GateHouse completes restructuring, emerges from Chapter 11 - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

WILMINGTON, Del. — GateHouse Media Inc., owner of the Rockford Register Star, has emerged from prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

GateHouse filed for Chapter 11 on Sept. 27 with the unanimous support of its lenders to restructure $1.2 billion of debt that was scheduled to come due in August 2014. GateHouse is now owned by New Media Investment Group Inc. and is under common ownership with Local Media Group, the newspaper group that operates eight daily community newspapers and 13 weeklies.

According to Michael Reed, director and chief executive officer of GateHouse, the bankruptcy filing was a strategic decision to facilitate this restructuring, and GateHouse was able to continue operations while in Chapter 11 without disruption.

“GateHouse’s plan effected a ‘balance-sheet restructuring’ and allowed GateHouse to emerge from bankruptcy with much less debt on its balance sheet and with its business operations intact,” Reed said. “Joining with Local Media Group is an important step in growing the GateHouse business and will contribute to future success as the pre-eminent source for locally focused content, covering and serving our subscribers, advertisers and customers through print, online and other digital products, including mobile applications.”

Pension, trade and all other unsecured creditors of GateHouse were not affected under the prepackaged plan. GateHouse’s secured lenders, whose debt was cancelled under the plan, received choice of shares in New Media or a 40 percent cash distribution. The publicly traded shares of GateHouse have been cancelled with shareholders receiving warrants for New Media stock.

Read more by clicking on the following:  GateHouse completes restructuring, emerges from Chapter 11 - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

The Belvidere Daily Republican Featured News

Sons of American Revolution induct new members

Nov. 24, 2013

ROCKFORD – The Kishwaukee Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.) held their annual meeting on Nov. 16 in Rockford.

The Chapter was honored to have the Illinois Society S.A. R. President, Bruce Talbot of Bolingbrook, Ill. present for the event, to conduct official ceremonies, and deliver the key-note address.

President Talbot inducted two new members, R. Nathan Bliss of Rockford, and Mark Kaletka of Batavia.

The primary purpose of the S.A. R. organization is declared to be patriotic, historical and educational. Membership is open to any man, at least 18 years of age, who is a lineal descendant of an ancestor who was loyal to, and rendered actual service, in the cause of American Independence during the Revolutionary War.

The Kishwaukee Chapter is headquartered in Belvidere, but includes several counties in north central and northwestern Illinois.

 

Boone County real estate transactions recorded Nov. 12

Nov. 24, 2013

BOONE COUNTY - Following is a list of the Boone County real estate transactions recorded during Nov. 12-15.

Recorded Nov. 12

1248 Candlewick Dr. NW, Poplar Grove, $245,000, Patrick C. Brady and Christine E. Brady to Robert Hayes and Kathryn Hayes.

7555 Garden Prairie Road, Garden Prairie, $550,000, LUSYD Acres, Inc. to 7555 Garden Prairie, LLC.

311 W. Perry St., Belvidere, $72,000, Louis R. Morrall, trustee, to Albert and Susan Williams.

12847 Prairie Meadow Way, Belvidere, $195,000, Andrew Dallas Hutchison to James T. and Evelyn A. Palek.

Recorded Nov. 13

1727 13^th Ave., Belvidere, $60,100, Secretary of HUD to Jeannette Knutson.

114 King Henry Road SE, Poplar Grove, $90,500, Keith Kelly to James G. Origer and Mary C. Origer.

1132 Kishwaukee St., Belvidere, $81,851, Intercounty Judicial Sales to Secretary of HUD.

Recorded Nov. 14

302 Edson St., Poplar Grove, $130,500, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. to Rodney L. Wilken.

2329 Malmaison, Belvidere, $315,000, Federal National Mortgage Assoc. to Sergio and Heather Velazquez.

418 W. Perry St., Belvidere, $65,000, Marion J. Downey to Amy L. Ortiz.

Recorded Nov. 15

17 King Henry SE, Poplar Grove, $90,837, Bank of America, NA to Bank of America NA.

157 Hastings Way SW, Poplar Grove, $77,400, Federal National Mortgage Assoc. to Leonardo Oliveira.

824 Allen St., Belvidere, $47,000, Derby Run LLC to Pedro H. Banuelos.

414 Wren Lane, Caledonia, $370,000, Kimberly Mackenroth and Danny Cessop to Harneet S. Bath and Komaljit Bath.

 

Hearings on property assessments to start Dec. 2

Nov. 24, 2013

BELVIDERE - The Boone County Board of Review will begin hearings on the 2013 appeals of property assessments on Dec. 2 at 9 a.m.  Hearings will continue on Dec. 5-6 at 9 a.m., and if further hearings are necessary, more dates will be scheduled.

The Boone County Board of Review has the responsibility to hear complaints from property owners concerning the valuation of their property based on the market value or the use of the property.

