It’s all about Wind Turbines—BCJ’s take on county primary

 

Here is the editorial from March 11, 2016, Boone County Journal

 

Above is from:  http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2016/Boone-County-News-03-11-16.pdf#page=1

The truth regarding Mr. Towns’ 2012 car accident ?

 

William Villont via FACEBOOK

17 mins ·

PLEASE READ AND SHARE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WITH EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW CONCERNING THE RACE FOR STATES ATTORNEY. PLEASE HELP US TELL THE TRUTH AND STOP THESE VICIOUS ATTEMPTS TO ALTER YOUR VOTE. ALSO WATCH FOR MY COMMENT AT THE END OF THIS LETTER:
Please share this response to all you can. Thank you.

Many of you have received a disturbing and false letter from my opponent’s supporter, Attorney David Towns. This type of attack typically occurs last minute so as to not allow me the time to properly respond. I would like to respond now with the truth.
The truth is that this was a tragic accident. Mr. Towns, while leaving the VFW, walked out in front of a moving vehicle. It was dark out. It was raining. He crossed well beyond the crosswalk on Appleton which could have alerted drivers to his crossing the road.
A complete investigation was done. A video actually captured the incident. An accident reconstruction was performed. All of this revealed that the driver was traveling 25 mph in a 35 mph zone. A white SUV was immediately in front of her, blocking her view of Mr. Towns’ crossing the road. After Mr. Towns walked out in front of her vehicle, the driver immediately pulled over, hysterical over what had happened. She cooperated fully with the investigation. She was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs of any kind. She did not cause this accident.
She was charged with not having a license and not having insurance. Belvidere Police Department did not seek
further charges because there were no further charges to be filed against the driver.
Throughout the letter, my opponent’s supporter used the term “Illegal Alien.” This is an obvious attempt to invoke prejudice and hate to gain votes. How is her status relevant? I do not even know what her status is, and they certainly do not either! There are no charges for me to file solely upon a person’s legal status. That is a federal issue.
Mr. Towns is a local criminal defense attorney who was the campaign manager of my former opponent and is working on my current opponent’s campaign. This is yet another attempt to garner votes from a tragic accident.

It is time we all grow up and quit this type of political hypocrisy in Boone County. We have never been a county of dirty politics so let's not start now. I know I support Michelle Courier and you have every right to support your own choice, but is it really necessary to sling mud? Also every attorney I have known in my career as a police officer and beyond had to take an oath to represent their client regardless of public and or personal feelings. I have known of real criminals, (and I am not saying this is a criminal case) have been set free or had reduced sentences contrary to popular opinions. It is still going on today and will continue to go on even if Ms. Smith gets elected. She will also have to make tough calls that will ultimately make people hate her. Let's stop the foolishness and just vote for who you think is best suited for the job. I personally believe Michelle Courier has a far better proactive approach to stopping crime before it occurs rather than just prosecuting AFTER the fact. Please do not be fooled into thinking Michelle is NOT doing her job.

William Villont

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Here is the ad in question

Letter: Michelle Courier will work for all of Boone County

• Letter: Michelle Courier will work for all of Boone County

 

 

• Rockford Register Star

   

• Posted Mar. 9, 2016 at 6:01 PM

  This letter is in support of Michelle Courier for state’s attorney in Boone County. Michelle Courier has done a great job as state’s attorney for all the people in Boone County regarding crime, DUIs, gang-related problems and advice to the county board and general public. Her office has an open door policy. You can always go into her office and get a legal opinion.

  Michelle Courier serves everyone with the same courtesy and respect, whether they are a Democrat, Republican or Independent. Her respect for all different nationalities is beyond reproach. This may be the reason that some good old boys in her party don’t get the preferential treatment that they enjoyed with the prior administration and have decided to promote a candidate from that prior administration to run against her.

  Do not allow the good old boys to fool you. It is not about Michelle’s record as state’s attorney — it is about who can control and receive that preferential treatment they feel they deserve over the rest of the citizens of Boone County.

  So please, get out and vote for Michelle Courier to continue to do the job that she has proven can be done well by representing everyone.

  We all need Michelle Courier to keep the respectability in this office that we have enjoyed for the past seven years.

  A vote for Michelle Courier is a vote for an elected position that has a proven record of government working for all the people in Boone County — the way it was designed to work.

