Although Walker never lived in Illinois, his family’s roots are in Boone County. In many campaign speeches, he used that brown-bag theme, which he credited to his grandmother, Eleanor Fitch, who lived for years in Boone County.
The story was relayed in an e-mail from Pat Fitch Walker, Scott’s mother, who was a 1956 graduate of Belvidere High School
Click on the following for more details: Mike Doyle: Next Wisconsin gov has Boone family ties - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
The "more" is a huge proposed expansion of legalized gambling that could bring casinos to Chicago, Lake County and the south suburbs as well as slots at horse-racing tracks.
gambling interests dropped a nifty $738,000 on Illinois lawmakers in the last two-year election cycle — almost all of it this year, when the money really counted.
Like GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady, who took in $13,750, according to the study. Or Gov. Pat Quinn, who got $18,476.
Read more by clicking on the following: Follow the money as Springfield gets ready to reconvene | Greg Hinz | Blogs | Crain's Chicago Business
City Council will vote Monday on paying $9,500 in health and pension benefits for the position.
Boone County Finance Committee members unanimously pledged county money Dec. 14 for the benefits. No formal vote was taken on the matter, nor will there be one because it’s not customary practice, County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said.
“That person will be dedicated to 911 but, on occasion, for emergencies, we want that person to be available for” other work, he said. “When they cross the line and aren’t doing 911 work, we should be paying for that — the logical compromise is, we pay the benefits and they pay the salary.”
OK needed in Belvidere on hiring 911 tech - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
“We continue to have serious interest in building a new casino in the Beloit area, and I think the $4 million land investment we made last year represents an aggressive step in our efforts to explore a variety of job creation investment and economic development opportunities,” Thundercloud said. “The Nation has been performing due diligence on initiating dialogues with officials and laying the groundwork for a successful application.”
Building a tribal casino in Beloit is very high on the Ho-Chunk Nation’s list of priorities, according to spokeswoman Anne Thundercloud.
No timetable for that effort has been announced
Click on the following for more detail: Beloit Daily News - your source for news, entertainment, sports, opinion, events, community, shopping and more > News > Local News
Click on the following for more details; Belvidere preparing to cut funds to several local organizations
In 2010, 19 companies did.
In RAEDC-speak, it was 19 wins.
They were projects valued at $21.3 million and involved 1,509 jobs that were retained or are intended to be created by companies here.
Collaboration is key
The head salesperson is Janyce Fadden, 55, who was hired in 2004 after 26 years working in sales, marketing, customer service and operations jobs for different companies. She became president a year later, and in 2009 earned a base salary of $115,000, part of a compensation package totaling $171,888, according to IRS documents filed by RAEDC.
Click on the following for more details: Rockford development agency works quietly to lure companies - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
I suggest this Seattle Times article for a broader view of Boeing’s current issues. According to the Rock Register Star two local manufacturers are subcontractors.
… an electrical panel designed and produced by Hamilton Sundstrand, and Boeing engineers pointed to the fire[on this panel] as an example of why the Chicago-based company should stop outsourcing design work for the airplane. The 787 is nearly three years behind schedule, with many of the delays blamed on issues with parts from suppliers.
The wing mold, which took three months to complete, was made by Ingersoll Machine Tools in Rockford for Mitsubishi.
the cascade of systems failures caused by that fire, as well as two major problems since summer with the 787's Rolls-Royce engine, have raised red flags with aviation regulators.
A top Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official 10 days ago warned Boeing that without further proof of the plane's reliability, it won't be certified to fly the long intercontinental routes that airlines expect it to serve
senior engineer who expects the 787 will ultimately prove successful. "But the amount of stuff we are finding is horrible. We shouldn't be dealing with this many issues this late in the program."
Boeing has bet its future on the 787, which made its maiden flight one year ago. The company aimed to reduce the cost and risk by outsourcing an unprecedented share of manufacturing and design work to partners around the globe.
company's original internal target for its own development costs was $5 billion. But with yet another delay, several Wall Street analysts estimate that fixing the litany of manufacturing problems, plus paying penalties to suppliers and airlines, has piled on an additional $12 billion to $18 billion.
Read more by clicking on the following: Business & Technology | Dreamliner's woes pile up | Seattle Times Newspaper
Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk was one of the 41 Senators to vote to prevent the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act from moving forward.
