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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jul 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Here you go…
* Tribune | Push to build more CO2 pipelines and store vast amounts of the gas underground in Illinois raises alarms about safety regulations: Navigator says this can be done safely and points to thousands of miles of CO2 pipeline already in use in the United States, mostly by the oil industry, which uses carbon dioxide to boost production. But opponents, including environmentalists and landowners, say a new generation of massive, climate-oriented CO2 pipeline projects such as Navigator’s should be put on hold until government officials can address “alarming” gaps in health and safety regulations. * Tribune | CO2 pipeline company conducted a 24/7 drilling operation for 2 months across from family’s Nokomis home: ‘They’ve created chaos.’: There was no letter from Navigator, according to the Jones, who live on a quiet country road in Nokomis, 200 miles southwest of Chicago. There was no phone call or visit. But for more than two months, starting in early May, the drilling operation filled their leafy front yard with a dull industrial hum, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. * Scott Holland | Maternity deserts a problem for everyone, not just young families: The thought surfaces when reading coverage of a trickier issue: maternal care deserts. FarmWeek’s Tammie Sloup, a longtime newsroom colleague, wrote this week about the 36 Illinois counties with no hospitals offering obstetric care and no obstetric providers. The information comes from a 2022 March of Dimes report, which codes 16 other Illinois counties as having low or moderate access. * Tribune | Conservative group headed by 2020 presidential election denier wins access to Illinois voter data in court settlement: The settlement includes a confidentiality order aimed at preventing dissemination of voters’ personal information beyond the Illinois Conservative Union. The settlement, filed Tuesday, dismisses a case brought on behalf of the Conservative Union by the right-wing group Judicial Watch. * Farm Week | IFB members celebrate legislative victory: Previously, only highway commissioners in townships with less than 500 in population could serve multiple districts. The new measure increases the maximum population of a district to 1,000 and will allow road clerks to serve multiple districts in townships with a commission form of government. * Daily Herald | Disabled veteran property tax exemptions continue growth: A new Illinois Department of Revenue report shows the number of disabled military veterans and surviving spouses receiving a full reprieve from paying property taxes nearly tripled from 2015 to 2021. * Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker Focuses on Business Development, Clean Energy Jobs at Joliet Assembly Plant Opening: “This is about more than just cars on the road. It’s also about making sure that we have the buses, the community experience of the new clean energy economy,” Pritzker said, directing his comments toward younger people in the audience. “Because while all of that is very important, it’s predicated on having a planet that’s environmentally sustainable for your generation and beyond.” * Daily Herald | A tale of two senators: Duckworth outraised and outspent Durbin in year’s second quarter: Duckworth, who won election to her second 6-year term in November, received about $568,764 in campaign donations from April 1 to June 30. Durbin — a Springfield Democrat who won his fifth term in 2020 — collected about $114,570. * The Telegraph | Raftopoulos seeks to face Elik in 2024: Nick Raftopoulos of Granite City will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge state Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, for Illinois’ 111th House District in 2024. “I am running because I think the 111th needs a representative that will fight for hard-working families, stand up for unions, and bring new solutions to the State House,” Raftopoulos says. * Crain’s | Northwestern soccer and volleyball players were hazed, too, attorney says: Patrick Salvi II says the new allegations describe “instances where members of male sports teams engaged in inappropriate conduct with female athletes.” The acts included “sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual touching and hazing,” he said. Salvi further asserted that the acts were reported to the school, which “essentially did nothing.” * The Hill | Durbin tests positive for COVID-19 for third time in one year: “Unfortunately, I tested positive for COVID-19 today,” he tweeted. “I’m disappointed to have to miss critical work on the Senate’s NDAA this week in Washington. Consistent with CDC guidelines, I’ll quarantine at home and follow the advice of my doctor while I work remotely.” * Sun-Times | National Labor Relations Board ‘finds merit’ in union claims against Howard Brown Health: A representative for the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board said last week the agency is now seeking a settlement between the union and Howard Brown. If a deal can’t be reached, a hearing will take place and an administrative law judge can order “make-whole” remedies for employees affected by the actions. * Tribune | As Black leaders pushed for ‘community control of police’ 50 years ago, one activist cop was assigned to patrol an alley: Once Robinson became president of the fledgling Afro-American Patrolmen’s League, he made headlines and was subjected to disciplinary actions in regular succession. * Tribune | Prominent Chicago pastor, community activist remembers 16-year-old grandson who was shot and