Fears mount over giant carp reaching Great Lakes

 

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and five environmental groups threatened on Wednesday to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to force it to temporarily shut three shipping locks near Chicago because of evidence that Asian carp may have breached the electrical barrier that is supposed to hold them back from the lakes.

Scientists say more than 180 invasive species have entered the Great Lakes, multiplying rapidly and feeding on native species or competing with them for food. Millions

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Fears mount over giant carp reaching Great Lakes

Gitmo poetry event at McHenry County College postponed

Even before the scheduled wake there was controversy about this event—read the comments.

A Mc­Henry County College official said a student group postponed an event featuring poetry by Guantanamo detainees so that the college could arrange for more staffing.

The Student Peace Action Network had planned to have a law professor who worked on unlawful detainment actions for 17 Guantanamo detainees speak at 7 p.m. Thursday. That is the same evening as a wake that has been set for Sgt. Jason McLeod, the Crystal Lake soldier who was killed last week in Afghanistan.

Click on the following for more details:   Northwest Herald | Gitmo poetry event at MCC postponed

Law professor writes a tutorial on walking away [from your mortgage]

With Boone County real estate values down 10%, 20% or more—is this what will happen with many area home mortgages?

new academic paper by Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis."

as long as you stay current with other creditors, "one can have a good credit rating again - meaning above 660 - within two years after a foreclosure."

default "strategically:" buy all the major items you'll need for the next couple of years - a new car, even a new house - just before you pull the plug on your current mortgage lender.

Click on the following for more details: Daily Herald | Law professor writes a tutorial on walking away

The entire, original paper is available at:  http://api.ning.com/files/CdXtKqMgxHL4M8EYE8FhdO8KVYCEx0nMLUYAjpPIbVo_/walking_away_paper.pdf

Salesman Says McHenry County Video Poker is small potatoes

Mr. Mc Swain canvassed 44 businesses in hopes of renting them video slot machines whenever the Illinois Gaming Board finally comes up with rules to allow them.  He said his best guess is that only about 25 of them would even consider putting in the $12,000 to $20,000 gambling machines.

Even those businesses that might put in the machines probably wouldn't install the full five allowable.  "You'd probably want at least two," said McSwain, "so there'd be no waiting but a lot of these places just don't have room for much more."

Please read the entire article by clicking on:  http://www.firstelectricnewspaper.com/2009/12/salesman-says-county-video-gaming-would.html

Guest Column Dan Kenney: Rep. Manzullo, we need to hear more than ‘I’m sorry’ | The Rock River Times

I have seen so little comment on Mr. Manzullo’s insensitive comments in the Rockford area—this article is a breath of fresh air. 

isn’t it a sad irony that Mr. Manzullo can refer to the detainees as being driven by a “savage religion,” when those very same individuals have suffered the most savage of interrogation techniques by the hands of our own government while he stood by complicit with his silence?

And maybe you need to hear this poem from one of the “brutal killers” held at Guantanamo:

Death Poem by Jumah al Dossari

Take my blood.

Take my death shroud and

The remnants of my body.

Take photographs of my corpse

at the grave, lonely.

Send them to the world,

To the judges and

To the people of conscience,

Send them to the principled men

and the fair-minded.

Read the entire piece, click on the following:   Guest Column: Rep. Manzullo, we need to hear more than ‘I’m sorry’ | The Rock River Times

Senate healthcare debate Day 2: partisan warfare by amendment

 

sort of partisan warfare by amendment is likely to continue through coming weeks, as the Senate continues work on the bill while majority leader Sen. Harry Reid (D) of Nevada tries to line up a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes.

Senator Reid has even promised Senators they are going to have to work on weekends as he tries to meet his self-imposed deadline of passing a bill by Christmas.

House has already passed its version of the bill. If the Senate does the same, then the two chambers will have to set up a conference committee, consisting of senior members of the House and Senate. And this committee will have the power to mash the two bills together, throwing bits out here, adding bits there, to make them identical. For a big bill such as healthcare reform, this could be the crucial stage

Senate healthcare debate Day 2: partisan warfare by amendment | csmonitor.com

Thomson shouldn't be Illinois GOP's trump card

An opinion article from Chicago Tribune. 

Republicans are handing Democrats a ready-made issue, making the GOP look like they oppose job creation in a community that badly needs help.

recent Gallup Poll found that by 59 percent to 36 percent, Americans believe that Mohammed should be tried in a military court. More important for Republicans, independents favor a military trial by 63 percent to 32 percent.
Illinois Republicans should take their cue from that: Instead of wasting time crabbing about a less than major threat that the Thomson prison decision poses to us, they have a winner in hanging the decision to try the detainees anywhere in the United States around Democratic necks.

