Key races, referendums facing Winnebago and Boone county voters - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Boone County voters have several contenders to choose from in the Republican primary for the County Board.

There are 11 candidates running in three districts, where two seats are available in each.

In District 1, the race is not contested. Voters can choose both Sherry Giesecke and Raymond Larson.

In District 2, incumbents Karl Johnson and Ronald Wait are seeking re-election. Also running are Jeffrey Carlisle and Mark Sanderson.

In District 3. Marion Thornberry is the incumbent. The other two candidates are Sherry Branson and Brad Stark. Voters also must select between Chris Berner and Kenneth Freeman to fill a two-year term in that district.

On the Democratic side, there are no contested races.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Key races, referendums facing Winnebago and Boone county voters - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Belvidere Daily Republican: Superintendent Houselog finalist to lead Johnston (Ia.) schools

Below is from Belvidere Daily Republican’s FACEBOOK

 

1. Belvidere Daily Republican

   March 11

   Superintendent Houselog finalist to lead Johnston (Ia.) schools
   By Bob Balgemann
   Reporter
   BELVIDERE - For the second time in two years Belvidere Community Unit School District 100 Superintendent Michael Houselog is a finalist to lead a school district in Iowa. And once again family ties are a motivating factor.
   He was scheduled to be interviewed Monday March 10 in Johnston, Ia., a northwester...n Des Moines suburb, with the other candidate, Corey Lynn from Stillwater, Minn., on tap for Tuesday night.
   The Johnston board of education will meet Wednesday March 12 and Laura Dillavou, communications director for the district, said discussion but no decision is expected at that time.
   Spring break is coming up the following week and she said the board had scheduled a special meeting for March 24. If board members have reached a consensus, she said a decision could be made that night.
   The current superintendent, Clay Guthmiller, 62, is retiring effective June 30 after eight years with the district of about 6,700 students.
   Houselog came to Boone County in 2003, where he served for three years as superintendent of North Boone Community School District 200. He then was hired as District 100 superintendent and has been there ever since.
   He called both the Belvidere and Johnston school districts exciting places to be. And if the Johnston board chooses the other finalist, he said that would be all right. "I like this job; I love this area," he said.
   Family was a primary reason he sought to become superintendent of the Dubuque Community Schools last year. The move would have brought him and his Belvidere family closer to his mother. But the Dubuque school board sought another of the finalists for the job.
   He said his daughter, son-in-law and now 5-month-old granddaughter live about one-half hour from Johnston. He said his mother also was interested in that area, should he become superintendent there.
   "Family is really important," he said. But in addition, the Johnston job "is a great opportunity. It's an excellent district."
   As he did last year, he made District 100 board members aware that he had applied for the Iowa position.

Belvidere Daily Republican: Illinois EPA, Chrysler working to determine odor origin

Below is from the Belvidere Daily Republican FACEBOOK

Illinois EPA, Chrysler working to determine odor origin
By Tricia Goecks
Editor
BELVIDERE – Residents in south and central Belvidere have noticed a strong odor that has been developing over the last few months. The Illinois EPA is investigating the source and cause of the odor and is working with Chrysler’s Belvidere Assembly Plant.
“We had a lot of complaints that alleged it was coming from th...e Chrysler plant,” Bill Hatfield from the Boone County Health Department said. “I have no evidence of a public health issue related to the odor.”
Hatfield conducted an organaleptic analysis to zero in from where the odor originated. As part of Hatfield’s analysis, he was able to exclude a sewage treatment sludge field as the source of the odor and determine that the source was from the area surrounding the Belvidere Assembly Plant. Hatfield’s organaleptic analysis consisted of driving on all sides of the plant and using his nose to smell the air on a windy day.
The Illinois EPA conducted a site visit at Chrysler and is working with the company to determine the origins and resolution of the odor. “The company has retained an environmental consultant to assist in identifying the source and resolution to the odors,” Kim Briggs from the Illinois EPA’s public information office said. “The inspection report is still being finalized.”
“We’ve had the EPA out several times and so far, no one has been able to identify the source or cause of the odor,” Jodi Tinson from the Chrysler Group said. “We continue to work with the EPA and cooperate fully in their investigation.”
“Until we know what is causing the odor, we can’t make any modifications or address the situation.”
“I wonder if Chrysler is doing something differently than in the past,” asked an area resident who did not want to be identified. The resident wondered if a manufacturing process or materials change within the last six months was the reason why the odor developed recently.See More

