BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — Chipotle may be coming to Belvidere, along with a new Starbucks location.
Developer MH Bradley LLC., of Kankakee, has filed an Application for Special Use with the city to buy and raze the Dodge Lanes bowling alley, at 1940 N. State Street, to make way for the two restaurants and a third, future operator.
The entire story at: Is Chipotle coming to Belvidere?
By Jason Meisner | jmeisner@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
UPDATED: December 12, 2024 at 3:00 PM CST
President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentences of two of the Chicago area’s most notorious fraudsters: former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell, who embezzled nearly $54 million from the tiny town to fund a lavish lifestyle, and Eric Bloom, the onetime leader of a Northbrook management firm who defrauded investors of more than $665 million.
The decisions in the clemency petitions for Crundwell and Bloom were announced by the White House as part of a massive list of some 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations. Biden’s orders do not wipe out their felony convictions, but end their sentences immediately.
The White House said the commutations were for people released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic.
Crundwell, 71, pleaded guilty in 2012 to what authorities then called the largest municipal fraud in the country’s history, admitting she stole $53.7 million from the city over more than a decade and used the money to finance her quarter horse business and lavish lifestyle.
She was sentenced in 2013 to nearly 20 years in federal prison. In April 2020, Crundwell had petitioned a federal judge for early compassionate release based on her poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have done everything in my power to be a ‘model inmate.’ To work as hard as I can and have never complained about my conditions here or the pay we receive,” Crundwell wrote. “There is never a day that goes by, I do not regret my crime.”
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She’d served about eight years behind bars before being released in 2021 to a halfway house in Downers Grove, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show. Crundwell would have completed her sentence in October 2028.
Bloom, meanwhile, the onetime head of Sentinel Management Group, was convicted by a jury in 2012 in what was billed by prosecutors at the time as the largest single financial fraud in the history of Chicago’s federal court.
December 9, 2024 at 12:39 pm Kevin Haas
BELVIDERE — A new community solar project that brings more than 9,600 panels to a former landfill along Illinois Route 76 will benefit small businesses and Boone County government facilities with energy savings.
Representatives of power utility ComEd, solar developer Ameresco, the Illinois Commerce Commission and Boone County officials gathered Monday morning to celebrate the project as it wraps up its final installations before going online.
“In addition to the environmental benefits, this project will help support both the local government and the local economy,” said Gil Quiniones, president and CEO of ComEd. “Given the project was built on the site of a former landfill, this is also an example of promoting sustainable land use.”
The former landfill, which was closed in 1992, is near the northeast corner of Illinois Route 76 and Squaw Prairie Road north of the Boone County Fairgrounds. The last couple hundred of 9,658 panels on 34 acres of land are being installed now. The total generation capacity will be 3.5 megawatts.
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Community solar projects allow for subscribers to benefit from energy savings generated by the solar array, which is connected to the ComEd energy grid. Subscribers earn credits on their electric bill and can see their costs reduced by up to 10% annually, according to ComEd.
All subscriptions for this project are now filled, said Paul Raducha, senior director of solar development for Ameresco.
“A lot of counties should look at their landfills and brownfields and access that,” he said. “It’s a really logical move for the development of solar on land, and it’s providing them with income.”
A new community solar project features more than 9,600 panels on a former landfill along Illinois Route 76 north of Squaw Prairie Road in Boone County. It’s shown on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Boone County is subscribing to approximately 36% of the energy generated, supporting county facilities including animal services, public safety and corrections. There are also multiple small- and mid-sized local businesses subscribing, Quiniones said.
“I realize that mid-December may seem like a funny time to celebrate a solar project, but these solar panels can still generate electricity in freezing temperatures and even when they’re covered by a light layer of snow,” he said. “The transition to a lower carbon energy system will only succeed if we are able to continue to deliver power reliably and in a way that is resilient to severe weather conditions.”
There are now 160 active community solar sites in ComEd’s 11,400-square-mile region serving more than 30,000 customers, Quiniones said.
This solar project has been in the works since 2017, when it was initiated by former County Administrator Ken Terrinoni, said Karl Johnson, chairman of the Boone County Board. It broke ground in August after years of preparations.
Boone County will benefit from the revenue it generates through property taxes and land-use agreements, as well as about $20,000 a year in savings on energy costs, Johnson said.
Most importantly, Johnson said, the project made productive use of a former landfill rather than being built on farmland.
“We’ve been able to bring all the things to our community without taking quality farmland out of production,” Johnson said. “Boone County is a farming community and we take the use of our farmland very seriously.
“We encourage the state to look to use the landfills and other brownfield locations as ideal opportunities for solar projects instead of farmland.”
ComEd and Ameresco on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, gathered to celebrate a new community solar project at Illinois Route 76 and Squaw Prairie Road in Boone County. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Original article available with photos at: New community solar project on former Belvidere landfill benefits small businesses, local government | Rock River Current
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
Jonathan Martin
Wed, December 4, 2024 at 3:03 PM CST·5 min read
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 26: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House on November 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden spoke on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden’s senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions.
SEE the rest of the story: https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-white-house-discussing-preemptive-210346549.html
Dear President-elect Donald Trump,
I am writing to you regarding your statement on Monday, November 25, concerning migration, fentanyl trafficking, and tariffs.
You may not be aware that Mexico has developed a comprehensive policy to assist migrants from different parts of the world who cross our territory en route to the southern border of the United States. As a result, and according to data from your country’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), encounters at the Mexico–United States border have decreased by 75% between December 2023 and November 2024. Moreover, half of those who arrive do so through a legally scheduled appointment under the United States’ CBP One program. For these reasons, migrant caravans no longer arrive at the border.
Even so, it is clear that we must work together to create a new labor mobility model that is necessary for your country, as well as address the root causes that compel families to leave their homes out of necessity. If even a small percentage of what the United States allocates to war were instead dedicated to building peace and fostering development, it would address the underlying causes of human mobility.
On another note, and for humanitarian reasons, Mexico has consistently expressed its willingness to help prevent the fentanyl epidemic in the United States from continuing. This is, after all, a public health and consumption problem within your society. So far this year, Mexican armed forces and prosecutors have seized tons of various types of drugs, 10,340 firearms, and have detained 15,640 individuals for violence related to drug trafficking.
Furthermore, the Mexican Congress is in the process of approving a constitutional reform to classify the production, distribution, and commercialization of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs as a serious crime without bail. However, it is publicly known that the chemical precursors used to produce this and other synthetic drugs are illegally entering Canada, the United States, and Mexico from Asian countries. This underscores the urgent need for international collaboration.
You must also be aware of the illegal trafficking of firearms into my country from the United States.
Seventy percent of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country. We do not produce these weapons, nor do we consume synthetic drugs. Tragically, it is in our country that lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours.
President Trump, migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs. What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges.
For every tariff, there will be a response in kind, until we put at risk our shared enterprises. Yes, shared. For instance, among Mexico’s main exporters to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company, which arrived in Mexico 80 years ago. Why impose a tariff that would jeopardize them? Such a measure would be unacceptable and would lead to inflation and job losses in both the United States and Mexico.
I am convinced that North America’s economic strength lies in maintaining our trade partnership. This allows us to remain competitive against other economic blocs. For this reason, I believe that dialogue is the best path to understanding, peace, and prosperity for our nations. I hope our teams can meet soon to continue building joint solutions.”
Mexico 
President Claudia Sheinbaum
.)
Northern Public Radio | By Maria Gardner Lara
Published November 21, 2024 at 4:30 AM CST
Pixabay
The Boone County Board will take a vote on Thursday on the county’s budget for its 2024-2025 fiscal year. Its fiscal year starts in December.
Becky Tobin, the Boone County Administrator puts together the budget for the Boone County Board members to consider.
“The biggest thing that's included in this budget is all of our large, capital infrastructure projects that are going on,” Tobin said. “That's going to inflate the budget more than it normally would be.”
The projects include the renovation of the Public Health Department, the courthouse and two county owned buildings on McKinley Avenue ib Belvidere.
“So, there's a lot of moving parts here,” she said. “It's going to take probably 18 months to two years for all of this to be complete.”
She said there are several sources of money that will cover the cost of the projects including $6 million in reserves, federal relief funding and future bonds.
She says the county continues to pay off debt for past infrastructure projects, which will be paid off in 2028.
Regarding how these projects may affect people’s property taxes, she said “The increase that they'll see has nothing to do with these building projects.”
She said the 2025 fiscal year budget as proposed does go up.
“The board is only raising it 3.5% because that's all we need,” Tobin said. “We're not going to ask the taxpayers to pay more than the county needs to function.”
Fiscal year 2023-2024 budget was $12.8 million, while fiscal year 2024-2025 proposed budget is about $13.25 million.
She said the additional funding is going to the highway department, senior transportation program, veteran’s assistance and liability and retirement taxes.
Tobin said covering the additional expenses won’t fall on just existing property owners.
“So realistically, there's new property out there that's paying taxes, for the first time, so that your existing property owners don't get hit with as much of an increase,” she said. “And I'm not saying they're not going to see any increase, but it won't be three and a half percent from the county side.”
For fiscal year 2023-2024 the property tax rate was 0.92743. The proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2024-2025 is 0.84321, according to county documents.
She adds that although the estimated 2025 county property tax rate proposed will be down from last year, property values are expected to go up, so property owners are likely to see a tax increase.
She said folks may see additional increase from other taxing bodies like from the townships, and school districts.
Gutfahr, 62, pleaded guilty this week to charges of embezzlement by a public official, money laundering and tax evasion while she was serving as treasurer. Santa Cruz County in southern Arizona is looking for ways to recoup the millions that were meant for the public’s benefit, and local officials are also suing the state for allegedly failing for years to properly audit Gutfahr’s books.
Read the entire article at: Former treasurer in Arizona admits to embezzling $38M over a decade
