US recalls two million cars again over airbag defect - Yahoo News

 

Washington (AFP) - US transport authorities have recalled more than two million Toyota, Chrysler and Honda vehicles for a second time over faulty airbags that may inadvertently inflate while the car is running.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Saturday the recall was issued following the unexpected deployment of airbags in about 40 cars that had already been fixed under a previous recall….

The new recall involves Acura MDX, Dodge Viper, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty, Honda Odyssey, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Toyota Avalon models made in the early 2000s…

Read more by clicking on the following:  US recalls two million cars again over airbag defect - Yahoo News

My View: Boone County's wind-farm saga needs a referendum - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Cathy Ward

Boone County Board
Posted Jan. 31, 2015 at 5:00 PM

BELVIDERE – Wind-farm opponents, still seeking to deny Boone County millions of dollars for children, adults, the aged, veterans and numerous taxing bodies, are on the attack again, still hoping to eliminate any wind farms in the county.

But a few days ago, new recruits for wind-energy supporters entered the fray when a Chicago law firm — Schain, Banks, Kenny and Schwartz Ltd., representing wind-energy company  Mainstream — challenged the opponents' latest proposal, saying it violates Boone County and Illinois laws.

Almost immediately, Boone County residents learned that the opponents' latest proposal will be altered.

The text amendment that had been submitted by Boone County residents David Cleverdon and Karen Kenny a few weeks ago would have required that wind towers be 2,640 feet, or 6½ times the height of the tower, from all property lines. That's a distance of about eight football fields. Visualize that. The current setback is 1,000 feet, or three football fields.

The Boone County Zoning Board of Appeals, set to review the Cleverdon/Kenny proposal last Tuesday, dropped the plan from the agenda shortly after Schain, Banks submitted the four-page objections.

ZBA officials said Tuesday that the wind-farm opponents' newest, altered plan would be considered Feb. 26.

This decadelong debate frustrates thousands of Boone County residents and taxing bodies who keep trying to stretch growing financial needs, even though there's a lack of almost any business or industry or residential growth in the county.

Even more frustrating to Boone County residents is the fact that board Chairman Bob Walberg has stacked all planning committees and planning boards with wind-farm opponents and wants to divorce the county from the Belvidere/Boone Planning staff. The staff has refused to support these arbitrary and capricious setbacks.

I believe it's time for all Boone County residents to have a chance to voice their opinions of this highly debatable issue, which sadly, will divide us for generations. We need a countywide referendum to give all our people, the silent majority, a voice, not just the small group that bullies, slanders and chastises those who support green, renewable energy.

This small minority says wind-farms threaten the health and safety of our people, and yet all of us have seen wind farms all over the world. People happily live under them, go to school right next to them, cows graze under them, crops grow strongly under them, and people go to work under them every single day.

What's more, once this multimillion-dollar investment in the county is finally approved, the additional money will turn over dozens of times to more sales for restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, car dealers, apple orchards, doctors and dentists, airports, banks and retail stores.

No one would force landowners to have a wind farm on their property if they did not want one. Under the current ordinance, it would be at least three-football fields from any property.

In the last election, winning County Board candidates said they support property rights. I was delighted to hear that. I do, too. I hope that means they support property rights for all our residents and taxpayers, not just those opposed. We'll see.

Not a week goes by that one of our taxpayers doesn't ask me how the wind farms are coming. It's time to give the silent majority a chance to speak out.

My View: Boone County's wind-farm saga needs a referendum - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's arguments for reform don't all add up - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

• By Sarah Burnett, Carla K. Johnson and Nick Swedberg
  The Associated Press
  Posted Feb. 1, 2015 at 8:54 PM

  CHICAGO — As he prepares to deliver his first State of the State address, Gov. Bruce Rauner has been traveling Illinois previewing what are expected to be his first legislative proposals, saying the state's dire financial situation is cause for cutting Medicaid and public-employee salaries and making Illinois more hospitable to businesses.

  The speeches, given mostly to college audiences, have had the feel of university lectures complete with PowerPoint slides and a slew of statistics.

  The Associated Press reviewed some of the facts the Winnetka Republican is using to make his case for change in Springfield. Some were spot on, others lacked context or weren't accompanied by other important information.

  No one disputes what Rauner says is his central claim: That Illinois is in deep financial trouble facing a more than $9 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year by some estimations and dramatic action is needed to fix it.

  Here's a look at some of what Rauner has been saying as he prepares for Wednesday's address:

  Medicaid Rauner said Medicaid spending is "booming" and "unsustainable." He showed a slide comparing a recent three-year rise in Medicaid spending to relatively flat Illinois population growth.

  "Just raising taxes to try to fix that? No chance," he said.

  The slide leaves out important facts.

