Behr Iron & Steel faces $366K in fines for hazards in Rockford, Peoria - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

• By Georgette Braun
  Rockford Register Star

Posted Mar. 16, 2015 at 2:10 PM
Updated at 9:23 PM

ROCKFORD — Behr Iron & Steel recycling plants face penalties of $366,400 for continued exposure of workers to hazards, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday in a news release.

Behr, which employs 450 people at 14 Midwest facilities, was cited for exposing workers to amputation hazards during maintenance and while processing scrap metal in Rockford and Peoria. Safety mechanisms were not in place, the agency said. The penalties are for five willful and nine serious safety violations, including fall and confined-space hazards.

The company operates at 1100 Seminary St. and 208 Quaker Road in Rockford, where OSHA said Behr failed to use energy-control procedures, such as powering off and affixing locking devices. At Behr's Peoria facility, OSHA said workers at the company must enter a sorting house conveyor to use the shredder. 

OSHA initiated the inspections at three Behr facilities when similar hazards were found during an investigation into the March 2014 death of a worker at the company's recycling facility in South Beloit.

The company has five days to make improvements or to contest the findings. A woman who answered the phone at Behr in Rockford said no one was available to speak with a Register Star reporter seeking more information.

Before the latest checks, the company had been inspected seven times in five years and cited for machine hazards at various locations in Illinois and Iowa.

Behr Iron & Steel faces $366K in fines for hazards in Rockford, Peoria - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Boone County homeless count Wednesday - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

Homeless Project, in collaboration with the Winnebago/Boone Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, will conduct a Point In Time (PIT) count on Wednesday.

To participate in the PIT, complete a brief survey between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at one of the following locations:

— Poplar Grove United Methodist Church: 105 E. Grove St., Poplar Grove; 815-765-2001.

— Crusader Community Health Belvidere: 1050 Logan Ave., Belvidere; 815-547-0282.

— Belvidere Township: 8200 Fairgrounds Road, Belvidere; 815-544-2027.

— Rosecrance Belvidere Clinic: 475 Southtowne Drive, Belvidere; 815-544-4849.

— Helping Hands: 925 Belvidere Road, Belvidere; 815-544-1409; 9 a.m. to noon only.

— United Way of Boone County: 220 W. Locust St., Belvidere; 815-544-3144.

— The Salvation Army, 422 S. Main St., Belvidere; 815-544-3892.

In addition, a PIT count will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 29 at Belvidere Boone County Food Pantry, 200 S. Fifth St., Capron; the pantry can be reached at 815-569-1571.

For information on the PIT count or the Boone County Homeless Project: Danice Loveridge, 815-509-9445, office.bchp@gmail.com. For information on the Winnebago/Boone Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness: hope4thehomeless.org.

Click on the following for more details:  Boone County homeless count Wednesday - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Boone County group plans count of the homeless on Jan. 23 | Belvidere Daily Republican

 

annual count of the county’s homeless population during a 24-hour period from Feb. 23-24….

The current estimate has 260 people meeting the definition of being homeless. Being homeless doesn’t necessarily mean living in a car or beneath a railroad trestle. It could mean residing in a motel or hotel for long periods of time, or living with a friend or relative. Most can’t afford to own or rent a place of their own.…

t is believed there are 1,069 homeless in Winnebago County.

Click on the following for more details:  Boone County group plans count of the homeless on Jan. 23 | Belvidere Daily Republican

Activists rally in Chicago, across country, for immigration reform

This newspaper reports various marches across the country. 

Activists said outrage over Arizona's controversial immigration law "awakened a sleeping giant" Saturday as rallies demanding federal immigration reform kicked off in cities, including Chicago, across the country.

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Activists rally in Chicago, across country, for immigration reform

Crusader Community Health receives $5.3 million in Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds

Crusader Community Health received $5,342,337 in grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to construct a new site in Loves Park and continue renovation of unused space at the existing Crusader Community Health on Broadway-Uram Building.

serves multiple counties in northern Illinois including Boone, Winnebago and Stephenson, and provides care to more than 40,000 individual patients annually in our region.

Click on the following for more of the story:  Crusader Community Health receives $5.3 million in Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds | The Rock River Times

One in seven Americans short of food | U.S. | Reuters

 

one in seven -- struggled to get enough to eat in 2008, the highest total in 14 years of a federal survey on "food insecurity," the U.S. government said Monday.

huge increase from the preceding year when 36.2 million people had trouble getting enough food and a third of them

The number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance soared above 36 million for the first time in August[2009], the eighth month in a row that enrollment set a record, the USDA said earlier this month.

One in seven Americans short of food | U.S. | Reuters

Salt Lake City adopts pro-gay statutes -- with LDS Church support - Salt Lake Tribune

 

Text of LDS statement on anti-bias proposal

"Good evening. My name is Michael Otterson, and I am here tonight officially representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The nondiscrimination ordinance being reviewed by the City Council concerns important questions for the thoughtful people of this community.

"Like most of America, our community in Salt Lake City is comprised of citizens of different faiths and values, different races and cultures, different political views and divergent demographics. Across America and around the world, diverse communities such as ours are wrestling with complex social and moral questions. People often feel strongly about such issues. Sometimes they feel so strongly that the ways in which they relate to one another seem to strain the fabric of our society, especially where the interests of one group seem to collide with the interests of another.

"The issue before you tonight is the right of people to have a roof over their heads and the right to work without being discriminated against. But, importantly, the ordinance also attempts to balance vital issues of religious freedom. In essence, the church agrees with the approach which Mayor [Ralph] Becker is taking on this matter.

"In drafting this ordinance, the city has granted common-sense rights that should be available to everyone, while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations, for example, in their hiring of people whose lives are in harmony with their tenets, or when providing housing for their university students and others that preserve religious requirements.

"The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage. It is also entirely consistent with the church's prior position on these matters. The church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman.

"I represent a church that believes in human dignity, in treating others with respect even when we disagree -- in fact, especially when we disagree. The church's past statements are on the public record for all to see. In these comments and in our actions, we try to follow what Jesus Christ taught. Our language will always be respectful and acknowledge those who differ, but will also be clear on matters that we feel are of great consequence to our society.

"Thank you."

Click on the following for more details:  Salt Lake City adopts pro-gay statutes -- with LDS Church support - Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake OKs gay rights laws with Mormon backing

No right to marry but most other rights granted. 

Salt Lake City the first Utah community to prohibit bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the two new ordinances, it is illegal to fire someone from their job or evict someone from their residence because they are lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender.

Utah lawmakers tend to quickly fall in line when the influential church makes a rare foray into legislative politics. So Tuesday's action could have broad effects in this highly conservative state where more than 80 percent of lawmakers and the governor are church members.

Click on the following for more details:  Salt Lake OKs gay rights laws with Mormon backing - Yahoo! News