Natural gas and electric are better together – Chicago Tribune

Temperatures have dipped nicely beneath zero the previous few days, with a wind chill nearing minus-35 to minus-40 levels. And through this time when individuals are dwelling, cooking and baking, entertaining and celebrating, that’s when Nicor Gasoline’ most vital work begins.

Our clients deserve the peace of thoughts that we’ll be there to maintain their houses heat, companies working and households protected, at a price they’ll afford. That’s why planning for winter climate begins lengthy earlier than the temperatures drop and pure gasoline utilization goes up.

Nicor Gasoline’ underground storage fields assist present protected and dependable pure gasoline service to our 2.3 million clients in northern Illinois. This storage permits us to purchase gasoline for purchasers when costs are sometimes decrease and retailer it for later use, guaranteeing a dependable provide and passing the financial savings to clients. Through the chilly winter months, greater than 40% of our pure gasoline is delivered to our clients from our storage system.

Via excessive winter climate situations, Nicor Gasoline staff work to watch pipelines and make sure the protected efficiency and reliability of our pure gasoline infrastructure. Even over the last two polar vortexes, there have been no outages.

That’s why we imagine pure gasoline and electrical energy are higher collectively. Gaining access to each vitality sources in your house maintains reliability and resiliency, even within the harshest situations. And analysis reveals that utilizing pure gasoline and electrical applied sciences may be a part of a net-zero dwelling. In truth, research discovered that utilizing pure gasoline and electrical infrastructure can drive larger emissions reductions at decrease total prices.

— Dan Fox, vp, system operations, Nicor Gasoline

Chicago police have misplaced one other one among their best to obvious suicide.

The underside line: It’s a management drawback. Each chief within the chain of command ought to be held accountable; there ought to be an in depth account of how CPD commanders missed a chance to intervene for an officer who made a tragic determination.

Throughout my time in CPD as a police officer. I can depend on one hand what number of instances I interacted with a commander and above. Not as soon as in my 25 years did one commander ever inform me how I used to be doing. I commanded within the Military, and it was instilled in us from the time we turned leaders to ask our troopers how their day was, how their households had been doing. We might recite each one among our troopers’ children’ names.

It’s time for change in CPD. Ideas and prayers from a white shirt fall on deaf ears. The residents of Chicago demand accountability.

— Roberto Garcia, Chicago

A battle is brewing amongst Chicago officers and the information media over whether or not to encrypt police radio site visitors or proceed to make it out there to the general public. Irrespective of which aspect of the talk you’re on, I imagine there are two points we are able to agree on with regards to fixing Chicago’s violent crime epidemic: Know-how is crucial to lowering crime, and regulation enforcement can’t do it alone.

Making our blocks safer begins with forging stronger partnerships and shared respect among the many neighborhood, police and the elected officers governing our metropolis.

I’m a proud member of the Secure Streets Chicago Coalition. We’re college students, educators, neighborhood leaders and public security advocates who know our blocks and our neighbors higher than anybody, and we all know one thing about what our communities should be safer. These are the streets we grew up on — the place we reside and the place our households go to work.

However we are able to’t clear up this drawback with relationships alone. If we don’t put money into public security initiatives that embrace higher instruments and know-how for regulation enforcement, our neighborhoods will proceed being riddled with crime and violence. Instruments resembling cameras, gunshot detection methods and the usage of helicopters should determine into the town’s technique.

It’s not honest that individuals are scared to drive to work due to carjackings or afraid to take the CTA for concern of turning into the following crime statistic. Our kids shouldn’t have to fret about being shot strolling to and from faculty.

As a principal, I’ve witnessed sufficient. We must always prioritize public security by doing one thing about it. We’d like decisive actions like investments in concrete initiatives and instruments that may get the job executed. Our households and college students deserve nothing much less.

— Roni-Nicole Facen, Secure Streets Chicago Coalition

Final month, voters in a number of communities throughout Chicagoland solid ballots to create native, publicly backed psychological well being commissions. That is big step ahead for native governments, nonprofits and different well being care suppliers which have struggled for years to offer sufficient psychological well being providers to pals and neighbors, a lot of whom are unable to pay for personal remedy.

We’re grateful to the Affiliation of Neighborhood Psychological Well being Authorities of Illinois for main this cost to broaden the variety of communities with psychological well being boards.

Established in 1966, the Proviso Township Psychological Well being Fee is among the oldest psychological well being boards in Illinois. Native psychological well being boards are an important a part of the social security internet, and we’re happy to see extra communities select to unravel native points with native options.

Like every other sickness that’s left untreated, behavioral and psychological well being can spiral uncontrolled, costing society much more in disaster intervention than if issues had been addressed early on. As an area authorities company, we all know the struggles of our neighborhood intimately and may deal with these wants deftly.

Neighborhood psychological well being care is not only psychiatrists and group remedy, although. We all know that housing, transportation, home relationships, training and regulation enforcement are all linked. The Proviso Township Psychological Well being Fee can establish points and assist businesses with funding to deal with these points whereas sustainable funding sources are sought.

This 12 months, the fee funded greater than 20 community-based businesses that present providers resembling counseling and remedy in our native faculties, addictions remedy and senior providers that hold our aged neighbors engaged.

Social ills resembling highway rage, bullying, home violence, substance abuse and homelessness are all tied to neighborhood psychological well being and well-being.

Our communities are solely as robust and profitable as our most susceptible members. There may be a number of work to do in Illinois to deal with our well being methods, and psychological well being care particularly.

Because the boots on the bottom, native psychological well being boards see firsthand the place the wants are and may be half of a bigger answer to creating more healthy, extra productive communities.

— Mike Corrigan, president, Proviso Township Psychological Well being Fee, and supervisor, Proviso Township

The Tribune is fortunate to have Laura Washington as a columnist. Her native insights are at all times forthright and on level.

We couldn’t agree extra together with her about taking good care of native couriers (“My daddy, the dependable mailman,” Dec. 19). We’re each day subscribers to the Tribune, and our early morning courier usually has the paper delivered by 5 within the morning. He takes further care in making an attempt to have the paper delivered deep into our driveway, in order that our yellow Lab, Maisie, can earn her morning deal with by retrieving the paper. As soon as in the home, we generally can’t get the paper out of her mouth.

We need to salute our courier, Homero Soto, for a job nicely executed with form phrases, in order that he can hopefully see this, in addition to his superior.

— Cary Riske, Grayslake

Picture after picture, photojournalist Armando L. Sanchez tells the tales of Chicago with grit and style. The Dec. 16 front-page picture captures each with the depth of an oil portray. How lucky we’re to have such a gifted artist amongst us!

Thanks to Sanchez for expressing such magnificence and humanity for us all to ponder.

— Gilda Parrella, Chicago

Congrats to photographer Armando L. Sanchez for the excellent front-page photograph on the Friday, Dec. 16 version of the Tribune.

Additionally, kudos to the Tribune’s printing plant for its glorious copy of this soon-to-be iconic Chicago photograph.

— Wayne Scott, Naperville

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