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Reader comments closed for the weekend

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Even though comments are closed, you can continue voting all weekend on our latest Golden Horseshoe nominations. Your comments won’t appear until Monday, but I’ll still be able to see them.

The Illinois Manufacturers Association held a huge party for retiring president and CEO Greg Baise today. This video was shown. It’s pretty funny at times and there are a few obvious references to the shortcomings of Gov. Bruce Rauner

* Baise has been a Grateful Dead fan for decades, but here’s an appropriate departure tune from Phish

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I’m on my way
But when I think it’s time to leave it all behind
I try to find a way, but there’s nothing I can say to make it stop

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US EPA releases new Sterigenics test results

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From Stop Sterigenics

Today the US EPA released the results of 2 ambient air tests that were conducted near the Sterigenics site. These test results are still being analyzed by experts, but one thing is clear – these new test results confirm our position that this is an immediate public health threat, a health crisis that most dangerously affects hundreds of children and families in the immediate area.

More at the link.

* Tribune

Another round of air monitoring near Sterigenics detected alarming levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide near the west suburban facility, but federal officials cautioned Friday that they need more information before deciding if neighboring communities are still at risk.

Spikes of the highly toxic chemical were detected in samples collected during three days in mid-November at Willowbrook Village Hall and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warehouse, according to results posted online by the EPA. Both monitors are close to a pair of buildings off Illinois Route 83 and Interstate 55 where Sterigenics uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment, pharmaceutical drugs and food.

The highest average level of ethylene oxide detected during a 24-hour period was 6.62 micrograms per cubic meter of air, more than three times greater than the amount that federal officials relied on earlier this year to calculate potential cancer risks in the area.

However, six other monitors — located at schools and in nearby residential areas — did not register measurable amounts of ethylene oxide during the same testing period, the EPA reported.

The latest results are the first posted since the company installed new equipment intended to reduce the amount of ethylene oxide leaking from its sterilization chambers. EPA officials said they won’t be able to determine if neighbors are in danger until the agency has completed three months of community air monitoring and plugs the results into its computer modeling of pollution emitted by Sterigenics.

* Sterigenics…

“Sterigenics is reviewing the results of the initial air sample tests from the US EPA, but it is no surprise that the samples indicate variable levels of ethylene oxide (“EO”) in the air. We note from the samples that all of the residential, parks, and school locations selected for testing had non-detect readings. The two locations in the commercial area next to our Willowbrook facilities had variable levels of EO detected. As is commonly known, EO levels in the air vary greatly based on a number of factors including proximity to sources of EO, of which there are many including exhaust from diesel trucks and automobiles, and the weather conditions on the days that samples were collected.

“”As the EPA states, “It is premature to draw conclusions from the data. EPA plans to continue monitoring in the Willowbrook area for three months and will continue to post data as it becomes available.” We will continue to work with the EPA to understand the results and will continue to cooperate fully.

“Sterigenics has operated, and continues to operate, well within the limits of its permit and the regulations. By properly controlling emissions while preventing life-threatening infection, the Willowbrook facility serves to safeguard global health every day. Sterigenics remains committed to working with public officials to evolve regulations in the continued interest of public safety.”

…Adding… US Rep. Dan Lipinski…

Despite Sterigenics’ claims that it isn’t a public health threat, and despite their new pollution control equipment, initial EPA testing has shown significant EtO emissions around the facility. While more testing will be occurring, this preliminary data confirms my belief that this plant is a threat to public health and unless data is provided to the contrary, I maintain that this plant should be shut down.

  3 Comments      


Protected: *** UPDATED x1 *** SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - A look at Rauner vs. Republican candidates, plus McCann’s party status

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The 2018 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best State House Staffer - Non Political goes to Sherri Garrett

No question. To go from someone very few folks were familiar with to the greatest change agent this place has seen in ages is stunning. To do all of that with grace, humility and humor makes it all the more worthy of recognition.

And

Sherri Garrett stood up, spoke out and changed the culture immediately and permanently. That took enormous courage and it gave every non-political staffer protection from what had become a toxic work environment. Her action put powerful men on notice that this (stuff) will no longer be tolerated.

This is her year. Bravo.

* The 2018 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best State Senate Staffer - Non Political goes to Aaron Holmes

I have to echo an above comment. Aaron is the most valuable asset that President Cullerton has. His knowledge of the legislative process is quite impressive. Aaron helps review every bill that comes through the chamber. He constantly has to help new members of staff and is potentially the nicest person under the dome. It should be obvious that Aaron is the best.

Congrats to both recipients.

* OK, on to today’s categories…

* Best campaign staffer - Senate Democrats

* Best campaign staffer - Senate Republicans

Make sure to explain your responses or they won’t count and please try to nominate in both categories if you can. I will understand if you work with only one party and can’t, however.