Click on the following for more details: DREAM Act put on indefinite hold - DailyHerald.com
The deal allows troopers who retire before the end of this month to receive their full 6 percent raise scheduled for 2011 on their last day of work….
Agency officials believe the program will save $500,000 and that 70 to 90 officers will take advantage of it. A total of 114 officers are eligible to take the offer.
Requirements to participate in early retirement:
An officer has to be 50 years old or older with 25 years of service or 55 years old or older with a minimum of 20 years service.
Click on the following for more details: State police make early retirement offer to senior troopers - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal
The Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal web site provides information about state employees’ pay, state expenditures, and state contracts. The text below explains general information about the Portal. For specific information about the available data, please refer to the Transparency & Illinois Accountability Portal Employees FAQ or the Expenditures FAQ.
Public Act 096-0225 is effective January 1, 2010, and requires the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) to have the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal (ITAP) established within 12 months of this effective date. The ITAP project was initiated with employee pay and state expenditure data from the agencies that fall under the jurisdiction of the Governor. The process of publishing data to this site is ongoing and CMS shall update ITAP as additional information becomes available in a format that can be compiled and published on ITAP.
While all of the information contained on this site is an open record in accordance with Illinois law, there may be additional public records available regarding this data. Additional records can be obtained by making a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the appropriate records custodian(s) in the agency that possesses the documents in accordance with the law.
This site will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week except during necessary site maintenance. Employee data will be updated nightly with the prior business day’s transactions; the site will be closed between 12:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. during this maintenance window. Expenditures data will be updated nightly with the prior business day’s transactions; the site will be closed between 12:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. during this maintenance window. The information published will contain the most-current data available at the time.
Click on the following to connect to this state site: Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal
Regional distribution center for a furniture retailer. Single story warehouse has 40,500 square feet with 26'-28' clear. Reminder of building is multi-story warehouse. Former sewing machine factory constructed of brick around 1900.
Brereton gave an overview of the types of plans Dean is considering, saying one plan is to locate a freezer section of the facility to the west and then using the large warehouse to the east of the Leath building for storage and space for research and development
median rent paid in the U.S. in 2009, according to American Community Survey data, was $817 a month…Illinois was slightly below the national median at $813 a month…
Renters in the Rockford metropolitan area, which includes Boone and Winnebago counties, paid $661. That was less than renters had to pay in the Chicago, Champaign, St. Louis, Kankakee and Bloomington metro areas, but it is higher than Springfield, Peoria, the Quad Cities, Decatur and Danville metro areas.
Boone County ranked 14th out of 102 Illinois counties with a median rent of $690. Winnebago County was 17th at $659. Ogle came in 28th at $610 and Stephenson County was 50th with a rent of $553.
Click on the following for more details: Alex Gary » Census tidbits: Rent here low nationally, middle of the road for Illinois
Walberg said he will accept letters of interest through 5 p.m. Dec. 28. He did not, either during or after the meeting, explain the process he’d use to select a candidate.
I’d like the chairman to respect the wishes of the County Board and bring all of the applicants forward,” Glass said after the meeting. “If he only brings forward one name and there are six candidates, how can we make an educated decision without all of the facts?”
Click on the following for more details: Boone County Board starts search to replace member - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
When Air Force personnel on the service’s computer network try to view the Web sites of The Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, the German magazine Der Spiegel, the Spanish newspaper El PaÃs and the French newspaper Le Monde, as well as other sites that posted full confidential cables, the screen says “Access Denied: Internet usage is logged and monitored,” according to an Air Force official whose access was blocked and who shared the screen warning with The Times. Violators are warned that they face punishment if they try to view classified material from unauthorized Web sites.
Air Force Blocks Sites That Posted Secret Cables - NYTimes.com
DeKalb County prisoners are a big income to Boone County that may be changing soon.
[DeKalb] county has gotten turned down by Boone County when its jail is full, although it is fortunate Kendall County’s jail still has some room.
“Will the price go up? You bet it will,” Klein said.
The big problem is not having the right space for certain inmates with special needs because no one else will take some of those people, Klein said.
Click on the following for more details: Goals of jail's future debated | Daily Chronicle
Take a look at the chart:
Click on the photocopy to enlarge.
