FRESH Bronzeville

You may not get all you pay for, but you will surely pay for all you get.

‘It was awful’

Chatham resident Lori Burns came away from the community meeting eager to do daily rain measurements in her yard.

Her own long battle with neighborhood flooding began after she moved into the classic brick bungalow that had belonged to her late grandparents.

Her basement flooded about five times between 2001 and 2013, due to sewer system backup, she said: “It was awful, horrible.”

Cleanup took hours over multiple days. First, there was the wait for the water to recede. Then she had to rinse everything down with brushes, mops and bleach.

“The flood in itself is extremely stressful and there’s physical danger involved and after that there’s the health repercussions from whatever’s in the water, and then the potential for mold,” said Burns, a business manager for a food broker.

“I’ve had to take time off work in order to clean up after a flood, so you’ve got lost wages,” she added.

Scientists join the fight against basement flooding in Chicago: ‘The cavalry is coming’ CHICAGO -- When Nedra Sims Fears was growing up in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood in the 1960s and ’70s, the basement of her family home flooded at least six times. Twice, the water rose so high that it triggered an electrical fire and her family had to move out during extensive renovations. Memen...

Electric utilities across the United States are shutting off power to a growing number of households, according to a recent report that also found most shutoffs happened during last year’s record-hot summer, a reminder that climate change fuels more intense, frequent, and prolonged heat waves.

Shutoffs can be deadly, especially during extreme freezes and blistering heat. And while health issues are the most worrisome risk, there are other threats to daily life such as losing access to phone, internet, medical equipment, and food storage. Basic physical comfort can prove impossible.

Utilities are shutting off power to a growing number of households Electricity is getting more expensive. Here’s how states can prevent people from losing power during a freeze or a heat wave.

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/14/nx-s1-5112435/food-waste-bans-climate-change-study?

State bans on commercial food waste have been largely ineffective, study finds Much of the food supply in the U.S. goes uneaten, which contributes to climate change. Some states have tried to cut food waste in landfills, but their efforts have fallen short, researchers found.

"The owner of a Chicago-area construction company with ties to the investigation of former Ald. Carrie Austin has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for bribing an employee of the Cook County assessor’s office to reduce taxes on his properties by about a million dollars.

Alex Nitchoff, 57, of Lemont, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of conspiracy to bribe a public official and using a facility in interstate commerce to facilitate the acts of bribery. The 60-month sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge John Kness on Wednesday."

Judge gives 5-year sentence to developer in Cook County assessor’s office bribery scheme The owner of a Chicago-area construction company with ties to the investigation of former Ald. Carrie Austin has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for bribing an employee of the Cook County assessor’s office to reduce taxes on his properties by about a million dollars. Alex Nitchoff, ...

PAY ATTENTION! "Many people think climate change mainly means warmer temperatures. But temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. Because the Earth is a system, where everything is connected, changes in one area can influence changes in all others.

The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity."

What Is Climate Change? | United Nations Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fu...

As global temperatures rise and seasons shift, bees and other pollinators are missing critical connections with flowers and crops.

Plants and their pollinators are increasingly out of sync As global temperatures rise and seasons shift, bees and other pollinators are missing critical connections with flowers and crops.

Eyes wide open.

In 2023, the U.S. added more solar capacity that ever before, at 32.4 gigawatts.

This added capacity surpassed any other energy source in 2023, marking the first time a renewable energy source outpaced fossil fuels since World War II.

The Inflation Reduction Act, along with the Biden Administration’s push for U.S. solar manufacturing, means these record-breaking years will hopefully be the year-after-year norm.

It’s Official: America Is Experiencing a Solar Power Explosion Unmatched in History For the first time since WWII, a renewable energy source has outpaced fossil fuels.