  32 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - “Impressive gains”

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Maybe they should read the platform?

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Review

14th CD State Central Committeeman Stan Bond… expressed hope that the IL GOP will stick to its party platform - meaning a conservative slant. Bond’s hope clashes with others who expect the current leadership to abandon if their proposed “unified” message is embraced. Bond says that conservative IL GOP platform is crucial to the party’s future.

“Conceptually I will say our party must remain loyal to its platform - a document which seemed largely ignored by losing candidates in this last cycle,” Bond told Illinois Review. […]

State Rep. Jeanne Ives - who almost unseated GOP incumbent governor Bruce Rauner in the 2018 GOP primary - has signed on as a “fellow” with the Illinois Conservative Union, spoke with Illinois Review about the state party chairman’s refusal to step down. Ives has become a key spokesperson for the state’s conservative movement. She pointed directly to the party leadership for failing to organize to take advantage of the Democrats’ obvious weaknesses and strategic failures. […]

“There are motivated Republicans still willing to fight in this state so we can save our homes and afford to stay in Illinois,” Ives said. “We will work together outside of official leadership to advance policy solutions at the local level and block bad policy at the state level. We will support and work only for candidates that support the party platform.” [Emphasis added.]

* From the state party’s platform

VI. PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO LIFE

We believe that our natural rights, as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, begin at conception and continue until natural death. We believe that these rights include the fundamental right to life of unborn children, and we support the appointment or election of judges who share that belief.

We support a human life amendment to the federal and Illinois constitutions affirming the right to life of unborn children, and we support making clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.

We advocate the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

We oppose the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions or to support organizations that perform abortions, that participate in the purchase or sale of fetal tissue or organs, or that create and destroy human embryos for the harvesting of stem cells for research or treatment purposes. […]

VII. EMBRACING THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY

The family is society’s central building block. Thus, efforts to strengthen family life are efforts to improve life for everyone.

Our children need secure and nurturing environments, which are best found within the traditional family. No law should be enacted nor policy implemented without fully contemplating the effect it would have on children and their families.

While not universally achievable, the ideal environment for children is within a two-parent family based on the principle of marriage between one man and one woman. The Republican Party endorses a constitutional amendment protecting our Defense of Marriage Act and enshrining in constitutional law marriage as it is defined in our “DOMA.”

* However, here’s the conclusion

Therefore, we accept that good Republicans do not have to agree on all the issues contained in this Platform and that this Platform shall not be used as an instrument of division or attack on others within the party who hold opposing views. We must unite as a party behind those items on which we agree.

  28 Comments      


Open thread

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ve been working on a story involving lots numbers and I suddenly hit a brick wall and in the process lost all track of time. Oops. Be kind to each other and keep it Illinois-centric, please.

  46 Comments      


One wrong vote and Conyears-Ervin is on the outs

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Politico

Equality Illinois is making the unusual move to endorse a candidate for the city treasurer’s office. The gay-rights advocacy group has long endorsed in legislative and mayoral races. This time, it’s getting involved in the treasurer contest because of “concerns about a candidate’s commitment to the LGBTQ community,” Brian Johnson, the group’s CEO, told POLITICO.

He was referring to state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, one of four candidates running for treasurer. Equality Illinois, which tracks voting records, says Conyears-Ervin hasn’t taken a stand on two particular pieces of legislation.

On HB1875, the birth certificate-sex designation bill (which allows trans folks to change their gender on their birth records without having surgery), Conyears-Ervin was the only lawmaker to vote present (instead of yea or nay). And Equality Illinois says Conyears-Ervin hasn’t committed to SB3249, which would add LGBTQ issues in school history books. That bill was just placed on the calendar for a second reading.

Conyears-Ervin, who this week was endorsed by SEIU 73 and Chicago Teachers Union, responded to POLITICO about Equality Illinois’ concerns. In an email sent through a spokesman, she wrote:

“My record on issues of fairness and equality is second to none and I will continue to work with anyone promoting these causes. I support teaching LGBTQ history in schools and I will work with my colleagues to achieve this measure as it comes up for consideration and a vote in the General Assembly. Finally, I did not oppose legislation changing the criteria medical professionals require to change the gender on a person’s birth certificate, and in hindsight recognize the value of a law that relieves the burden put on transgender men and women to be recognized by the state as the gender that they identify. I support this law.”

The bill number in the story is wrong, it’s HB1785. She did indeed vote “Present.” SB3249 passed the Senate with 34 votes.

