Boone County government announces board vacancies

Boone County government announces board vacancies

Posted Nov 13, 2018 at 3:42 PM Updated Nov 13, 2018 at 3:42 PM

BELVIDERE — The Boone County government recently announced vacancies on four volunteer boards.

The Boone County Sanitary District has two vacancies, the Boone County Housing Authority has one vacancy, the Capron Rescue Squad has three vacancies and the Boone County Regional Planning Commission has one vacancy.

Interested parties are asked to send a letter and/or resume expressing their interest and qualifications along with their contact information by Nov. 26 to Boone County Board Chairman Karl Johnson, Administration Campus, 1212 Logan Ave., Suite 102, Belvidere, IL 61008.

Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20181113/boone-county-government-announces-board-vacancies

OSHA opens investigation into FPM Heat Treating

OSHA opens investigation in to FPM Heat Treating

• 5:39 pm
• November 12, 2018

CHERRY VALLEY (WREX) — Federal investigators are now looking in to a heat treating facility in Cherry Valley.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation regarding safety concerns at FPM Heat Treating.

The case opened Nov. 1 after OSHA says a referral came in.

Nobody was injured when the facility caught fire in October, but firefighters on scene said it was a high-risk situation. Nearly 30 departments were called in and hundreds of firefighters were on scene.

It is unclear if the investigation is related to the fire.

Calls to OSHA for more details and FPM were not returned to 13 WREX. We will follow this story and keep you updated on any developments.

Audrey Moon

Asst. News Director

Above is from:  https://wrex.com/category/2018/11/12/osha-opens-investigation-in-to-fpm-heat-treating/

How economically viable is Byron Nuclear Plant?

[ Blog ] Union of Concerned Scientists

Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission

What the New UCS Report on Nuclear Plants Means for Illinois

James Gignac, lead Midwest energy analyst | November 8, 2018, 12:01 am EST

This post is a part of a series on The Nuclear Power Dilemma

Today UCS released a new report entitled The Nuclear Power Dilemma that examines the economic viability and performance of most of the 60 nuclear power plants operating in the United States as of July 2018.

The report also analyzes what electric generating resources are likely to replace these nuclear plants if some of them were to abruptly retire from service.

So what did the report find and what does it mean for a state with so much nuclear power like Illinois?

Illinois’ nuclear fleet is in sound financial shape

The economic viability of power plants is typically defined by how much revenue they earn compared to how much it costs to operate them. Our analysis defines “profitable” as making more than $5 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity and “marginally profitable” as making somewhere between $0 (breaking even) and $5 per MWh.

Illinois is host to six nuclear plants (Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, and Quad Cities) that total 11.6 gigawatts (GW) of electric generating capacity, the most nuclear capacity of any state. The plants provided 53 percent of Illinois’ electricity generation in 2017.

Our analysis found that Byron and Dresden—accounting for just over 4 GW combined—fell into the marginally profitable category. The rest of Illinois’ nuclear power plants were determined to be profitable. In the case of the Quad Cities and Clinton facilities, financial support they receive from the Illinois Zero Emission Credit program, established as part of Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) of 2016, pushed the plants up to profitable status. Without this support, Quad Cities and Clinton would have been listed as marginal and unprofitable, respectively.

Of the 30 states with nuclear power plants, 17 states have nuclear capacity that is unprofitable or scheduled to close.
Source: UCS.

Even though our analysis found that all Illinois nuclear plants are currently making money, low natural gas prices are one of the primary factors squeezing the economics of nuclear plants and could pose a long-term threat to the profitability of Illinois plants if prices stay at current levels.

Indeed, low natural gas prices are a major factor in the analysis’ finding that 22 percent of total U.S. nuclear capacity is slated to close or is unprofitable and at risk of closing prior to expiration of their operating licenses, including many plants across the Midwest.

Without new policies, and with continued low natural gas prices, our analysis found that early nuclear plant retirements are likely to be replaced primarily with output from natural gas and coal plants—and that means increased carbon emissions and the wrong way to go for addressing climate change.

