Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Boone County museum to use addition as visitors draw - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

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By Jennifer Wheeler

A $1.3 million renovation will connect its research center to the museum, 311 Whitney Blvd. The connecting room will add 6,000 square feet to the space, which will be used for educational programs and showcase rotating displays.

Construction should be completed in 30 to 60 days and, fingers crossed, an open house will be staged around Hometown Christmas festivities in December…

The district took out a 10-year loan for $950,000. That will be paid back through fundraisers and tax revenue, which generates about $200,000 annually from 0.02 percent of equalized assessed values.


Read more: http://www.rrstar.com/news/x574263602/Boone-County-museum-to-use-addition-as-visitors-draw#ixzz2dBJDbNlS

Audit reveals ex-supervisor embezzled $750,000 from Moro Township : News

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Thanks Cal Skinner (http://mchenrycountyblog.com/) for this interesting township story from the St. Louis Port-Dispatch.

Former Moro Township Supervisor Donald Flack embezzled more than $750,000 from the agency from 2003 until he resigned in May, a new audit claims.

Flack resigned on the spot on May 14 when his four fellow trustees confronted him about the missing money.

The audit, conducted by the Alton accounting firm of Kenneth E. Loy & Co., determined that Flack embezzled $113,310 last year alone.

It blamed “lack of controls” for the loss.

The township is audited every four years…..

The township has an annual budget of about $400,000, collected from real estate taxes. Last year, it spent $255,000 to maintain roads.

The audit noted that last year’s general fund expenditures of $116,811 exceeded the annual operating budget by $45,591, with $40,106 “due to an Embezzlement loss.”

The audit recommended that the township begin requiring two signatures for each check, that someone other than the supervisor receive and reconcile bank statements and that oversight of duties be established.

Click on the following for more details:  Audit reveals ex-supervisor embezzled $750,000 from Moro Township : News

Wolf Automotive in Belvidere closing at end of August - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

By Alex Gary

Wolf Automotive, a Belvidere mainstay since 1924, will close at the end of August.

The business was started by C.J. "Doc" Wolf and continued by Bill Wolf and now run by John Wolf. For 86 of those years the business was a General Motors dealership selling Chevrolet.

In 2009 though, in the depths of the Great Recession both General Motors and Chrysler were forced to reorganize in bankruptcy court. ….

In Belvidere, Chrysler took Dodge from Belvidere Motors and gave it to Jack Wolf Auto Mall, which is owned by John Wolf's uncle.

In Wolf Automotive's case, General Motors pulled the Chevrolet franchise and didn't reassign it, leaving Bachrodt the only Chevrolet dealer in Boone and Winnebago counties.

The effects were devastating. Belvidere Motors and Strandquist have long since closed and now Wolf Automotive will be added to the list.

Click on the following to read all of the storyWolf Automotive in Belvidere closing at end of August - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star