In the breezy and informative 58-minute documentary “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic,” we’re introduced to the man whose name should be as well-known as Edison or Westinghouse or Bell or Tesla or Ford: Leo Hendrik Baekeland.

“Ben. I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.” — Mr. McGuire, to Benjamin Braddock, in “The Graduate”

Take a look a moment to look around you. Chances are great you’ll see a number of items made of or at least containing the ubiquitous and useful and incredibly versatile and also problematic synthetic polymer known as plastic. From beverage bottles to food wrappers, from automobile parts to outdoor furniture, from produce bags to your computer keyboard, plastic is such a key ingredient of so many elements of everyday life it’s hard to imagine a world without plastic — and yet it’s been around for only a little more than century.

In the breezy and informative 58-minute documentary “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic,” we’re introduced to the man whose name should be as well-known as Edison or Westinghouse or Bell or Tesla or Ford: Leo Hendrik Baekeland, the eccentric and brilliant Belgian chemist who invented Velox photographic paper in 1893 and then topped that breakthrough innovation in 1907 with his creation of Bakelite, the first nonflammable plastic that retained its shape after being heated. Plastic eventually became a key ingredient in electrical insulators, telephone casings, radios, kitchenware etc., etc., to the point where it was hard to imagine a world WITHOUT Baekeland’s invention.

“All Things Bakelite” draws upon interviews with descendants of Baekeland and experts in the field such as research chemists, along with instructive graphics, dramatic re-creations and excerpts from Baekeland’s extensive journals. (You gotta love it when a genius keeps a daily diary.) Unfortunately, the filmmakers also indulged in whimsical but not entirely effective devices, including a cheesy guy in a tuxedo running around Times Square asking people, “What is Bakelite?” (Spoiler alert: nobody knows), and some oddball musical numbers about plastic. With such a short running time in the first place, these gimmicky sidebars only serve to distract us from an inherently compelling story.

The L.H. Baekeland Project, LLC

The doc is most interesting when chronicling Baekeland’s story, laying out how he was able to succeed in creating a useful plastic while so many other esteemed scientists couldn’t get the formula quite right. And it’s cool to hear from designers and artists talking about the role of plastics in the streamlined, Art Deco movement. We also learn Baekeland was something of a recluse who loved his family but preferred to spend time alone with his work, and that he had to deal with copyright infringements and legal entanglements that took him away from his work. Baekeland did well for himself, but he was not a self-promoter and businessman on the level of a Thomas Edison or a George Westinghouse.

Of course, the durability of plastic is an immense double-edged sword. “All Things Bakelite” devotes only a relatively brief segment to the fact that plastic doesn’t decompose and is the source of worldwide pollution, toxicity and solid waste. “It’s probably a good thing that Leo Baekeland could not foresee the misuse of plastic today,” says Hugh Karraker, the great-grandson of Baekeland. “Bakelite is not biodegradable. It’ll be with us forever.”

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Solinger was the hard rock band’s longest-running vocalist (1999 to 2015), replacing Sebastian Bach, who left the group in 1996.

Former Skid Row singer Johnny Solinger has died a month after revealing he was suffering from liver failure. He was 55.

Solinger’s wife, actress Paula Marcenaro Solinger, confirmed the musician’s death. “He passed yesterday while I was holding his hand,” she told USA TODAY on Sunday morning.

“He went in peace,” Marcenaro wrote Saturday night on Facebook, two hours after telling fans, “I have made the decision to transition to comfort care. It is time to let him go … I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have saved him. I’m so sorry, Johnny Solinger. I’m so sorry.”

Skid Row shared the news Saturday night on social media, posting a photo of Solinger with his birth and death dates.

“We are saddened to hear the news of our brother Johnny Solinger. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans,” a statement on Skid Row’s verified Instagram account read. “Godspeed Singo. Say hello to Scrappy for us.”

The statement was signed “much love” from current members Rachel Bolan, ZP Theart, Snake Sabo, Rob Hammersmith and Scotti Hill.