  — Edward Sherman, Belvidere

  • Letter: Michelle Courier is professional, experienced

   

   

  • Rockford Register Star

  • Posted Mar. 9, 2016 at 7:01 PM

    The state’s attorney plays a vital role in our community beyond putting criminals away. The state’s attorney is the attorney for the county and all its officials.

    As your Boone County clerk, I myself have a wide variety of duties, from being the clerk for the county board and the keeper of all the county records, to being the chief election officer. In carrying out my responsibilities, I have needed and relied upon the sound advice of our state’s attorney.

    Michelle is always willing to help and has provided me with well-researched opinions that have helped me carry out my duties over the years. I have also seen Michelle in action at county board meetings. She is always well-prepared and has displayed the patient professionalism we need at county board meetings.

    In Michelle, we have a state’s attorney who has the experience and knowledge necessary to carry out the tremendous duties and responsibilities of the state’s attorney’s office.

    Please vote Republican and re-elect Michelle Courier as our state’s attorney on March 15.

    — Mary Steurer, Boone County clerk

• Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20160309/letter-michelle-courier-is-professional-experienced?utm_source=newsletter-20160310&utm_medium=email&utm_term=view_as_webpage&utm_campaign=newsletter

Most Americans Disagree With Their Congressional Representative On Climate Change

 

Climate

Most Americans Disagree With Their Congressional Representative On Climate Change

by Kristen Ellingboe - Guest Contributor & Ryan Koronowski Mar 8, 2016 9:56 am

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos

 

According to new research from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, more than six in ten Americans are represented by someone in Congress who denies the reality of climate change.

Following the second straight year that earned the title of hottest year on record, 59 percent of the Republican House caucus and 70 percent of Republicans in the Senate deny the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and humans are the main cause. There are 182 climate deniers in the 114th Congress in 2016 — 144 in the House and 38 in the Senate. According to the U.S. Census, that means 202,803,591 people are represented by a climate denier in Congress.

The record of denial, combined with data on campaign contributions and climate-influenced natural disaster declarations, is presented in a spiffy new map, embedded above. Click on a state to unveil more information. Data nerds will be happy to find the “See the data” link in the bottom left, where all the information can be viewed all in one place.

It has been a year since this research was last conducted, and since then 14 House members have revealed themselves to be climate deniers from their public statements. The number stayed the same in the Senate, though there was an exchange. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) took herself off the list last October when she said “I believe that it is a real issue, that obviously man-made activity is contributing to carbon dioxide emissions and that we should be of course working on solutions that I hope are common-sense solutions.” Ayotte swapped her place with Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), who said that while “there always has been [climate change], there always will be,” the human contribution to that change is “up for debate.”

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos

The general public is way ahead of Congress — a recent poll found that 76 percent of Americans said they believed global climate change is occurring, including 59 percent of Republicans. And 67 percent support President Obama’s plan to regulate power plants to cut carbon emissions.

As climate change and the policy response it requires become more of an issue in the national discourse, more senators and representatives have spoken about it, revealing that climate denial has shifted slightly in tone. There are still over four dozen lawmakers who refuse to believe that the planet is warming based on their public statements. Over the last year and a half, some politicians have attempted to dodge the overwhelming consensus of the world’s climate scientists by saying “I’m not a scientist.” Recently, even more have acknowledged that climate change may be happening, but they question humanity’s role in it, before pivoting to economic and policy disputes over the solution. The world’s scientists have been certain for some time that human activity is the dominant cause of the global warming observed over the last half century.

Climate deniers have received $73,294,380 from dirty energy companies

Climate deniers have received $73,294,380 from dirty energy companies in the coal, oil, and gas industries, according to CAPAF’s research. That is a huge jump from the over $63 million deniers received as of the beginning of 2015. A quarter of that ten million dollar increase comes from the new names on the list, while the rest comes from increased fundraising totals from known deniers. In general, the average career dirty energy contribution per Senate denier was $889,101, compared to $207,272 for those who had not publicly revealed themselves to be deniers. The average House contribution was $274,365 per denier, and $92,000 for non-deniers. In total, House deniers pulled in $39,508,554 in dirty energy money, while deniers in the Senate pulled in $33,785,826.

