Coal Baron: The NY Times eviscerates West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin for his opposition to President Biden’s clean fuel initiative simply by reporting the facts. 

  Manchin has said he’s protecting West Virginia’s coal and gas production industries by spurning the President’s push for solar, wind, and nuclear energy.

  But the Times reports that “Manchin’s own finances are tied to coal: he founded a family coal brokerage that paid him half a million dollars in dividends last year.”

  While the climate warms and West Virginia is inundated with rain and floods, the paper reports that “The new data shows that Mr. Manchin’s constituents stand to suffer disproportionately as climate change intensifies. Unlike those in other flood-exposed states, most residents in mountainous West Virginia have little room to relocate from the waterways that increasingly threaten their safety.”

  Biden’s clean energy plan is designed to derive 80 percent of the country’s electricity from clean sources by 2030, up from 40 percent now. The Times says, “A clean electricity program would reward utilities that switch from burning oil, gas and coal to using wind, solar and nuclear energy, and penalize those that don’t.” 

  Joe Manchin might stop it from happening.

Indocenent Firing: The Art Institute of Chicago fired all of its trained volunteers and guides last month, who were mostly older white women, to diversify its group of about 100 docents. 

  The museum’s executive director of learning and engagement, Veronica Stein, sent an email on Sept. 3rd firing them all. She said, the museum needed to take a new path “in a way that allows community members of all income levels to participate, responds to issues of class and income equity, and does not require financial flexibility.” 

  The fired docents were offered a two-year free pass to the museum. They average 15 years of unpaid service.

  A Chicago Tribune editorial called Stein’s firing letter “weaselly.” They asked, “Why not invest some time in recruiting new, diverse docents? Why not grow the corps in such a way that it’s refreshed? Why not help docents who need help with expenses or child care? Why not have a hybrid model, at least until the current docents exit?”

Sooner Stoners: The medical marijuana industry in Oklahoma is growing like a weed and utility companies are having trouble keeping up with the demand for power and water, NPR reports.

  A stunning  8,630 growers have gone into business in the state and there are 2,378 dispensaries since marijuana was made legal in 2018.

  Marijuana is usually grown under artificial light and it’s a thirsty plant. But the state does not regulate where the grow operations are built, putting a strain on local utilities. One  power executive said that a cluster of growers in just one area can draw as much electricity as a small city.

Covid Nation: In the continuing battle over Covid vaccination, ESPN reporter Allison Williams is leaving the network because she’s refusing to get the shot mandated by the company.

  ESPN’s parent, the Walt Disney Company, is requiring all employees to get vaccinated. Williams has said she will not get vaccinated while she and her husband are trying to have a second child.

  In a video she posted online she said the vaccine requirement goes against her values. She wasn’t clear, but she seems to have both political and religious objections and also believes some women have had trouble with their reproductive systems after getting the shot.

  The centers for Disease Control says right up front on its website that “Currently no evidence shows that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems (trying to get pregnant) in women or men.”

  And in a somewhat related incident a Miami private school, Centner Academy, has directed that any students who get the Covid vaccine must stay home for 30 days. A school official told The Washington Post that they are responding to anecdotal accounts that a vaccinated person can “shed” elements of the vaccine to other people, in particular affecting female reproductive systems.

  The evidence in favor of vaccination is compelling, but across the country, police unions are fighting vaccination requirements in their departments. Five times as many police officers have died of Covid-19 so far this year than have died on the job, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. They count 231 police officers dead of Covid in 2021. Overall, 476 officers have died of Covid since the start of the pandemic and 94 by gunfire.

The Sports Page: Chicago native Candace Parker led the Chicago Sky to its first WNBA title as the team came back from trailing by 9 after three quarters. Parker scored 15 of the game’s final 17 points for the 80-74 win.

 The Spin Rack: — Seventeen people, including three children, with Christian Aid Ministries, an American organization, were kidnapped on Saturday by a criminal gang in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as they were leaving an orphanage. The group issued a “prayer alert” saying that it asked for prayers and hoped  “the gang members would come to repentance and faith in Christ.” — Former President Bill Clinton was released from a California hospital after treatment for a urological infection that developed into sepsis. — Robert Durst, the 78-year-old real estate heir just sentenced to life in prison for murder, is on a ventilator with a case of Covid-19. — A poll conducted by Britain’s Sunday Mailfound that more Brits want Prince William to succeed Queen Elizabeth than they do his father, Prince Charles. The poll was 41 percent William, 30 percent Charles, but the public doesn’t get a vote. 

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