Solinger was the hard rock band’s longest-running vocalist (1999 to 2015), replacing Sebastian Bach, who left the group in 1996. Solinger fronted the group when it opened for Kiss’ Farewell Tour in 2000 and embarked on a solo career after parting ways with the group. He sang on two of the group’s albums, 2003’s “Thickskin” and 2006’s “Revolutions Per Minute.”

Solinger shared his health struggles with fans last month on Facebook.

“It is with a heavy heart I must let everyone know what’s going on with me and my health,” he wrote on May 8. “I have been hospitalized for over the last month. I have been diagnosed with liver failure. And prognosis is not so good. As with most musicians I do not have health insurance and it’s very difficult to get proper care without it.

“I am currently under at least seven different medications and I need to have my abdomen drained off fluid that gets accumulated every couple of days,” he wrote. “I have lost a lot of strength and will require physical therapy as well.”

Solinger asked fans to “send me all the healing vibes you can” and donations to help with his medical bills. A GoFundMe page organized by his friend Brian Lawrence has raised $16,000 toward a $100,000 goal.

Bassist Tony Franklin (Whitesnake, Jimmy Page) remembered Solinger as “a sweet guy, a bundle of laughs, and some vocal pipes. Rest peacefully Johnny!”

“He was a big, bold flash of life. He will be dearly missed,” bassist Todd Kerns (Slash, The Age of Electric) wrote. “Keep the mic warm for me when I get up there so we can rock together once more.”

“Get yourself a piece of pie with Scrappy,” wrote Bolan, Skid Row’s bassist, on his own Instagram account.

Scrappy was Solinger’s late grandfather, World War II veteran Willard J. “Scrappy” Smith, who died in 2019 at age 103 in Russellville, Arkansas. Solinger’s company, Scrappy Smith LLC, was named for him, and Solinger released a solo EP of the same name in 2014.

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About 2 a.m., officers responded to Trilogy Nightclub, 2051 Lincoln Hwy., for calls of shots fired.

A person was killed, and three others were wounded in a shooting Sunday morning outside a nightclub in west suburban St. Charles, according to St. Charles police.

About 2 a.m., officers responded to Trilogy Nightclub, 2051 Lincoln Hwy., for calls of shots fired, police said. Two gunshot victims were found outside the club on the front sidewalk.

They were both rushed to Northwestern Medical Delnor Hospital in Geneva where one of them died, police said. The other person had their condition stabilized.

A third person was brought to the same hospital by a friend, and is in critical condition, police said. A fourth person was driven to Copley Memorial Hospital in Aurora, where they were treated and released.

Detectives continue to investigate the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact St. Charles police at 630-377-4435.

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He is due in juvenile bond court Monday.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl June 2, in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

The boy, whose name has been withheld because he is a minor, has been charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.

Savanah Quintero and her boyfriend had just bought snacks from a store at the corner of 48th and Wood streets around 6 p.m. June 2, when they were confronted by three young gunmen, according to police and the alderman of the ward.

They asked if she was in a gang, and she said she wasn’t, at which point the three chased her halfway down the block and opened fire, according to Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who said he got the details from police.

The gunmen jumped into an SUV and sped off. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, but she later died, police said.

The 17-year-old boy was arrested about 7:35 p.m. Saturday in the 3700 block of West 59th Street, after he was identified by police as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots, police said.

He is due in juvenile bond court Monday.

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When the 2020-21 Chicago Blackhawks season started, there were many questions. It was following a surprisingly decent performance in the COVID-19 bubble but we all knew that it was fool’s gold based on the roster. One of the biggest questions to be answered would be the report on Alex DeBrincat. He was brilliant in his […]

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As another iteration of the Olympic Games near, Vonn is eager to talk about mental health and the unique stressors that athletes face, both before and after competition.

Lindsey Vonn didn’t talk about depression in the early stages of her Olympic skiing career. Part of her viewed it as a sign of weakness. Part of her didn’t understand the impact it was having. And in American society at the time, mental health was not exactly the topic du jour.