Residential appeal forms are available in the County Assessor’s office, 1208 Logan Ave., Belvidere or online at http://www.boonecountyil.org/content/bor-residential-appeal-form.

Phone 815-544-2958 with any questions.

 

Capron Rescue seeks new station in Candlewick Lake area

Nov. 24, 2013

By Bob Balgemann

BOONE COUNTY - Capron Rescue Squad District has a new station on Poplar Grove Road and is renovating what used to be the main office in Capron.

Now officials are looking at the possibility of a third station, to help serve the southern end of the sprawling, 144-square-mile district. Sites in and around Candlewick Lake and the village of Timberlane are among the possibilities.

Owen Costanza, president of the district board of trustees, said that before he was appointed to the board there had been talk with Candlewick Lake officials about having a station in that area.

"They offered us space along (Illinois 76), but that was before my time," he said. "In my view, there's too much traffic around there."

Beyond that, he said Candlewick Lake owns property off Dawson Lake Road, on the south side of that community, which connects Caledonia Road and Route 76. "That would be a good place for a building," he said.

Just under 50 percent of the rescue squad's calls come from within Candlewick Lake.

The squad has money in its budget to explore locating a third station.

Costanza said he has asked Tony Stepansky, assistant chief of the squad, to renew that search.

Capron Rescue is transitioning to a paid on premises service, in an effort to improve response time. That means paramedics and EMTs, when on duty, must be at or in close proximity to the station. Before, they just had to be somewhere in the district.

Personnel since earlier this year have been able to spend all of their shift in the new station, a two-story, former farmhouse on the west side of Poplar Grove Road, just south of Quail Trap Road. Soon, they will be able to sleep over at the Capron station, too.

Stepansky said he is doing the due diligence on the search for a third station. "We're looking at 2014 to build or do something like we did in Poplar Grove," he said. "We want to be sure it's in the right place to do the most good."

Investment policy

POPLAR GROVE - There was a time several years ago when the village was $500,000 in the red. Now it is showing a surplus and officials are talking about the possibility of investing some or all of it.

There is disagreement as to whether that should happen.

Trustee Jeff Goings said at the October village board meeting that he thinks the two loans on the books at Poplar Grove State Bank should be paid off before any investing is done.

But village treasurer Maria Forrest said those loans are water and sewer debt, which would require the general fund to loan the money to the water and sewer fund to retire the bonds.

Still another view came from Trustee Bob Fry, who's also chairman of the village's finance committee. He thought the village could make more money by paying off the bonds than leaving the extra money sit in the bank.

He added that the village has worked hard to reach the point that it has six months worth of operating capital in the bank. That means it has enough money to run the town for six months if its revenue streams were severed. "A lot of municipalities have gotten into trouble because they didn't have any savings," he said.

While nothing definite was decided, Trustee Ron Quimby observed, "It all goes back to building blocks. This (issue) is part of the foundation."

Read the current Featured Stories by clicking on the following:  rvpnews | Belvidere Daily Republican

Primary elections begin to take shape

By Kevin Haas and Jennifer Wheeler
Rockford Register Star
Updated Nov. 25, 2013 @ 10:28 pm

Boone County Board:

District 1: Republicans Sherry Giesecke and Raymond Larson. Giesecke filed first, so her name will be placed at the top of the ballot. There are two seats open, each for a four-year term.

District 2: Republicans Jeffrey Carlisle, Ron Wait and Karl Johnson. These three individuals filed their candidacy papers at the same time, so there will be a lottery drawing to determine whose name will be placed at the top of the ballot. There are two seats open, each for a four-year term.

District 3: Republicans Sherry Branson, Marion Thornberry and Chris Berner. Branson filed first, so her name will be placed at the top of the ballot. There are two seats open for four-year terms, one for a two-year term.

Boone County Sheriff: Republicans Phil Beu and Dave Ernest. Both filed their candidacy papers at the same time, so there will be a lottery drawing to determine whose name will be placed at the top of the ballot. There is a single seat open for a four-year term.

Boone County Treasurer: Republican Curt Newport. There is a single seat open for a four-year term.

Boone County Clerk and Recorder: Republican Mary Steurer. There is a single seat open for a four-year term.

Click on the following for more details:  http://www.rrstar.com/article/20131125/NEWS/131129658/10329/?tag=2

BCJ: The new Boone County Historical Museum

The above article and the article which follows are taken fro the November 22, 2013 Boone County Journal, which is available free of cost at merchants across the county and on-line at:  http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2013/Boone-County-News-11-22-13.pdf#page=1

BJC: Letter to editor regarding Wind Ordinance Setback & LeROY Compromise

BDR: Final report blasts oversight by company, governments

 

Final report blasts oversight by company, governments

Nov. 21, 2013

By Troy A. Bruzewski

Editor

BELVIDERE – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) concluded its investigation into the 2009 explosion at NDK Crystal and the recently-released findings underscore a total failures by plant’s parent company and government agencies obligated to protect the public, in monitoring the facility.

