Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Jesse White awards Public Library Per Capita and Equalization Aid Grant

Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White has awarded Fiscal Year 2010 Illinois Public Library Per Capita and Equalization Aid Grants totaling nearly $12 million to 612 public libraries serving 11.6 million patrons….

White made the decision to replace some of the reduced funds with money the Illinois State Library receives from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Belvidere Ida Public Library $24,028.53  Cherry Valley Cherry Valley Public Library District $17,285.18   Loves Park North Suburban Public Library District $67,142.43   Rockford Rockford Public Library $153,282.43

Chicago Chicago Public Library $2,957,121.94

Click on the following for more details and the complete list:  Jesse White awards Public Library Per Capita and Equalization Aid Grants - Quad Cities Online

Mich. official: No deal with feds on Asian carp

-- Michigan's attorney general says the Obama administration offered to settle a legal dispute over how to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, but no deal was reached.

[AG] Cox said his state's Supreme Court lawsuit on the matter will continue

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Mich. official: No deal with feds on Asian carp

Care mobile is coming to Boone County in March

Ronald McDonald Care Mobile provides free medical and dental care to uninsured or underinsured children up to 18 years

The care mobile will be providing medical exams from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 17 at North Boone Middle School, 17641 Poplar Grove Road, Poplar Grove; March 18 at Capron Elementary School, 200 N. Wooster, Capron; and March 31 at McDonald’s restaurant, 1313 N. State St., Belvidere.
Dental care will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 29 at McDonald’s restaurant, 1313 N. State St., Belvidere.
Visits are available by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call 815-765-9274.

Copyright 2010 Rockford Register Star. Some rights reserved

Click on the following for more details:  Care mobile is coming to Boone County in March - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

3 minors dismissed from Boone gang lawsuit - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Courier dismissed the minors from the case.
She said her motive was to keep the trial moving forward without requiring the county to foot the bill for attorney fees for the adult defendants in the case. Giving Smith the reports she requested might have inadvertently aided the adult defendants in the case, she said.

Courier filed the lawsuit July 14 against 30 suspected gang members. Nineteen of those individuals have since agreed to court orders that prevent them from associating with other gang members or continuing such activities as graffiti vandalism and loitering in parks.
Courier aimed to have the remaining 11 defendants submit to similar orders. She’ll now proceed with that agenda for the eight defendants left in the case

Click on the following for more details:  3 minors dismissed from Boone gang lawsuit - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Cherry Valley objectors say ‘no’ to SSA tax | The Rock River Times

The village is planning a $1.6 million bond-financed project for improvements to the 43-acre Cherry Valley Regional Storm Water Detention Facility,

By law, the petitions must have valid signatures of at least 51 percent of the SSA’s property owners, and at least 51 percent of the voters in the taxing district. The petitioners believe the 677 signatures submitted far exceed those requirements.

Meantime, village officials are reviewing the submitted petitions to determine whether the signatures meet the statutory criteria to block the tax for at least two years.

If the petitions meet legal requirements, a referendum for the necessary improvements could be placed before Cherry Valley voters as early as this fall, but village officials hope it won’t come to that.

Click on the following for more details:  Cherry Valley objectors say ‘no’ to SSA tax | The Rock River Times

DeKalb Courthouse, jail projects go to public hearing | Daily Chronicle

 DeKalb County will enjoy low rates for these projects through the federal stimulus program.  Boone County board members should note the start date of DeKalb’s new jail. After that is completed Boone County will lose a sizeable source of revenue.

Finance Committee agreed to use a combination of Recovery Zone Bonds and Build America Bonds, which are federal stimulus programs with a subsidized interest rate.

majority of the jail project may be funded by new revenue generated by an expansion of the landfill, which is a multiyear process needing approval by both the county and the state. Those bonds and the start of the jail construction are slated for 2012, though Hanson said it all depends on the landfill outcome.

Courthouse, jail projects go to public hearing | Daily Chronicle

Earthquake shakes northern Illinois

The map below is from USGS and quantifies the severity of what you felt.

Click once to enlarge, click twice to make even larger.

 

 Click on the photocopy to enlarge.