“I wish I had been able to — or been strong enough to — talk about it back in the early parts of my career,” Vonn told USA TODAY Sports. ”But I think the older I got and the more support I got from others, the more I realized there’s no shame in it.”

That’s why, as another iteration of the Olympic Games near, Vonn is eager to talk about mental health and the unique stressors that athletes face, both before and after competition. The 36-year-old may be retired, and she obviously earned her three Olympic medals at the Winter Games, rather than the Summer. But for Vonn, that doesn’t make the subject any less important – particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I feel like, honestly, everyone should have a therapist,” she said. ”It should be like having a dentist, or going to a pediatrician. We should all take mental health seriously and do our best every day to make sure we’re taking care of it.”

Vonn won two medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a third in Pyeongchang in 2018. In 2012, she revealed that she had been quietly fighting depression, which runs in her family, for more than a decade and had been taking anti-depressants to manage her symptoms.

Vonn spoke on behalf of Allianz, an Olympic sponsor which said it is providing mental health resources for athletes — including by providing emotional support dogs for a group of skateboarders training in Los Angeles.

The idea hit home for Vonn, who has three dogs and said she has leaned on them in difficult moments. She adopted one of her dogs, Leo, in 2014 while recovering from a knee injury that caused her to miss the Sochi Games. And Vonn famously brought another, Lucy, with her as she traveled for competition in the final years of her career, including to the Pyeongchang Olympics.

“I think dogs give you a level of unconditional love and support that you don’t, unfortunately, get from humans,” Vonn said. ”Lucy doesn’t know that I ski race. She doesn’t care. She’s just happy every time I walk through the door. For me, that always gave me a sense of peace and stability. And it grounded me, because it made me keep everything in perspective.”

Vonn said that, even as a retired Winter Olympian, she’s “definitely jealous” of the athletes who will be competing this summer in Tokyo, where the Games begin July 23. She’s most looking forward to watching skateboarding, tennis, the U.S. women’s soccer team — and, of course, Simone Biles.

As for future Winter Games, Vonn was recently named to the governing board of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which hopes to bring the Olympics back to Utah in either 2030 or 2034. She hopes the existing — and well-maintained — infrastructure from the 2002 Games will help defray some of the costs that are normally associated with hosting the Olympics.

Vonn was also asked about the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, which are slated to begin Feb. 4, and how athletes may be affected by repeated calls to boycott those Games due to China’s detainment of Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. President Joe Biden’s advisers have called it “genocide.”

“I think the Olympics provide a great platform, for people to speak about things they believe are important, to bring to light things that maybe would not be brought to light,” Vonn said.

Read more at usatoda.com.

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Experts cite multiple ways to evaluate which coal plants are the “cleanest” beyond total CO2 emissions. Prairie State ranks nowhere near the top based on any of the yardsticks.

As Republican were dropping U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis’s name as the next potential rival to run against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the congressman was in southern Illinois visiting a coal plant that could get shut down if the governor gets his way.

Davis used the visit to criticize the Democratic governor’s support for a sweeping energy plan that could close every coal-fired power plant in Illinois by 2035, an idea opponents say would kill jobs and hike rates.

Davis called on Pritzker to spare the Prairie State Energy Campus in Marissa, south of East St. Louis. The plant provides power to municipalities in eight states, including a swath of Davis’ 13th Congressional district.

“The municipally owned Prairie State power plant is the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the nation,” he said during his June 18 visit. “The company is actively pursuing and adopting additional carbon sequestration and storage and emissions-reducing technologies, and they should receive support from state and federal agencies for their efforts.”

One of Prairie State Energy Campus’ two power units was selected in 2019 as the site of a U.S. Department of Energy-backed carbon-capture research project slated to be completed by the end of the year. But federal data show the plant has been one of the nation’s 10 biggest emitters of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, a fact recently highlighted by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

While experts say there are multiple ways to evaluate which coal plants are the “cleanest” beyond total CO2 emissions — which tend to single out power plants producing the most electricity — Prairie State ranked nowhere near the top based on any of the yardsticks we found to measure it.

