Joe Biden’s racist civil rights nominee, Part Five
Last night, I wrote about Lani Guinier, Bill Clinton’s nominee to head the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Clinton withdrew her nomination because, in essence, she advocated voting and legislative practices that were not race-neutral. I compared Guinier with Kristen Clarke, Joe Biden’s nominee for the same position, and found Clarke to be more extreme than Guinier.
I also pointed out that, unlike Clarke, Guinier was a good-faith advocate for the positions she held. Her advocacy appeared in scholarly writings, not in unvetted hit pieces. To my knowledge, she did not viciously attack those who took positions with which she disagreed.
This image shows possible redesigns for the intersection of Veterans Parkway at Empire Street in Bloomington. It was part of the Illinois Department of Transportation s virtual public information session Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.
The community got a sneak peek Thursday into how the state might overhaul the Veterans Parkway/Empire Street hub, one of Bloomington’s busiest and most dangerous intersections.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) hosted two virtual information sessions. Both offered preliminary findings of The Veterans Parkway at Empire Street (Interstate 55 Business/Illinois 9) Feasibility Study.
“It has the highest potential for safety improvements in District 5,” said Jake Hohl, project manager with Wight and Company, a consultant group working with IDOT and Quigg Engineering on the study. Bloomington is part of the seven-county district, based in Paris, Ill. IDOT divides the state into nine districts.
Earlier this week Streetsblog’s covered the controversy over the Illinois Department of Transportation’s plans to relocate a section of the Illinois Prairie Path in west-suburban Hillside as a safety strategy. From reading the piece, which I edited, you might have gotten the impression that former Ashland Avenue bus rapid transit opponent Roger Romanelli, who’s using the bike trail project as a campaign issue in his run for village trustee, is the only party in the wrong here. Romanelli is pushing an alternative to the trail relocation that wouldn’t fully address existing path safety issues.
But IDOT’s plan is also far from ideal. So if we really care about improving safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists, the real solution is a third option, which I’ll discuss in a bit.