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Letter to the Editor
RE: Dog Bite Awareness Week 2021 Villagers Voice Norris City, IL 62869
Dear Editor,
Did anyone bite you at work today? On average, nearly 15 mail carriers per day will say, “Yes.” Postal Service officials report that in 2020, over 5,800 letter carriers experienced dog bites or dog attacks. With deliveries every day, including Sundays and holidays, carriers continue to experience dog bites in urban, suburban and rural settings. [Read more...]
By Seth Whitehead, Executive Director Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
State-owned national oil companies already produce nearly three-quarters of the world’s oil and control 90 percent of its proven reserves. The only thing keeping these true “Big Oil” giants from completely controlling the world’s hydrocarbon supply are the privately-owned, independent oil companies that dominate the Illinois Basin and the United States as a whole.
By Seth Whitehead, Executive Director Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently said the United States should “replicate” Germany’s taxpayer-funded efforts to transition to renewable energy. Other leaders have suggested similar California energy policies should become a model for the country. [Read more...]
"If there’s one thing I’ve noticed during my time in elected office, it’s that everyone has their own concerns and priorities about what their government needs to do better. Some people focus on crime levels while other people complain about taxes. But if you talk to them long enough, nearly everyone, especially parents and grandparents, bring up their concerns about schools. Everyone agrees that we need good schools to prepare our younger generations so they can lead successful lives. Without a doubt, one of the biggest issues facing our schools is the shortage of good, qualified teachers. [Read more...]
Photo by Kathy Sands
With their industry under assault, oil and gas workers are being assured they can simply transition to renewable energy jobs. John Kerry even recently quipped that oil and gas workers “can be the people who go to work to make solar panels.” Easy peasy, apparently.
So why is this “just transition” narrative being met with deep skepticism and even anger from oil and gas workers? Because the notion that a simple “transition” to jobs that typically pay less – or don’t even exist at all – is as misguided as the belief we can quickly pivot to 100 percent renewable energy. [Read more...]
By Seth Whitehead, Executive Director – Illinois Petroleum Resources Board
As the United States re-enters the Paris Agreement and President Biden follows through on promises to implement policies aimed at decreasing domestic oil and natural gas production, it is important to reflect on where the United States currently stands with regard to emissions reductions and the country’s long-sought goal of energy independence. [Read more...]
1969 Chevy Chevelle, sold at auction in Greensboro, NC. Photo provided.
The Villagers’ Voice recently received this email from a young man in Austria:
"My name is Christian or Chris. I'm from Austria, a tiny country in the middle of Europe. Im writing you because maybe you can help me in a long long search and since you are writing for a newspaper, maybe you find my story interesting. First things first, why I’m even writing you? [Read more...]
The Illinois Republican Party is at a crossroads. The selection of our next party chairman will help determine our future.
As I see it we can continue with the status quo of irrelevance in Illinois, or we can strike a new path focused on being the party of working people of all types. For too long we’ve been too focused on the elites and the well-off, but the last four-years showed the Republican Party is the party of hard-working Americans. [Read more...]