Our report recommends that federal and state governments should enact a price on carbon or a low-carbon electricity standard, which would help level the financial playing field for carbon-free power generation like nuclear and renewables. Today these resources must compete with fossil fuel plants who are allowed to spew greenhouse gas pollution into our atmosphere for free—a carbon price or low-carbon electricity standard would help fix that.

The next generation of Illinois clean energy policies

The Clinton Nuclear Generating Station

As mentioned above, Illinois is no stranger to the debate over nuclear plant profitability. In late 2016 Illinois passed FEJA, which created a program to compensate the struggling Clinton and Quad Cities plants for the carbon-free attributes of their power generation.

UCS supported FEJA because it also included measures for significantly increasing investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. But the debate over including the nuclear subsidy and providing electric ratepayers’ money to Exelon, the private corporation who owns those plants, was contentious and difficult to say the least.

The Nuclear Power Dilemma report shows that the Byron and Dresden plants are earning a small profit. And Exelon says the facilities are not at risk of early retirement right now. That’s good news.

Even better news is that the policies enacted in FEJA are spurring new clean energy development and expansion of efficiency programs that save consumers money and reduce emissions.

As these additional resources continue to grow, it’s time to develop the next set of policies to continue the momentum and keep Illinois and the Midwest moving toward a clean energy future. In addition to the carbon policies recommended above, Illinois should adopt stronger measures to accelerate investments in clean energy technologies like wind, solar, energy efficiency, and battery storage. These are exactly the kinds of policy conversations that the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is having right now through its Listen. Lead. Share. initiative.

The severity of the climate crisis demands that we consider all zero carbon energy sources—including nuclear power. But should any of Illinois’ existing nuclear plants be forced into an early retirement, let’s be ready to replace them with clean energy technologies, not dirty coal or gas plants.

Posted in: Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear Power Tags: clean energy, climate-change, nuclear power, The Nuclear Power Dilemma

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James Gignac is lead Midwest energy analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Above is from:  https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/what-the-new-ucs-report-on-nuclear-plants-means-for-illinois

Voting Problems in McHenry County

** UPDATED x1 - Problem found, fixed *** As many as 24,000 votes may be missing in McHenry County

Thursday, Nov 8, 2018

* NW Herald…

More than 116,000 McHenry County residents voted in Tuesday’s midterm election – but unofficial election results showed about 21 percent of them did not pick candidates in statewide races. […]

Issues with the county’s election reporting software may be the culprit, according to McHenry County Clerk Mary McClellan.

“We are looking at election reporting software,” McClellan told the Northwest Herald. “It is not showing all the numbers for some reason.” […]

That’s 20 points lower than the 99 percent of Will County ballots that included a gubernatorial vote. In Kane County, it was 98.6 percent. In Lake County, 98.6 percent. Cook County? 98.3 percent.

In a phone interview Thursday morning, McClellan said the gap isn’t that unusual.

“People just didn’t want to vote for governor,” she said.

Oh, please, that is just not true. The county clerk needs to look at her own vote totals.

That undervote was in way more than just the governor’s race. It’s literally everywhere in McHenry County.

* For instance, go to the clerk’s elections page and you’ll see that only 92,559 out of a total of 116,703 voted in the secretary of state’s race, so that’s about the same undervote as the governor’s race. Same goes for the 92,287 who voted in the attorney general’s race and the 92,427 who voted in the county’s two congressional races.

You can’t tell me that as many as 24,000 voters cast totally blank ballots. Those votes are either missing or the total vote count is way off. I called the clerk and she hasn’t gotten back to me.

It’s even worse down-ballot, by the way. Only 81,533 voted in the sheriff’s race and just 80,503 voted in the county auditor’s race. I can see that drop-off happening between statewide and local, but I cannot possibly see 24,000 completely blank ballots. No way.

[Hat tip: Cal Skinner.]