* But I went to Equality Illinois’ website to check on her other votes. From the group’s 2017 legislative agenda

* HB1785: Voted “Present”

* SB1761: Voted “Yes”

* SB1670: Voted “Yes”

* And here’s the group’s 2018 agenda and her voting record

* SJRCA4: Voted “Yes”

* HB5544: Excused absence but she co-sponsored the bill

* HB4469: Excused absence

* HB4572: Voted “Yes”

* HB4281: No vote taken by General Assembly

* HB5191: No vote taken by General Assembly

  19 Comments      


Despite spending millions on maintenance, shuttered Tamms prison “rampant” with mold

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It’s a bit weird that this 2015 inspection is emerging three years after the fact

What little hope remained of reopening or repurposing the shuttered Tamms Correctional Center continues to grow dimmer.

The prison and its adjacent work camp are “rampant” with mold, Lindsey Hess, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections, confirmed on Wednesday, and would require millions of dollars of treatment.

A 2015 inspection by ExecuClean Restoration found high levels of Aspergillus and Penicillium molds, which are “responsible for more human health issues worldwide than any other group of fungi,” including many respiratory illnesses, the company stated. […]

Just addressing the mold issue would cost some $2.5 million, Hess said, and would require the removal of all “drywall, carpet, counters, counter tops and cabinets,” per ExecuClean’s recommendations.

Southern Illinois legislators and candidates have been demanding the prison’s reopening since it was closed in January of 2013, apparently without the knowledge that the site is rampant with mold.

* From 2015

Freshman state Rep. Terri Bryant, a Murphysboro Republican, has been pushing lawmakers to join her in urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to reopen the facility at the southern tip of Illinois.

“I think there is a pressure building within all of the facilities that has to be relieved somehow. I think that’s only going to be relived by either kicking inmates out or creating some more bed space,” Bryant said in a recent interview.

* From 2018

The Democrat running for state representative in southern Illinois wants to re-open the state’s super-max prison. Marsha Griffin told reporters yesterday that if the state of Illinois can build a new prison mental health center in Joliet, the state can re-open the Tamms Prison. Griffin said the decision to close the prison back in 2012 is still hurting southern Illinois. The state spends about 750 thousand-dollars a year on Tamms, just to keep up with maintenance.

Wait. The state is spending $750K a year on maintenance and it’s been full of mold for at least three years?

* Yep

Despite closing for budgetary reasons, Illinois still spends $750,000 per year on Tamms, covering utilities, maintenance and guards.

  24 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 *** 13th Ward files 2,700 revocation affidavits for opponent’s 1,703 petition signatures

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* David Krupa is a 19-year-old freshman at DePaul University who had big dreams of running for alderman. Unfortunately, he wants to represent the 13th Ward and he ran into one of the weirdest brick walls I’ve ever heard of. Krupa says he collected 1,703 petition signatures, far more than the 473 he’d need to qualify for the ballot against Ald. Marty Quinn. But even before he filed them, this happened

An organized crew of political workers — or maybe just civic-minded individuals who care about reform — went door to door with official legal papers. They asked residents to sign an affadavit revoking their signature on Krupa’s petition.

Revocations are serious legal documents, signed and notarized. Lying on a legal document is a felony and can lead to a charge of perjury. If you’re convicted of perjury, you may not work for a government agency. And I know that there are many in the 13th Ward on the government payroll.

More than 2,700 revocations were turned over to the elections board to cancel the signatures on Krupa’s petitions. Chicago Board of Elections officials had never seen such a massive pile of revocations. […]

The number of revocations far exceeds the number of signatures Krupa collected. That means false affidavits were filed with the elections board.

If this story by John Kass is accurate, the 13th Ward has just brought a whole new round of heat on itself.

…Adding… To address some questions in comments, here’s Krupa’s attorney

“We turned in 1,703 signatures. We compared them to the 2,796 revocations, and found only 187 matches, meaning only 187 people who signed David’s petitions filed revocations,” Dorf said. “So, what about the 2,609 people who didn’t sign for David but who filed revocations? That’s fraud. That’s perjury. That’s felony.”

The only other explanation is that they might’ve filed revocations to signatures Krupa collected but didn’t turn in. But how they knew those names would still be a mystery.

*** UPDATE *** From comments

Under state law, the revocations need to be filed BEFORE Krupa filed his petitions so they wouldn’t have been able to cross-check these with actual Krupa petition signers.

The statute

A petition, when presented or filed, shall not be withdrawn, altered, or added to, and no signature shall be revoked except by revocation in writing presented or filed with the officers or officer with whom the petition is required to be presented or filed, and before the presentment or filing of such petition.

  83 Comments      


*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Friday, Dec 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Follow along with ScribbleLive


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« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Reader comments closed for the weekend
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* The Waukegan City Clerk was railroaded
* Whatever happened, the city has a $40 million budget hole it didn't disclose until now
* Manar gives state agencies budget guidance: Cut, cut, cut
* Roundup: Ex-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis testifies in Madigan corruption trial
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

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