Even worse, the investigation confirmed that NDK was warned about potential danger to surrounding businesses and specifically referenced the Tollway Oasis gas station where a bystander was killed by debris launched by the explosion.

The plant – located at 701 Crystal Parkway – had eight 50-foot pressure vessels used to produce synthetic crystals. According to the CSB, corrosion in those vessels led to an explosion so powerful that building fragments were launched hundreds of feet. One section, weighing over 8,000 pounds, crashed through two concrete walls and traveled 435 feet, hitting an adjacent business office.

“The force of the impact pushed the wall inward, causing furniture to shift and ceiling tiles to fall (in the adjacent office),” the report stated.

The thrust from the escaping liquid, caused the base of the Bessel to violently shear from its foundation and send pieces of structural steel into the parking lot of the nearby gas station, which killed the bystander.

NDK had eight of these vessels that were designed and built for crystal-growing operations, meaning the vessels were to have the proper materials and thickness to withstand high-operating pressures. According to the CSB report, a number of the NDK vessels did not meet standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and lack of inspection allowed for corrosion to go unnoticed.

In 2002, NDK petitioned the State Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Division for a special exemption allowing it to continue operations without adhering to code, which was approved. The vessel designer – Engineering Pressure Systems – advised NDK to have annual inspections performed. That advice, according to the CSB, was ignored.

“NDK, nor the state of Illinois, performed regular inspections,” the report stated. “Stress-corrosion cracking went uninspected and undetected, for years.”

It was also determined the coating used on the vessels to protect them from corrosion, did not provide the protection NDK promised it would.

“The CSB learned that NDK never actually tested, or verified, the effectiveness of the coating to prevent corroding,” the report stated.

After an incident in 2007 that led to an uncontrolled leak of caustic material, NDK’s insurer initiated an investigation that provided directives which could have avoided the 2009 incident and saved a life. The investigator in 2007 “had serious reservations” about the potential of “catastrophic scenarios” if the facility resumed operations with the vessels, determined to have “improper design, fabrication and material selection.” The investigation results also referred to potential danger to the plant’s surroundings, even mentioning the gas station where the bystander was killed.

“At every level, the risk of catastrophic vessel failure was overlooked and public safety, literally and figuratively, fell through the cracks,” CSB chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said.

Not only was NDK allowed to resume without addressing its code violations or following the recommendations of its insurer, but it did so with almost no oversight by the state.

“The state of Illinois performed only inspections of accessible external areas,” the report stated. “No certified inspector ever inspected the vessels.”

The CSB also determined the facility’s location was poorly selected, stating it was “unsafely sited in a light industrial area, near other businesses and the interstate” and that the city “has no additional requirements for examining the impact” of such an emergency situation. In fact, the installation and operation of the pressure vessels for the manufacturing process, was not included in the application or any documentation submitted to the city during the permitting process.

Several recommendations are listed at the conclusion of the CSB report, but the entity itself does not issue fines or citations. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with the objective of investigating industrial chemical accidents.

To read the recent BDR New Features click on the following:  rvpnews | Belvidere Daily Republican

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois

Current Job Openings : 

Office Assistant Position

The Boone County Health Department has a full-time opening (37.5 hrs/week) for an office assistant position.  Must be detail oriented and have good communication, organization, filing, and word processing computer skills.  Previous office experience is necessary (Bilingual/Spanish is a plus but not required.).

Applications for employment (www.boonehealth.org) must be completed and submitted to Boone County Health Department, 1204 Logan Ave., Belvidere, IL 61008; or emailed to info@boonehealth.org; or faxed to 815-544-2050, Attn: Chris.  (Resume may accompany the application.

Boone County Administration Office

Program Compliance Oversight Monitor (PCOM)

The Boone County Administration Office is currently

hiring a part-time PCOM.  This person
will be responsible for the oversight and administration
of the Section 5311 and Downstate Operating Assistance
Programs provided by the Illinois Department of Transportation
for public transportation in Boone County. 
This person must work well independently and
have the ability to assemble and analyze data.
Grant writing and grant monitoring experience is helpful.

Applicants must be well organized and have strong communication

skills.  Computer knowledge is a must.

Associates or Bachelors degree preferred but could be
substituted with experience.

The starting wage for this position is $14.00+ per hour DOQ.
Applications are available at the Boone County Administration Office,

1212 Logan Avenue, Belvidere, IL 61008

or see below.

Please submit applications to:

Boone County Administration Office

1212 Logan Avenue Suite 102

Belvidere, IL 61008

Applications must be received by November 22, 2013.

EOE

Download the employment application here by going to the actual website (CLICK on the link below) and click on the “download the employment application here”--

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois