9 health officials hired to fight outbreak in Wisconsin

By The Associated Press -

4/8/16 5:09 PM

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MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker has announced the creation of nine new positions at the state Department of Health Services to combat a rare bloodstream infection.
There have been 57 confirmed cases of the Elizabethkingia (ee-LIZ’-ah-beth-kin-GEE-ah) bloodstream infection in Wisconsin, more than any other state. Gov. Scott Walker on Friday announced the new positions to help with the response and investigation of the outbreak, and prepare for other health risks like the Zika virus.
Walker says, “We need to make sure we have the resources to address the risk, and do whatever we can to keep Wisconsinites safe.”
Eighteen people who have been diagnosed with the Elizabethkingia infection have died in Wisconsin. State health officials say most are over 65 and have a serious underlying health condition.


Above is from:  http://www.bcdemocrat.com/2016/04/08/wi-bloodstream-infection-7/

Community invited to share ideas about Belvidere Schools

Community invited to share ideas about Belvidere Schools

Page Content

 

 

What do you think are the strengths and challenges of the Belvidere School District?

What do the schools do for you, your family, or your organization?

What are your hopes for the Belvidere School District over the next five years?

 

Incoming Superintendent Dr. Daniel Woestman will be asking these and other questions during a series of conversations about the Belvidere School District.

 

Parents:  You are encouraged to attend a conversation at your child's school, but are welcome to participate in one of two conversations open to the community.

 

Conversations in English only:

April 21 from 7:40 to 8:40 a.m. at Meehan Elementary School
April 27 from 8:00 to 8:45 a.m. at Belvidere North High School
April 28 from 8:00 to 8:45 a.m. at Belvidere High School
May 3 from 8:45 to 9:40 a.m. at Belvidere South Middle School

May 4 from 7:40 to 8:40 a.m. at Perry Elementary School
May 5 from 7:40 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. at Seth Whitman Elementary School
May 9 from 8:50 to 9:40 a.m. at Belvidere Central Middle School
May 11 from 7:40 to 8:40 a.m. at Lincoln Elementary School
May 12 from 7:40 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. at Caledonia Elementary School
May 18 from 7:40 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. at Washington Academy

 

Evening conversations open to the community will be held April 27 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Belvidere North High School and April 28 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Belvidere High School.

 

A conversation in Spanish will take place on May 19 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Washington Academy.

Koch Brothers fund WI Senate ads

Koch brothers get involved in WI U.S. Senate race

 

 

MADISON (WKOW) -- The national conservative group funded by Charles and David Koch is jumping into Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race, launching a $1.1 million television ad campaign in support of Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Johnson is running for re-election against the man he helped remove from that senate seat in 2010, Democrat Russ Feingold.
The ad, put together by the group Americans for Prosperity, will start airing in Wisconsin on Wednesday, the day after the state's presidential primary election.

Above is from:  http://www.wkow.com/story/31646909/2016/04/05/koch-brothers-get-involved-in-wi-us-senate-race

Unofficial _Sources

 

Law School Sells Naming Rights to Secretive Antonin Scalia Fan

David Dayen

 

Apr. 1 2016, 12:42 p.m.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY in northern Virginia renamed its law school the Antonin Scalia School of Law on Thursday, after receiving a $10 million gift from the Charles Koch Foundation and another $20 million from an undisclosed donor.
Scalia was one of five justices who voted for the Citizens United ruling and subsequent rulings that allowed unlimited sums of unidentified money to be used in elections. So the anonymous $20 million gift, which was conditioned upon naming the law school after Scalia, truly honors the late justice’s legacy of allowing corporations and the wealthy to buy influence under a shroud of secrecy.

