Juliet is sized a tad bigger than what I would expect for a grape tomato but smaller than a Roma. Last night she ended up in a salad of just-snipped shredded basil, red onion, avocado, tuna and white beans. We’re having fun with the salads this summer. Earlier this week, it was a mango slaw…
Post-Meeting Open Thread
So, what did we learn from the latest Council meeting? We learned that, even though Fairview Drive residents have spoken at three meetings, made phone calls and sent letters and e-mail to them, one or more Council members perceived little opposition to forced annexation because the residents failed to arrive as an angry mob last…
City’s Response to Request for Review
The following is the City of DeKalb’s response to the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor regarding its denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the names of Council members who participate in the City’s health insurance plan. Click on any page of the letter to see a larger image of it.
Austerity in Cherry Valley
In addition to placing Village employees on a one-year wage freeze, Cherry Valley trustees this week repealed an ordinance that would have raised their salaries (in effect putting themselves on a 7-year freeze). Last April, they passed a resolution making it OK to return their wages to the Village. The village president makes $13,500 annually.…
South Beloit May Dump Its Labor Attorney
The mayor of South Beloit is considering taking over negotiations with city unions, citing slow results and large expense. Mayor Randy Kirichkow estimates that the city has spent $320,000 on attorney’s fees in the last five years negotiating with the three city unions, which include the police officers, police sergeants and Street Department employees. Kirichkow…
Chrysler Plans to Expand Belvidere Plant
Rockford Register Star reports that Chrysler intends to expand its Belvidere plant by 500,000 square feet to accommodate a larger body shop. Building might begin as early as this summer, and require 20,000 or more construction work hours. How many manufacturing jobs the expansion might ultimately create is not yet known. This must be really…
Recycling Story: Summer Pavilion Built of Speedos
OK, this demonstrates the utter weirdness of my news feeds but I can’t help sharing. In short (heh), a summer architectural expo in London featured a pavilion built from Speedo swimsuits. Find story and photos here. Hope you had a great 4th of July.
California Developer Buys Own Debt
You read that headline correctly–California Developer Buys Own Debt. The Google Alerts service sends me articles from news resources from all over the place that have something about the Lincoln Highway in them. That is how I found this article about a land developer buying its own debt for a fraction of the original price.…
The $10,000,000+ Yard Sale
Yes, you read that right, the $10,000,000 yard sale. Last week at the Lincoln Highway Association annual conference in Dixon, one guest speaker was Mike Hocker, the Executive Director of the of the Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, and one of the key organizers of the annual Buy-Way in Ohio. Mike, who says he does…
Expenditures of Distinction, May 2010
Ellwood House room rental for strategic planning retreat, $150.00 Breakfast and lunch for strategic planning retreat, $202.80 Ellwood House room rental for 5th Ward meeting (mtg was in January), $100.00. This, from Alderman Ron “let’s get back to concentrating on core services” Naylor. Add yours in comments, if you like.