AdvertisementBy Associated PressDec 02, 2017 at 8:36 pmBILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump's administration announced Friday that it won't require mining companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution, despite an industry legacy of abandoned mines that have fouled waterways across the U.S.The move came after mining groups and Western-state Republicans pushed back against a proposal under former President Barack Obama to make companies set aside money for future cleanup costs.AdvertisementU.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt...…AdvertisementBy Associated PressDec 02, 2017 at 8:36 pmBILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump's administration announced Friday that it won't require mining companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution, despite an industry legacy of abandoned mines that have fouled waterways across the U.S.The move came after mining groups and Western-state Republicans pushed back against a proposal under former President Barack Obama to make companies set aside money for future cleanup costs.AdvertisementU.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 08, 2020 at 1:20 pmWith the coronavirus pandemic shuttering stores, emptying streets and generally making downtown Chicago resemble a heavyweight boxer knocked to the canvas, it’s tempting to cite the Tribune’s immortal words after the Great Fire of 1871: “CHICAGO SHALL RISE AGAIN.” But there’s no need for such boosterism at the extraordinary site of Wolf Point, the historic peninsula-like chunk of land that overlooks the confluence of Chicago River’s three branches. AdvertisementThere, Chicago already is rising again in the form of an impressive called...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 08, 2020 at 1:20 pmWith the coronavirus pandemic shuttering stores, emptying streets and generally making downtown Chicago resemble a heavyweight boxer knocked to the canvas, it’s tempting to cite the Tribune’s immortal words after the Great Fire of 1871: “CHICAGO SHALL RISE AGAIN.” But there’s no need for such boosterism at the extraordinary site of Wolf Point, the historic peninsula-like chunk of land that overlooks the confluence of Chicago River’s three branches. AdvertisementThere, Chicago already is rising again in the form of an impressive called...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 12, 2020 at 5:00 amThe coronavirus pandemic presented the perfect opportunity to train a puppy at home, so 16-year-old Jillian Hanna of Mokena found an Australian shepherd online last month and her mother made arrangements to buy the dog.Caroline Hanna said she sensed something was wrong as she traded messages with a purported representative from the business about a puppy named “Kate” with a patchwork coat and mismatched eyes. In emails Hanna shared with the Tribune, she got contradictory answers alongside an assurance that the seller wasn’t trying to...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMay 12, 2020 at 5:00 amThe coronavirus pandemic presented the perfect opportunity to train a puppy at home, so 16-year-old Jillian Hanna of Mokena found an Australian shepherd online last month and her mother made arrangements to buy the dog.Caroline Hanna said she sensed something was wrong as she traded messages with a purported representative from the business about a puppy named “Kate” with a patchwork coat and mismatched eyes. In emails Hanna shared with the Tribune, she got contradictory answers alongside an assurance that the seller wasn’t trying to...WW…

AdvertisementBy The New York TimesApr 11, 2020 at 4:05 pmWASHINGTON — “Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad,” a senior medical adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Carter Mecher, wrote on the night of Jan. 28, in an email to a group of public health experts scattered around the government and universities. “The projected size of the outbreak already seems hard to believe.”A week after the had been identified in the United States, and six long weeks before President Donald Trump finally took aggressive action to confront — a pandemic that is now forecast to take tens of...…AdvertisementBy The New York TimesApr 11, 2020 at 4:05 pmWASHINGTON — “Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad,” a senior medical adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Carter Mecher, wrote on the night of Jan. 28, in an email to a group of public health experts scattered around the government and universities. “The projected size of the outbreak already seems hard to believe.”A week after the had been identified in the United States, and six long weeks before President Donald Trump finally took aggressive action to confront — a pandemic that is now forecast to take tens of...WW…

Man bites watchdog. In firing one inspector general, sidelining another and assailing a third, President Donald Trump in recent days has put his aversion to agents of federal accountability on stark display in a country consumed by the coronavirus. Advertisement Clearly displeased when inspectors general come to independent conclusions that don't fit the stories he tells, Trump employs a tactic to mar their credibility. If public servants worked for the government in the Obama era, they are subject to being painted as Obama loyalists out to get him. And they’re not insulated if they...…Man bites watchdog. In firing one inspector general, sidelining another and assailing a third, President Donald Trump in recent days has put his aversion to agents of federal accountability on stark display in a country consumed by the coronavirus. Advertisement Clearly displeased when inspectors general come to independent conclusions that don't fit the stories he tells, Trump employs a tactic to mar their credibility. If public servants worked for the government in the Obama era, they are subject to being painted as Obama loyalists out to get him. And they’re not insulated if they...