www.law.gmu.edu

In a press release, George Mason University explained that the $20 million gift was funneled through Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the ultra-conservative Federalist Society and a personal friend of Scalia. “The anonymous donor asked that the university name the law school in honor of the justice,” according to the press release. This is just how anonymous donors ask for favors in exchange for their campaign contributions.
The Koch brothers have plowed more funding into the university than any other school; The Atlantic recently called the college “effectively Charles Koch’s personal academic workshop.” Koch’s $10 million gift to the law school follows $48 million in other donations from 2011 to 2014, according to the Associated Press.
The cash supports George Mason research hubs like the free-market Mercatus Center. Mercatus research routinely shows up in papers from Koch-linked groups like Americans for Prosperity, and even in Republican-written legislation. The Mercatus board includes Richard Fink, an executive vice president of Koch Industries, as well as Charles Koch himself. Charles Koch also chairs the board of the George Mason Institute for Humane Studies, a separate libertarian think tank.
The Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch identifies other links between the Mercatus Center and corporate money, including the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. It serves as the academic validator for right-wing ideas, much as Scalia served as the judicial conduit for such theories on the Supreme Court.
George Mason has undergone a number of transformations over the years. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights declared in 1971 that “George Mason College was conceived of, by, and for the white community of northern Virginia and not for the entire northern Virginia population.” Since Scalia observed last December that African-American students would be better off at “less advanced” colleges, the tribute to him at the formerly exclusionary George Mason also makes sense.
Over the years, George Mason transformed itself from a commuter school to a residential university, with its most recent, rapid growth fueled in part by money from conservative groups and individuals.
Its responsiveness to pro-corporate interests is hardly new. In the 1980s and 1990s, George Mason economist Robert Tollison led several programs on behalf of the tobacco industry, designed to provide intellectual support for its contention that secondhand smoke wasn’t harmful and government didn’t need to increase cigarette taxes. Hundreds of academics were paid by the tobacco industry for favorable comments, papers, and op-eds backing the industry line.
More recently, George Mason’s Law and Economics Center received $762,500 from Google over a two-year period, and subsequently produced multiple studies supporting Google’s positions on privacy, patents, and antitrust.
Justice Scalia’s reliable support for corporate America in a wide variety of cases makes him a fitting namesake for a law school there.

Above is from:  https://theintercept.com/2016/04/01/law-school-sells-naming-rights-to-secretive-antonin-scalia-fan/

Motorola's Harvard, Illinois manufactuing plant being auctioned off

           

2001 North Division Street (Route 14)

Midwest Corporate Campus2001 North Division Street (Route 14) Harvard, IL 60033

Industrial

1,547,857 Sq. Feet

             

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Midwest Corporate Campus

2001 North Division Street (Route 14)

Harvard, IL 60033

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Property Details (2001 North Division Street (Route 14), Harvard, IL 60033)

Asset Type	Commercial
Starting Bid	$2,700,000
Bid Deposit Amount	$25,000
Property	Midwest Corporate Campus
Property Description	±1,527,857 SF Vacant Industrial Campus in Harvard, IL
Assessor's Parcel Number	APN: 01-25-100-018
Square Footage	1,527,857 Sq. Ft.
Net Rentable Area	1,547,857 Sq. Ft.
Lot Size	325.0 Acres
Year Built	1997

Number of Buildings	4
Number of Stories	5
Number of Units	1
Occupancy	0.0%
Occupancy As of Date	03/01/2016
Event Item #	B178-118
Property ID	193046911
Buyer's Premium	5% of Winning Bid Amount (A minimum of $40,000 will apply)

• Description
• Due Diligence
• Documents

Description for 2001 North Division Street (Route 14), Harvard, IL 60033

Property Tours are available by appointment on Friday April 8th and Friday April 15th from 10-2pm. Please contact Mark Kolar to schedule at 312-228-3214 or mark.kolar@am.jll.com

Ten-X and Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. are pleased to offer for sale a state-of-the-art corporate office and logistics campus located at 2001 North Division Street (Route 14) in Harvard, Illinois.

Once used by a publicly traded Fortune 100 company, the Property was utilized as a light manufacturing and assembly facility and served as a strategic headquarters location for one of the company’s main divisions. This offering represents a rare opportunity for a user to acquire a superior quality corporate campus in move-in condition at well below replacement cost. This facility can either be utilized by one user or multiple tenants.

Completed in 1997 with premium quality construction materials and finished with high-tech building systems and infrastructure, the property boasts ±1.5 million SF throughout four connected buildings designated for manufacturing, distribution, office and administration use. The facility has ±974,000 SF manufacturing & distribution facility that is interconnected by an integrated material handling system. The building has an amazing amount of infrastructure and can be utilized for light/technical manufacturing or as a fulfillment center. With numerous amenities including two on-site day care facilities, a ±1,100 person capacity cafeteria, a ±500 person capacity auditorium and heliports, the property is ideally suited to meet a number of high-tech corporate needs. The property is situated on ±325 acres of prime, developable land finished with ponds, and miles of biking and running trails and offers the potential for unlimited development opportunities.

