wtf is going on in Michigan with their single-stair bills.
Supported by cities/townships AND by the fire service (at least partially) but blanket opposition from the architects???
Even the firefighter union only indicated opposition to the 5-6 story bill!
Less clear is when this requirement ended because technically this law is still on the books and we don't have fire escapes everywhere ilga.gov/Documents/le...
McHenry County: Based on the June 16 meeting agenda, they are slated to reappoint both their Pace (Erin Smith, Fmr Village President) and RTA (Brian Sager, Fmr Woodstock Mayor) members to the Pace and NITA/Metra boards respectively. Current Metra Board member Kenneth Koehler loses his board seat.
I am glad the FDA got there in the end but it should not have taken three separate pieces of federal legislation, a European chemical firm willing to burn millions of $$$ on questionable FDA data reqs, 2+ years of review, and the firing a department head to get to this result.
Kane County: Their board meeting agenda for this evening includes a resolution to appoint Brian Dahl as their NITA/Pace board member. Dahl is not currently on either RTA or Pace so seems both of Kane's reps on RTA/Pace will leave, but Metra board chair McMahon appears to be staying.
Last fall the FRA proposed removing 1) the requirement to sound a horn near passenger stations and 2) the minimum sound level if they do sound it at a station. The only comment in opposition? Submitted by a rail union. downloads.regulations.gov/FRA-2025-012...
Didn't know about this until today but Grant appears to be correct about this. 1919 IL law required installation of fire escapes on all 4+ story apartment buildings (both new and existing).
Since the NITA became law on June 1st, Collar counties are starting to address their new NITA board appointments. McHenry, Lake, and Kane Counties are all close to finalizing their appointments (cc @starlinechicago.bsky.social, @stevevance.net):
