Boone County Watchdog

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

F-16s intercept Barrington plane as Obama arrives in town

A plane flying out of Barrington was intercepted by two F-16 fighter jets early Wednesday night after the plane entered restricted airspace, which was temporarily put in place for President Obama’s visit to Chicago.

The jets were scrambled by the North American Aerospace Defense Command at 5:34 p.m. after a Kitfox Model 2 flew into temporarily restricted airspace, said NORAD spokesman Lt. Michael Humphreys.

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/#ixzz1U1zk9DeJ

Belvidere Township, YMCA partnering to benefit youth

Following is from: http://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6842:belvidere-township-ymca-partnering-to-benefit-youth&catid=106:belvidere&Itemid=508

Wednesday, 03 August 2011 14:18 Bob Balgemann

BELVIDERE – Boone County youngsters are expected to benefit through Belvidere Township’s plan to buy the Eagle’s Club building on Locust Avenue in downtown Belvidere.

A town meeting has been called for 6 p.m. Friday (Aug. 5) at the township office, 8200 Fairgrounds Road, so the township’s electorate can approve buying the 7,000-square-foot building for $150,000.

Programs would be run by the Belvidere YMCA, which board President John Kaufield said has been trying to expand for a number of years. He added that staff is excited about the potential and already has come up with different types of activities that could be offered at the building.

He called it “a great opportunity. This came along at a great time.”

Township Trustee Bill Robertson said the township always has been supportive of young people and its budget has a line item with money that can be used to benefit the community.

“We need more space for youth programs and the proximity (of the building) to the Y is good,” he said. “We need to keep our youth off the streets.”

He said the board wasn’t certain how much good the acquisition would do. “We want to try,” he said. “The Y is maxed out of space. This would allow us to reach more people.”

Township Supervisor Pat Murphy sees it as a win-win for the entire community. In addition to providing more space for youth programming, he said the building could complement what is being offered at the Belvidere Community Center and at the Keen-Age Center. But the big benefactor should be the young people of Boone County.

He said he didn’t think a lot of renovating would be necessary. “It’s well built,” he said. “It’s been referred to as a bomb shelter. I hope they (YMCA) can begin using it fairly quickly.”

“This is an opportunity you don’t get very often,” he added. “There is a lot of potential not only for youth but for the entire community.”

The YMCA board of directors has endorsed the concept, Murphy said, and the Eagle’s Club ownership has accepted the township’s offer of $150,000.

Food for Thought: Yesterday’s Cryptoquote

This is from the Rockford Register Star’s Cryptoquote from August 1, 2011.

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness”

—Leo Tolstoy

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Index of postings from Concerned Catholics of Boone County

▼ September (37)

▼ August (49)

Monday, August 1, 2011

Is St. James admitting that there is a “problem” with their zoning request for a new church?

St. James’ agent, Jeff Linkenheld, has requested a postponement of the August 1 vote by the Belvidere City Council on their zoning request. They are working out compromises on some of their requested variance from the city zoning. If the postponement is granted, the detail will not be submitted to the public for another 15 days.

Reports from the neighbors ,who lodged a formal protest regarding the zoning change, indicate that beginning last Tuesday Fr. Geary has made personal visits requesting that they consider selling their property to the parish and drop their protest. As a parishioner whose contribution might pay for such property I wonder where the money will come from. I understand that the building project is already over the $5.5 projected cost and that is the upper limit as to the amount the parish can spend. (See letter from Diocese by clicking on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/07/will-fr-geary-be-able-to-comply-with.html). Or is that letter from the Diocese no longer in effect? Does Fr. Geary have authority from the bishop to negotiate such property purchases? Meanwhile parishioners have been told nothing about these details either from the pulpit or in the bulletin.

Second Trial against McHenry County States Attorney

For the second time in a little more than four months, McHenry County’s top prosecutor is going on trial.

Trial No. 2 begins Monday for McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi, a two-term Republican.