Chemtool to buy Rockton facility from Woodward - - BusinessRockford.com

A repeat for the most part of information already known.

Athans said Chemtool had wanted to build a 75,000-square-foot office building next to a former Beloit Corp. building at Prairie Hill Road and Illinois 2 but jumped at the chance to acquire the nearly 103,000-square-foot Woodward building and surrounding property. The Woodward building is less than five minutes away on the corner of Illinois 2 and Rockton Road.
“You can’t find a better looking building,” Athans said. “It’s set up for assembly and test so we’ll have to add on to it, but this allows us to get moving much more quickly.”

Chemtool to buy Rockton facility from Woodward - - BusinessRockford.com

Daily Herald | State tollway inspector general steps down

The Illinois tollway's inspector general resigned unexpectedly Thursday, officials confirmed.

Tracy Smith's move comes as the Illinois attorney general's office is raising questions about the performance of Smith even as another agency defended her record.

The attorney general office's criticism concerns a college friendship between Smith and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Chairman John Mitola's wife. Madigan's staff did not elaborate on the issue or say if any action was planned.

Read the rest of the story:  Daily Herald | State tollway inspector general steps down

Quinn vetoes campaign finance bill | Daily Chronicle

The veto was the latest chapter for a bill that has been criticized ever since it passed the General Assembly

Quinn and lawmakers talked about improving the bill and closing loopholes that critics said plagued the legislation, they declined to say what specifically they found objectionable

Quinn vetoes campaign finance bill | Daily Chronicle

Woodward Selling Rockton Plant

Woodward Governor says it wants to sell Rockton plant to Chemtool.

Posted: 4:33 PM Aug 26, 2009

Chemtool will initially bring 50 jobs to Rockton and anticipates total employment in Rockton to be 500 team members. The approximately 210 Woodward Rockton members will relocate to the Woodward Rockford facility on North Second Street in the coming months. Construction on the 102,266 square-foot Rockton building was completed in 1989.

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Local jobless rate at highest since ’83 - - BusinessRockford.com

metro area shed 1,700 jobs from June to July, with the biggest losses coming in the service sector and local government, including teaching jobs, according to Illinois

Rockford and Belvidere had identical unemployment rates at 16.5 percent

Click on the following for more details:  Local jobless rate at highest since ’83 - - BusinessRockford.com

The Belvidere Daily Republican. - New law to put more locally grown food on Illinois tables

allows them to pay a premium of up to 10 percent above the lowest bid in order to purchase locally grown goods.

Establishment of local food procurement goals for state agencies to purchase 20 percent of their food locally by 2020. State-funded institutions such as schools would have a goal of 10 percent by 2020.

Click on the following for more of the story:  The Belvidere Daily Republican. - New law to put more locally grown food on Illinois tables

Thinking prudently | Daily Chronicle

And where is Boone County—not thinking at all?

The [DeKalb] county board is considering making DeKalb County a “recovery zone,” another program of the stimulus package that would bring $15 million in a different kind of low-interest bonds to the county.

Taxpayers are understandably hesitant to embrace borrowing by local governments. In appearances alone, spending millions during a recession is a tough case to make. But it could also be the financially prudent thing to do, and for that reason local governments should strongly consider using these programs

Click on the following for the entire editorial:  Thinking prudently | Daily Chronicle