Stalled Jeep Cherokee will be key to Chrysler's fate - Fortune Management

By Doron Levin

That noise you hear is the sound of grinding molars. It's coming from Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. and the offices of Jeep retail dealers across the U.S., who are champing at the bit to start selling the new Jeep Cherokee.

The new Cherokee compact sport utility vehicle is a critically important model for Chrysler, which is recuperating from its 2009 bankruptcy filing. Chrysler has built more than 12,000 Cherokees at its Toledo, Ohio Jeep plant but can't release them for sale until glitches with its transmission are resolved.

According to Chrysler, engineers are refining the nine-speed automatic transmission featured on the vehicle, the first of its kind on any Chrysler vehicle. Once the refinements are complete, the electronics of existing transmissions must be reprogrammed.

 

Jeep is Chrysler's most valuable brand, among Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, and Ram Truck. The Liberty had previously served as Jeep's compact SUV offering, which includes competitors like the hot-selling Honda CR-V (HMC), Ford (F) Escape, and Toyota (TM) RAV4. Over two generations of Liberty, sales peaked in 2002 at 171,212; they fell to a trough of 43,503 in 2009.

Chrysler's Toledo assembly plant was shut down last fall for retooling, in anticipation of the spring startup of production. The automaker displayed the new Cherokee at the New York auto show in late March. Press drives of the car were postponed to September from August due to difficulties with the transmission, which is based on a design by the German manufacturer ZF and built at a Chrysler plant in Indiana

Read more by clicking on the following:  Stalled Jeep Cherokee will be key to Chrysler's fate - Fortune Management

After fire, Northwest Pallet Supply gets second life in Rockford - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Greg Stanley
Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD — Northwest Pallet Supply, the company responsible for a massive mulch fire last year in Boone County, got the go-ahead Monday from the City Council to stockpile mulch in Rockford.

The company leases land from the Chicago Rockford International Airport. It had been looking for a new site to store its product since being effectively banished from its spot in Boone County after large mulch piles spontaneously combusted in May 2012. The blaze took five days, more than 100 fire agencies and 4 million gallons of water to extinguish.

Large piles of mulch can generate enough heat from internal decomposition to spark flames.

Boone County sued the land owners over zoning violations relating to where the mulch was stored. Northwest Pallet ultimately settled the lawsuit by agreeing to pay $4,500 — the overtime costs of Boone County Sheriff’s deputies — and to never store commercial mulch on that property again.

The company also donated $16,000 to a Boone County fire district before the lawsuit.

To get a zoning change passed in Rockford, Northwest Pallet agreed to several restrictions recommended by Rockford fire officials.

The company will have to keep the mulch piles smaller than what’s allowed by city code and with more space in between each stockpile.

Fire officials are satisfied that the plans are not consistent with the practices that contributed to the Boone County fire, said Todd Cagnoni, Rockford director of economic and community development.

“We vetted this out extensively with the fire department,” Cagnoni said. “There certainly was a concern when the company’s application was submitted because of their past practices. But they’ve agreed to follow all the recommendations that our fire prevention division has provided

After fire, Northwest Pallet Supply gets second life in Rockford - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Being hungry in the Rock River Valley a full-time job - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Jennifer Wheeler
Rockford Register Star

More than 16 percent of Winnebago County residents and 12 percent of Boone County residents do not have consistent access to enough food needed for a healthy, active life, according to a 2011 study conducted by Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

More than 90 agencies that distribute food operate in the Rock River Valley, each with its own set of rules for doling out food.

And even those who qualify to receive food must figure out the agency's hours of operation, how often they can visit and how to get there. Those with jobs must juggle work schedules. Many travel to multiple food-serving agencies each day, hoping to consume enough food to last them until their next meal.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Being hungry in the Rock River Valley a full-time job - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Hunger threatens thousands of Boone, Winnebago kids - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Jennifer Wheeler
Rockford Register Star
Posted Nov. 10, 2013 @ 10:00 am

ROCKFORD — One in four children in Winnebago County do not know where they will get their next meal, according to a 2011 study conducted by Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

In Boone County, it's one in five.

And unlike an adult who struggles to find enough to eat, a child can't earn a paycheck to pay for groceries or drive to a food pantry.

Click on the following to read more:  Hunger threatens thousands of Boone, Winnebago kids - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Belvidere Daily Republican: FEATURED NEWS

 

Liquidation via ‘information highway’ best for BPD

Nov. 10, 2013

By Troy A. Bruzewski

Editor

BELVIDERE – The police have taken to a different highway to nab people and the effort starting with writing an item description, rather than a ticket.

The Belvidere Police Dept. is garnering financial results from its efforts on eBay, selling its decommissioned and seized vehicles. For nearly eight years, BPD has used the online location to sell various items, most recently they were of the two-wheel variety.

In October, the department listed two motorcycles that were seized; the pair of Harley-Davidsons brought a total of $9,000. The month prior, a decommissioned SUV and a seized Chevy Tracker netted $3,084.

Mayor Mike Chamberlain said using online auctions has provided numerous benefits for the city and police.

“We’ve found we do better on eBay (than one annual live auction),” he said. “It’s more effective and it’s at a lower cost.”

Annual police and city auctions were once the standard for government to alleviate itself of the accruing merchandise, but taking the effort online helps avoid the multiple potential pitfalls of relying on an auction held live.

Internet auctions present the items to a worldwide audience and aren’t affected by poor weather. One rainy day can affect a budget, when it comes to raising operating funds by a live auction.

“A live auction can go unattended, or have so few bids that they’re too low to accept,” Chamberlain said. “From the online perspective, it’s more efficient and has better success.”

And with the duration of online auctions, people who won’t be available in the auction’s closing seconds can still place their maximum bid days prior, with automatic bidding.

Chief Jan Noble said the results have been excellent for the department and the city.

“We get much more return for using eBay, than we would on a Saturday auction,” he said. “It has greatly benefitted the city and returned tax dollars to the city for items that no longer had use.”

The top bidders are required to visit the department to complete the transaction, paying by certified check or using Paypal. Noble said the reaching effect of online auctions is evident by the distances traveled by those who got the final bid. Top bidders for BPD auctions have come from at least four other states.

Chamberlain said future in-person auctions aren’t out of the question, but in the meantime residents can follow BPD auctions by accessing the seller name “belviderepolice” on eBay.

 

Retirement, promotion for BPD

Nov. 8, 2013

BELVIDERE – The Belvidere Police Dept. announced one retirement and one promotion.Sergeant Mark Pollock is being promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief of Administrative and Support Services; while Deputy Chief William Falkenstein is retiring after 25 years with the BPD.Pollock started with BPD in April, 1991 and was promoted to Sergeant in June, 1998. He’s been both Sergeant of the Detective Division and Sergeant of the Patrol Division.Falkenstein began with BPD in 1988 and was promoted to Sergeant in 1991, then promoted to Deputy Chief in 1996. .

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