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Environmental News and Notes | April 2022

Illinois trails goal to cut damage to the Gulf Gulf of Mexico “dead zones” resulting from algae blooms sapping up oxygen are so deadly, fish either flee or die, and Illinois — a huge contributor to the chemical runoffs flowing…

Placing bets as easy as it gets

Par-a-dice

The Los Angeles Rams scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, but holder Johnny Hekker bobbled the snap on the extra point so Matt Gay couldn’t kick the football. No big deal, right? Nobody noticed, eh?…

The long reign of ‘The Velvet Hammer’

Velvet Hammer

From The House that Madigan Built: The Record Run of Illinois’ Velvet Hammer by Ray Long. Copyright 2022 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with permission of the University of Illinois Press. What does the…

County combining Health Dept. and Coroner

On January 13, The Peoria County Board voted 16-2 in favor of rebuilding the current Peoria City/County Health Department instead of remodeling the current location at 2125 N. Sheridan Rd. Included in the vote was to also incorporate the Sustainability…

Peoria city redistricting proceeding

At press time, the Peoria City Council is expected to vote Feb. 22 on a redistricting map after a Feb. 8 public hearing that discussed so-called Version 2.3. As reported in the February Community Word, out Jan. 26, the 2020…

Environmental News and Notes

A look at issues of concern involving our planet. Illinois gas plants could offset Clean Energy’s gains Weeks after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, his administration tentatively OK’d a new source of heat-trapping pollution: a new…

What we see in the GOP

LaHood-Kinzinger

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Oct. 29 announced he would not seek reelection to Congress this year, and on Jan. 13, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood and all candidates could start circulating petitions for Illinois’ June 28 primaries. But almost anything…

Can Darin LaHood continue to compromise his own constituency?

By SHELLEY EPSTEIN In the adjacent article, my old friend Jim Nowlan outlines a political path forward for Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Since Illinois Democrats’ unconscionable and immoral gerrymandering lumped Kinzinger and Darin LaHood in the same conservative and Trumpy district,…

Can Adam Kinzinger escape the squeeze from his own party?

By JIM NOWLAN What is Adam Kinzinger going to do? “What should he do?” friends ask me. His options aren’t good, yet I have a path forward for the 43-year-old Republican. First, some background. Kinzinger is a typically conservative, six-term…