Click on the following for more of Mr. Byrne’s opinion:  Thomson shouldn't be Illinois GOP's trump card -- chicagotribune.com

Debate over Gitmo Prisoner Transfer turns Political in Illinois

Update on where our politicians stand on Gitmo.

Durbin will hold a closed-door briefing on the issue with the state's entire congressional delegation, according to the Hill newspaper. Pentagon and Justice Department officials will be in attendance at the meeting, along with Illinois state officials, the Hill reports.

Republican representatives from Illinois maintain the move would be a bad idea. GOP Illinois Reps. Mark Kirk, Aaron Schock, Pete Roskam, Tim Johnson, Mark Kirk, John Shimkus, Judy Biggert and Don Manzullo have introduced legislation to ban funding for the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S., the Hill notes.

Click on the following for more details:  Debate over Gitmo Prisoner Transfer turns Political in Illinois - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Poison to stop carp creeping toward Great Lakes | Crain's Chicago Business

 

the fish toxin rotenone will be spread Wednesday evening near Lockport. Solano says by Thursday the poison should produce 200,000 pounds of fish carcasses, which will be taken to a landfill.

The poisoning is scheduled at the same time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to deactivate an electronic barrier on the canal for maintenance. The barrier was designed to repel the carp by giving them a non-lethal jolt.

Poison to stop carp creeping toward Great Lakes | Crain's Chicago Business

Legalized video gambling still at least a year away, regulators say

it will take at least a year to purchase and set up a centralized computer system to monitor the machines. At the same time, lengthy background checks much be performed on what will likely be thousands of applicants wanting video gambling licenses, said Mark Ostrowski, administrator for the Illinois Gaming Board.

number of communities opting out of video gambling is not large enough yet to impact revenue projections. The state estimates it will rake in anywhere from $288 million to $534 million once video gambling is fully implemented.

Click on the following for more details:  Clout St: Legalized video gambling still at least a year away, regulators say

Dekalb County board to explore remote attendance at meetings

under the Open Meetings Act, if a quorum of members are physically present at a meeting, a majority vote can allow the member-in-question to attend the meeting “by other means,” either a video or audio conference.
The absent member must give advance notice unless “impractical,” and the law doesn’t apply to closed meetings

an official can be allowed to attend remotely if he or she is ill, disabled, has a job conflict, is doing business on behalf of the county or has a family emergency.

Click on the following for more details:  County board to explore remote attendance at meetings | Daily Chronicle

Australians-have-the-worlds-biggest-home

Australia has overtaken the United States, the heartland of the McMansion, to boast the world's largest homes, according to a report by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Click on the following for more details:  study-australians-have-the-worlds-biggest-homes: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Prosecutors ask where money for bail came from in pot case

Great story regarding McHenry County marijuana growing case—the county pays for public defender and the defendant makes bail.

During the bond-reduction hearing, prosecutors argued that Koeckritz was a flight risk, partially because his father owns a large international home-improvement manufacturing company as well as a $16.9 million home in Florida.

Koeckritz’s attorney, Special Public Defender George Kililis, said the money came from Koeckritz’s father. But in the Nov. 23 motion for a hearing, prosecutors assert the money came from the illegal production and distribution of marijuana.

Click on the following for more of the story and readers’ comments:  Northwest Herald | Prosecutors ask where money for bail came from in pot case

Corrupt government: Letter to Editor of Northwest Herald

Read the letter and the seventy-plus comments.

To the Editor:

So the Senate Ethics Committee cited Roland Burris with providing “incorrect, misleading, and incomplete information” on his appointment to the Senate.

Sen. Dick Durbin says the statement “speaks for itself.”  I think it says he fits in with all the other members of Congress, the president, his Cabinet, and members of his administration.  At least he didn’t cheat on his taxes, as far as we know. …..

To read more go to:  Northwest Herald | Corrupt government

Racetrack owners make push for slot machines

Excellent summary of gambling in Illinois.

racetrack officials, including those at Arlington Park, hope to use to finally convince lawmakers to bring 1,200 or more slot machines into each of their facilities, essentially making them casinos. The proposal has been floated countless times before, but has always failed to gain enough support.

lawmakers essentially legalized an unlimited number of slot machines last year when they decided every bar, club, truck stop and liquor-pouring restaurant in Illinois could have five each.

the slot machines at the state's five existing racetracks and one that is currently shuttered could bring in up to $200 million.

Government forecasters told lawmakers Tuesday that the state's smoking ban and the economy have sent revenue losses at the state's nine casinos down 18 percent overall, and about 11 percent at the four suburban casinos in Elgin, Aurora and Joliet.

 

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Racetrack owners make push for slot machines