefore please clearly state the basis for your disagreement.
If you intend to provide me with an adequate, professional response, please do so before this weekend so I may know how to proceed. 

Over a week later, no reply (click here for the entire e-mail trail of tears) and I could think of only one other available avenue of  possible recourse.

So a couple days ago, I phoned the Tribune's switchboard and explained that I wanted to file a misconduct complaint against a newsroom employee. 

I was transferred to a representative of a company that handles complaints for the Tribune, NAVEX Global Inc., based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a Portland suburb.

The NAVEX rep was a helpful, articulate fellow who informed me that they didn't accept written complaints. That struck me as odd and I wanted a record of the transaction, so I recorded the call.

I explained the situation and he patiently and courteously took notes. 

Next he put me on a brief hold to arrange his notes into a formal complaint, then came back on the line and read it to me for my approval. 

I suggested a few tweaks which he incorporated in this final version:



I'll report any developments in a future item but even if my complaint falls on deaf ears, the excursion was worth my time because Ms. Holt's incompetent, unprofessional handling of such a small problem may signal deeper rot.

That is, if Ms. Holt buries easy-to-fix factual errors like this, how does she handle serious editorial problems?

With that in mind, if you've had any related experiences with her, drop me a line. 


This item has been slightly revised.

Via  Sen. Manchin cracks another senator's rib with Heimlich maneuver, Associated Press, June 25, 2018:

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has cracked a rib of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill while performing the Heimlich maneuver on the fellow Democrat when she began choking.

A spokesman for Manchin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that McCaskill began choking during a luncheon for Senate Democrats on Thursday. Manchin used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the blockage in McCaskill's throat, but he cracked a rib in the process.

Via Heimlich maneuver saved my child by staff reporter Ian Mitchell, Chicago Tribune, February 28, 2014 (emphasis added):

In a conscious choking emergency, where a person can't cough, speak or breathe, the (American Red Cross) procedure is to ask the person if he or she is choking and get consent to give aid. Then administer five strong back blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand, "as forceful as you deem necessary to save that person's life," (representative Gabriele) Romanucci said.

The back blows are a less-invasive technique that might help clear the airway, so the Red Cross advises trying them first, he said.

"If that technique is not successful, then we would go to the abdominal thrust," he said.

source

UPDATE (9/26): Gordon informed me that on September 11 he sent Tribune standards editor Margaret Holt a courtesy follow-up e-mail to his September 4 corrections request (below), but has not received any communications from her or any other representative of the newspaper.

Gordon T. Pratt (source)

A November 2003 journalism conference at Vanderbilt University produced Focus On Accuracy, an article about how the Chicago Tribune handles corrections.

Here's a snip quoting Trib editor Margaret Holt.


Nice words, but as I reported on August 26, Actor David Hasselhoff says claims published in three Chicago Tribune articles are lies, but the paper refuses to publish a correction.

From 1993-2009, three Tribune articles falsely claimed the Baywatch star endorsed and served on the board of the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a Chicago nonprofit reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the "possible $9 million misappropriation" of federal and state tax dollars.

The Tribune editor who refused to correct the lies information her paper published about The Hoff?

Margaret "No Statute of Limitations on Errors" Holt.

[11/25/13 UPDATE ARTICLE BASED ON NEWLY-AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: Why did actor David Hasselhoff lie to me about his role with a shady nonprofit now under investigation for "possible $9m misappropriation"? Based on this information, I've retracted my corrections request to The Tribune.]

So I e-mailed her an inquiry requesting an explanation for her decision, plus I reiterated a previous request that she provide me with a copy of the Tribune's corrections policy.

I discussed the situation with my friend Gordon Pratt of Milwaukee because he'd told me about a dreadful related encounter he'd had in 1995 with a Tribune reporter.

Here's the result -- click here to download a copy.

11/25/13 UPDATE ARTICLE BASED ON NEWLY-AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: Why did actor David Hasselhoff lie to me about his role with a shady nonprofit now under investigation for "possible $9m misappropriation"? Based on this information, I've retracted my corrections request to The Tribune.

