TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalJ.B. Pritzker suffers fractured leg
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker has a hairline fracture on his left thighbone and a doctor has ordered rest for four to six weeks.
The Democrat’s office said Thursday that Pritzker doesn’t know how the injury occurred. It was not a recent injury. But pain in his knee became more significant in recent weeks while attending public events where he stood or walked long distances. He made several visits to the state fairs in Springfield and DuQuoin.
A statement says that Pritzker is in “good spirits” and will remain “fully engaged” in government business. He will receive frequent updates from his staff and agency heads.
The statement says Pritzker is in otherwise good physical health.
http://rockrivertimes.com/2019/08/29/j-b-pritzker-suffers-fractured-leg/
(no more at link)
Madigan deals with fallout from Mapes
You don’t have to read past the first sentence of Tim Mapes’ statement last week to see one of the core problems with the way he ran the Illinois House Democratic operation. Mapes was responding to an investigative report commissioned by House Speaker Michael Madigan to get to the bottom of allegations of sexual harassment and bullying in his Statehouse operation.
“For over forty years,” Mapes wrote in his response, “I had the privilege of serving in the Illinois State Legislature.”
Um, no.
Mapes worked “for” the legislature, he didn’t serve “in” it. But he always seemed to behave as if he was one of the most important people in all of the General Assembly.
Mapes managed to accumulate just about every power possible: Madigan’s chief of staff, executive director of Madigan’s Democratic Party of Illinois and House Clerk. That meant every single person in Speaker Madigan’s world - from legislators, to lobbyists, to campaign workers, to committee clerks to legislative secretaries - had to answer to him and only to him. He was the indispensable one, until Madigan told him to quit over sexual harassment allegations.
Read more: https://illinoistimes.com/article-21554-madigan-deals-with-fallout-from-mapes.html
Regal Beloit workers end strike and return to work to bargain to save plant
After two months, striking Regal Beloit workers have agreed to return to work so the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2018 can bargain to try to save the 109-year-old Valparaiso factory and more than 170 jobs.
The union and Wisconsin-based company reached an agreement that 110 striking hourly workers, who hit the picket line for better pay and more affordable health care on June 30, will report back to work Tuesday so the two sides can negotiate Regal Beloit's decision to close the plant and try to maintain some work in Valparaiso.
The International Machinists Union also is appealing to the White House to intervene after Regal Beloit's announcement that it will close the longtime Valparaiso factory. The plant once made golf clubs and electrical safety products and switches, but now makes bearings for the aerospace industry, including military helicopters.
Regal Beloit made a deal to acquire the longtime community stalwart McGill Manufacturing in 2014. Workers there agreed to concessions, including mandatory overtime on weekends, during the last round of collective bargaining when the company was struggling. This time, the union had asked for 75-cent per hour raises and $15,000 out-of-pocket healthcare maximums as a starting point in negotiations and went on strike after the company said it had made its final offer, not meeting the union's demands.
The international union is now asking President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to urge the company to reconsider the closure of the plant.
Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/regal-beloit-workers-end-strike-and-return-to-work-to/article_b14297ce-4cc9-5ff8-9d1e-1919522590d6.html
U of Illinois student arrested after noose found in elevator
URBANA, Ill. (AP) — The University of Illinois says a student has been arrested after a noose was found hanging in an elevator at a residence hall.
The university and the Champaign County Sheriff's Office says a 19-year-old student was due to be arraigned Tuesday on disorderly conduct and hate crime charges after being arrested Monday night.
University spokeswoman Robin Kaler says students reported finding the noose in an elevator in Allen Hall early Sunday. She says "the university does not condone acts of intolerance, bias, or prejudice."
The university says "housing professionals are on staff and available to students to make sure everyone knows how to access support services if they feel overwhelmed" by the incident.
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/u-of-illinois-student-arrested-after-noose-found-in-elevator/article_88841ac2-25e9-5975-930e-64b1303853ae.html
(Northwest Indiana Times) (no more at link)
Status hearing set in R. Kelly's federal case in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly is expected to appear at a status hearing a day after jail personnel moved him into the general inmate population following a complaint from his his attorneys that he was being held in solitary in a restrictive section of a federal jail in Chicago.
Questions about the singer's jail conditions could still come up at Wednesday's hearing in a Chicago federal court. But prosecutors say the issue is moot given Kelly's transfer Tuesday out of the restrictive unit.
Authorities initially worried other inmates could try to hurt the Grammy Award-winner because of his celebrity status or because he is accused of sexually assaulting minors. Defense attorneys said Kelly had initial misgivings about entering the general population but changed his mind after experiencing conditions in the special unit.
Kelly faces sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/status-hearing-set-in-r-kelly-s-federal-case-in/article_f32ecbc3-8581-584c-bb92-9c594c2d9a0b.html
(Northwest Indiana Times) (no more at link)
Michigan bank merges with First Merchants
First Merchants Corp. and MBT Financial Corp. have finalized a merger. Following regulatory approvals last month, the companies closed the merger through a 100% stock transaction effective Sept. 1.