Davis’ office did not respond to requests for comment.

Not ‘cleanest’ by any major metric

Defining how “clean” a coal plant is depends on whom you ask — and when.

“ ‘Clean coal’ has been this sort of amorphous term that has meant whatever people want it to mean, and it’s changed over time,” said Daniel Cohan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University.

Before climate change gained significant attention, Cohan and other experts said, coal plants generally were judged on emissions of regulated air pollutants causing smog and acid rain, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).

Amid growing concern over climate change, experts said there’s a case for including CO2 emissions in the conversation about which plants are cleanest.

To compare Prairie State’s emissions against other power plants, Cohan pointed us to data published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showing how much of a given gas or pollutant power plants emit per unit of electricity generated.

In 2019, the latest year for which data was available, Prairie State Generating Station ranked 169th of 306 coal plants in the nation for CO2 emission rates. Its ranking for its SO2 emission rate was roughly the same.

Prairie State performed better on NOx emissions — placing 37th — but still nowhere near the top.

“By no means is this a clean power plant,” Cohan said. “It’s still a substantial contributor to air pollution and climate change.”

But calling Prairie State the cleanest coal plant in the country “would be absurd,” he said.

“It’s not the cleanest by any reasonable metric,” said Emily Grubert, an energy systems researcher and professor at Georgia Tech.

Our ruling

Davis said the Prairie State power plant is “the cleanest” coal-fired power plant in the nation.

His office did not respond when asked for evidence to back that up.

Experts cite multiple metrics by which to assess how clean a coal plant is. EPAl data show Prairie State does not come out at or near the top based on any of them.

We rate Davis’ claim Pants on Fire!

PANTS ON FIRE: The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.

Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

The Better Government Association runs PolitiFact Illinois, the local arm of the nationally renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking enterprise that rates the truthfulness of statements made by governmental leaders and politicians. The BGA’s fact-checking service teams weekly with the Sun-Times. Find all of the PolitiFact Illinois stories here.

Sources

“Rodney Davis for governor? It sounds more possible by the day,” The Pantagraph, June 23, 2021

“Senate adjourns with no energy deal, but Harmon ‘confident’ one is still near,” Capitol News Illinois, June 15, 2021

Press release, U.S. Congressman Rodney Davis, June 21, 2021

Press release, Prairie State Energy Campus, Sept. 13, 2019

FEED study for retrofitting the Prairie State Generating Station, U.S. Department of Energy, accessed June 23, 2021

“Closing Illinois coal plant would cut pollution but cost some towns that have a stake in it,” Chicago Sun-Times, June 4, 2021

“Coal-fired power plant in southern Illinois a major obstacle to Biden’s push for carbon-free electricity by 2035,” Chicago Tribune, Jan. 21, 2021

eGrid plant year 2019 data, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Feb. 23, 2021

Phone interview and emails: Daniel Cohan, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, June 23 & 24, 2021

Email: Emily Grubert, professor of environmental engineering at Georgia Tech, June 23, 2021

Emails: Edward Rubin, professor of environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, June 23 & 24, 2021

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The Chicago Cubs are in a very interesting spot. They always seem to be either very hot or very cold which has led to them being in the spot they are in now. They trail the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central Division by 2.0 games going into their Sunday night baseball […]

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A 25-year-old was found early Saturday in the 2600 block of West Thomas Street with a gunshot wound to the torso.

Two people were killed, and 38 others wounded in citywide gun violence since Friday night.

In the weekend’s reported fatalities, a man was fatally shot early Saturday in Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side.

The 25-year-old was found about 4:35 a.m. in the 2600 block of West Thomas Street with a gunshot wound to the torso, Chicago police said.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He hasn’t been identified.

An hour later, another man was killed, and three others were wounded after getting into an argument in West Rogers Park on the North Side.

About 5:30 a.m., the group was in the 6100 block of North McCormick Boulevard, when they got into an argument with a man who pulled out a gun and began firing shots, police said.

A 35-year-old man was struck in the chest and leg, and taken to St. Francis Hospital in where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not yet been identified.