*** UPDATE *** The county clerk has now fixed the problem. Turns out, the early votes were counted but not tabulated online. As a result, the Democrats have apparently picked up another seat on the county board and Democratic US Rep.-elect Lauren Underwood has narrowly won the county, boosting her final count in the race.

- Posted by Rich Miller

Above is from:  https://capitolfax.com/2018/11/08/as-many-as-24000-votes-may-be-missing-in-mchenry-county/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

U.S. sanctions on Iran—Do they make any sense?

Russia Is Surprise Beneficiary of Iran Oil Ban

3 hrs ago

© ILYA NAYMUSHIN/REUTERSAn early winner from the latest round of Iranian sanctions is emerging: Russia.

The U.S. began enforcing a tough new slate of economic restrictions against Iran on Monday, including a threat to sanction buyers of Iranian crude. That has refineries in Europe and Asia—recent, big buyers of Iran oil—looking for alternative supplies. Russian oil companies have stepped in, stealing customers from Iran. The two countries produce similar grades of crude, making a switch by refiners relatively easy.

But Moscow is also offering Tehran a lifeline for its stranded crude. It says it plans to defy U.S. sanctions and purchase Iranian imports. It’s offering to pay only in the form of barter, and then process the crude for domestic use. That would free up its own oil for more-lucrative crude export markets.

“Russia is playing on all sides,” said Helima Croft, chief commodities strategist at Canadian broker RBC.

Russia counts Iran as a key ally in its widened geopolitical role in post-civil war Syria. It has criticized the new round of U.S. sanctions and says it won’t be bound by them. In recent months, Moscow has repeatedly said it would purchase at least 100,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil, which would provide a welcome buyer for oil that might not find a customer otherwise. Russia is offering to pay for the crude with Russian machinery and food, according to Russia’s Oil Ministry. It’s also promising to invest in the Iranian oil sector as Western companies retreat.

The new, Washington-imposed sanctions take specific aim at Iranian oil exports, that country’s most important economic pillar. U.S. officials want to cork up all 2.2 million barrels a day of Iranian crude-export capacity, threatening buyers with sanctions. Many purchasers, because they use the U.S. banking system, are vulnerable to such sanctions and are already pulling back. Russia is less vulnerable to Washington’s retaliation, since it already is under U.S. sanctions and its economy and financial system are less tied to the U.S. than Western European countries.

Iranian exports had been down some 800,000 barrels a day from before the U.S. announced its new set of sanctions. Oil market watchers expect that to fall sharply now that sanctions are in place.

At the same time it is promising to help Iran, Russia is replacing Tehran on the global oil market. It has boosted its output by almost half a million barrels a day, compared with last year, recently hitting a 30-year production record. Russia, the world’s largest oil producer, pumped 11.41 million barrels a day in October, up 4.3% from the same period last year.

Some of that new crude is being snapped up by former customers of Iran.

That’s especially the case in Europe, where buyers have been abruptly halting Iranian purchase because they tend to be more exposed to the U.S. business and financial systems.

For European refiners, Russian oil is a natural substitute to Iran crude because it tends to be of medium density and relatively high sulfur levels can typically be shipped faster to their plants than other replacement crudes. Italian refiners Eni SpA and Saras SpA, for instance, are tapping more of Russia’s oil, especially its popular Urals grade, to make up for Iranian oil, according to people familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for Eni and Saras didn’t return calls for comment.

The “Urals [grade] will benefit,” Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total SA, told a London energy conference last month.

Total stopped buying Iranian crude in July, the company said. The following month, it bought 217,000 barrels a day of Russian crude for its Le Havre refinery in France, a year-to-date high, according to data from shipping tracker Kpler.

Russia is also replacing Iranian crude for customers outside the European Union. Turkey resumed imports of Russian oil in June after a three-month absence, making up for cuts in Iran oil purchases, according to official statistics. Turkey has vowed to defy U.S. sanctions, too, but many of its companies have deep, international ties and would be vulnerable to U.S. sanctions.

