The Illinois Commerce Commission approved ComEd’s proposed changes for data centers, but the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is urging the state legislature to pass the POWER Act to protect Illinois from data center impacts.
local communities
Posted inLocal
Pritzker: Second round of applications for the State-Designated Cultural Districts
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity have opened applications for State-Designated Cultural Districts, which will receive $3 million in funding to support economic development and preserve the unique cultural identities of the selected districts.
Posted inLocal
Busey Bank’s Kindness Kid nominations open
Busey Bank is accepting nominations for their Kindness Kid initiative, recognizing children who have shown extraordinary compassion and generosity to their community, with winners announced after the nomination period closes on August 30.
Posted inTimes Weekly News
Bertino-Tarrant recommends 11-District Board
At the September county board meeting, Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant presented her proposed redistricting plan for 11 two-member districts, which reduces the size of the Will County Board by four members.
Posted inTimes Weekly News
Black, brown people may be hardest hit as Pandemic Unemployment ends
Federal unemployment programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, came to an end on Sept. 4. All those on unemployment will now receive $300 less in weekly benefits and experts said it will likely hurt Black and brown workers the hardest.
Enhanced UI benefits disproportionately support Black and brown workers who have historically been left behind in recoveries. According to Lindsay Owens, executive director for Groundwork Collaborative, “the historic inequities in the labor market will be laid even more bare” after Monday’s benefits cutoff.
After Labor Day, roughly 7.5 million people lost key pandemic-era unemployment benefits established by the March 2020 CARES Act. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork, reacted to the impending unemployment cliff with the following statement:
Posted inTimes Weekly News
Federal unemployment benefits end
Federal unemployment programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, came to an end on Sept. 4. All those on unemployment will now receive $300 less in weekly benefits and experts said it will likely hurt Blacks and brown workers the hardest.
Posted in#NNPA BlackPress, Black Experience, Black History, Business, Community, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Featured, National, News, NNPA, NNPA Newswire, Sports, Stacy Brown
PGA Tour Commissioner Reiterates Diversity Efforts in Global Media Address
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “We’re working with our tournaments and their local communities to build on the incredible impact they’re making already through increased understanding, support, and engagements with nonprofits leading equity and including work,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “One aspect of our focus is helping to grow diversity inside the ropes through our expanded relationship with the APGA tour.”
Posted in#NNPA BlackPress, Commentary, Community, Economy, Environment, Featured, National, News, NNPA, NNPA Newswire, Politics, Stacy Brown
United Nations Issues ‘Code Red’ for Humanity in Climate Crisis
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Two hundred and thirty-four authors from 66 countries analyzed more than 14,000 scientific reports about climate change for the report, which officials will present during climate talks later this year. The report came as the Biden-Harris administration announced three pre-disaster funding opportunities to help states and communities prepare for significant disasters they said are costing lives and livelihoods and devastating local communities and businesses.
Posted in#NNPA BlackPress, Featured, Homeownership, National, News, NNPA, NNPA Newswire, Politics, Ray Curry
2021 Fair Housing: Restoring HUD Rules and Revenues
NNPA NEWSWIRE – “By guaranteeing affordable mortgages for White families and excluding Black families or limiting Black families to purchase in less economically advantageous neighborhoods, the government created, encouraged, and reinforced intense residential racial segregation throughout the nation,” said Richard Rothstein, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.’s Senior Fellow Emeritus. “White flight,” or the creation of White suburbs, was also undergirded by massive federal investments in the construction of the interstate highway system. The federal government often took possession of homes and land in Black communities by claiming eminent domain in order to construct highways as physical barriers between White neighborhoods and areas with a large presence of African Americans or communities of color.”
Posted in#NNPA BlackPress, Business, Community, COVID-19, Economy, Energy, Environment, Featured, Lifestyle, National, News, NNPA, NNPA Newswire, World
API Outlines Affordable and Accessible Energy in State of American Energy Report
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “A government that’s focused on recovery for all should reject policies that could drive up energy costs and hurt those who can least afford them,” Sommers said. “That is the case we’re making, and we are working with President Joe Biden and his administration. Our country has a lot of economic ground to make up, millions of more jobs to recover, and when the business at hand is the economic revival, no industry can help more than this one. The pandemic offered reminders of just how crucial the natural gas and oil industry is to everyday life.”