Margaret Holt (source)

Via How news organizations are preparing to handle corrections today by Andrew Beaujon, Poynter Institute, November 6, 2012:

In an email, (the Chicago) Tribune standards editor Margaret Holt says, “our commitment to accuracy transcends publishing platform. Practically speaking, we believe it is important to fix an error promptly, whether it’s in print or online...In our guidelines, we say: If the error is straightforward, we want to fix it fast....

But last week when I brought to her attention that three articles on the Tribune's website include claims about actor David Hasselhoff that he says are lies, she refused to publish a correction.

Per my item last month, for almost a decade, the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF) claimed that the Baywatch star endorsed their organization and served on their board as "Honorary Chairman."


As Sidebar readers know, SALF was a high-profile Chicago nonprofit now reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General. Via the June 26, 2013 Dubuque Telegraph Herald:

Since its establishment in 1993, the foundation pledged to teach school children first aid and emergency response practices. Despite receiving nearly $9 million to fund the program, however, very few records of students being taught have been found.

Since 2006, SALF and its founder/president, Carol J. Spizzirri -- reportedly a twice-convicted shoplifter who claimed nonexistent nursing credentials and awarded herself a college degree -- have been the subject of dozens of media exposes. 

Spizzirri's organization claimed the Hasselhoff affiliation in media reports, in fundraising materials, and in applications for a $200,000 state grant.

As I reported, the genesis of the claims appears to be when Spizzirri's teenage daughter Ciprina appeared as an extra on an episode of Baywatch in the early 1990s.


Mama Spizzirri's outfit apparently inflated that flimsy connection into fabrications about The Hoff that were used to gin up press coverage and soak taxpayers.

The Tribune, which for years published error-ridden, rah-rah articles about Spizzirri and her politically-connected nonprofit, served as a major spreader for SALF's misrepresentations about Hasselhoff.

For example:

Surf's Up For Cpr Crusade As `Baywatch' Star Signs On by Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune, December 30, 1993


Mother On A Mission -- First Aid Might Have Saved Her Daughter, Now, Carol Spizzirri Is A Relentless Crusader by Julie Dearforff, Chicago Tribune, January 16, 1995


Save-A-Life Foundation in limbo -- Charity dogged by critics, economy is 'in hibernation' by Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune, October 11, 2009


When I recently submitted a corrections request re: the above, a Tribune staffer responded with this Orwellian gem:

It appears the information was correct at the time the article [sic] was written.

I don't know what that means, but as I informed the Tribune, here's what David Hasselhoff's press agent wrote me last month. (Click here for the complete e-mail, including her contact info.)

I was able to reach Mr. Hasselhoff  over the weekend...He was never SALF's Honorary Chairman.  He never had any financial relationship with SALF.  He never had any personal contact with SALF. 

When I moved my request upstream to managing editor Jane Hirt, here's what came back:

Subject: RE: Tribune articles
From: mcholt@tribune.com
Date: 8/15/2013 1:43 PM
To: peter.heimlich@gmail.com
CC: jhirt@tribune.com

Mr. Heimlich:

On behalf of Jane Hirt, I’m following up on your email on which she was copied. We have reviewed the email and do not plan a correction on the original article(s).

Sincerely,

Margaret Holt
Standards Editor

In other words, "Suck on it, Hasselhoff. Despite your denial, we say you helped promote an organization that may have ripped-off millions of tax dollars."

Per the correspondence below, I also repeatedly asked Ms. Holt for a copy of the Tribune's vaunted - - at least according to what she told Poynter -- corrections policy.

I haven't received a reply.

11/25/13 UPDATE ARTICLE BASED ON NEWLY-AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: Why did actor David Hasselhoff lie to me about his role with a shady nonprofit now under investigation for "possible $9m misappropriation"?

Screenshot from grant applications signed by Carol Spizzirri for $200,000 awarded by the IL Dept. of Commerce and Community Affairs to buy SALF an office building in Springfield, IL. Click here for a related 3/14/13 WCIA-TV  investigative report.

Is Carol Spizzirri a Sidebar reader?