That’s already translating into higher profits for Moscow’s state-run energy companies. On Tuesday, Rosneft reported a three-fold jump in net income to 451 billion rubles ($6.8 billion) for the first nine months of 2018 compared with the same period last year, mostly due to a production boost and higher prices for Urals.

The same replacement effect came about in China, which cut oil imports from Iran by 34% in September year-on year, while Russian sales rose by 7%.

In South Korea, Tehran’s oil sales collapsed in August, falling 85% on an annual basis. Russian shipments rose by 20% the same month, according to South Korean customs.

Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com

Above is from:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/russia-is-surprise-beneficiary-of-iran-oil-ban/ar-BBPrVKG?ocid=spartanntp

Will Evers’ “victory” over Governor Walker hold up to recount?

Wisconsin allows a recount if election result is within 1%;  Will Governor Walker make the request?

Above graphic is from:  https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/wisconsin/

© Getty

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) appeared headed for defeat early Wednesday morning at the hands of Democrat Tony Evers, the state superintendent of public instruction.

Walker’s loss puts an end to a fraught period in Wisconsin, a state long known for go-along, get-along politics. Walker notched a string of wins for conservative causes, victories that gave him a platform for a brief and aborted campaign for president in 2016.

Walker narrowly won three races in that stretch, including a recall election mounted by Democrats and union advocates angered by his move to curtail the power of public sector unions.

Polls showed the state narrowly and bitterly divided, and almost no one did not have an opinion of Walker.

Still, Democrats failed to recruit a top-tier challenger, and many worried that none of the eight candidates who did run would have the firepower to knock off a well-funded opponent, even in a battleground state.

Evers emerged as the runaway winner of the primary, with 42 percent of the vote.

Walker started the general election with about $6 million in the bank. In hopes of closing that gap, the Wisconsin Democratic Party hired a consultant to prepare donors to flood the party’s eventual nominee with cash to help him get on the air.

Since Labor Day, Walker pulled in more than $7.7 million, while Evers raised $6 million. Both the Republican and Democratic governors associations spent freely on behalf of their nominees, a sign of just how important the two parties viewed Wisconsin.

Evers’s win is an important step for Democrats trying to rebuild their broken Blue Wall, the 18 states and the District of Columbia that voted for Democratic presidential nominees in six successive elections. That wall fell in 2016, when President Trump won states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania on the strength of huge support from blue collar white voters.

Above is from:  https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/414904-dem-defeats-scott-walker-in-wisconsin-governors-race?userid=217221

Sosnowski works to lower the wages of Illinois’ skilled tradespeople

Opinion

Letter: Rep Sosnowski works to lower the wages of Illinois’ skilled tradespeople

Posted Sep 28, 2018 at 6:45 PM Updated Sep 28, 2018 at 6:45 PM

In a letter read to the Boone County Board last week, Representative Joe Sosnowski, IL-69th District, detailed the ways he has tried and failed to weaken or end Illinois’ Prevailing Wage law. In short, the law states when biding to be the contractor/subcontractor on a public works project you must pay skilled workers the wage most common in the area of the project as set by the state. Contractors must keep proof they’ve done so or pay a financial penalty.

He points to HB 3675 with pride as an example of his efforts. Amongst a laundry list of items in the bill is one item where building schools would be exempt from prevailing wage laws. Generally, tradespeople who are willing to work for less than the prevailing wage are less skilled or experienced. Tradespeople who are less experienced make more mistakes. Who wants their child in a school built by less-skilled workers?

Rather than paying a wage that increases buying power and increases taxes paid, Rep. Sosnowski favors paying in wasted materials and delays. When paying less than the prevailing wage taxpayers pay more because some workers are forced to rely on food stamps and other government assistance. The Boone County Board should be focused on paying wages that allow our citizens to prosper helping our county grow. What Rep .Sosnowski favors increasing profits for construction companies by Illinois subsidizing them and keeping tradespeople from earning a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

— Wendy LaFauce, Belvidere

Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20180928/letter-rep-sosnowski-works-to-lower-wages-of-illinois-skilled-tradespeople