by admin | Apr 22, 2026 | Activism, Agriculture, architecture, Business, Chicago, Climate, Environment, Government, Housing, Philanthropy, Public policy, Renewable Energy, Resilience, Technology, Transportation, Urban Planning, Volunteerism
Once I was in downtown Chicago on April 16, at the corner of Adams and LaSalle, my first task was to enter what once was a bank building and pick up a name tag that had a number on the back. The second task was to take an elevator to the 40th floor and start meeting...
by admin | Mar 13, 2026 | Aging, Books, Careers, Chicago, Civil rights, Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Hurricanes, Immigration, Minnesota, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Politics, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Social Equity, Texas, War, Wildfire
Given the almost comically corrupt nature of Kristi Noem’s administration of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as its Secretary, I half-expected that her inevitable meltdown after the most recent Senate hearing would lead to flying monkeys celebrating as...
by admin | Feb 4, 2026 | Chicago, Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Florida, Hurricanes, Insurance, Iowa, Journalism, Movies, Parks, Personal history, Restaurants, Sports, Tornado, Urban Planning, Weather
It was about 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, January 25, when my United Airlines flight from Sarasota, Florida, landed at O’Hare International Airport, and I finally started getting text messages again. The very first one was from Angel, our 22-year-old grandson, whom I had...
by admin | Aug 5, 2025 | Activism, Books, Business, Chicago, Climate, Colorado, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure, New Orleans, Religion, Renewable Energy, Volunteerism
I had a dream a few weeks ago. Most of my dreams are fleeting and inconsequential. Not so this time. My overladen subconscious mind took me to this empty room, then made me fill it with all that had happened since my “alleged retirement”[1] from the American Planning...
by admin | Dec 26, 2024 | Careers, Climate, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Education, Floodplain management, Hazard Mitigation, History, Iowa, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Public policy, Resilience, Retirement, Texas, Urban Planning, Weather
About the time the rising Cedar River crested in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 13, 2008, a torrential downpour from an incoming thunderstorm joined forces with it to create the perfect flood. In the previous flood of record in the city, the river had reached 20...
by admin | Nov 4, 2024 | Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Florida, Geography, Hurricanes, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Weather
Barrier islands serve a purpose in nature’s scheme, offering a barrier of sorts to the movement of storm surge and high tides to the continental mainland. In both the Southeastern U.S. and the Texas Gulf Coast, such islands abound, but we have often ignored the power...
