Click on the following to see this news clip:
http://www.wrex.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=5112553&h1=Boone%20County%20Animal%20Control%20Facility%20shows%20its%20age&vt1=v&at1=undefined&d1=113134&LaunchPageAdTag=News&undefined&activePane=info&rnd=39247421
Someone must have called to get the TV cameras at a mere budget hearing. The camera rolled for over an hour. Was this staged?
Boone County has two and a half months to pass a budget that plugs a $1.6 million hole. Every expense is now under a microscope. That includes whether the sheriff's department really needs overtime.
Sheriff Duane Wirth and Lieutenant Phil Bue defended OT pretty passionately at a meeting with Boone County Board members. They call a proposal to eliminate it impossible
Click on the following for more details: Proposal to eliminate overtime doesn't sit well with Boone County - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader
BOONE COUNTY (WREX) - The Boone County Sheriff's Department investigates the near-death beating of an area businessman. Bruce Schlichting was found badly hurt in a wooded area off his driveway at 9111 Huber Road in Boone County, Wednesday. The sheriff's department say he was flown to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in critical condition. He's one of the owners of Schlichting and Sons. Police say they have a person of interest in the case but no one's been arrested yet.
Click on the following for more details: Boone County businessman beaten - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader
This article does not do a good job of delineating which board member wants to continue to use the sales tax for general operations and who does not. In short, voting for or against the ordinance is not directly related to using the safety tax for purposes other than servicing the PSB building debt.
The county pays $780,000 a year on debt related to the jail expansion.
Last year, the tax generated $1.4 million.
In recent months, board members have clashed over what the money could and should be used for.
Click on the following for more details: Boone County votes to restrict use of safety tax - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
1965 was the year that Lyndon B. Johnson began the War on Poverty.
The number of people living in poverty has climbed to 14.3 percent of Americans, with the ranks of working-age poor reaching the highest level since at least 1965.
Click on the following for more details: Census: 1 in 7 Americans live in poverty