  First, Washington paid for most of that increase. To improve access for the poor, the nation's new health law expanded Medicaid eligibility and increased rates for primary-care doctors treating low-income patients. The federal government paid the entire cost of covering more than 536,000 Illinois adults who previously had no insurance and wound up as charity care cases when they got sick.

  Second, Illinois spends less per Medicaid enrollee than the national average and less per enrollee than any of its neighboring states. In 2011, the most recent year available, Illinois ranked 47th in Medicaid spending per enrollee, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. California, Alabama, Georgia and Nevada spent less.

  Rauner spokesman Lance Trover said Rauner's point was to highlight that job growth hasn't kept up with spending pressures.

  "It's not a sustainable trend line regardless of the amount of federal dollars," Trover said.

  State salariesRauner said state employee salaries are about 22 percent more than worker salaries in the private sector, and that the average salary for Illinois government employees is third-highest in the country. He noted the other states with the highest average salaries were New Jersey, California and Rhode Island what he called the "most bankrupt states in America."

  "It's no coincidence," Rauner said.

  Rauner cited a 2012 study from the Pew Research Center, a think tank that used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the bureau advises against comparing its numbers for public and private sector pay because it didn't consider education and other demographic factors.

  Page 2 of 2 - A 2013 University of Illinois study did look at salarrates employers pay have fallen significantly. Rauner says he wants to go further. ies of private and public employees with comparable backgrounds. It found that "working in state and local government in Illinois is strongly associated with incomes 13.5 percent less on average than in the private sector."

  Trover notes that the university study examined state and local workers not state workers on their own, which could skew numbers.

  Rauner's claim about the average government employee salary being the third-highest checks out, with the average Illinois state worker making $63,669 in 2012, according to Pew.

  Workers' compensationThe cost of workers' compensation insurance is one of the main complaints Rauner said he's heard from Illinois business owners, noting the state ranks 7th for the highest cost per $100 of salary. Rauner said that's preventing businesses from creating jobs and in some cases leading them to leave Illinois.

  The governor is correct about Illinois' rates, according to the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, which compiles rates for all 50 states every two years.

  John Goetz, the owner of R.D. Lawrence Construction Co. in Springfield, told AP the costs are "a killer for new jobs."

  Lawmakers approved changes to the law in 2011 that were designed to decrease costs, and the state Department of Insurance says the

• PensionsRauner says state employees' pension benefits are too generous, among his many criticisms of Illinois' massively underfunded system.

  He cites a "sample state worker" with a career average salary of about $39,000. That worker will chip in $40,539 to their own pension over a 26-year career, but will receive $821,588 in total benefits over 20 years of retirement, Rauner said. He called that imbalance "a time bomb for taxpayers and the economy."

  But Rauner leaves out a critical point, despite being a former private equity investor who boasts of success in investing pension funds for Illinois teachers and firefighters: The state also contributes to the pension systems (though he accurately notes that for many years legislators didn't make the payment). Those combined funds are invested, and the returns are used to help pay for benefits.

  The State Employee Retirement Systems' 2014 annual report states that in the past five years, the fund's investments have returned an average of 12.3 percent a year.

  Trover says "investment returns don't negate the financial burden placed on the state."

• By Sarah Burnett, Carla K. Johnson and Nick Swedberg
  The Associated Press

  Rockford Register Star

  By Sarah Burnett, Carla K. Johnson and Nick Swedberg
  The Associated Press

  Posted Feb. 1, 2015 at 8:54 PM

• More

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's arguments for reform don't all add up - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

U.S. Taking a Fresh Look at Arming Ukraine’s Forces, Officials Say - NYTimes.com

 

Secretary of State John Kerry, who plans to visit Kiev on Thursday, is open to new discussions about providing lethal assistance, as is Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is leaving his post soon, backs sending defensive weapons to the Ukrainian forces.

2015

In recent months, Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, has resisted proposals to provide lethal assistance, several officials said. But one official who is familiar with her views insisted that Ms. Rice was now prepared to reconsider the issue.

But the failure of economic sanctions to dissuade Russia from sending heavy weapons and military personnel to eastern Ukraine is pushing the issue of defensive weapons back into discussion.

“Although our focus remains on pursuing a solution through diplomatic means, we are always evaluating other options that will help create space for a negotiated solution to the crisis,” said Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

Fueling the broader debate over policy is an independent report to be issued Monday by eight former senior American officials, who urge the United States to send $3 billion in defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine, including anti-armor missiles, reconnaissance drones, armored Humvees and radars that can determine the location of enemy rocket and artillery fire.

Michèle A. Flournoy, a former senior Pentagon official who was among those considered to replace Mr. Hagel as defense secretary, joined in preparing the report. Others include James G. Stavridis, a retired admiral who served as the top NATO military commander, and Ivo Daalder, the ambassador to NATO during Mr. Obama’s first term.

 

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