As a result of the deal, Monroe Bank & Trust will merge into First Merchants Bank, which operates a dozen branches in Northwest Indiana.
MBTF operated 20 banking center locations in southeast Michigan area, all of which will be part of the First Merchants franchise. Founded in 1858, Monroe Bank & Trust had total assets of $1.3 billion, total loans of $769 million, and total deposits of $1.2 billion as of June 30.
With the merger, First Merchants will have assets of approximately $12 billion and will remain the second largest financial holding company headquartered in Indiana.
Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/michigan-bank-merges-with-first-merchants/article_42418495-cabe-50d5-9546-eca9fd08c362.html
(Northwest Indiana Times)
GEO charter network to get a second chance in Indianapolis
The GEO Academies is returning to Indianapolis eight years after the mayor’s office sought to close one of their schools for poor performance — a conflict that eventually pushed the charter operator out of the city.
The Indiana Charter School Board voted 6-2 Friday afternoon to authorize the new school, which hopes to open its doors in 2020.
Indiana Black Expo recruited GEO, an Indianapolis-based network which runs charter schools in Gary and Louisiana. That nonprofit organization invited the school to co-locate at its far eastside headquarters, which will also house a youth performing arts academy. The organization’s leaders say they were drawn to GEO’s success in Gary with a model that allows students to take courses on college campuses while enrolled in high school.
GEO plans to open the high school in 2020-21 with about 150-200 freshman and grow to 600-800 students. It will be located in Indianapolis’ Warren Township school district boundaries.
Read more: https://www.nuvo.net/education/geo-charter-network-to-get-a-second-chance-in-indianapolis/article_855a0428-ce3f-11e9-8d24-67af45acf62c.html
Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg say no compromises on overhauling gun laws
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, moderates who project themselves as pragmatic collaborators, are taking a no-compromise approach on the overhaul of the nation's gun laws after the latest mass shooting.
Campaigning separately in eastern Iowa on Monday, the former vice president and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, say the minimum provisions include universal background checks, a ban on military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition, and red flag laws to allow officials to confiscate firearms from dangerous people.
Biden told reporters before a Labor Day picnic in Cedar Rapids that inaction from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans is "disgraceful." Asked if there's room for negotiation, he declared: "None. This is one we have to just push and push and push and push and push." Buttigieg also rejected compromise, saying after a campaign event in Cedar Rapids: "There is just no good faith in the congressional GOP nor, I believe, in the White House when it comes to dealing with this issue."
Their comments come two days after a gunman toting an assault-style rifle went on a rampage in Odessa, Texas, killing seven people around town before being gunned down by police. The FBI said the shooter "was on a long spiral of going down." This shooting occurred less than a month after two other high-profile mass shootings, in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
Read more: https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/joe-biden-pete-buttigieg-say-no-compromises-on-overhauling-gun/article_c47a9a2c-fe8e-5e9d-ac4c-f1a558e52137.html
Bicentennial fountain spouting off once again
The now operational fountain in the bicentennial plaza outside the Indiana Statehouse. Photo by Brandon Barger, TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—After a long wait, the fountain in the centennial plaza at the Indiana Statehouse is spouting once again.
The fountain has been shut off since the winter of 2017, because of a problem with the control panel that worked the lights and the water element. It was originally built as part of the plaza commissioned by then-Gov. Mike Pence for Indiana’s bicentennial in 2016.
The fountain includes jets that shoot water into the air and small square lights that are lit up with different colors. The fountain also had a cascading front, which turns the fountain into a reflecting pool when the jets are turned off.
Earlier in August, Jill Carnell, the chief administrative officer of the Indiana Department of Administration, said the fountain itself cost $1.1 million and was expected to run annually between April 15 to Oct. 15.
Read more: http://thestatehousefile.com/bicentennial-fountain-spouting-off/39874/
Julian Castro unveils climate plan centered on Green New Deal principles
by Alex Samuels, Texas TribuneDemocratic presidential candidate Julián Castro on Tuesday began rolling out his campaign’s $10 trillion plan to address climate change, an initiative that aims to have all electricity in the U.S. be clean and renewable by 2035.
In a statement, the former mayor of San Antonio said his proposal centers on principles of the Green New Deal, an ambitious and controversial plan spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. Over the course of the next decade, Castro is calling for “immediate and significant” reduction in greenhouse gas emissions until the country achieves net-zero emissions by 2045 at the latest.
“Right now, the climate crisis is already devastating our communities, our homes, and our families,” Castro said in a statement. “Severe storms, deadly hurricanes, massive floods, extreme droughts, and wildfires are now a normal occurrence, destroying homes and businesses, and shrinking our economy.”
If elected, he said his first executive action will be to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement that President Donald Trump withdrew the country from in 2017. Over the next decade, Castro is calling for significantly reducing carbon emissions by transitioning off of fossil fuels to clean energy
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/03/julian-castro-climate-plan-green-new-deal/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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