Obama Visiting Argonne Next Friday to Talk Energy Policy

The focus of the trip is to “focus on American energy,” officials said.

President Barack Obama will return to his home state March 15, to visit Argonne National Laboratory, near Lemont, and discuss his energy policies, the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune are reporting. An official told the Tribune that the trip is intended to “focus on American energy,” and may or may not also include comments on the impact on facilities like Argonne of funding cuts caused by the current sequester. The Sun-Times notes that this is the President’s first trip to the Chicago area since speaking at Hyde Park Academy on Feb. 15; the First Lady visited McCormick Place on Feb. 28 to promote her physical-fitness campaign “Let’s Move.” Argonne National Laboratory is also a Patch Local Voices contributor (and here). Read more at …

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Roskam: Sequester Remarks Show 'Void of Presidential Leadership'

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam responds to President Obama's remarks on the sequester.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (IL-06) responded to President Obama's remarks on his sequester with the following statement Tuesday: “Today, the void of presidential leadership was on full display. Instead of getting in a room with Senate Democrats and passing a sequester replacement plan, President Obama chose to get behind a podium and give yet another speech. Noticeably absent from his speech was the fact that House Republicans have already passed two alternatives to the sequester his White House proposed in the last round of budget negotiations.   “Everyone agrees that the sequester is not an artful way to achieve the spending cuts that our bloated federal budget desperately needs. But the president gets it wrong when he demands that Americans…

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What Will Illinois Lose in the Sequester?

The state might take a crippling hit if congress does not act before Friday.

By Ryan Fitzpatrick, Homewood-Flossmoor Patch Deep, nationwide cuts are geared to take place March 1. They're the first of a decade-long $1.2 trillon budget cut plan poised to go into effect unless congress can compromise on a defecit-reduction plan.  Here’s what Illinois stands to lose, according to the White House:

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Gregg Slapak

3:39 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x766873736/Our-Opinion-Congress-Obama-should-repeal-the-sequester   more ›

Jeff Ward: You Can't Blame the President for Record Gas Prices

If you really want to point a finger at the person responsible please gaze into the nearest mirror.

Gather round boys and girls, it’s story time. Back in those 1979 days of yore, there were two greedy siblings named Nelson and William. We’ll just call them the Hunt brothers. And when no one was looking, the Hunt Brothers started buying up all the silver in the land. Why, they bought so much silver that the price of that shiny metal skyrocketed from $11 to $50 an ounce in just four months. Legend has it that the Hunt brothers made $2-$4 billion on that move alone. But then something not-so-strange happened. That wise and powerful sage we call “The Market” took over and the price of silver plummeted just two months later costing the heavily leveraged, evil Hunt brothers more than $1 billion. Poor Nelson even had to file for bankruptcy. Let…

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The District 200 Chalkboard

Because of NCLB, District 200 Addresses Achievement Gaps, Plans for Improvement

The No Child Left Behind act has changed the way student achievement is measured across demographic groups.

At District 200 high schools, it is both the best of times and the worst of times, to paraphrase Charles Dickens. Recently issued Illinois State Report Cards (available online by searching at http://iirc.niu.edu/Default.aspx) show District 200 students' scores on the widely-used ACT college entrance exam reached an all-time high of 24.4 for the class of 2010.  These scores beat the previous record, 24.2, set in 2000 at a time when a much smaller percentage of students took the test.  Yet both Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Both schools have also been on Illinois Academic Watch Status for the last four and five years, respectively. What's behind this apparent …

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Wheaton Remembers Local Soldier Awarded With Medal of Honor

Army Sgt. Robert Miller, U.S. Army was honored today in an all-school Mass and prayer service at Robert Miller Plaza, at Wheaton and Willow avenues. Miller's family will receive his Medal of Honor posthumously from President Barack Obama today, Wednesday,

Wheaton remembered Army Staff Sgt. Robert Miller  today, Oct. 6, with an all-school Mass and prayer service at the Robert Miller Plaza outside St. Michael's Church. Miller's family will receive his Medal of Honor posthumously from President Barack Obama at the White House today. Staff Sgt. Miller will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his conspicuous gallantry on the day he was killed in action in Afghanistan on Jan. 25, 2008. According to a White House press release, Staff Sgt. Miller displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor—eventually sacrificing his own life to save the lives of his Army Green Beret team and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers. Staff Sgt.  Miller's parents, Phil and Maureen Miller, will join the …

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