The location of the Property provides immediate access to major Midwest cities including: Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Rockford, St Louis, and Minneapolis. The Midwest Corporate Campus’ proximity to low cost air-freight at Rockford International Airport (3rd largest UPS Hub) makes it an excellent option for companies looking to establish a Midwest presence to quickly serve a North American customer base.

The Chicago area workforce of over 8 million. The regional demographics provide access to a wide range of professions (skilled office and manufacturing). Major industries in the area include technology, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, food processing and consumer products.

FACILITY DETAILS
• Originally development to support Motorola’s cellular phone assembly operations
• ±619,590 SF 2 story manufacturing building (17' - 23' clear)
• ±355,315 SF distribution building (35' clear) linked by an integrated material handling system & manufacturing infrastructure
• ±63,000 SF of high base warehouse space with 52 foot clear with existing racking system and Daifuku AS/RS system. Storage capacity 15,140 pallets
• Integrated Tote/Carton Conveyor System connecting manufacturing and distribution buildings. 3.2 miles of tote/conveyer estimated.
• ±30 miles from Rockford International airport (3rd largest UPS hub and major International Freight airport)
• ±48 miles from O’Hare International airport
• Located in a Foreign Trade Zone
• This location can service Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, St Louis, Minneapolis

INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
• State-of-the-Art Corporate Headquarter Campus: The Midwest Corporate Campus is an existing ±1.5 million square foot office and industrial campus located on ±325 acres. This facility was originally completed in 1997 as a regional headquarters, manufacturing, assembly and distribution campus. The replacement cost of this facility is over $250 million and the facility is available immediately at well below this cost.
• Central Midwest Location: The location of the Property provides access to all major Midwest cities. The Midwest Corporate Campus’ proximity to low cost air-freight and rail service make it an excellent option for companies looking to establish a Midwest presence to serve a North American customer base.
• Workforce: The Chicago area workforce of over 8 million. The regional demographics provide access to a wide range of professions (skilled office and manufacturing). Major industries in the area include technology, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, food processing and consumer products.

 

Above is from:  https://www.ten-x.com/commercial/details/2001-north-division-street-route-14-harvard-il-60033-193046911-b_178

Best April 1st story (Joke)

Champaign-Urbana’s Online Magazine

Governor Rauner revitalizes C-U economy by permanently closing the U of I

April 1, 2016 / 8:00am / By Rebecah Pulsifer

Making a move legislators are calling “bold” and “awesome, in the biblical sense,” Governor Bruce Rauner announced today that he will permanently close the U of I at Urbana-Champaign as part of his plan to “turn around” the state of Illinois.

“There is only one way to ensure that Illinois will remain a great place to live for future generations,” said Rauner. “Literally, one. And that is scrapping social services and closing public institutions of higher education, including the U of I.” 
The groundwork for this approach has already been tested at universities across the state, such as Chicago State University and Eastern Illinois University. But Rauner decided to reserve his largest cuts for the flagship public university, the U of I at Urbana-Champaign.
“It’s only fitting that our best public university campus should receive our best public university cuts,” said Rauner. “This is a unique opportunity for Champaign-Urbana. For too long, the community has been feeding off the teat of its own tax dollars. Now, the community will have the chance to support itself.”

Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing and Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen responded with surprise and dismay to the closure of the university, which is the number one employer of community members in Champaign-Urbana.
“Our community depends on its partnership with the U of I,” said Prussing. Feinen agreed, adding, “The university is preparing a generation of Illinois citizens for employment and civic responsibility.”
According to Rauner, however, the responsibility of the state is to protect the short-term interests of its citizens. Drawing on his business expertise, which has earned him $750,000 in baller tax breaks over the last several years, Rauner pointed out that the purpose of civic bodies is to make a profit as quickly as possible.
“Government is really here to make a buck, do nothing, or to do less than nothing,” said Rauner. “If I can’t completely stall a civic benefit, I want to cut it as much as possible in the hopes of saving myself and my golfing buddies the cost of another trip to Maui.”
With layoffs imminent, several Champaign-Urbana community members noted that they are looking forward to spending more time outdoors, with their loved ones, and oil painting. 
“Now that I don’t have to pay tax dollars toward anything that benefits anyone, my life is wonderful,” said community member Brett Wright, who I interviewed as he changed his tire after hitting a gaping pothole. “This is the best of all possible worlds,” he added, gesturing toward his children, who lack dental insurance and a path toward careers with retirement options.
“Ultimately, this is about job creation,” said Rauner. “Subtracting tens of thousands of jobs from Champaign-Urbana gives the community a chance to find its bootstraps and thrive.”