killed Friday: Hood, who described his grandson as “energetic” and “a good decent kid,” said the teen played basketball and baseball and was about to be a junior in high school. His family called him “tiny man” because he was short in stature, Hood added. * Daily Herald | Metra crime grows with ridership, but ‘it is a very safe system,’ officials say: Crime reports reached 238 in 2017, hit 307 in 2018, and totaled 273 in 2019, according data acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request. As thousands of Metra riders worked from home in 2020, offenses dropped to 193. In 2021, the tally ticked up to 219, then rose again to 238 in 2022. * Daily Southtown | ‘Oldest standing brewery in Illinois’ built around water bubbling from deep underground: “We saw the well when we first toured the property,” said Andy Howell, a founder of Thornton Distilling Co. “We were trying to determine where to open, and that was a huge factor.” By that time, the building at 400 E. Margaret St. in Thornton was empty. Its run as a brewery lasted into the 1950s but ended amid clouds of corruption and lingering connections to organized crime that originated with the onset of Prohibition in the early 1920s. * NYT | Inside Starbucks’ Dirty War Against Organized Labor: But these professions of innocence are countered by piles of testimony from workers and National Labor Relations Board findings suggesting that Starbucks has indeed illegally repressed employees’ rights. The company has so far racked up a staggering number of complaints from the agency. In 100 cases, many of which consolidate a number of incidents, regional N.L.R.B. offices have decided there is sufficient evidence to pursue litigation against Starbucks. That includes a nationwide complaint, consolidating 32 charges across 28 states, alleging that Starbucks failed or refused to bargain with union representatives from 163 cafes. * Illinois Times | A changed man: During my 35 years covering politics, I’ve seen politicians drunk while debating legislation. And I’ve seen them holed up in their offices drinking when they were supposed to be legislating. But the phone call I had last week from Terry Schilling, a son of former U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling, left me stunned. He said his dad spent much of the 1980s hooked on crack cocaine. * Vox | Why pedestrian deaths in the US are at a 40-year high: This year’s report makes clear how dangerous it is to walk in America: The GHSA projects that 7,508 people were killed while walking in 2022, the most pedestrians killed since 1981, when 7,837 pedestrians were killed. * SJ-R | ‘Beacon of Endurance’ honors legacy of Abraham Lincoln outdoors in downtown Springfield: Officials gathered at the corner outside of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday to unveil the “Beacon of Endurance,” an obelisk that stands at almost 25 feet tall. “We hope this sculpture will serve as a literal beacon, guiding people to Abraham Lincoln and his vision of a better America,” said Christina Shutt, executive director of the ALPLM. * Tribune | City Series arrives with both the underachieving Cubs and White Sox at a crossroads: In truth, when push comes to shove, the Bears will always win out when it comes to media coverage, leaving the Cubs-Sox series as an afterthought. That’s a shame, because this year’s Crosstown Classic, as everyone except this newspaper calls the rivalry (don’t ask why), figures to be more interesting than ever.
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- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 8:42 am:
=== Northwestern soccer and volleyball players were hazed, too, attorney says===
The athletic department has a dangerous toxic culture that NU Football made as the flagship program.
The newly minted AD should be dismissed or should resign and the entire department should start over with one question “What should we, as a department in a university, see as our role in protecting students from hazing?” and that answer should be absolute zero tolerance, with new leadership dedicated to such an obvious charge.
No parent or family should accept “well, one incident is fine”, as coaches in all sports sit in living rooms telling families how NU is a “family” and NU will take care of their student athlete
Anything less than a full cleaning house of this athletic department at NU not taking seriously the heinous, toxic culture NU embraced in a department, not just “one” program.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 8:47 am:
Quite an understatement to call this year’s White Sox an “underachieving” team when nightmare, disaster, train wreck were available.
- Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:07 am:
It is time for the Big Ten to do the right thing and kick out Northwestern from the conference. There is actually a Change.org petition calling for just that:
https://www.change.org/p/kick-northwestern-out-of-the-big-10
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:20 am:
===nightmare, disaster, train wreck===
They did better when they were tanking.
- Big Dipper - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:27 am:
== includes a confidentiality order aimed at preventing dissemination of voters’ personal information beyond the Illinois Conservative Union==
Yeah, right.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:35 am:
=== It is time for the Big Ten to do the right thing and…===
Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there.
The Penn State scandal, arguably far more heinous given the years of looking away done by Paterno and the university never put PSU in line to be kicked out of B1G, let alone giving Penn State the “death penalty”.
