Howlett Building update 4
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller From the AP: Netting over a six-story open atrium in a state government building collapsed, tearing down stone that broke through the ceiling of a room below and injured at least three people Wednesday.
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Howlett Building update 3
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller I need to get out of here for a while, but check this link for updates on the situation.
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Howlett Building update 2
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller Gas leak was apparently not the cause, but a result of the collapse. Anti-bird netting was over an open area in the center of the building. Heavy snow buildup on the netting may have caused the collapse of the roof below. The Howlett is a square building that’s empty in the middle. The roof which collapsed is just above ground level. Entire Capitol Complex evacuated because of the gas leak.
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Howlett Building update 1
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller According to the secretary of state’s office, the collapse occurred at about 1:45 pm. The collapse happened above the Howlett’s atrium area. Cement came through the floor of the atrium and hit a lower-level room. Normally, there are about 55 people in there, but probably fewer than that today because of the holiday. No official reports on injury status. “Our hearts and prayers are with the families and we hope nobody is seriously hurt here,” said Dave Druker of the secretary of state’s office.
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Breaking News
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller Middle part of the Howlett Building’s roof has reportedly collapsed. Several injuries, none of them reportedly life-threatening. The cause was reportedly a gas leak.
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Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth. By the President: Abraham Lincoln William H. Seward,
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Comptroller’s office disuptes analysis
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller Comptroller Dan Hynes’ spokesman, Alan Henry, called a few minutes ago to talk about OneMan’s analysis of Hynes’ plastic surgery tax proposal to fund stem cell research which I linked to earlier. First, Henry said, this is not a simple billion-dollar loan. The 25-year bonds will be issued in $100 million increments per year over a ten-year period. In the first year, the 6 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery would raise $15 million, based on $250 million in procedures. Hynes estimates a 20 percent growth in revenues per year. Medical inflation for the past ten years and increased usage for the past five years were used “very conservatively” to come up with that number, Henry said. The expected interest rate would be 6.5 percent (higher than OneMan’s estimate of 5.11 percent). The “peak debt service” (the highest point of the payout) would be in 2017, and the payout amount that year would be $93 million. According to Henry, there will be “more revenues than debt service in the early years.” The excess early money would be put in a fund and then used to make higher payments down the road. “It’s self-funded from beginning to end,” Henry insisted. Henry was calling from his cellphone, but will be e-mailing me a spreadsheet when he gets back to his office. I’ll post it here. UPDATE: The person responsible for putting together the package is not at work today, but here’s some more info (xls download).
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House and Senate schedules (updated)
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller Raj over at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law sent me this e-mail: Hey Rich, Since then, Raj has posted the Senate calendar, which is here, and the calendar subscription, which is here. Raj tells me that non-Mac people who use WebDAV-compliant PC calendars can also use this service. UPDATE: Raj is a busy little bee today. The other calendars had tabs for perfunctory days in the same color as regular session days. Click here to view the perfunctory only calendar, and click here to subscribe to the perfunctory calendar. It’s now much easier to read.
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Would this be legal?
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller I just noticed a couple of e-mails I received last week (”cf” refers to Capitol Fax): From: [redacted] And then less than an hour later: From: [redacted] The information age is truly ubiquitous if a hunter is reading Capitol Fax while shooting deer.
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Body(guard) Slam
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller Yesterday’s State Journal-Register included a stinging editorial about the governor’s alleged misuse of his security detail. …Never underestimate Rod Blagojevich’s ability to take angry people and further enrage them with his deft lack of timing. Soon after people watched or read about the governor’s security detail extravagances, they also learned some other state news. Ouch. And this cartoon by the SJ-R’s never-disappointing Chris Britt is an absolute must-see. Today’s SJ-R has some quotes from Lt. Governor Pat Quinn which probably won’t sit well with the governor. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who campaigned a decade ago against excessive use of state security guards, said Tuesday that recent revelations about the size and activities of the protective force assigned to Gov. Rod Blagojevich paint a “terrible” picture of public officials.
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Rockford Files
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller As referenced in today’s Capitol Fax,this morning’s Rockford Register-Star has a story about the governor’s comments on gaming expansion. Excerpts: Rockford is the kind of place lawmakers had in mind in the early 1990s when they created licenses for 10 gambling riverboat casinos, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday.
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Hynes’ facelift tax examined
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller This story is now superceded by this one. The comptroller disputes the figures below. As promised, here is the story that examines the funding mechanism for Comptroller Dan Hynes’ stem cell research proposal. From One Man’s blog: Ok, lets run some numbers. $1 billion in new debt financed by taxes on facelifts. So assuming the bonds will be 20 year notes you are looking at an interest rate of at least 5.11% so 5.11% of 1 billion the interest alone is $51,100,000.00 a year, so how much cosmetic surgery do you need to tax at 6% to get $51,100,000 , you need about $850,000,000 in ‘cosmetic surgery’ to tax just to cover the interest. As I said in Capitol Fax, I think the real point here is that Hynes has used the issue to make it clear that he’s still a contender in 2006 and won’t fade away, as some had speculated.
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