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3
Jun
2017
When President Trump announced at 3 p.m. Thursday that he would be pulling the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, the Weather Channel editors were ready. They turned the “official homepage of Mother Nature” — usually devoted to tornadoes, blizzards, heat waves and hurricanes — into a not-so-subtle protest.
“So, What Happens to Earth Now?” said one headline that appeared on its home page.
“Still Don’t Care? Proof You Should,” said another, linking to a story about “ghost forests” that are dying off as a result of rising tides and sea levels.
Categories: Local Issues, State Issues, National Issues
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29
May
Allison Jaslow heard it more than once as the long holiday weekend approached — a cheerful "Happy Memorial Day!" from oblivious well-wishers.
The former Army captain and Iraq War veteran had a ready reply, telling them, matter-of-factly, that she considered it a work weekend. Jaslow will be at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to take part in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She'll then visit Section 60, the final resting place of many service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You can see it in people's faces that they're a little horrified that they forget this is what the day's about," said Jaslow, 34, who wears a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen comrade. "Culturally, we've kind of lost sight of what the day's supposed to mean."
Categories: Local Issues, National Issues
26
Health-care legislation adopted by House Republicans earlier this month would leave 23 million more Americans uninsured by 2026 than under current law, the Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday — only a million fewer than the estimate for the House’s previous bill.
The nonpartisan agency’s finding, which drew immediate fire from Democrats, patient advocates, health industry officials and some business groups, is likely to complicate Republicans’ push to pass a companion bill in the Senate.
6
One of Chicago's most venerated meteorologists joined a Naperville congressman, several scientists and a former EPA regulator at North Central College Saturday to discuss climate change data and urge individuals to take action.
"I didn't come to my current view on climate change easily. I was skeptical," WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling told the sold-out audience of 200. He explained how science can prove that greenhouse gases change the jet streams, which in turn affect weather. These changes are leading to more powerful hurricanes, more damaging tornadoes and more severe flooding, he said.
"It's costing money and lives," said Skilling, who showed slide after slide of graphs, charts, models and pictures that he said were proven evidence of climate change, including time-lapse photos over seven years that documented large sections of glaciers in Alaska melting.
Categories: State Issues, National Issues
Apr
Jean Sinzdak could see right away that this year would be different for women in politics. For the first time in her 12 years of running a seminar for women interested in public office, she had to start a waitlist.
Registrations for the “Ready to Run” program, run by Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), began pouring in after the presidential election. Whether it was Hillary Clinton’s loss or Donald Trump’s victory despite multiple sexual harassment accusations and a video that shows him brag about grabbing women, the election results have been a mobilizing force.
“We had a lot of women who said, ‘I never considered running myself, but this year I woke up or I realized I had to do it,’” says Sinzdak, the associate director for CAWP.