Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Belvidere vehicles OK in otherwise tough Chrysler month - - BusinessRockford.com

trio of vehicles assembled at Chrysler’s Belvidere plant increased more than 7 percent compared with January 2008, a positive showing in an otherwise tough month for the company now run by Italian automaker Fiat SpA.
In January, Chrysler Group LLC’s U.S. sales totaled 57,143, down 8 percent from last January. …

Workers are in their third week of full, two-shift production, but U.S. sales of 5,722 of the trio may not be enough to keep one shift busy for long.

Click on the following for more details:  Belvidere vehicles OK in otherwise tough Chrysler month - - BusinessRockford.com

Garden Prairie residents vote to dissolve village

Village officials will meet at least one more time, at 7 p.m. today at Garden Prairie United Church of Christ, 10990 U.S. 20, to talk about the details of disbanding. The village has to transfer its remaining funds to the Belvidere School District and determine how to pay outstanding debts. State law says a dissolved village may collect taxes in order to pay off its debts.
The village owes about $5,500 in attorney’s fees.

Garden Prairie residents vote to dissolve village - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

AIG plans to pay $100 million in another round of bonuses - washingtonpost.com

employees at the company's Financial Products division who agreed recently to accept 10 to 20 percent less money than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are to receive their payments more than a month ahead of schedule.

These payments are tied to employment contracts from 2007 that fell outside the jurisdiction of the Special Master [Feinberg] and the law,"

Read more of the details by clicking on the following:  AIG plans to pay $100 million in another round of bonuses - washingtonpost.com

DeKalb still mum on 3rd Ward candidates | Daily Chronicle

On Jan. 22, the Daily Chronicle submitted a request to the city, under the Freedom of Information Act, for records pertaining to applicants to the 3rd Ward vacancy, any correspondence between Mayor Kris Povlsen and sitting aldermen, and the appointment of Pam Verbic to the office. Under a new law, the denial must be pre-approved by the state’s Public Access Counselor, a position in the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Public Access Counselor Smith said the attorney general’s office has asked the city for more information. She did not immediately know Monday what additional information was needed, but said a letter had been mailed Monday to the city and the Daily Chronicle. The city then has seven days to get that information to her office, Smith said.

Click on the following for more details: DeKalb still mum on 3rd Ward candidates | Daily Chronicle

Daily Herald : Results of hunger study show large increase in those needing food

people in the region needing food assistance is "exploding", and the recession is to blame….Hunger in America 2010 study, done by the Chicago-based Feeding America, showed a substantial increase in the numbers of people needing food assistance since the last survey was done in 2006.

61,500 different people in any given week receive food assistance across the 13 counties served by the NIFB. That represents a 65 percent increase from the 37,000 in 2006, officials said. The NIFB serves DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties among others.

43 percent of the households include at least one employed adult. These are working, but underemployed….Someone may drive in with a Lexus. These are people who have lost good jobs and their circumstances have changed," Venturi said. "They were otherwise affluent before the economy turned."

When and if the economy improves, it's not likely those numbers will drop for years

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Daily Herald | Results of hunger study show large increase in those needing food