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* Errors fueled Bush decision to cancel FutureGen: GAO

Congressional auditors found significant flaws in the Bush administration’s controversial decision to kill the FutureGen project last year but stopped short of saying it was politically motivated by the selection of downstate Mattoon over two Texas sites.

The Department of Energy compared apples and oranges when it concluded that the costs for the $1.8 billion clean coal power plant had doubled since the project’s inception, according to a long-awaited report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) obtained by ChicagoBusiness.com.

* Sox, Cubs not cutting prices

* $18 for Art Institute?

Less than three years ago, entry was free

* ‘Monster train’ fears rising in suburbs

* Chicago Suburbs Continue Fight Against Increased Train Traffic

* Nuclear waste has no place to go

In a pool of water just a football field away from Lake Michigan, about 1,000 tons of highly radioactive fuel from the scuttled Zion Nuclear Power Station is waiting for someplace else to spend a few thousand years.

The wait just got longer.

* Too much space for Ch. 2

Station needs to cut costs, so it’s trying to sublease some Block 37 space, including street-level studio

* Ill. treasurer wants to lump pension funds

* Madigan shares foreclosure resources

* Economy’s retreat trapping jobless vets

* Vets need help fighting war in their heads

* Illinois gets ‘D’ for mental health care system

* Mental Health Patients Crusade for Clinics

* NAMI Grading the States Press Release

* Chicago settles reverse discrimination lawsuit

After years of legal wrangling, 75 white firefighters will share a $6 million settlement reached with the city of Chicago in a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed over a 1986 lieutenants’ exam.

* Schock Testifies Before Joint Committee

* The Illinois Congressional Pork Report

* Chicago school is ready for teacher performance pay

posted by Mike Murray
Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 8:06 am

Comments

Public sector performance pay is an idea that sounds good, but having had some experience with it, I’m not in favor. It focuses attention on short term, measurable goals. That means anything we can’t measure no longer counts. And those Aha! moments you have about something a teacher did 20 years ago don’t count either. There’s also all the overhead associated with measuring and rating performance, the need to adjudicate all the disagreements over it, and the loss of teamwork as colleagues become competitors. That’s a lot of known costs for an approach of unknown benefit, and that’s before you even consider any twists that may come out of the collective bargaining process. The best approach is to pay all teachers adequately, give them the resources they need, improve ongoing training, and most importantly, make it easier to fire the bad ones.

Comment by Excessively rabid Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 8:33 am
I can understand why mental health clinic patients might find it difficult to travel further for care given that depression and other mental disorders can make changes and even minor obstacles seem like major obstacles.

But instead of retaining and staffing expensive clinics which are underutilized, why not step up the use of communication technology such as video conferencing. If patients could dial up and see
their clinician on the screen, that could save everybody time and money, perhaps even making it possible to increase the number of sessions patients could practically receive. And the technology (quality of picture and so on) is rapidly improving.

Alas, this is Chicago Machine Illinois, where retaining jobs for underqualified political supporters is all-important..whether at the state or federal level. Fewer clinics means fewer janitorial and other jobs at $80k a year. And it means that state employees can’t zip around the state daily making money off their per diem and travel allowance while doing absolutely nothing of consequence.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 8:34 am
I have a question…did the “monster trains” breathe fire, flap their dragon wings and pick up the little SUV’s, hurling them around like King Kong?

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 8:34 am
Very disappointing to see Obama cave to Reid on Yucca Mountain. You’re president now, not a legislator, so you can’t have a problem with a solution without proposing another solution.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:05 am
===cave to Reid on Yucca Mountain===

Actually, it was a campaign promise. Try not to use DC talking points here, please. And do a simple Google search before you post.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:08 am
Okay, you got me on the campaign promise. Not a DC talking point — that’s a lot of cash to spend and then walk away with no alternative but the status quo.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:20 am
Regarding the nuclear waste issue, it is too bad that a better way to handle the nuclear power situation was not utilized when the waste issue began to rear its’ ugly head. If we were to use breeder reactors then the waste can be recycled to produce yet more fuel that can then be recycled again and again until the waste has a radioactive half life measured in hundreds of years rather than tens of thousands. Security in this area is sufficient to prevent the theft of the fuel. Safety in nuclear power plants rivals all other forms of electric power generation regardless of what the MSM and others claim. This is a true “no emissions” way of generating electric power. The Yucca storage issue may not be as bad as Reid claims it is but we are talking about storing waste for tens of thousands of years. This exceeds human history in multiples! Either utilize the available technology to reduce the half life of the waste or end the use of nuclear energy.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:38 am
I love how the moment someone criticizes those Illinois democrats who have been so great for our state lately it’s a washington talking point. No serious Illinoisan wants nuclear waste here in our backyard. The Senate Majority Leader however who has spent his life working to stop this and who represents a major primary state did not want this. Calling the White House and Senator Durbin out on this is more than fair considering all the Bush bashing that took place.

Comment by Shore Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:49 am
also wordslinger the pun -cave to reid on the mountain-was good.

Comment by Shore Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:52 am
===f we were to use breeder reactors===

At the time our state’s nuke plants were built, breeder reactors were especially dangerous.

Also, Shore, bite me.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 10:54 am
So Obama has effectively killed Yucca Mountain, and with it the nuclear power industry (at least dealt it a crippling blow). In another stump speech, he promised to bankrupt fossil fuel producers. Does he really think foreign-built wind turbines and solar panels can supply all of our energy needs?

Comment by BehindTheScenes Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 11:07 am
Rich,

The danger of breeder reactors, if I remember correctly, was regarding the fact that the byproduct of the reaction was a fissionable product that could be used to make an A bomb. This supposedly created a security risk regarding possible stolen material being made into bombs. Even if the breeder reactor itself was more dangerous then, it is not so now It is not too late to start the breeder reactor program.

BTW, I wonder how long the “swimming pool” at Zion will last? 10 thousand years? Does Obama have any suggestions about that?

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 12:18 pm
Nuke technology has advanced. Samall nuke plants using bright pebbles are being built en masse in China, cheaper and quicker. The biggest problem in new builts here is the paperwork. and the hoops to be jumped through.

We are missing the boat here and the utility user is going to pay for it.

Comment by Truthful James Wednesday, Mar 11, 09 @ 3:00 pm