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PI Original
by Matthew Blake
12:24pm
Tue Sep 25, 2012

Pat Quinn's Roadmap Toward A Gambling Bill - And Lou Lang's Skepticism

Springfield

Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed legislation to expand Illinois gambling at the end of August, but he also may have laid the framework for compromise in the fall veto session. Quinn dropped his objection to slot machines at horse racing tracks and set in motion a plan to link gaming revenue with replenishing the state education budget.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
5:30pm
Mon Sep 24, 2012

Environmentalists Disquieted By Ameren Pollution Reprieve

In 2006, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich heralded a major environmental compromise with Ameren for which the St. Louis energy company would spend $1.6 billion to reduce mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in their Illinois coal-fired power plants.

Today, environmentalists fear that deal is in jeopardy after the Illinois Pollution Control Board granted Ameren a five-year extension Thursday for meeting new sulfur dioxide pollution standards. The company now has until 2020, instead of 2015, to meet the standards through installing pollution control equipment at their 1,186-megawatt plant in Newton.

Ameren contended that the double whammy of the economic downturn and lower electricity rates caused by the rise in natural gas competitors forced a delay in compliance. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Aricka Flowers
5:24pm
Wed Sep 19, 2012
12 comments

Schilling Walks Out, Can't Take The Heat Of The Sensata Debate At Recent Town Hall Meeting (VIDEO)

It appears that U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) is taking his cues from Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney when it comes to the public outcry surrounding Sensata Technologies' plan to close down the plant and ship 170 jobs to China — just ignore it.

At a town hall meeting yesterday, Schilling couldn't take the heat when Sensata workers showed up to discuss the issue, so he ran out of the kitchen — or in this case the meeting.   

Read more »

PI Original
by Steven Ross Johnson
1:12pm
Tue Sep 18, 2012
1 comment

Lobbying For Wind Energy Tax Credit Intensifies As Expiration Nears

U.S. Congress

Supporters of wind energy are predicting that what happens in Congress over the next several days could be crucial to the fate of the industry, warning that more than 37,000 jobs could be in jeopardy if lawmakers fail to extend a vital tax credit for renewable power producers. Meanwhile, supporters and opponents of the tax credit are intensifying their calls for the credit's extension or demise. 

Quick Hit
by Aricka Flowers
5:25pm
Wed Sep 12, 2012

Freeport Sensata Workers To Camp Outside Factory In Effort To Save Jobs From Outsourcing

Time is ticking for the 170 workers set to lose their jobs to outsourcing by Bain Capital-owned Sensata Technologies, which manufactures and develops sensors and controls for airplanes, automobiles and motors. The company's Freeport, IL factory is scheduled to close in November, with the jobs and equipment headed overseas.

After months of protests, visiting campaign offices, and delivering a 35,000-signature petition, the workers are trying yet another tactic to try to save their jobs: Setting up camp outside the Freeport factory in protest of Sensata shipping their jobs to China.

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Steven Ross Johnson
11:59am
Tue Sep 4, 2012

Closing The Skills Gap To Combat Unemployment

Whether Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, the economy has remained a key issue for many voters over the past two elections.

With an unemployment rate hovering above 9 percent throughout much of that time, it is perhaps unusual to hear that employers have been in need of more workers.

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
1:30pm
Wed Aug 22, 2012

Sensata Employees Take Fight For Freeport Jobs To Bain Capital's Evanston Doorstep (VIDEO)

In an effort to keep their jobs in Freeport from being outsourced, employees of Sensata Technologies delivered a petition with more than 35,000 signatures to Evanston’s Bain Capital offices yesterday.

“I’m 52, I didn’t plan on having to start over... I have some health limitations and having to start all over is not going to be easy,” said Bonnie Borman, a Sensata employee of 23 years. “I’m going to be unemployed, and I’ll be competing with my daughter’s age group—early 20s—for jobs.”

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Steven Ross Johnson
1:08pm
Fri Aug 17, 2012

Health Care Community Pushes Back Against Ameren's Attempt To Stall On Emissions Reductions

Education and health professionals joined environmental advocates this week to call on state officials to deny a request from downstate power provider Ameren to delay compliance with more stringent pollution-control regulation of its coal-fired power plants.

In a letter addressed to members of the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB), 96 physicians, researchers and healthcare professionals urged the body to uphold standards that would require coal-fired plants to significantly reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by January 1, 2015.   

Read more »