IDA Public Library is Summer Food Service Program site for Boone County

Capron Elementary not available for soup kitchen – for now | Belvidere Daily Republican

 

Written by Bob Balgemann

school’s kitchen will be undergoing renovations this summer

Secondly, there appears to be a degree of opposition to having the kitchen at the school.

Capron Village President-elect Ken Grzybowski questioned the idea of people “who don’t belong in a school” being allowed to be there. “I think it’s a bad idea all-around,” he said, adding that the village initially was not aware of the proposal.

A point in time survey conducted Feb. 23 showed 177 homeless living in Boone County. Of that number, 60 were “literally homeless,” and found to be living in their cars and in abandoned buildings. Of the 60, a “disproportionate number” were found in Capron.

Click on the following to read the entire article: Capron Elementary not available for soup kitchen – for now | Belvidere Daily Republican

New figures show (another) drop in Mexicans coming to the US

fresh Mexican government numbers showing a 40 percent drop in Mexicans emigrating in the past two years.

“There is still nor evidence of a massive return of migrants to the national territory,….Stricter enforcement along the US border has also caused

Click on the following for more details:  New figures show (another) drop in Mexicans coming to the US / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Where Boone County stands compared to the rest of Illinois.

County Well-Being Index—Source, Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty, 2009

Four key indicators of well-being are assessed in each of Illinois' 102 counties: high school graduation rates, unemployment rates, teen birth rates, and poverty rates. Counties in Illinois are evaluated using a point system, with a higher number of points indicating a worse score. A county receives a point if its rate is worse than the state average and/or if they have worsened since the previous year. For each indicator a total of 2 points is possible, and overall a total of 8 points is possible. Counties that score 4 or 5 points are placed on the Watch List and counties that score 6, 7, or 8 points are placed on the Warning List.

Using this methodology, 70 Illinois counties have been placed on either the Poverty Watch or Poverty Warning lists. 46 counties are the Poverty Watch List, and 24 counties are on the Poverty Warning List.

 

The County Well-Being Index illustrates that poverty and hardship are not limited to one region of the state—counties all across Illinois struggle with poverty-related issues. This year’s Watch and Warning lists must serve as a wake-up call for leaders to begin deliberate efforts to reverse these trends in their communities.

Important Enhancements to the County Well-Being Index

This year's County Well-Being Index has undergone a series of changes designed to make the Index more timely and accurate. Changes include:

• A more accurate teen birth rate calculation: In prior years, teen births have been reported as a percent of all births. Now, teen births are reported as the number of births to women ages 15 to 19 per 1,000 women of that age in the population.
• A more current unemployment rate: In prior years, unemployment rates reflected August of the previous year. Now, December unemployment rates are reported
• A more current poverty rate: The data source for county poverty rates has become more timely, reporting estimates for the same year for which state estimates are available. The County Well-Being Index now uses these most recent poverty rates.

While these enhancements were necessary and important, they do limit the ability to compare county movement between the Watch and Warning Lists from this year's Index to last year's. 

Note: At the time of print, all data used for the County Well-Being Index were the most accurate available.