- See more at: http://www.smilepolitely.com/culture/governor_rauner_revitalizes_c_u_economy_by_permanently_closing_the_u_of_i/#sthash.iUnbndgt.dpuf

NRC accepts open phase petition, declines immediate action request

This is the continuation of an earlier story regarding electrical issues at Bryon and other nuclear power plants.  SEE the following posting regarding the issues:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2016/03/dangerous-flaw-discovered-at-byron.html

NRC accepts open phase petition, declines immediate action request

BY   Adam Smith

The U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission recently agreed to accept a petition submitted by seven engineers with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who expressed concern over a power distribution issue at nuclear power plants.
The petition was filed on Feb. 19, and the NRC issued a response to the petition on March 21. The engineers had sought an immediate resolution to an open phase electrical issue they felt made nuclear plants vulnerable. If the issue could not be resolved immediately, the petition asked the NRC to shutter all U.S. nuclear plants.
Five of the engineers who submitted the petition are from Maryland, while one is from Louisiana and another from West Virginia.

While the petition was accepted for review, a summary on the NRC's website said, “the immediate actions requested by the petitioners were denied because of the risk reduction provided by the interim compensatory measures.” The NRC's response noted two invitations to the petitioners to address the Petition Review Board, which was declined on the grounds the “petition already contained all of the relevant information to support the PRB’s review.”
The notice to the petitioners said the NRC would take action on the request “within a reasonable amount of time,” though no timeline was provided.
“The resolution of the petitioners' concerns will be tied into the ultimate resolution of the issue,” said Scott Burnell, spokesman for the NRC.
About the issue
The petition was filed over concern about an open-phase condition that occurred at Exelon’s Byron 2 Nuclear Station in Illinois in 2012. Power to large industrial facilities, like nuclear power plants, is delivered in three phases. In this case, one of the phases dropped out in the plant's switchyard, which impacted how electrical current was being distributed throughout the plant.
In this situation, the plant's automatic systems did not recognize a phase had dropped out, and operators didn't immediately realize it. During that time, the plant's reactor safety systems did not operate as effectively as they could have. Once the problem was discovered, the power was rerouted accordingly and the plant was shut down safely.
“The Byron event identified a vulnerability in the design of U.S. and international, operating plants. The current design requires an accident signal to automatically connect the emergency core cooling systems to the preferred power source to mitigate the consequences of a design-basis event,” says the petition. “... If the preferred power source, has an undetected open phase-condition, redundant trains of electrical equipment (electric motors that drive the pumps and valves) could burn out in few minutes and therefore will not be available for safe shutdown, even after restoration of an operable power source.”

A design-basis event, or accident, is defined by the NRC as a “postulated accident that a nuclear facility must be designed and built to withstand without loss to the systems, structures, and components necessary to ensure public health and safety.”
Burnell previously told The News Courier the incident led the NRC to examine the issue more closely, and a bulletin was issued to all nuclear power plants, including Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens, explaining the open-phase incident. The bulletin also requested information from the operators explaining how they would handle the issue if it occurred at their plants.
Moving forward
According to the NRC, nuclear power plant operators are currently implementing the permanent solution for the open phase issue. Those changes should be implemented by Jan. 30, 2019, but may need NRC approval via license amendment.
“Either way, the NRC staff plans to … confirm that regulatory requirements are met,” says information on the NRC's website.
When asked about the process of implementing the changes at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Tennessee Valley Authority Spokesman Jim Hopson issued the following statement: “TVA is committed to ensuring the safety of the public as they continue to benefit from the reliable, low-cost, carbon-free power nuclear generation provides.We are closely following the NRC’s inquiry into this issue and, based on their guidance, will take the steps necessary to further enhance the safe design of our nuclear facilities.”

Above is from:  http://www.enewscourier.com/news/local_news/nrc-accepts-open-phase-petition-declines-immediate-action-request/article_929c67b4-f866-11e5-9d93-072b2433e8fe.html