U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

By Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller, Tuesday, September 20, 8:14 PM

The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said.

One of the installations is being established in Ethi­o­pia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls much of that country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol Somalia from there

Click on the following for all of the story: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

Issa to launch probe of Obama actions on Solyndra, LightSquared

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that his committee plans to investigate government loan programs to private corporations in light of allegations of improper dealings between the White House and failed energy company Solyndra and wireless start-up LightSquared.

"I want to see when the president and his cronies are picking winners and losers… it wasn't because there were large contributions given to them," the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Tuesday morning on C-SPAN.

Click on the following for more details:  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/182553-issa-to-investigate-government-loan-programs

Kane, McHenry report crews of bandits targeting the elderly

BY DAVE GATHMAN

Nygren [Sheriff McHenry County] said the Travelers who have been hitting McHenry County typically drive “impeccably clean pickup trucks with out-of-state plates,” often from Wisconsin.

The criminal gypsies, the sheriff said, more often will arrive with pickup trucks with sealcoating equipment in back and offer to sealcoat a resident’s driveway.

“One price is often given at the estimate time, but when the job is complete, you are told that you owe more money,” Nygren said.

Or rather than genuine sealcoating material, the substance used will turn out to be something like used motor oil that washes off in the first rain…..

 

Kane County Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Williams has no doubt that the same groups operating in McHenry are part of the scam artists the sheriff’s office has seen in northern Kane County recently.

Williams said last year these groups pretended to be city or water workers, getting into homes by claiming they needed to do an inspection. This year, the groups have been approaching senior citizens who are in their yard or garage, Williams said. The person will claim to be a Realtor or someone who needs to inspect the property lines, then lead the resident to the backyard.

“The ruse is just to get them out of the way so they go in and burglarize the house,”

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/7557181-418/kane-mchenry-report-crews-of-bandits-targeting-the-elderly.html

Rutherford defends brochure sent with state funds

On Tuesday, Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford told WJBC Radio in Bloomington that was a coincidence, and he says he won't cover the cost with campaign funds because he didn't do anything wrong.

The Pontiac Republican says the 11-page mailer was targeted to people who'd asked for more information about state pensions, borrowing and debt.

The mailer cost about $1,400.

Read the rest of the story, click on the following: http://www.nwherald.com/2011/09/20/rutherford-defends-brochure-sent-with-state-funds/azcg62g/

For earlier story go to:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/09/state-treasurer-mailing-sent-to-big.html

Lakewood Considering Referendum To allow bulk purchase of Electricity

We are also exploring the possibility of working with neighboring communities to bid for the purchase of electricity for our residents. Harvard and Fox River Grove recently completed this process and had great success with overall savings for their residents of between ten (10) to fifteen (15) percent on the electric bills.

Such a process requires the passage of a referendum by our residents, and we have set a tentative goal of placing such a referendum on the March 2012 ballot. Any resident who did not want to participate in the program could simply “opt out” and continue to purchase their electricity from Commonwealth Edison. Again, we would be interested in hearing your thoughts about the program. Our goal would simply be to save our residents money in these difficult economic times.

The above is taken from Cal Skinner’s blog, McHenry County Blog. It is an excerpt of letter written by Lakewood Village President Erin Smith sent out in the Fall newsletter. The Skinner blog article is available at: http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2011/09/19/lakewood-considering-referendum-to-allow-bulk-purchase-of-electricty/

The Village of Lakewood is located in McHenry County in the state of Illinois. The Village shares its boundaries with the City of Crystal Lake, Village of Lake in the Hills, Village of Huntley and City of Woodstock. The Village covers approximately 5 square miles. Population 3005 in the 2003 census.

I previously posted a story about unincorporated McHenry county residents going to referendum on bulk purchase of Electricity.  [See:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/09/mchenry-county-board-mulls-referendum.html]. 

When will Boone County and its towns and cities get on the bandwagon to give citizens a better option to lower electric rates?

Is there some hope in sight—see page two of the Boone County Board’s agenda for Wednesday’s (9-21-2011) Board meeting.  [http://www.boonecountyil.org/sites/default/files/CBagenda%2009-21-2011.pdf].  During the Administrative and Legislative section of the Boone County board meeting there is a scheduled discussion of the issue.