What defined a denier? The researchers classified any lawmaker who has questioned or denied the scientific consensus behind human-caused climate change, individuals who answered climate questions with the “I’m not a scientist” dodge, those who claimed the climate is always changing, and individuals who questioned the extent to which human beings contribute to global climate change, as deniers.

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos

All of the deniers are Republicans, including party leadership, which makes the party very lonely on the world stage when it comes to the scientific reality of climate change.

Sondre Båtstrand, a researcher at Norway’s University of Bergen, published a paper in the journal Politics and Policy which found that the U.S. Republican party “is an anomaly in denying anthropogenic climate change” — the GOP is the only conservative party in the world which denies the reality of climate change. The 2012 Republican party platform takes a swipe at climate scientists, questioning the “causes and long-range effects of a phenomenon” that is “uncertain” and saying “we must restore scientific integrity to our public research institutions and remove political incentives from publicly funded research.” Båtstrand identifies three factors to explain this denial: the profligate political spending of the fossil fuel industry, a commitment to free-market ideology, and the intense political polarization which punishes compromise-minded moderate party members.

That denial and opposition manifests regularly in Congress, as last month over 200 lawmakers signed onto a court brief opposing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Late last year, the House passed two resolutions attempting to kill the plan, which would regulate carbon emissions from power plants, as required by the Clean Air Act. The measures passed mostly, but not entirely, along party lines, though fueled largely by the votes of climate deniers. A similar thing happened in the Senate the prior month, and President Obama promptly vetoed both resolutions. This congressional activity happened in the face of polls showing Republican support for the carbon regulations in key states, and praise from hundreds of local chambers of commerce.

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos

Highlighting the current and future threats posed by denying the existence of human-caused climate change and blocking any action to fight it, CAPAF’s research also includes data on the number of natural disasters declared in each state over the last five years. The national total reached 577 from 2011-2015.

To accurately total the number of climate-related disasters, the researchers gathered data for federally declared disasters from FEMA in February 2016. This data included all official FEMA Disaster Declarations, beginning with the first disaster declaration in 1953 and featured all three disaster declaration types: major disaster, emergency, and fire management assistance. They looked at all disasters declared between 2011 and 2015. In order to narrow their list to include only climate-related natural disasters, they excluded disasters caused by: terrorism, explosions, fires caused by explosions, earthquakes, chemical spills, tsunamis, bridge collapses, and volcanoes.

They included the following types of incidents: coastal storms, drought, flooding, freezing, hurricanes, mudslides (from flooding), severe ice storms, severe storms, snow, tornadoes, typhoons, and wildfires. They included major disaster declarations, emergency declarations, and fire management assistance declarations.

“Climate deniers flout the universities, local elected officials, and employers in their own home states who understand the dangers of climate change, as well as the voters across the country who call on us to take responsible action to protect their communities,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). “Members of Congress should be accountable to their constituents, not to a fossil fuel industry that uses the threat of unlimited campaign spending to command their silence.”

Credit to Dylan Petrohilos and Jonathon Padron for the new map and Molly Cain and Fionn Adamian for contributing research.

Above is from:  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/07/3757435/climate-denier-caucus-114th-new-research/

Election 2016: Poplar Grover residents asked to pay more taxes for ambulance services

 

•    ...      

• Election 2016: Poplar Grover residents asked to pay more taxes for ambulance services

 

• By Susan Vela
  Staff writer

• Posted Mar. 9, 2016 at 8:27 PM
  Updated at 11:20 PM

  POPLAR GROVE — Community members gathered at Village Hall this evening to learn more about a proposed 0.05 percent property tax increase that would finance ambulance services for the North Boone Fire Protection District.

  The district works to protect about 13,500 people in Poplar Grove, Manchester and Caledonia townships. If voters approve the tax, the district would purchase a second — and perhaps a third — ambulance, and it would have legal status needed for the Boone County 9-1-1 Center to start dispatching its ambulance crews for patient care.

  The district’s ambulance crews can only treat firefighters, and it's a rare occasion that they’re injured. At least half of the 150 annual runs for the district’s volunteer firefighters involve injured patients, but they cannot treat them. Capron Rescue Squad's ambulance crews handle injuries.

  "The money is not the issue," Heath Morrall, secretary of the district’s board of trustees, told a crowd of about 60. "It's the legal issue."