NU’s culture, reminiscent of Baylor as one that immediately comes to mind, will need a massive overhaul of culture, and that needs to be done for NU, let alone B1G
What you seem to be missing and what that petition fails to grasp too is NU allows B1G to be in the Chicago market as a natural resident, along with USC/UCLA for the LA market, Rutgers for the NY/NJ media market, Maryland for the MD/VA/DC market, and NU leaving… that devalues the B1G media package and the monies NU and each and every school enjoys with the television deal for the conference.
It’s not even on a radar or possible, even with the horrendously bad deal B1G backed into now by the current Chicago Bears Prez.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:38 am:
===It’s not even on a radar or possible===
It should be both. And people need to start bringing it up.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:50 am:
=== It should be both. And people need to start bringing it up.====
Ethically, Penn State should’ve been given the death penalty for 3 years, been removed from B1G in all sports for those 3 years, then petition back into B1G after such time these three years passed, as a precursor, the conference agreements, that during commercial breaks of athletic events like basketball and football remind, a conference also allows academic cooperation between aligned universities for research and programs, let alone the monies gained that enrich each member university.
Penn State saw none of those sanctions.
Will the NU community in of itself decide the price is too high to be a part of B1G, and the money, and the partnerships? B1G has already shown it’s not moving towards either removing NU or putting NU on a hiatus status in an overall, it’s the ethics that are damaged, the reputation ruined, real victims forever hurt, looking to heal.
NU, B1G?
The future, that’s what moving on means, so they want folks to forget it, it’s Chinatown.
- Anon221 - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 9:53 am:
From the Trib article on the CO2 drilling operation- “Running a 24-hour industrial operation near a residence is legal in Montgomery County, where Nokomis is located, because there are no zoning laws or noise ordinances, according to county board Chair Doug Donaldson.”
Doesn’t Navigator, or their contracted drilling company, need some kind of permit to drill? IDNR or at least the local county public health department? Who is responsible for ensuring that the well is drilled properly and sealed? Navigator has no application for Class VI wells for Montgomery County before USEPA Region 5 (granted this well may not be classified as a Class VI). What would have happened if the rural hydrants were unavailable due to a fire in the neighborhood because of low water pressure. Who authorized the water withdrawals? And, just because the county may not have zoning in place, wouldn’t the Illinois Pollution Control Board noise standards be in effect?
- The Dude Abides - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 10:06 am:
=It should be both. And people need to start bringing it up.=
The only people who can actually effect such change are those who control the purse strings.
I don’t like it as much as you do, but it comes down to the real golden rule - those who have the gold, make the rules.
- Henry Francis - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 10:37 am:
Do folks think this sort of behavior is only going on in Evanston?
I don’t think the other schools in the conference are in any position to punish NU, glass houses and all.
Not excusing or diminishing it at all.
- H-W - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 10:40 am:
I haven’t mentioned it previously, but I have thought the death penalty would be appropriate. As this is expanding even more, I am more convinced.
The problem with the death penalty however, is what to do with the athletes? Some are guilty of hazing, some are innocent. But all will be excluded from the athletics programs that brought them to Northwestern, and that is paying for their education.
A self-imposed death penalty would obviously seek volumes, regarding the university’s commitment to clean house. However, I have little faith in upper administrations killing athletic programs. They do kill academic programs, but not athletics.
I wonder if the NCAA will take a leading role soon in this investigation.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 10:52 am:
===I don’t think the other schools in the conference are in any position to punish NU, glass houses and all.
Not excusing or diminishing it at all.===
If you have proof of systemic and heinous hazing and sexualizing such hazing and coaches and athletic departments are covering up, please share that information, not with the university… but with the student newspaper.
“…glass houses and all.
Not excusing or diminishing it at all.”
You literally are making an excuse (glass houses) and diminishing it too, (glass houses).
Just sayin’
- Henry Francis - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 11:23 am:
Willy - read what I said. I am not excusing what went on in Evanston. I am explaining why “the other schools in the conference are (not) in any position to punish NU.”
You yourself reach the same conclusion, that the other schools in the conference aren’t going kick NU, only you reached the conclusion by saying there is too much money at stake.
This isn’t the first time you have misconstrued what I said so you could make yet another post on this site. (I could have begun this email with “(sigh)” - but I find that obnoxious).
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 11:28 am:
===You yourself reach the same conclusion, that the other schools in the conference aren’t going kick NU, only you reached the conclusion by saying there is too much money at stake.===
I did, but not under the idea of “glass houses”
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 24, 23 @ 11:29 am:
===This isn’t the first time you have misconstrued what I said===
Please explain other meanings for the term “glass houses” in the context you wrote.