Based on the following, it sure looks like it.

Spizzirri's the founder/president of the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), the ethically-challenged Chicago nonprofit that's been the subject of dozens of media exposes and is reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the "possible misappropriation" of $9 million in federal and state tax dollars.

On July 23, I reported that actor David Hasselhoff denied claims made for years by Spizzirri's organization that he supported SALF and served on the organization's board as "Honorary Chairman."

For years SALF made the claim in grant applications, fundraising materials, and in the media -- including three Chicago Tribune articles published between 1993-2009.

For example:



But via a recent e-mail I received from The Hoff's press agent:

He was never SALF's Honorary Chairman. He never had any financial relationship with SALF. He never had any personal contact with SALF.

About two weeks after my item about Hasselhoff's denial, look what turned up on Spizzirri's FB:


I'm not sure what to make of her posting what I'm guessing is a 20-year-old snapshot.

Did Spizzirri -- reportedly a serial embellisher with a sordid past -- spin her daughter's puny role as an extra in a Baywatch episode into claims that for years David Hasselhoff was closely involved with her organization?

I dunno, but, Ms. Spizzirri, if you're reading this and want to respond to Hasselhoff's assertions that your organization lied about him, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll publish your response.

Also, since you're apparently a Sidebar reader, you already know this, but supporting documents are always welcome.

11/25/13 UPDATE ARTICLE BASED ON NEWLY-AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: Why did actor David Hasselhoff lie to me about his role with a shady nonprofit now under investigation for "possible $9m misappropriation"?
 


For almost a decade, the nonprofit Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF) claimed actor David Hasselhoff served as the organization's "Honorary Chairman."

Reportedly now under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the "possible misappropriation of $9 million" of federal and Illinois funds -- money which was supposed to provide first aid training classes in public schools -- SALF touted Hasselhoff's affiliation in the media, on their website, in fundraising materials, and in grant applications for which SALF received hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But the Baywatch star says it's all a lie.

Per an e-mail I received last week from his press agent, Judy Katz (copy posted below):

He was never SALF's Honorary Chairman. He never had any financial relationship with SALF. He never had any personal contact with SALF.

So who originated SALF's claims about The Hoff?

Via Surf's Up For Cpr Crusade As `Baywatch' Star Signs On by Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune, December 30, 1993:


This part's on the level:



And here's a letter I obtained from my father's archives at the University of Cincinnati:



But when I asked her about the PSA and the letter, after conferring with Hasselhoff, here's what Judy Katz wrote me:

(SALF) had requested, through the production office at Baywatch, for David to do a psa about saving lives back in the 1990's while he was starring on Baywatch. The letter you sent me was prepared and written by someone in the Baywatch production office around the same time.

Here's a screenshot from grant applications SALF submitted to the IL Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) in 2002, resulting in SALF receiving $200,000 to buy an office building in Springfield, the state capitol: 


It's unclear why grant co-sponsors State Senator Raymond Poe and former senator Walter Dudycz thought taxpayers should buy a building for a Chicago nonprofit.

But, per You Paid For It: Where's the money?, a hard-hitting March 14, 2013 story by investigative reporter Steve Staeger at Springfield's CBS-TV affiliate, the sale of the property helped trigger the Attorney General's investigation of SALF. (I added the link to the documents.)

As (SALF) was looking to move its operation statewide in 2003, it got $200,000 in state grants to buy a building on Capitol Avenue in Springfield. When the foundation dissolved in 2009, it sold the Springfield building for $109,750, according to tax records.

But the group did not list the sale in its final filing with the Attorney General's Charitable Trust Bureau. WCIA-3 News obtained documents revealing correspondence between Save-A-Life officials and the Illinois Attorney General.

In the months following the dissolution, the AG repeatedly asks for documentation on the money obtained thought the sale. Spizzirri never provides any accounting of the money. The correspondence ends in August of 2010.

Don't miss the video which documents other bogus claims made by SALF:



The $200,000 for the building wasn't the only grant SALF obtained using Hasselhoff's name and claimed affiliation.

I'll be reporting about that in the near future.