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 4:48 pmLocal councils from at least 19 Chicago high schools have now voted to keep school resource officers on their campuses, even as protests against policing in schools continued Monday.Last week, local school councils from Taft, Farragut and Harper high schools all voted to continue with the program. They joined others that have voted this summer in favor of school resource officers, including Air Force Academy, Amundsen, Chicago Vocational, Corliss, Douglass, Goode, Harlan, Hubbard, Hyde Park, Kelly, Kenwood, King, Marshall, Michele Clark...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 4:48 pmLocal councils from at least 19 Chicago high schools have now voted to keep school resource officers on their campuses, even as protests against policing in schools continued Monday.Last week, local school councils from Taft, Farragut and Harper high schools all voted to continue with the program. They joined others that have voted this summer in favor of school resource officers, including Air Force Academy, Amundsen, Chicago Vocational, Corliss, Douglass, Goode, Harlan, Hubbard, Hyde Park, Kelly, Kenwood, King, Marshall, Michele Clark...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 30, 2020 at 3:37 pmMayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said she would only lay off or furlough city workers as a “last, last, last resort,” but that she would do so before considering raising property taxes.Speaking at a news conference about reopening Chicago police detective areas, Lightfoot said she isn’t now considering following other cities in laying off workers or cutting back their hours or pay.Advertisement“As somebody who worked in city government in days when there were mandatory furlough days and layoffs, that’s demoralizing to your workforce,”...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 30, 2020 at 3:37 pmMayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said she would only lay off or furlough city workers as a “last, last, last resort,” but that she would do so before considering raising property taxes.Speaking at a news conference about reopening Chicago police detective areas, Lightfoot said she isn’t now considering following other cities in laying off workers or cutting back their hours or pay.Advertisement“As somebody who worked in city government in days when there were mandatory furlough days and layoffs, that’s demoralizing to your workforce,”...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 5:26 pmSpringfield — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday unveiled a $5 million multimedia campaign to push the use of face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, and said he is open to considering fines for those who flout mask regulations.The ad campaign will carry the tagline “It only works if you wear it” and will focus on cities and counties in the state that “have the most work to do,” Pritzker said. The effort was launched in Springfield, days after Sangamon County was one of 11 counties in the state flagged by the Illinois Department of Public...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 5:26 pmSpringfield — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday unveiled a $5 million multimedia campaign to push the use of face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, and said he is open to considering fines for those who flout mask regulations.The ad campaign will carry the tagline “It only works if you wear it” and will focus on cities and counties in the state that “have the most work to do,” Pritzker said. The effort was launched in Springfield, days after Sangamon County was one of 11 counties in the state flagged by the Illinois Department of Public...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 5:00 amThe surge in violence in 2020 has had an especially tragic impact: The number of shooting victims younger than 10 years old is three times what it was last year, according to Tribune data.Twenty-four children, 10 years old and younger, have been shot in Chicago as of the end of July, according to a database of shooting victims kept by the Tribune. Five fatally. The 2019 total during the same time period was eight.The number of shootings victims is up overall this year but not by the same proportion as the youngest victims of the city’s...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneAug 03, 2020 at 5:00 amThe surge in violence in 2020 has had an especially tragic impact: The number of shooting victims younger than 10 years old is three times what it was last year, according to Tribune data.Twenty-four children, 10 years old and younger, have been shot in Chicago as of the end of July, according to a database of shooting victims kept by the Tribune. Five fatally. The 2019 total during the same time period was eight.The number of shootings victims is up overall this year but not by the same proportion as the youngest victims of the city’s...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 27, 2020 at 8:49 amChad Leman, a third-generation hog farmer in Eureka, Illinois, thinks he can hold out for two more weeks before he resorts to once-unthinkable measures.With some of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses closed due to worker outbreaks of COVID-19, he can’t sell most of his market-ready hogs. But freshly weaned piglets continue to arrive, crowding his barns. He’s been shuffling pigs around, but there’s just not enough space.Advertisement“We can do this for a couple weeks yet, but then we’re going to have some tough decisions," Leman said....…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 27, 2020 at 8:49 amChad Leman, a third-generation hog farmer in Eureka, Illinois, thinks he can hold out for two more weeks before he resorts to once-unthinkable measures.With some of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses closed due to worker outbreaks of COVID-19, he can’t sell most of his market-ready hogs. But freshly weaned piglets continue to arrive, crowding his barns. He’s been shuffling pigs around, but there’s just not enough space.Advertisement“We can do this for a couple weeks yet, but then we’re going to have some tough decisions," Leman said....WW…