To read more of the Rockford Register Star article click on the following: Census may shed light on retail future in Rock River Valley - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Davlin reportedly died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but authorities would not confirm that at a news conference this morning. Officials also wouldn’t say who made the 911 call.
Click on the following for more details: Springfield mayor Davlin found dead in his home - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard
See below Chairman Walberg”s December 7 letter to the Board.
The assignments were completed by the 10th; on Fridays the Chairman will email planned meetings for the next two weeks; request the use of county email addresses and use electronics more and paper less.
Click on the photocopy to enlarge.
Click on the photocopy to enlarge.
The following is taken for Cal Skinner’s McHenry County Blog. I suggest that any reader interested in the issues go to his blog by click at the bottom.
It appears that failure to properly respond to a Freedom on Information Request could jeopardize millions of dollars of bonds for McHenry County SportsPlex in Lakewood. At least the questions are beginning to be made.
FOIA Request for Review and the second part an OMA Request for Review
December 6th email to Lisa Madigan’s Public Counselor. It contains complaints about
My [Larry Larson’s] question is
- is all the information I asked for at the URIVDA[Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority] hearing and meeting public or private?
- Does the public not have a right to obtain copies of the information that is being discussed at a public meeting?
- Also, after the board votes upon resolutions, does that information become public or remain private forever?
Click on the following to read more of this story: http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2010/12/14/sportsplex-opponents-appeal-to-attorney-generals-public-access-counselor/
Anderson, who has worked for a private contractor for the past 27 years, said he accepted a position with the city of Belvidere as its sewer, water and street superintendent and began that job this week.
“The board (is required to) declare the vacancy, so we’ve put it on our agenda for the board meeting on Wednesday,” Walberg said. “That’s the first step and we have 60 days to appoint, but it’s not mandatory.”
Still, the appointment could come as early as January, he said.
Click on the following for more details: Re-elected Boone County Board member quits - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2010
CONTACT:
Josh Kauffman (IDOT) 217.558.0517
Guy Tridgell (IDOT) 312.814.4693
Southern Route Chosen for Cost, Ridership, Safety, Performance
CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced the selection of the proposed southern route for Amtrak’s new Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque service from Chicago’s Union Station to downtown Rockford. The $60 million service will create 650 construction jobs, with trains running by early 2014.
“Illinois is committed to creating jobs and promoting economic development by linking our cities, businesses and universities through passenger rail,” said Governor Pat Quinn. “The selection of the southern route does the best job of accomplishing those goals safely and cost effectively.”
The selection of routes was based on an independent study by the Decatur office of URS Corp., one of the country’s top engineering design firms. The analysis showed that the southern route through Genoa will require a $26.2 million investment in upgraded infrastructure between Chicago and Rockford. Similar improvements on the proposed northern route through Belvidere would cost $62.3 million, raising the total cost of the route to more than $96 million. The study also determined an estimated annual ridership of 76,357 on the southern route compared to 54,988 on the northern route.
Safety was another deciding factor in the study. The southern route will cross 143 roads and highways. The northern route would cross 176. The southern route also will see fewer delays using only two railroads, while the northern route would require using four railroads. The full report can be viewed at www.dot.il.gov/DPIT/Chicago-Rockford%20Route%20Analysis%20Report%20FINAL%20101208.pdf
“The southern route offers the best deal for travelers and taxpayers,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig said. “After much deliberation, we are excited to start service to an underserved part of the state.”
The Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque line marks the return of passenger rail to the Rockford area for the first time since 1981. Trains will run at least one round-trip daily between Chicago’s Union Station and Dubuque, with stops in Elgin, Genoa, Rockford and Galena.
Click on the following to see the original: Illinois Department of Transportation
No Belvidere.
Trains will run at least one round-trip daily between Chicago’s Union Station and Dubuque, with stops in Elgin, Genoa, Rockford and Galena.
selection of routes was based on an independent study by the Decatur office of URS Corp., one of the country’s top engineering design firms. The analysis showed that the southern route through Genoa will require a $26.2 million investment in upgraded infrastructure between Chicago and Rockford. Similar improvements on the proposed northern route through Belvidere would cost $62.3 million, raising the total cost of the route to more than $96 million. The study also determined an estimated annual ridership of 76,357 on the southern route compared to 54,988 on the northern route.
