By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO
Nearly 10,300 more McHenry County residents now live in poverty than four years ago,
Recent poverty estimates put 28.5 percent of Harvard's population below the poverty line. (Sarah Nader - snader@shawmedia.com)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Northwest Herald | Poverty creeps into county
Poplar Grove votes 4-2 to ban video gaming machines | Belvidere Daily Republican
Written by Bob Balgemann
Bravo’s, Mortimer’s Roadhouse and Bar and Timber Pointe Golf Club all applied for state licenses so they could have video gaming machines at their establishments.
recent survey by the Chicago Tribune that showed 48 percent of the municipalities in the suburbs had voted to allow the machines, with 45 percent banning them. The remaining 7 percent was unknown.
Click on the following for more details: Poplar Grove votes 4-2 to ban video gaming machines | Belvidere Daily Republican
Friday, February 15, 2013
Belvidere dog wins Best of Breed - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
By Jennifer Wheeler
Bogie, who uses the show name CH Reyem’s Red Rover Come Over, is a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. Kent and Gwen Meyer, of Meyer’s Tails Up Farm in Belvidere, showed the dog.
Click on the following for more details: Belvidere dog wins Best of Breed - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Chrysler uses Compass to keep Belvidere plant busy - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
By Alex Gary
Dart production hit a high of 14,101 in November. But sales have not kept pace and Chrysler cut Dart output to 7,046 in January. Company CEO Sergio Marchionne admitted the company erred by building mostly manual transmission Darts at first as well as equipping them with underpowered transmissions.
As the company alters its production mix, it has upped the number of Jeep Compasses coming out of the plant. The Compass remains popular in Europe and in January workers turned out 11,381 of the small SUVs.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Due diligence and 2008A bond refunding?
Has Boone County done “due diligence” in the selection of Speer Financial (advisor) and Robert W. Baird Company (broker) in the proposed refunding of Boone County’s 2008A bonds.
(These bonds are going to be refunded at a lower rate, possibly this year) I sent this email to the Finance subcommittee and County Administration
Courtesy prevented me from raising this question in front of Mr. Mc Canna at last Wednesday’s Finance subcommittee.
I understand that state law considers this to be “professional service” and as such not subjected to a bidding process. However this is a very large expenditure, the commission and profit to these venders may amount to the $10,000’s. As such I think it is only prudent to ask your committee and Mr. Terrinoni, the reason Mr. McCanna was selected and what efforts were made to compare his services and costs to other advisors and brokers.
I would prefer your reply be in writing and be specific as to contacts and approximate dates of interviews or communications with other advisors/brokers and why Mr. McCanna was selected.
Bill Pysson
A reply from the County Administrator:
In the summer of 2008, I along with Chairman Ward and Finance Committee Chair Dave Taylor looked at four possible Financial Advisors for purposes of selling bonds:
Crowe Chizek and Company LLC (John Miller, formerly with RV Norene & Associates)
Ehlers & Associates Inc.
Wells Fargo Public Finance
Speer Financial Inc.
Speer was considered the more qualified of the four due to depth of staffing and experience with municipal bonds.
Hope this answers your questions.
Ken Terrinoni
Based upon the volatile nature of the finance industry since the Great Recession, I question whether fresher research was warranted to insure that Speer Financial is still well qualified. However because of the urgency due to possible interest rate rise perhaps keeping with Speer is the best decision at this point. Nonetheless, I believe that the Finance Subcommittee and the County Board should have had a voice in the decision to keep Speer. Did they?—Bill P
Area community garden applications available today - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
WINNEBAGO COUNTY — Applications for participation in the Community Action Gardens program for Winnebago and Boone counties are available.
Interested parties must attend one of the following free meetings: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at City Plaza, 555 N. Church St., Rockford, or 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at Boone County Conservation District, 603 N. Appleton Road, Belvidere.
The program offers residents the opportunity to create neighborhood gardens. The meetings will cover topics including program basics, available financial assistance and gardening education.
For information: 815-967-4034, cyndie.hall@rockfordil.gov.
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