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The [Monday] Papers
"Fishing piers and floating gardens welcome anglers to the Chicago Riverwalk, but a few blocks upstream is a little-known threat to fish and other aquatic life in the city's steadily improving waterway: Trump International Hotel & Tower," the Tribune's estimable Michael Hawthorne writes today.
State records obtained by the Tribune show the president's glass-and-steel skyscraper is one of the largest users of Chicago River water for its cooling systems, siphoning nearly 20 million gallons a day through intakes so powerful the machines could fill an Olympic swimming pool in less than an hour, then pumping the water back into the river up to 35 degrees hotter.Like other large users that draw water directly from rivers or lakes, Trump Tower is required to follow federal and state regulations detailing how facilities should limit the number of fish pinned against intake screens or killed by sudden changes in pressure and temperature.
Yet of the nearly dozen high-rises that rely on the Chicago River for cooling water, the decade-old skyscraper developed by Donald Trump is the only one that has failed to document it took those measures, state records show. Trump's Chicago managers also haven't conducted a study of fish killed by the luxury hotel and condominium complex - another step required five years ago by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in a permit for the building's water intakes.
To be clear, this is not only negligence by Trump Tower, but by the regulatory authorities who are supposed to ensure compliance with the laws. (Not fake laws, but real ones!)
"I can't keep a library book checked out for more than two weeks without getting a fine," said Albert Ettinger, an environmental lawyer challenging the permit on behalf of the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River. "Why should Trump Tower get special treatment?"Citing the state's lack of enforcement, Ettinger and Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago, notified Trump Tower's managers on Friday that the nonprofit groups are preparing a federal lawsuit accusing them of repeatedly violating the 1972 Clean Water Act.
All links by the Tribune, by the way; thank you!
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"Trump Tower representatives did not return telephone calls."
Perhaps they were too busy separating kids from their parents in the lobby, putting them in cages in the boiler room and blaming the Chicago Democrats forcing them to do so.
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"Trump Tower's developers initially failed to get a permit for a new cooling-water intake on the former site of the drab, low-slung Chicago Sun-Times Building. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office filed a complaint in 2012, three years after Trump opened his glistening Chicago high-rise at 401 N. Wabash Ave., and a year later the corporation in charge of the hotel and condo tower agreed to follow the law and pay a $46,000 fine.
"In settlement documents, the state said the fine would 'serve to deter further violations and aid in future voluntary compliance.'
"All of the other users of river water have filed documents with the state outlining how their cooling systems limit fish kills. Most draw substantially less water than Trump Tower and slow the velocity of their intakes to increase the chances fish can swim away safely, records show."
When have settlements ever deterred future violations and aided in future voluntary compliance? When?
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Finally:
"As a presidential candidate, Trump repeatedly condemned environmental regulations and vowed to abolish the federal EPA. The anti-regulation agenda he has pushed since taking office is carried out in part by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who as Oklahoma attorney general scaled back enforcement of environmental laws and sued the federal agency 13 times to block or delay clean air and water rules.
"Last year the American Public Power Association urged the Trump administration to add the cooling intake regulations to its list of environmental rules to overhaul or abolish.
"For now, at least, the rules are still in effect."
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Husker DuSable
"The DuSable Museum of African American History, which has the largest collection of African-American historical artifacts in the country, is facing a crisis of underfunding and management at a time when it should be getting ready for the arrival of the Obama Presidential Center, an entity that will bring international attention and visitors to the South Side," Crain's reported earlier this month.
I'm just catching up to this weird-ass story. Something's going on at DuSable, but we know not what it is.
"In recent weeks the museum has lost a third of its board, including high-profile names such as Chance The Rapper, artist Theaster Gates and physician/investor Eric Whitaker. Chance tweeted about not having time to serve on the board; the others have not publicly addressed their reasons for leaving. Nor has [CEO Perri] Irmer released a public statement about the departed trustees, some of whom she personally recruited. DuSable's major funders, McCormick Foundation and MacArthur Foundation, decline to comment on the museum's future. In the absence of information, rumors swirl about board members and management."
Paging Perri Irmer: This is not our idea of being fierce.
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"Why does this matter? DuSable is not a private company. It is a public charity that exists on public land and receives $1.4 million in tax money annually, given its status as one of the city's Museums in the Parks. 'First thing, we need some transparency,' says Eric Weinheimer, CEO at Forefront, a Chicago nonprofit that represents the entire philanthropic community. 'With these stories coming out, I think people are left to wonder what's really going on there.'"
And how.
"Chance, whose full name is Chancelor Bennett, along with his politically connected father Ken Bennett and Obama family friend Dr. Eric Whitaker, all have submitted their resignations, said 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer, chairman of the City Council's Black Caucus," the Tribune reported last month.
"Also resigning are board Chairman Joyce Johnson-Miller and Trustees Wilbur Milhouse III, Kimberly McCullough-Starks and Michael Gibson, Sawyer said, adding that several of those resigning called him to let him know. The alderman, however, said he could not discuss the reasons for their departures, which were first reported by Crain's Chicago Business."
Whatever the big mystery is, it's gonna come out. And when it does, it'll be 10 times worse for having become a big secret instead of just leveling with everybody from the outset.
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They Get The Cloaks, We Get The Dagger
"Amazon toured five potential Chicago sites as part of the company's search for a second North American headquarters and 'really liked' two of them, Mayor Rahm Emanuel disclosed Monday," the Sun-Times reports.
"The mayor did not name the two sites for fear of alienating Amazon, which is evaluating 20 finalists for the 50,000-job motherlode of an economic development prize known as HQ2, for which the city and state have offered a $2.25 billion incentive package."
A motherlode of bullshit. Which, by the way, you can ward off with this product found on Amazon.
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"[S]ources said the two finalists are likely to come from the following three: a Chicago River district where Tribune Media wants to build 15 office and residential towers; 'The 78,' a 62-acre site at Roosevelt and Clark once owned by convicted felon Tony Rezko, where Rauner dreams of building an innovation center led by the University of Illinois; and the Lincoln Yards site, which includes the old Finkl Steel plant among 100 acres along the River.
"The other two sites toured by the Amazon site selection team in March under cloak-and-dagger secrecy were Fulton Market and the Burnham Lakefront, an area that includes the old Michael Reese Hospital site."
To keep their visits undercover, Amazon's folks were going to pose as EPA regulators, but that wouldn't have been believable. EPA regulators never come around. Instead, they pretended they were from Google.
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OTD In . . .
2015.
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
Elonorail
Is there a chance the tunnel could collapse?
Not on your life, you buncha saps
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Dress Coded: Rules And Punishment For Black Girls Abound
"Some of the rules they describe are just plain silly. For instance, the charter school KIPP DC forbids 'pants, shorts, or skirts that have patterns, lace, polka dots, stripes, holes, or words.'"
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The White Sox Report: Not Who We Thought They Were
"What's interesting is that non-prospect players who go about their business with little fanfare," our very own Roger Wallenstein writes, "have been performing better than the guys whom the team has thrust into the spotlight."
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ChicagoTube
City of Chicago Pipe Band taking 4th in Grade 3 MSR at the 2018 Chicago Highland Games.
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ChicagoGram
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BeachBook
Over 160,000 Eligible Illinois Low-Income Students Denied Grants Designed For Illinois Low-Income Students Last Year.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
No, these aren't cages, @SteveDoocy says. The authorities simply "built walls out of chain-link fences." Yes, that's a real quote from Fox just now. pic.twitter.com/7oVQ6oE85x
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 18, 2018
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In Antarctica, 3 independent data sets from 3 measurements using 3 different approaches by 84 scientists from 44 institutions all show the same thing: We should declare a global climate emergency right now because the point of no return is herehttps://t.co/vtsavJ1zwf pic.twitter.com/JS59JwPfcg
— Assaad Razzouk (@AssaadRazzouk) June 18, 2018
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— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 18, 2018
Thank you Mr. D'Souza! We really appreciate your insight and support.
— Patti Blagojevich (@pblagojevich) June 18, 2018
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"Rauner's Act-of-God claims about the source of Legionnaires' are unverified and off-point. For that, we rate his statement False."#ilgov #twillhttps://t.co/oFwZJAB4a5
— Illinois Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) June 18, 2018
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Chicago sound engineer Steve Albini wins his first WSOP gold bracelet in Event #31, $1,500 Seven Card Stud. Albini earns $105,629 while busting two 6-time bracelet winners, Jeff Lisandro and Chris Ferguson, at the final table. https://t.co/TfLv3OvLkh pic.twitter.com/DOqGX4i92P
— WSOP (@WSOP) June 17, 2018
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Brewers brew fact: The 1871 Chicago fire helped make Milwaukee a major hub of brewing. After CHI breweries were destroyed, MIL filled need.
— Doug Padilla (@DougPadilla) June 18, 2016
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The Beachwood Tronc Line: Brew 'n' view.
Posted on June 18, 2018
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