. The full report can be viewed at www.dot.il.gov/DPIT/Chicago-Rockford%20Route%20Analysis%20Report%20FINAL%20101208.pdf
Click on the following for the full story: Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque Line Marks Return of Passenger Rail to Rockford.
The pharmacy has seven different classes of antibiotics and about ten different prenatal vitamins all for free. Patients do not have to be low income; all they need is a prescription from a doctor.
Click on the following for more details: Logli Pharmacy Offers Free Prescriptions
FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.
Up to now, owners had to register their planes only once, at the time of purchase. The FAA sent out notices every three years asking owners to update their contact information if needed, but there was no punishment for not doing so
Click on the following for more details: AP Enterprise: FAA loses track of 119,000 aircraft - Yahoo! News
Boone County jury Wednesday night convicted a Capron man of killing his wife after less than three hours of deliberations.
Aaron W. Null, 39, was convicted of murder charges in the 2002 disappearance and death investigation of his wife
defense had argued that Brynn left her home after she and her husband had a disagreement. Brynn’s blood had been found inside the home, but no weapon was ever located
Click on the following for more details: Capron man convicted in 2002 death of wife - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Honor our commitment to America’s seniors
We will honor our commitment to America’s seniors and future Social Security beneficiaries by stopping the government from borrowing Social Security savings. Congress must enact a law to prevent the spending of our retirement savings on other government programs.
Source: www.kirkforcongress.com Sep 9, 2000
Voted YES on raising 401(k) limits & making pension plans more portable.
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001: Vote to pass a bill that would raise the amount individuals may contribute to traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts and to 401[k] plans and make pensions plans more portable
Reference: Bill sponsored by Portman, R-OH; Bill HR 10 ; vote number 2001-96 on May 2, 2001
Rated 0% by the ARA [Alliance of Retired Americans], indicating an anti-senior voting record.
Kirk scores 0% by the ARA on senior issues
The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
Source: ARA website 03n-ARA on Dec 31, 2003
Supports individual savings accounts and work incentives.
Kirk adopted the Republican Main Street Partnership issue stance:
Congress must address the rapidly approaching disaster of a depleted Social Security system. Within the next ten years "baby boomers" will start retiring. It is estimated that, as a result of this, by 2013 Social Security will be making greater payments to retirees than it will take in from the workforce. By 2032 the Social Security Trust Fund will be completely exhausted. Congress could rewrite this forecast by establishing individual savings accounts, restoring Social Security to permanent actuarial solvency, improving work incentives and/or resolving internal administrative problems.
Source: Republican Main St. Partnership Issue Paper: Fiscal Policy 98-RMSP3 on Sep 9, 1998
Click on the following for more details: Mark Kirk on Social Security
Current Position: U.S. Senator (since November 2010)
Career History: U.S. Representative ( January 2001-November 2010); Counsel, House International Relations Committee (1995-1999); Lawyer, Baker & McKenzie, (1993-1994); Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, State Department (1992-1993)
Birthday: Sept. 15, 1959
Hometown: Highland Park, Ill.
Alma Mater: B.A.-History, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., (1981), M.S.-Economics, London School of Economics, London, England (1982), J.D.-Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (1992)
Spouse: none (divorced June 2009 from Kimberly Vertolli)
Religion: Congregationalist
Committees: N/ADC Office: 1030 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4835
District Office: 707 Stokie Boulevard, Suite 350 Northbrook, Ill. 60062 Phone: (847) 940-7143
Republicans who blocked the measure cited concern about the deficit.
woman charged with arson and attempted murder in Crystal Lake was involved in a weekend car fire in Rockford, authorities said.
Carrie M. Gil, 45, is undergoing five days of psychiatric tests in a Winnebago County hospital after fire investigators found her vehicle in flames Sunday morning at a Rockford Airport parking
Click on the following for more details: Police tie Crystal Lake woman to 2nd fire — Crystal Lake news, photos and events — TribLocal.com
they permanently gave themselves that ability in September when they seized control of the chairman position’s appointment, hiring and other powers.
Board member Pat O’Shea said it simply didn’t make sense to have one person tell 18 others what to do.
“I think everybody is happy with the outcome,” O’Shea said of the assignments. “They all had a hand in the outcome. And we don’t have any heavy-handedness by the chairman.”
