can use laboratory-made versions of naturally occurring biological signals to quickly convert ordinary skin cells into cells that appear virtually identical to embryonic stem cells
described in a paper published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, could mark a pivotal moment in the long, contentious history of embryonic stem cell research.
click on the following for more details: Scientists overcome hurdles to stem cell alternatives
increase and permanently extend a popular but costly tax credit for businesses’ research expenses, and to pay for it by closing other corporate tax breaks, according to administration officials.
Congress has extended it 13 times for as little as six months, and the uncertainty has long vexed businesses. It lapsed after 2009, and a proposal to renew it for this year is pending in the Senate.
Based on that history, the Treasury would probably give up as much as $100 billion in the coming decade
only research done in the United States is eligible.
Obama to Pitch Making Research Tax Credit Permanent - NYTimes.com
weighing a package of business tax breaks - potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars - to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses,
a temporary payroll-tax holiday and a permanent extension of the now-expired research-and-development tax credit
Substantively, there is nothing they could do between now and Election Day that would have any measurable effect on the economy. Nothing," said the Brookings Institution's William Galston
The president could roll out additional measures as soon as next week. Senate leaders hope to begin debating the tax issue in late September.
Click on the following for all of the story: White House considers pre-midterm package of business tax breaks to spur hiring
a study released in 2000 by the Institute and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, based on an analysis of 235 municipalities in the metropolitan Chicago region, found that cities, towns and villages that had TIF districts actually grew slower than those municipalities that did not have TIF districts.
Just found this search tool available at the Rockford Register Star.
The Rockford Register Star collects the area's most complete set of building permits and real estate transactions for Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties in Illinois. You can search back to Jan. 1, 2005, to find out how much your neighbor's house sold for, what vacant land in Loves Park is worth or who bought a high-profile business.
The Register Star gives you the most up-to-date records available. Because many municipalities release transactions and permits days or even weeks after they occurred, some lag time will be reflected in the database.Real Estate
Search real estate transactions
Use any combination of the boxes below to narrow down your search. You can also just click submit to get all records in our database.Address:
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Price: All Ranges 0-24,999 25,000 - 49,999 50,000 - 99,0000 100,000 - 149,999 150,000 - 199,999 200,000 - 299,999 300,000-399,999 400,000 and up
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Date Range: 7 Days 30 Days 6 Months 1 Year All Records
Click to export last 30 days to Excel
Building Permits
Search building permit transactions
Use any combination of the boxes below to narrow down your search. You can also just click submit to get all records in our database.Building Dept.:
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The plant, intended to prove that a commercial-scale power plant can use coal while safely removing and storing the pollutant carbon dioxide, is planned for a site just outside the town.
FutureGen Chief Executive Officer Mike Mudd said his goal is to increase the number of companies involved from the current nine to 20.
The nine companies involved now are mainly coal miners, including St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp., Anglo American of the United Kingdom and Wyoming-based Rio Tinto Energy America.
In June, Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power Co. and Atlanta-based Southern Co., two of the country's largest electric utilities, left the Futuregen Alliance
Click on the following for the rest of the story: FutureGen, DOE Look For Cost Cuts, New Partners - cbs2chicago.com
September 1, 2009
Mr. Paul Thompson
Chairman
The FutureGen Alliance
Dear Mr. Thompson:
I want to thank the FutureGen Alliance and your board members for meeting in Mattoon, Illinois this week. I would also like to congratulate the Alliance and the Department of Energy on the signing of the cooperative agreement. This board meeting and the cooperative agreement really mark the beginning of the next phase of the FutureGen project at Mattoon, Illinois.
With the Department of Energy filing the Record of Decision and restarting the contract, the Alliance can now turn its attention to the critical next phase of FutureGen. An aggressive timeline has been set by the Department of Energy for this important project. In the coming months, we anticipate the completion of all the necessary design and engineering components, as well as a solid cost analysis.
In addition, the Alliance and the Department will undertake an aggressive effort to increase the membership of the FutureGen Alliance. I look forward to working with all of you as you undertake these important efforts.
I continue to believe that we can address our nation’s energy needs in a cleaner more efficient way and that FutureGen is a critical component of how we can continue to use coal without causing more harm to the environment.
On a personal note, I thank you for your service as chairman of the FutureGen Alliance Board. Under your leadership, FutureGen at Mattoon, Illinois is closer than ever to reality.
I look forward to working with you and the Alliance to move FutureGen forward.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
U.S. Senator
The U.S. Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance have reached a new agreement to resume work on the high-tech coal-gasification plant near Mattoon, said a letter released today from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Durbin: Accord will allow work to resume on FutureGen - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
You may not need nursing home insurance after all.
Elderly patients who want to stay in their homes instead of having to consider or be put in a nursing home could get help from a robot in the not-too-distant future, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A basic prototype of a robotic caregiver for the elderly might be a mere three years away, they say.
Before any robot can be built, the most basic problem of communication, through speech, gestures and touch, must be solved.
the researchers hope to make it affordable.
"If we put the cost at $20,000 to $30,000 -- or much less if we built on a large scale -- and if the robot is in service 5 to 10 years, that would be a good investment,"
Click on the following for more of the story: Caregiving robots on the way, UIC scientists say -- chicagotribune.com
