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Pritzker deploys National Guard to fight massive chemical fire near Rockford

Monday, Jun 14, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This morning…

MASSIVE EXPLOSION seen at Rockton, IL's Chemtool plant. (Courtesy: WLS). LATEST: https://t.co/RGYxyJ8k2e pic.twitter.com/AtehTezor8

— Eyewitness News WTVO/WQRF (@MyStateline) June 14, 2021

* Press release…

Gov. Pritzker Activates State Emergency Operation Center, Deploys National Guard to Respond to Chemical Fire in Winnebago County

Residents Within Two-Mile Radius Evacuated, Encouraged to Wear Masks Out of an Abundance of Caution

State Officials from Multiple Agencies Coordinating with Local Authorities to Keep People Safe

ROCKTON – Governor JB Pritzker has activated the State Emergency Operation Center to mobilize emergency response personnel and operational facilities to monitor a large chemical fire in Winnebago County. Upon notification of the emergency, the State notified authorities in Winnebago, Stephenson and McHenry counties. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) dispatched crews to the area to assist local jurisdictions to expedite assistance and resources. The Illinois State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield was activated and members of the Illinois National Guard and mobile response vehicles were dispatched to the area

Out of an abundance of caution, local authorities have evacuated a two-mile radius around the Rockton facility. Residents are encouraged to seek shelter at Roscoe Middle School, 6121 Elevator Road in Roscoe. State health officials are recommending that residents within the evacuation zone to northern part of Rockford utilize the use of masks or face coverings for the time being. This is to prevent the inhalation of particulate matter (soot). As this emergency progresses, it is important for residents to stay informed by monitoring local media for changing instructions.

“I am monitoring this situation closely and will make all resources available to the surrounding communities as we work to keep people safe,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Teams from multiple state agencies are on the ground and coordinating closely with local authorities and we will continue to make additional information available as soon we have it. To those impacted, please listen to guidance from emergency officials and know that the state of Illinois is doing everything possible to protect you and your loved ones.”

Shortly after 7:00 a.m., a large fire broke out at Chemtool, 1165 Prairie Hill Road in Rockton. Chemtool is the largest manufacturer of grease in the United States. Chemtool participates in the Tier II program. Tier II is an annual federal report that is mandatory for companies that store hazardous materials. This report is used by state and federal authorities to track and enforce rules related to the storing of hazardous materials in a facility. It also helps local authorities in the event of an emergency, such as a fire.

Personnel from the following State agencies and organizations are responding to this emergency:

Illinois Emergency Management Agency
Illinois State Police
Illinois Department of Transportation
Illinois Department of Public Health
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Office of State Fire Marshal
Illinois National Guard
Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS)
American Red Cross
Salvation Army

In addition, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency has activated its Radiological Emergency Assessment Center (REAC) and the Illinois National guard Civil Support Team to monitor the environment to establish air monitoring to validate plume modeling. These teams are used to make environmental recommendations to keep the general public safe.

The plant sits next to the Rock River, so they’re letting it burn for fear that contaminated water could flow into the river.

…Adding… More…

More photos from the scene: pic.twitter.com/bG6jdcJdVT

— Anthony Ferretti (@AntFerrettiTV) June 14, 2021

UPDATE: Nobody injured in Chemtool fire, could take 'several days' to be fully put out https://t.co/pP5izs9LaU

— Maggie Polsean (@MaggiePolsean) June 14, 2021

The smoke is unmistakable and quite heavy on visible satellite???? https://t.co/DpS5vojd3g pic.twitter.com/46EeRwNf0p

— Nick Ulivieri (@ChiPhotoGuy) June 14, 2021

13 Comments

News-Gazette throws in the kitchen sink

Monday, Jun 14, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Conservative all-white Downstate editorial board which serves a liberal and diverse university/health care community quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in its lede about the pandemic, tosses in a reference to chains (and, later, handcuffs) for effect and then mocks people with legit anxiety…

Free at last? Let’s hope so.

The chains are off — mostly.

People — finally — are going about their business in a normal way, save for the relatively few having trouble coming to grips with independence.