Board member Paul Fichtner admits he didn’t know what to expect before earning enough votes to keep his spot as finance committee chairman.
Click on the following for more details: DuPage board members avoid confrontation over assignments - DailyHerald.com
Senate Tuesday began pondering the fate of federal judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of Louisiana, who was impeached by the House of Representatives in March on four articles of “high crimes and misdemeanors” stemming from charges that he received cash and favors from those with business in his court. This is only the 12th impeachment trial of a judge in Senate history.
Two lawyers who once worked with the judge said in pre-trial hearings that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash before he decided a civil case in favor of their client. He is also accused of accepting free meals, trips and other goodies in exchange for judicial favors.
Mark Kirk, a new Republican Senator from Illinois, recused himself from the proceedings because he was a member of the House of when the body impeached the judge.
Click on the following for more details: And Over in the Senate, An Impeachment Trial for a Judge - NYTimes.com
Based upon the county posting its minutes on its website the Attorney General’s Office closes its inquiry. Click on the photocopy to enlarge.
Thanks everyone. A special thank you to Matthew Rogina at the Attorney General’s Office and Betsy Lopez Fritscher of the Rockford Register Star.
Metra's longtime chief Phil Pagano was supporting two other households in addition to his own, which may shed light on the financial scandal he was involved with before he took his own life, according to a newspaper report.
Click on the following for more details: Northwest Herald | New light shed on Pagano’s financial situation
Here are some other postings regarding the financial scandal and suicide:
http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/04/metra-probes-puts-head-phil-pagano-on.html
http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/05/metra-ceo-phil-pagano-commits-suicide.html
http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/06/metra-watchdog-33-allegations-are-being.html
Here is something everyone should know when they do their Christmas shopping. The policy applies only to full time Sears employees and I have been unable to verify if it applies to K-Mart and the other Sears Holdings companies.I am just passing on this email I received today. Merry Christmas. Bill P
Snopes confirms this: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp
According to Truth or Fiction this is absolutely TRUE. We all need to support American businesses that support Americans!
Sears - Christmas shopping this year.
I know I needed this reminder, since Sears isn't always my first choice. It's amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and Sears hasn't withdrawn from their commitment. Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year?
How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up for active duty.
Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.
I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears at least once, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement & feedback it well deserves.
Pass it on.
I decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:
I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it's cheaper at that store.
This is their answer to my e-mail:
Dear Customer:
Thank you for contacting Sears.The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback.
Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.
Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358
Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!
It's verified ! By Snopes.com at:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp
Belvidere-One year ago today, there was a deadly explosion at the NDK plant in Belvidere.
Officials believe one of the pressurized vessels, used to make quartz crystals, blew up.
Debris from the blast hit and killed a truck driver at the near-by I90 oasis.
OSHA sited the company with a dozen workplace and safety violations, but NDK is appealing the fines.
A final report and cause of the explosion could be finished later this month.
OSHA has already handed out citations, but NDK's lawyer says the company is challenging those.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to come up in court this Friday.
Click on the following for more details: Lawsuit against NDK due in court year after deadly explosion - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader
…. Since that time [March 2010], while NDK Crystal remains closed, NDK America, which employs about 21 people, has been operating. They are able to get the quartz that was previously made at the plant from another supplier in Japan.
The cause of the blast is still unknown,
an official report is expected sometime this spring or summer.
Until that time, the company can’t do anything with the exposed part of the structure, but that the employees working in the east side of the building at NDK American are unaffected by the damage.
Click on the following for more details: NDK still not fully operational year after explosion
Terri Glass, Ken Freeman and Pat Mattison were “no” votes as they didn’t list Walberg on their paper ballots,
Click on the following for more details: Boone County Board keeps Bob Walberg as chairman - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Treasury and the Federal Reserve had touted the new bills' sophisticated security features that were 10 years in the making, including a 3-D security strip and a color-shifting image of a bell, designed to foil counterfeiters. But it turns out the bills are so high-tech that the presses can't handle the printing job.
1 billion unusable bills have been printed. Some of the bills creased during production, creating a blank space on the paper, one official told CNBC. Because correctly printed bills are mixed in with the flawed ones, even the ones printed to the correct design specs can't be used until they 're sorted. It would take an estimated 20 to 30 years to weed out the defective bills by hand, but a mechanized system is expected to get the job done in about a year.
flawed bills, which cost around $120 million to print, will have to burned.
