Saturday, May 18, 2013

In Case You Haven’t Heard

 Sandy's Lighthouse Edition


A Quote To Remember..."Let us disappoint the men who would raise themselves upon the ruin of our country." ~John Adams
 
DuPage Forest Officials Discover Scam
Two former administrators charged with scamming the DuPage County Forest Preserve District out of more than $150,000 avoided suspicion for years, officials say, until their loyalty to a vendor seeking a computer contract triggered an internal investigation so secret that only three district officials knew about it. Prompted by the findings of the forest preserve probe, law enforcement authorities conducted their own investigation for nearly 10 months before numerous counts of theft, conspiracy, accepting kickbacks, official misconduct and other charges were filed in September 2012 against Mark McDonald, 53, of Wheaton, and David Tepper, 49, of River Forest. Prosecutors have accused McDonald, the district's former information technology director, and Tepper, the district's former IT manager, of running two "elaborate" schemes over a six-year period. A co-defendant, Arif Mahmood — owner of the now-shuttered Alamach Technologies Inc. — is facing charges of conspiracy, theft, accepting kickbacks and official misconduct in connection with one of the schemes.
 
“Pay China First Act”
Rep. Jan Schakowsky released the following statement after voting against the "Pay China First Act": "Today I voted against yet another risky proposal the Republicans call the "Full Faith and Credit Act," but is more accurately called the "Pay China First Act." Despite its name, this bill – which has no chance of becoming law – would actually undermine the full faith and credit of the United States. It would create financial chaos for families, businesses and entire communities – continuing the Republican pattern of lurching from one self-inflicted crisis to another. …”
 
Flood Disaster Aid – Approved
It’s official: the area is a genuine disaster. Naperville residents and others in DuPage and Will counties who sustained property damage in last month’s floods have received the go-ahead to apply for federal disaster assistance. The clearance resulted from President Barack Obama’s signing last week of a federal disaster declaration for 11 northern Illinois counties, including DuPage, Will, Kane and Kendall. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn submitted a request for the action Thursday, and Obama obliged the following day. The designation enables flood victims to apply for aid that includes grants for temporary housing, home repairs or replacement, and other expenses related to the disaster, as well as low-interest loans administered through the Small Business Administration, which are available to both residents and businesses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency administers the assistance program. Registration can be done online at www.disasterassistance.gov, or by calling 800-621-3362. Those with hearing and speech impediments should call 800-462-7585. …
 
Watch out for the Huge Hula Hoop on I-88
WBEZ: Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in west suburban Batavia has a very unusual shipment coming this summer: an electromagnetic ring so wide its journey will shut down whole highways. The ring, which looks like a huge hula-hoop, currently resides at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, where it’s been used to conduct high-level experiments on tiny subatomic particles called muons. “We use them to probe the basic underlying structure of particle physics,” said Chris Polly, a Fermilab physicist.  The journey to the western suburbs of Chicago this summer will begin with a barge trip down around the tip of Florida, through the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi River to get to Chicago’s waterways. The ring will then get off the boat at Lemont Port to be transported to the Batavia lab using high-tech remote control carts. Between the carts, the ring and the entourage of police officers and scientists, the process is expected to shut down stretches of I-88 and I-355 overnight in July. The entire trip is about 3,200 miles. …
 
Posted by Sandy Gresak . I’d like to thank Paul Sjordal for graciously allowing me to use articles from his newsletter.  If you would like to receive Pauls’ newsletter you can contact him at psjordal@yahoo.com
 

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