  If approved, owners of $100,000 home would pay approximately $16.67 a year in additional property taxes to generate $100,000 a year for ambulance services. The district budgets about $700,000 a year for fire protection services.

  North Boone officials will host another session at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Candlewick Lake Recreation Center, 1812 Candlewick Drive.

  Gordon Adams has protested getting “double taxed” for the same services.

  Morrall responded tonight that the district and its members would have about a year to remove the Capron tax. But first, voters have to approve North Boone’s ambulance tax.

  “It’s about the services, not about the money,” said Nancy Jackie Hoffman, a Poplar Grove resident. “It’s well worth it.”

  She needed ambulance service about two years ago for her mother. Capron’s ambulances took about 20 minutes, more than double the time she considered necessary.

  Of 62 calls last month, North Boone Captain Tim Davis said the district's ambulance was closer to the incident than Capron’s three ambulances, which are based out of Capron, Poplar Grove and Candlewick Lake.

  “That tells you right there,” he said.

  Capron has sued North Boone, asking a 17th Judicial Circuit Court judge to remove the tax question from the ballot. While that request failed, the complaint also asked the judge to prohibit North Boone from providing ambulance service. A hearing is set for April 22.

  “We feel that they didn’t follow proper procedures according to the state statute,” said Owen Costanza, who sits on Capron Rescue Squad and Boone County 9-1-1 Center boards. “They want the entire district back. That’s pretty clear.”

• Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160309/election-2016-poplar-grover-residents-asked-to-pay-more-taxes-for-ambulance-services/?Start=2

Rogue Representative Dunkin Fights for Political Life

 

Election 2016

Rogue Representative Dunkin Fights for Political Life

Paris Schutz | March 9, 2016 7:09 pm

 

It's a simple state legislative primary, but observers view it as ground zero in the standoff between Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan.

If one side wins, the thinking goes, Rauner could turn the tide of support for some of his agenda. If the other side wins, it cements the speaker's dominance over Illinois politics for at least the next two years.

Money and mud flying

Incumbent State Rep. Ken Dunkin says Madigan is out to get him.

“The speaker has thrown all that he can, to derail me [for] not being on his program,” Dunkin said.

Dunkin's opponent is Juliana Stratton, who is the director of the Center for Public Safety and Justice at UIC. She says the race is a referendum on Dunkin's record.

“I haven’t heard anybody tell me that, ‘You know what, I really want to support you because this is about a proxy war,’” said Stratton. “What I hear them saying to me is that they are looking for representation in Springfield and they’re looking for somebody who’s going to put their interests at the forefront.”

Stratton's campaign has accused the Dunkin campaign of paying for votes, a charge Dunkin calls ridiculous. The Cook County State's Attorney’s office says it is looking into the allegations.

Both candidates are fighting to represent the diverse and elongated fifth state legislative district, which stretches from the Near North Side through Downtown to South Shore.

Dunkin drew the ire of Madigan and Democrats when his absence for a labor vote dealt Rauner a major victory and Madigan a major defeat. Dunkin then publicly blasted the speaker and sided with Rauner on a host of other issues.

One voter told us that doesn't play well in the community.

“It does shock the community because Dunkin is supposed to be for the community, so I don’t think that’d be right at all,” said Joseph Williams.

But Dunkin says a vote for his opponent is a vote to cement Madigan's power for years to come.

“My colleagues want to have their voices respected; they want to have legislation voted on. They really don’t want to be under the thumb – under the boot – of Mike Madigan for another 45 years,” Dunkin said.

Millions of dollars have already been spent in this race, some to support ads like this one below.

Stratton is getting most of her money from unions. Dunkin, from the other side of the aisle.

A PAC founded by Rauner ally and conservative talk show host Dan Proft has spent $800,000 to support Dunkin.

Earlier this week, Stratton secured a surprising endorsement from the President of the United States.

Dunkin joked that it was a sign of just how powerful the speaker is.

“I would love for the president to talk with Governor Rauner, with Speaker Madigan and Cullerton and Durkin and Sen. Radogno and help us craft a budget immediately,” he said.

Early voting has been steady in the district as primary election day rolls closer

Above is from:  http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2016/03/09/rogue-representative-dunkin-fights-political-life