 

Madigan: Lawmakers to help pick Quinn running mate

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Tuesday that he and the top Democrat in the Senate will play a key role in choosing Gov. Pat Quinn's running mate for the fall election.

Madigan, who also is chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party

meet with Quinn and Senate President John Cullerton to discuss filling the vacant position of nominee for lieutenant governor. The three of them will submit the name of a candidate to the party's central committee, which formally makes the choice.

Madigan predicted a tight race for Quinn

Click on the following for more details:  Madigan: Lawmakers to help pick Quinn running mate - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

Police debate use of family DNA to ID suspects

Police in at least two states are increasingly using a DNA crime-solving technique that some legal experts say amounts to guilt by association: If your brother, father, uncle or son has been in trouble with the law and is in a DNA database because of it, you, too, could fall under suspicion

The technique involves a close examination of the Y chromosome — the male sex chromosome — in both the crime-scene DNA and the database samples. The probability of a genetic link can be established with 90 percent confidence

Click on the following for more detailsPolice debate use of family DNA to ID suspects - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Quinn Yields to Party Leaders for Running Mate : Illinois Statehouse News

Quinn Yields to Party Leaders for Running Mate

By Bill McMorris, Illinois Statehouse News

CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn said anyone interested in the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor can “submit a resume,” but the final decision is out of his hands.

Quinn, instead, will rely on Democratic leaders to decide who will replace Scott Lee Cohen on the ticket.

“The official body that makes the final decision is the state central committee,” he told reporters at a Chicago press conference.

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes will not be on the list of potential lieutenant governors. Quinn said he met with Hynes on Monday and talked with him about joining the ticket. The governor said Hynes did not want to be his running mate.

The Democratic Central Committee is a 38-member panel led by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Democratic leaders are conducting a statewide search for a replacement candidate, moving the hunt beyond the five other Democrats in the primary, a move that Quinn is praising.

“The primary’s over,” he said. “We should be looking to November and anyone who aspires [to the office] should have a chance to make their points.”

Some Democrats have wondered aloud about finding a downstate running mate, in an effort to counterbalance Republican frontrunner Bill Brady. The Bloomington senator garnered more than 90 percent of his support from southern and central Illinois, which does not bode well for a Democratic ticket largely centered in Chicago.

Quinn said he disapproves of using geography as a key selection factor.

“I think we should analyze their positions more than their address,” he said.

Quinn said he has not reached out to anyone he feels would make a good running mate, nor has he recommended anyone to the committee. But he does know what he wants in a lieutenant governor.

“I want to run with somebody that’s qualified to be lieutenant governor, who has a record of public service, someone who is able to speak to ordinary, everyday people in plain language about the importance of the economy,” he said.

Quinn said he would prefer filling the ticket “sooner rather than later,” but the committee has until early March to choose Cohen’s successor.

Quinn Yields to Party Leaders for Running Mate : Illinois Statehouse News

State's late payments put district 100's rainy-day fund in jeopardy

School officials hosted a financial planning meeting Tuesday by PMA Financial Network at Belvidere Central Middle School. The meeting gave the district a stage to unveil its budget situation, history and give a projection of what’s to come.
“We think there’s going to be a deficit not only for next year, 2011, but we believe we’ll end up with a deficit for this year as well,” Greg Brown, business services director, said before the meeting.

Click on the following for more of the Rockford Register Star’s story:  State's late payments put district's rainy-day fund in jeopardy - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

For a better idea of the district’s finances take a look at the actual slides that were used by PMA.  They are all available at District 100 website, click on the following:  http://www.district100.net/pdfs/PMA_Presentation.pdf

The assumptions on the revenue and enrollment side are especially telling.  Equalized Assessed Valuation will decline 7.5% for FY 2011 and 2012.  Enrollment peaked in 2009 and will fall by small amounts in coming years. There are operating deficits in every year with aggregate fund balances being halved by 2015 and requiring possible short term borrowings for operations. For your convenience I have highlighted several of the PMA slides below.   Do look at the others and see what is being projected for District 100’s future.Distict 100 PMA 2010district 100 pma 2010--2district 100 pma 2010 3 Click on the photocopy to enlarge: