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Legal Talk

Why the controversy over salvage?

John K. Fulweiler
March 22, 2010

So, I'm giving a talk this weekend to some yachting folks on legal issues that arise when you abandon ship. Of course, I'm going to talk about salvage. It's a favorite subject of mine and deserves attention because it is often misunderstood.

So, why is there so much controversy surrounding the law of salvage? Whether you're wearing a tie or a lifejacket, everyone seems to have something to say and most of it misses the mark.  More Info.

Madigan asks court to throw out Asian carp request

March 23, 2010 1:51 PM | No Comments

Illinois' Attorney General has asked the Supreme Court to toss out Michigan's request to re-open a near 90-year-old case at the center of the Asian carp debate.

In court records filed late Monday, Attorney General Lisa Madigan argues that the 1922 case Michigan seeks to re-open was solely intended to restrict Illinois' ability to divert water from Lake Michigan after the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.  More Info.

Supreme Court to reconsider action on Asian carp today

March 19, 2010 6:49 AM | No Comments

Supreme Court justices are again expected to take up the Asian carp issue behind closed doors today, considering a second appeal from Michigan officials to close navigational shipping locks in Chicago-area waterways.

If the justices side with Michigan, they could immediately force Illinois to close two shipping locks that are vital conduits for cargo shipping and boat traffic connecting the Great Lakes region with the Mississippi River. More Info. 

Job applications being taken

Subject: MWRD - Applications now being accepted

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is accepting applications for the 
Patrol Boat Operator Original Entrance examination beginning Friday, February 
26, 2010 through Friday, March 26, 2010.  To view the job annoucement and apply 
online, visit our website at www.mwrd.org and click on employment.

Sincerely,
Employment Services

One of our members passed this along.   

Let My Gefilte Fish Go!

WSJ Blogs/Washington Wire
2:37 pm February 26, 2010

By Jonathan Weisman

Oy, do we have a problem!
Rep. Don Manzullo (R., Ill.) knows his gefilte, he knows his Jewish calendar and he knows his trade laws. And boy, does he have the whole megillah down pat.
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Thursday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he revealed a terrible tragedy in the making. A gefilte fish processor in Thomson, Ill., has nine containers of Asian carp, mashed up into gefilte and that slimy sauce and ready to be shipped to Israel for Passover. But it seems the Jewish State has imposed a 120% duty on imported gefilte, drying up the market.  More Carp.  

FOUND NORTH OF ROMEOVILLE BARRIERS Biologists intensify hunt for Asian carp near lake: Invasive species yet to be found north of Romeoville barriers

Biologists intensify hunt for Asian carp near lake: Invasive species yet to be found north of Romeoville barriers
By Chicago Tribune
2/17/2010

By Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune
Feb. 18--Fisheries biologists launched the next phase in the hunt for Asian carp on Wednesday, using nets and electric current to corral fish in warm-water discharges along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Crews from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to continue searching for Asian carp in Chicago-area waterways through next week, part of a nearly $80 million federal attack plan to prevent the spread of the invasive species into the Great Lakes.
"This is an endeavor to search, destroy and certainly understand this adversary," said Marc Miller, director of the Department of Natural Resources. "This plan is about defense in depth, not relying on any one method to keep carp out of Lake Michigan."  More info.

Study: Cost of closing Chicago locks exaggerated

Study: Cost of closing Chicago locks exaggerated
By Chicago Tribune
2/17/2010

By Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune
Feb. 18--A Wayne State University business professor projects a $70 million a year increase in transportation costs in the Chicago region but an otherwise modest impact if Illinois is forced to close its navigational shipping locks to keep out Asian carp.

John Taylor, an associate professor of supply-chain management at Wayne State, and a transportation consultant told reporters today that Illinois officials and some in the boating and shipping industries have exaggerated the economic impact of lock closure. Many jobs would be lost, Taylor said, but others would be gained by the creation of new truck and rail terminals to carry freight to their final destinations.  More Info.