The Chicago developer Calvin Boender transformed the former disco at 940 N. Rush St with over $2.5 million dollars in renovations, converting the iconic dance venue into 6,000 square feet of upscale retail space, reflecting a shift towards boutique shopping and capitalizing on the foot traffic generated by the nearby Bloomingdale's.

There are two distinct types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. The soluble is just that, it dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and stays intact as we pass it.

One of the aspects of history that always fascinates me are those little accidental discoveries that seem at the time to be minor setbacks but reveal themselves over the course of years to become paradigm shifters.

I think we Americans, for the most part take a lot for granted in our everyday lives. When I wake up, I assume the hot water will come out the shower head, the car will start and aside from the usual traffic, I will arrive at my office where the lights will come on at a flip of the switch, my inbox will be full and my Clif Bar will be tasty.

Since I mentioned the issue of the massive hypoxia, or “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, I’ve started to dig around into some various solutions to this problem.

If you live in Illinois you will find on the November 8th ballot a simple yes or no vote for the Illinois Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment.

Americans were against foreign wars prior to World War II and I think “we the people” still are. We just have this super sexy military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower warned us against, that keeps inventing drones and other toys that are too cool to not use.

What is the most important task that either of these candidates has to accomplish if elected on November 8, 2016? "JOBS!". Now wait a minute you say, what about unemployment only being at 5% (so says Janet Yellen).

In a previous post, I made reference to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico where the nutrient runoff from the upper Mississippi river system has introduced millions of tons of leached fertilizers into an area of the gulf roughly the size of Connecticut.

In a previous post I detailed how intensive corn stover utilization for livestock feed replacement and cellulosic ethanol production causes soil degradation through nutrient removal, erosion, runoff and minimizes the soil’s water holding capacity.

The last decade has seen a major increase in collecting and using corn stover for feedstock and increasingly for bio-fuel production, mostly ethanol. Historically, cattle have been allowed to graze corn stover after a harvest with minimal impact to the nutrient levels.