A 25-year-old man was struck in the stomach and took himself to Evanston Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

Two men, between the ages of 20 and 25, were both stuck in the right leg, and went to Swedish Covenant Hospital where their conditions were stabilized, police said.

In nonfatal attacks, a woman was shot Friday in Austin on the West Side.

She was walking about 9:10 p.m. in the 200 block of South Cicero Avenue when someone opened fire, striking her in the leg, police said. The 56-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital, where her condition was stabilized.

Another woman was wounded in a shooting late Friday in Bridgeport on the South Side.

The 28-year-old was traveling in a vehicle as a passenger about 11:25 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Wallace Avenue when three males who were standing outside fired shots at the vehicle, police said.

A bullet struck her in the elbow, and she was taken to Mercy Hospital in good condition, police said.

Minutes later, four people were hurt, two critically, in a shooting in Park Manor on the South Side.

Two women, both 28, and two men, both 31, were standing outside about 11:50 p.m. when a person drove past in a red moped and fired shots in the 7000 block of South Indiana Avenue, police said.

One woman was shot three times on the body and was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. The other was struck in the thigh and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where her condition was stable.

One man was also critically hurt with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. The other man was shot in the thigh and taken to the same hospital, where his condition was stable.

At least 29 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago since 5 p.m. Friday.

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He keeps acquiring more and would rather have them in his bed than his new wife.

DEAR ABBY: When my husband and I got married a year ago, he had seven rescue dogs, which was a lot for me, but I accepted it. Two of the small dogs slept in our bed, and I was OK with that, too. My husband promised he would never put the dogs before me, and when those dogs died, he would not replace the big ones. (At that time, he had only two small ones.) Well, he has lost a big one and a small one, which left us with five dogs.

Not only did my husband go to the shelter and adopt two, he is going to buy another one! Everything he promised was a lie. The two from the shelter are allowed to sleep with us, although I’ve explained to him I can’t sleep with all these dogs in our bed. Rather than have them sleep somewhere else in the house, he has pretty much told me to pack my things. When he told his dog-loving mother about our problem, she advised him that it’s OK for me to sleep in another room so he can sleep with his dogs.

I feel like he knew all along what his intentions were. I almost left and I am still thinking about it. I’ve talked to him, but he won’t change his mind. I’m not sure why he even married me. Help me, please. — SLEEPING POORLY IN TENNESSEE

DEAR SLEEPING POORLY: Unfortunately, I can’t help you. You are going to have to help yourself. Your husband has made clear to you that his animals come first. Now that you know what his priorities are — and you appear to be at least sixth on the list — pack your bags and get out of there. He isn’t going to change, and you will both be happier.

DEAR ABBY: I have three children, ages 10, 8 and 5. I live about 45 minutes from my sisters and my parents, so we spend holidays and more together. My younger sister is pregnant and wants to name the baby “Bradley” because she and her husband can’t agree on any other name. When she asked my opinion, I was taken aback because my 5-year-old’s name is “Bradford.” At first I said it would be OK. But after a few days of thought, I asked her to please not use Bradley as a first name because my son (and hers) may want to use “Brad” in school or sports at some point, and it would be confusing. This has caused a family rift, as everyone thinks I’m being unfair.

At this point, it’s not about the name. It’s more about her deciding to ignore my wishes. Are there baby-naming rules of etiquette to follow? I will, of course, love the child regardless, and I love my sister. We are close. However, I’m surprised they can’t come up with any other name, knowing that it bothers me. Help! — NAME GAME IN ILLINOIS

DEAR NAME GAME: For whatever reason, your sister and her husband seem unable to find another name. Accept it and move on. Because of the five-plus year age difference between the boys, there shouldn’t be a problem with “confusion” because by the time her son is ready for kindergarten, your son will be so much further along in grammar school. He will also be out of high school by the time his cousin enters. Rather than fume over something you can’t control, let it go.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: “Abby’s Favorite Recipes” and “More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $16 (U.S. funds), to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

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