Feds want Rockford to give back $205K in stimulus money - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

Auditors determined that Rockford and the state didn't have "adequate levels of review" in place to make sure the money was properly spent. In addition to the missing receipts, auditors found that another $141,796 may have been spent on costs that were unallowable in the terms of the stimulus grant.

Auditors recommend that the state:

• Return to the federal government unallowable costs totaling $205,296
• Work with Rockford to determine what portion of the $141,796 is allowable and refund to the federal government any amount determined to be unallowable
• Ensure that Rockford revises its policies and procedures regarding the adequate documentation of all costs charged under federal awards and the charging of costs during the award period
• Ensure that Rockford revises its monitoring procedures to ensure that costs charged to federal awards, including subcontractor costs, are in compliance with applicable Federal requirements.

Click on the following for more details:  Feds want Rockford to give back $205K in stimulus money - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Lisa Madigan says $70 million will help ease foreclosure woes - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

The geographic scope of this award includes Winnebago County, Boone County, Ogle County, Stephenson County, Whiteside County, LaSalle County, Lee County, Jo Daviess County, Carroll County and DeKalb County.

Purpose: Homestart and its partners will redevelop properties in three neighborhoods within Rockford, Freeport and Belvidere. Additionally, the money will support a pilot foreclosure mediation court program and a resource center providing counseling, financial literacy and other housing-related education.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Lisa Madigan says $70 million will help ease foreclosure woes - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Northwest Herald | Our View: Clean up McHenry County Sheriff's race

How bad can an election get?

We’re still eight months away from the primary for McHenry County sheriff, and the mud already is slinging in the campaign to replace retiring Sheriff Keith Nygren.

Calls for a special prosecutor to investigate a now debunked claim that one candidate interfered in a federal drug probe. Accusations of lax oversight in a previous position against another candidate. Middle-finger accusations flying at a public parade. An apparent campaign law violation.

All this and more, and it’s not even Labor Day yet.

If things continue down this road, this race between announced candidates Andy Zinke and Bill Prim on the Republican side and independent Jim Harrison will make the 2010 run for sheriff look tame by comparison.

You remember that one.

Fired sheriff deputy Zane Seipler ran against his former boss, Nygren, in the Republican primary. Lawsuits over Seipler’s reinstatement in the middle of the campaign. Calls for special prosecutors.

After Nygren easily won the primary, Democrat Mike Mahon and independent blogger Gus Philpott tried to paint him as an out-of-touch bully who spent more time in his vacation homes in Florida and Wisconsin than in running the department.

Nygren won the general election handily.

The mudslinging didn’t work four years ago. Our hunch is it won’t this time, either.

We want a healthy debate about who the next sheriff should be. Sometimes, that’s going to involve criticism of each of the candidates’ record.

But it shouldn’t get personal. Voters see through that. Let’s keep it clean – mostly, anyway.

And, of course, keep it legal. No campaigning on the public’s time or dime. Seems like county taxpayers have paid enough for allegations about that fairly recently.

Zinke, as undersheriff the current second-in-command to Nygren, and Prim, who spent 27 years with the Des Plaines Police Department and lives in Cary, square off in the March 18 primary. Harrison, a Woodstock-based attorney specializing in employment law and former sheriff’s deputy, faces the winner in the Nov. 4 general election.

Perhaps other candidates will join the race in the meantime.

Let’s have a clean but passionate discussion about who our next sheriff should be.

Northwest Herald | Our View: Clean up county sheriff's race

Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce to present community profile July 25 | Business News

BELVIDERE — Belvidere-area leaders will present a community profile during the Breakfast Before Business seminar at 7:30 a.m. July 25 at the Boone County Council on Aging, 2141 Henry Luckow Lane, Belvidere.

The seminar is titled “Where are We, Where are we Going and How Do We Get There?” and will feature Belvidere Mayor Michael Chamberlain, Boone County Board Chairman Bob Walberg, Poplar Grove Village President John Neitzel and Poplar Grove Village Administrator Mark Lynch.

The event is for Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce members. For reservations: 815-544-4357 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 815-544-4357 FREE

Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce to present community profile July 25 | Business News

Cal Skinner puts Ethics Committee to work in McHenry County

Recently Cal Skinner of Lakewood questioned the use of Sheriff Department emails for political purposes.  This is a possible ethics code violation.  Here is the story from Cal’s blog, McHenry County Blog.  Go to:  http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/07/18/mchenry-county-ethics-commission-will-hear-complaint-about-undersheriff-andy-zinkes-using-office-email-for-political-purposes/