Must-See TV
Army Of Darkness
ElRey
5 p.m.
A discount-store employee is time-warped to a medieval castle, where he is the foretold savior who can dispel the evil there. Unfortunately, he screws up and releases an army of skeletons. (tvguide.com)
"In the days before the Kane County Health Department ordered Smithfield Foods' St. Charles meat processing plant to close due to concerns about COVID-19, and before the health department confirmed an employee had died, a call came in to police," the Tribune-owned Aurora Beacon-Newsreports.
The caller had concerns about Smithfield, a police transcript of the call shows, and told dispatchers their mom was a COVID-19 patient and an employee.
The 911 call is among several complaints raised about Smithfield's St. Charles plant, a dry sausage-making facility that employs about 325 people, before the county health department ordered it to close April 24, police reports and documents obtained by the Beacon-News through an open records request show.
The health department received at least two reports, and the 911-caller contacted police twice, once days before the closure and once days afterward. Kane County sheriff's deputies visited the plant twice before the closure at the request of the health department, following up on complaints, police reports and a spokesman indicated.
The documents paint a picture of mounting concern at the facility in the days before it was ordered closed, as meat processing plants across the country faced pressure over social distancing, protective equipment and COVID-19 safety practices. Workers at some plants nationwide became sick and some facilities temporarily closed, including other locations of Smithfield, which bills itself as the world's largest pork processor.
And one of the world's largest purveyors of bullshit.
"In response to specific Beacon-News questions about the St. Charles plant, Smithfield officials issued a statement emphasizing safety precautions the company has taken across the board and highlighting the company's role in the country's food system."
Go read the rest and then throw out all your Smithfield products and never buy any again.
Launching College Football
"People in charge of making life-and-death decisions about athletes are speaking with more clarity and wisdom about perilous decisions than anyone demanding a cattle call return to schools," our very own David Rutter writes.
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) July 16, 2020
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Among McKinsey's bevy of government contracts: The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Assignment Desk, activate! https://t.co/3zaJpWgtWr
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) July 16, 2020
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Maybe they hired McKinsey.
"I suspect that many people in Ireland think... 'Why is there a company that pays 0.05% in taxes?' I pay more taxes than Apple, for that matter. Many people pay more taxes," said Dutch MEP @paultang. https://t.co/9qYOeaO0k6#ParadisePapers