* Related…

* Experts: ‘Reopening Anxiety’ is Real, Widespread and to Be Expected

…Adding… Yep…

1) 15 months, not 16.
2) We were never in "lockdown"; the stay-at-home order lasted 2.5 months and didn’t include a curfew or punishment?
3) Mitigations have been gone and everything’s been back open since February with expanded capacity since May.
4) Masks aren’t handcuffs. https://t.co/7nV4RTWJ2q pic.twitter.com/r0ATNmmDuD

— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) June 14, 2021

32 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** What’s happening with Juneteenth?

Monday, Jun 14, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mark Palmer asks: “Any insight on which IL Bill re: Juneteenth will @GovPritzker sign this week (SB1965 or HB3922)? Or is there a process where they are combined, or otherwise?”

The differences between the two bills include the effective dates and the days off if June 19th falls on a Sunday or Saturday. From SB1965…

Amends the State Commemorative Dates Act. Provides that Juneteenth National Freedom Day shall be observed on June 19 of each year as a holiday throughout the State (currently, not a holiday and is observed on the third Saturday of June of each year). Provides that when June 19 falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be held and considered the holiday. … Effective immediately.

HB3922…

Provides that when June 19 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, neither the preceding Friday nor the following Monday shall be held or considered as a paid holiday (rather than the following Monday being considered a holiday). Effective January 1, 2022.

Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year.

* The only hint the governor’s office gave me was pointing to the Statute on Statutes…

Two or more Acts which relate to same subject matter and which are enacted by the same General Assembly shall be construed together in such manner as to give full effect to each Act except in case of an irreconcilable conflict. In case of an irreconcilable conflict the Act last acted upon by the General Assembly is controlling to the extent of such conflict. The Act last acted upon is determined by reference to the final legislative action taken by either house of the General Assembly

Final passage for SB1965 was May 27th. Final passage for HB3922 was May 31st. So if he signs them both, HB3922 becomes controlling and there will be no Monday off this year and it won’t take effect until next year (when it falls on a Sunday).

*** UPDATE *** Flipped just in time…

Nearly a year to the day after ruling it out as too costly, Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared Monday that Chicago will recognize June 19th, known as Juneteenth, as an official city holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

The mayor’s surprise announcement came during an event at Daley Center Plaza that kicked off a week-long Juneteenth celebration. […]

On Monday, the mayor explained her change of heart just days before Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to sign a bill declaring Juneteenth a state holiday.

15 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Three analysts, three conclusions about the new legislative maps

Monday, Jun 14, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Daily Kos staff writer…

Despite their ugly district lines, Illinois Dems' newly passed legislative gerrymanders fail to obtain a partisan advantage over the popular vote according to several metrics & only counteract Dems' geography penalty.
Senate: https://t.co/nax5udOVHQ
House: https://t.co/HoEu543×5d https://t.co/W4fFMC2Tk3 pic.twitter.com/WZOY1uHmcu

— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) June 7, 2021

* Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., professor of computer science at the University of Illinois, writing in the News-Gazette…

However, when evaluating the likely outcome in the next election, the new maps position Democrats to win two additional Senate districts and four additional House districts, everything else being equal. This is something that the committee did not want you, the voters, to know.

Although Republicans fight against gerrymandering in Illinois, in neighboring states like Wisconsin or Indiana, Republicans hold the redistricting power and draw maps to serve their interests. However, with a Democratic governor holding veto power in Wisconsin, that division of power will create more balance in their final maps.

These remapping efforts also serve as a precursor to when Illinois’ congressional district map is redrawn later in the year. There is nothing to prevent the same partisan process being followed and the same egregious results achieved.

Gerrymandering is not a Democrat or Republican problem, it is an ethical problem, and any political body or people that willfully gerrymanders or is complicit with such activities is exhibiting questionable ethics. Are these the people you want running the state?

Now that these maps are law, the stage is set for Illinois to have another 10 years of dysfunctional government, a structurally imbalanced tax system and other artifacts of gerrymandering, effectively excluding voters from the democratic process. It is no surprise that people are fleeing Illinois en masse.