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FACT SHEET: Opportunity for All: Rewarding Hard Work by Strengthening Overtime Protections | The White House

After weathering the Great Recession and through five years of hard work and determination, America is creating jobs and rebuilding our economy. But as a result of shifts that have taken hold over more than three decades, too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone to get ahead.

President Obama believes that, in America, if you work hard and take responsibility, you should have the opportunity to succeed. That’s why he has pledged to make 2014 a year of action, working with Congress where they’re willing, but using his phone and his pen wherever he can to build real, lasting economic security for the middle class and those working hard to become a part of the middle class.

As part of that effort, today, President Obama is directing the Secretary of Labor to begin the process of addressing overtime pay protections to help make sure millions of workers are paid a fair wage for a hard day's work and rules are simplified for employers and workers alike.

Basic Overtime Protections Have Eroded

The overtime rules that establish the 40-hour workweek, a linchpin of the middle class, have eroded over the years.  As a result, millions of salaried workers have been left without the protections of overtime or sometimes even the minimum wage. For example, a convenience store manager or a  fast food shift supervisor or an office worker may be expected to work 50 or 60 hours a week or more, making barely enough to keep a family out of poverty, and not receive a dime of overtime pay. It’s even possible for employers to pay workers less than the minimum wage per hour.

The overtime and minimum wage rules are set in the Fair Labor Standards Act, originally passed by Congress in 1938, and apply broadly to private-sector workers. However, there are some exceptions to these rules, which the Department of Labor has the authority to define through regulation. One of the most commonly used exemptions is for “executive, administrative and professional” employees, the so-called “white collar” exemption.

Workers who are paid hourly wages or who earn below a certain salary are generally protected by overtime regulations, while those above the threshold who perform executive, professional or administrative duties are not.  That threshold has failed to keep up with inflation, only being updated twice in the last 40 years and leaving millions of low-paid, salaried workers without these basic protections. Specifically:

• In 1975 the Department of Labor set the threshold below which white collar workers were entitled to overtime pay at $250 per week.
• In 2004 that threshold was set at $455 per week (the equivalent of $561 in today's dollars). This is below today’s poverty line for a worker supporting a family of four, and well below 1975 levels in inflation adjusted terms.

Today, only 12 percent of salaried workers fall below the threshold that would guarantee them overtime and minimum wage protections (compared with 18 percent in 2004 and 65 percent in 1975).  Many of the remaining 88 percent of salaried workers are ineligible for these protections because they fall within the white collar exemptions.  Many recognize that these regulations are outdated, which is why states like New York and California have set higher salary thresholds.

At the same time, employers and workers alike have difficulty navigating the existing regulations, and many recognize that the rules should be modernized to better fit today’s economy.

Details of the Presidential Memorandum

Improving the overtime regulations consistent with the Memorandum the President will sign today could benefit millions of people who are working harder but falling further behind. The Fair Labor Standards Act protects over 135 million workers in more than 7.3 million workplaces nationwide.

The Presidential Memorandum instructs the Secretary of Labor to update regulations regarding who qualifies for overtime protection. In so doing, the Secretary shall consider how the regulations could be revised to:

• Update existing protections in keeping with the intention of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• Address the changing nature of the American workplace.
• Simplify the overtime rules to make them easier for both workers and businesses to understand and apply.