Former Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County Executive Director Brooke Beal
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101205/news/712069959/#ixzz17MXn3R1a
The 47-year-old Beal who resigned from his $160,000-a-year job in late October after an audit uncovered upward of $400,000 missing from a professional development fund earned at least $75,000 in consulting fees from two suburbs over the past seven years.
board showed poor management of its resources by allowing its top employee to moonlight.
“If he’s out hustling up other business and stuff, there’s no guarantee you’re getting his full attention,” said Kent Redfield, a University of Illinois professor emeritus of politic science specializing in ethics policies. “You’d expect with the kind of money you’re paying, you’d want 100 percent of his time. You don’t want him engaging in activities where it’s not clear what master he’s serving.”
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101205/news/712069959/#ixzz17MXYXgEh
Ex-waste agency chief moonlighted as garbage consultant - DailyHerald.com
use of the 35-year-old building is pretty limited.
“There’s no way we can use it for a correctional institution again, or even offices,” he said. “The building was ready to be decommissioned when we left it.”
Old Kane jail still serves purpose, but future in doubt - Courier News
A Rockford woman is calling her pardon by President Barack Obama "truly a blessing."
Obama granted the first pardons of his presidency Friday to nine people, including Floretta Leavy.
Advertisement
Leavy was sentenced in 1984 to a year in prison and three years of parole for drug offenses.
She told the Chicago Tribune that she feels "like one of God's angels" and the Rockford Register Star that she's in awe.
Leavy is retired from the U.S. Army. She's now an officer with the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.
She says she just made a mistake along the way. She'd applied for a pardon in January 2007.
No one well-known was on the list of pardons. Presidential pardons often come in the holiday season toward year's-end.
Click on the following for this story: Rockford woman calls Obama pardon 'a blessing' - DailyHerald.com
Distance
Nursing home
Address
City
Residents
Medicare accepted
Medicaid accepted
Overall rating
from Medicare
Sex offenders
/ felons **
1.4 miles
Home Bridge Center
1701 W. 5th Ave.
Belvidere
* 47 
0 / 1
1.8 miles
Northwoods Care Centre
2250 Pearl St.
Belvidere
* 97
0 / 0
2.1 miles
Maple Crest Care Centre
4452 Squaw Prairie Rd.
Belvidere
* 85
0 / 1
7.9 miles
Alden Alma Nelson Manor
550 S. Mulford Ave.
Rockford
* 185
0 / 0
8.0 miles
Rosewood Care Center of Rockford
1660 S. Mulford
Rockford
* 75
0 / 1
8.3 miles
Alden Park Strathmoor
5668 Strathmoor Dr.
Rockford
* 122
0 / 8
8.4 miles
Fairview Nursing Plaza
321 Arnold Ave.
Rockford
* 198
3 / 29
9.3 miles
Provena Cor Mariae Center
3330 Maria Linden Dr.
Rockford
* 117
0 / 0
9.7 miles
Provena St. Anne Center
4405 Highcrest Rd.
Rockford
* 153
0 / 0
9.9 miles
Fairhaven Christian Retirement Center
3470 N. Alpine Rd.
Rockford
* 146 
0 / 1
10.8 miles
Walter Lawson Children's Home
1820 Walter Lawson Dr.
Loves Park
* 82
—
—
—
0 / 0
10.8 miles
Alpine Fireside Health Center
3650 N. Alpine Rd.
Loves Park
* 82
0 / 0
11.0 miles
P A Peterson Center for Health
1311 Parkview Ave.
Rockford
* 125
0 / 0
12.0 miles
East Bank Center, LLC
6131 Park Ridge Rd.
Loves Park
* 9
0 / 0
12.1 miles
Rockford Healthcare & Rehab Center
1920 N. Main St.
Rockford
* 79
1 / 1
— Information is not available from either the Illinois Department of Public Health or Medicare's Nursing Home Compare.
* Source: Illinois Department of Public Health, last updated Dec. 31, 2006.
** Source: Illinois Department of Public Health, provided to the Tribune in June 2009
Click on the following for other cities: Illinois nursing home safety reports -- chicagotribune.com