Numbers are numbers, but tossing in a screed on the “Illinois Exodus” is kind of a tell. Jacobson told me he used 2016 election results as a basis for these claims.

* Frank Calabrese was my consultant when the new maps were released. He posted a long tweet thread on the Senate, but here’s his conclusion…

My ratings of the new Illinois state senate districts for the 2022 elections. Republicans will likely pick up 1 or 2 seats, but Democrats still retain a supermajority. The only toss-up is a Metro East district that voted twice for Trump with a D incumbent #twill #ElectionTwitter pic.twitter.com/6L2s3tth4A

— Frank Calabrese (@FrankCalabrese) June 13, 2021

Calabrese told me today that the key to rating these races is to plot the addresses of the incumbents. “I don’t think these other people did that. It takes a long time.” He did say, however, that he thought the House Democrats have a shot at as many as 5 more seats. But, as with everything, it will take some effort, the right candidates and could depend on what happens in DC.

*** UPDATE *** Good point…

I am skeptical of any analysis that attempts to predict the outcome of the 2022 elections based on geography and top of the ticket past performance alone, too many other factors will also matter.https://t.co/JaaOMIm24P

— Scott Kennedy (@ScottTKennedy) June 14, 2021

35 Comments

*** UPDATED x3 *** Um, mayor? What the heck?

Monday, Jun 14, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I have never, in all my days, seen an email quite like this…

Just got this email via FOIA — more insight about City Hall staffing/turnover/culture under Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Read our May story also https://t.co/pCGx8WsSOy https://t.co/4k0vKVuykv pic.twitter.com/kBMBMhFBse

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 12, 2021

* Politico has the excuses…

It offers a glimpse at how Covid-19 ravaged the psyche of the mayor’s office. She and staffers worked 24/7, trying to respond to one crisis after another. That January week in particular was strenuous.

She sent the email Jan. 28, the same day that Chicago Public Schools and its teachers union were in the throes of a battle to get children back in classrooms. In an interview that evening, the mayor told WTTW’s Brandis Friedman that the CTU had just proposed “defunding police and having the CTU dictate housing policy in the city. Neither of those two things are appropriate for bargaining a teachers’ contract.” Lightfoot looked tired and frustrated.

Earlier that week, the mayor was on the phone with the Biden administration pressing for more vaccines. The day before she sent the email, Lightfoot headed a six-hour City Council meeting that focused on a disturbing number of car-jackings in the city. On top of all that, the mayor’s spokesman, Michael Crowley, resigned, a move that by all accounts had been known for two months. Still, it couldn’t have made the week any less stressful.

“A lot was coming down on her that week,” a source close to the mayor’s office told Playbook. “A lot was happening. Her intentions were good,” though there were times during the most stressful days of the pandemic that Lightfoot was “completely awful” as a manager.

Yeah, OK.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Oh, this is rich…

I took a look at Lightfoot’s January calendars this morning and she usually had office time on her schedule.

In fact, she sent this particular email during office time and she had another two hours scheduled later that day, too. https://t.co/Xsn4Jjgc1q pic.twitter.com/tFCMqxQJFI

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 14, 2021

…Adding… I didn’t notice this at the end of the Politico story…

The mayor’s job is tough. It’s not hard to imagine her predecessors — Rahm Emanuel or Richard M. Daley — erupting similarly. Hers was just memorialized in an email.

Um, no.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Response…

Lightfoot on this: "Obviously to write an email like that comes after a lot of conversation and born of frustration. We got beyond that and solved the challenges that were at the heart of that email which was written five-plus months ago so I think we’re in a better place." https://t.co/Xsn4Jjgc1q

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 14, 2021

*** UPDATE 3 *** MLL should probably read this morning’s subscriber edition because this fight is pretty much ovah…

On the elected school board bill in Springfield, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she's quoting Gen. MacArthur, "I have not yet begun to fight!" It was actually Captain John Paul Jones.

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 14, 2021

…Adding… Whew…

Just a random note: The city hired a budget spokesman in May who resigned eight days later ???? pic.twitter.com/3xjq53Oq3C

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 14, 2021