FACT SHEET: Opportunity for All: Rewarding Hard Work by Strengthening Overtime Protections | The White House

Former Rockford cop pleads guilty to aggravated DUI charges - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

The accident occurred about 9:20 p.m. on May 21, 2012, when Cruz was passing a SUV in a no-passing zone southbound on Beloit Road and struck a pick-up truck and collided with the SUV near Townhall Road.

All four passengers of the SUV were taken to the hospital, one of the passengers, Mary "Susie" Danielson of Poplar Grove, was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of a spinal cord injury. Another passenger, Kim Hawkinson, suffered a collapsed lung.

Cruz was a thirteen-year veteran of the Rockford Police Department who was off duty at the time of the crash. He is no longer with the Department.

Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. on May 15. Aggravated driving under the influence is a class 4 felony with special sentencing guidelines punishable by up to 12 years in prison.

Read more: http://www.rrstar.com/article/20140303/News/140309809#ixzz2vsSQriQQ

Boone County Courthouse site of puppy mill protest - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

A small group of protesters stood outside the Boone County Courthouse Tuesday morning to protest Kimber Lettier, whom they said operates a puppy mill from her Caledonia property.

Lettier was being arraigned on two counts of aggravated battery for threatening a Boone County Animal Control employee.

According to the Feb. 28 bill of indictment, Lettier “made contact of an insulting or provoking nature when she grabbed (the animal control employee) by the arm,” which was alleged behavior for the first count, and, in the second count, “caused bodily harm to (the employee) when she pulled (her) hair.”

Click on the following for more details:  Boone County Courthouse site of puppy mill protest - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Belvidere Daily Republican: Decision nears to hire architect for animal services building

 

March 11, 2014

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

BELVIDERE - The Boone County Board may decide in April which architectural firm is hired to build a new animal control services department building.

Four firms are being asked to submit proposals for a 3,000 square-foot building to be constructed on county-owned land on the east side of Illinois 76, just south of Spring Creek Road, which houses the county highway department complex.

The proposals would include future additions that ultimately would produce a 6,500-square-foot building.

Mark Schmidt, senior principal for Knapp Schmidt Architects in Wisconsin, presented his feasibility study to the health and human services board at its March 6 meeting.

A 2,600-square-foot building, one of several options in the report, would replace the current county facility at 1230 S. Appleton Road.

The 3,000-square-foot building also would include space for cats, a few more dogs and a sallyport. The absence of room for cats has been a continuing concern of department Supervisor Roger Tresemer and programs director Jacqui Mitzelfelt.

Schmidt, whose company is one of the four finalists for the job, was asked to leave the room while the committee discussed what steps should be taken next. One possibility was to consider recommending to the full county board that Knapp Schmidt be hired for the entire job.

Out of fairness to the other three firms that still were interested in the project,, committee member Kenny Freeman said all of them should be given an opportunity to submit proposals. They won't be reinterviewed and their proposals would use information contained in the feasibility study Knapp Schmidt did for the county, at a cost of $3,500.

"That will put us back another month," committee Chairman Paul Larson said. "But it will give us time to investigate the utility work."He was referring to the cost of hooking into the city of Belvidere's water and sewer lines, which are in the area and already serve the nearby Maple Crest nursing home.

Committee members agreed that well and septic were not the best option for the building.

Before the unanimous vote was taken to proceed, committee member Bill Pysson raised the question of where the money would come from to construct the new building. He suggested the county finance committee look at how to finance a $500,000 construction cost for the 2,600-square-foot building in the feasibility study.

"I question whether the $5 (increase in the dog registration fee) will be enough," he said.

Earlier in the meeting county Administrator Ken Terrinoni said early returns on the recently imposed, higher registration fee, show it generated $3,000. But he told the committee it still was early in the new fiscal year and not to be worried at this point.

Resident Robert Christianson, who has been advocating a new animal control building, said from the audience that financing should be considered right away, because interest rates are starting to go up.

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