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Thank You to the 5K Supporters!

On Saturday, September 1, the Bob Miller 5K walk/run took place in Shannon. The race was a huge success this year with over $2,000 collected. The money raised will go to an Aquin Junior and two Eastland Seniors to offset tuition.

I would like to personally thank all of the people that came out to walk or run. I would also like to thank our sponsors; The Bob Miller Family; Maximized Living-Dr. Jarod Erdmier; Munson Seed-Scot Miller; Cord Construction; Bocker Chevrolet; First State Bank Shannon/Lake Carroll/Polo; Eastland Feed & Grain; Fawnridge Realty and many personal contributions from area families.

This race would not occur every year without the support of volunteers, families, area business’s and the Bob Miller family. If I have inadvertently left anyone out, I apologize.

Thank you again for a successful race for the kids of our future!

Amy Snyder
5K coordinator

Obama’s Assault on Religious Freedom

In 2006 we elected to the U.S. Senate an Illinois State Senator who spent most of his 2 years in Washington running for President. Why should we be surprised this empty suit had no solutions to our problems?

Americans wanted to feel tolerant, and free of racial prejudice, a poor reason to elect a President. Obama promised to reach across the aisle, though he hadn’t done so in either his state or U.S. Senate terms. Smoke and mirrors.

Incompetence was expected, but who knew that this President would also attack religion with a vengeance? Pastor David Barton, who produced video tours of the Capitol building explaining the religious roots of the nation’s founding, has issued a chronological summary of Obama’s attacks on religion. On Barton’s WallBuilders website, he writes, “Perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical.” He contrasts this with Obama’s clear preference for Muslims.

Among the many “Acts of hostility toward people of Biblical faith” Barton lists: (1) April 2009 - Speaking at Georgetown, a Catholic University, Obama orders the monogram symbolizing Jesus’ name be covered up; (2) May 2009 - failure to host National Day of Prayer events (a day established by federal law) at the White House; Obama does host White House Iftar dinners in honor of Ramadan; (3) 2010 – White House avoids all the normal official proclamations on Biblical holidays, but regularly recognizes major Muslim holidays; (4) February 2011 – Bush administration conscience protections for health workers are revoked; (5) June 2011 – The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery (6) October 2011 – Federal grants are denied the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for extensive programs that aid victims of human trafficking because the Church is anti-abortion; (7) October 2011 – Obama’s Muslim advisors block Middle Eastern Christians’ access to the White House; (8) May 2012 - The Obama administration opposes legislation to protect the rights of conscience for military chaplains who do not wish to perform same-sex marriages.

You can read these offenses and more, fully documented, at WallBuilders dot com. Never before has a President made a continual war on the First Amendment right of religious freedom. The Illinois Catholic Bishops will provide a bulletin insert on issues of conscience the four Sundays before we vote. I suspect these may reference the illogic (and immorality) of voting for someone you believe will sustain the poor or protect the planet, when that person denies persons their rights of conscience, and supports a lifeboat philosophy in healthcare. Will Catholics and others have the openness and courage to reconcile these matters of morality and civic duty? We can only hope so.

Jane Carrell
Coordinator of Northern IL Tea Party
Roscoe, IL

Wood’s Morrison City Council Notes

Correction from previous letter-the Kromer field groomer for the Sports Complex total cost is $18,450. $10,500 came out 2012 fiscal year budget. I stated that we will have to budget $8,450 into fiscal year 2013. The correct amount is $7,950 for fiscal year 2013. Please accept my apologies for my mistake.

Morrison City Council met on September 24, 2012 at the County Board Room. Hayenga, Blean, Thorndike, Sullivan, Zuidema, Wood, Rose (acted as Mayor Pro Tem in Mayor Drey’s absence) and Connelly (newly appointed Alderman Ward 4) were all present. CA Wise (acted as City Clerk in Schroeder’s absence), Attorney Zollinger, Jim Dubois, Treasurer Huling, Gary Tresenriter, Mick Gronewold, and Chief Melton were also present.

No public comments. No board and Commission Reports. Shelli Davis responded to a question from Harvey Zuidema about converting the accounting system from accrual to cash basis. Shelli and Treasurer Huling both stated that in a Municipal set up the accrual accounting system is much easier because accrual basis accounts for expenses. They recommended that we continue as we do it.

Department Head reports: Treasurer Huling stated that we were reimbursed $407,221.35 from the IEPA Loan for payments made to Baxter and Woodman, Sickley, etc. Executive session was held pertaining to litigation.

When the meeting resumed, Fehr Graham and Baxter & Woodman engineers discussed the inflow and infiltration study that was done and the waste water treatment plant project update. The city of Morrison needs to make a decision on whether a new waste water treatment plant should be built or if we should repair the present plant. According to the engineers, a new treatment plant would cost about $16,100,000. Upgrading the present plant would cost about $16,700,000. They want the decision made by the council at the October 9, 2012 meeting on how to proceed. No matter what is decided it will be another 20 year loan for the city.

Bills payable included $3,592 to Fehr Graham for a partial payment on reviewing “did we get what we paid for on the reconstruction of 101/103 W. Main”. The study is still in progress. We paid Layne Christensen $299,405.25 for change order #5—additional well drilling (design change) utilizing approved unit pricing. I asked since the original contract amount to dig Well #5 was $674,660 and now the figure has almost tripled to $1,995,108.50 how does that work with the IEPA Loan. I wanted to know where our cash in going to come from to repay this deficit since our general fund revenue has decreased by about $736,000 in fiscal year 2012. The IEPA loan will be adjusted as needed, it will still be a 20 year loan but when we go to repay it, the payments will be larger.

The Operation and Maintenance Agreement with Odell Public Library will go back to the library for adjustments then brought back to the Council. Fat Boys was permitted a one day liquor license for October 14, 2012. Trick or Treat date will be on Halloween, October 31, 2012 from 4pm to 7pm.

Resolution #12-13 Authorizing Reward of found Property was approved. So found property will be returned to the finder. The policy has changed, so this will no longer happen. Ordinance #12-32 Authorizing Disposal of Surplus Property was approved and a vehicle will be sold online.

Next meeting on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 (due to October 8-Columbus Day being a holiday) will be held at the County Board Room at 7:00pm. Discussion will be on the proposals for the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Bring your comments, contact your aldermen, City Hall with your input. See you there!

A Morrison Taxpayer,
Marti Wood

Ending Domestic Violence

This October, all of us at the Riverview Center are excited to observe the 24th Annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Started in 1987 as a way to bring advocacy groups together around the common cause of ending violence against women, Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a time to recognizing our achievements while remembering there is a continuing need for the movement to end violence in our community.

Domestic abuse affects one in four relationships and women ages 20 to 34, and increasingly, adolescent girls are at the highest risk for becoming a victim of domestic abuse. Riverview Center provides free and confidential services to those who have been a victim or are a survivor of domestic abuse in Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties. In the last year, Riverview Center provided 1935 hours of direct services to 219 victims of domestic violence in our two counties. Advocates and Counselors are available 24-7 and have answered over 900 hotline calls within the past year. And yet there are many individuals who believe that domestic violence does not happen in our community or that it does not affect them. Ask your elected and appointed officials, your churches, your friends, your neighbors, and yourself what are we doing to combat domestic violence in our neighborhoods? What are we doing to hold abusers accountable and help those victims find safety? Only together can we make a difference in the lives of victims of abuse and their children. Riverview Center 24-hour crisis lines are: and .

Carrie Melton
Riverview Center

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) – As the name implies, it’s an agency that is important to you as an employee, employer or a person looking for work.

If you haven’t heard, the Freeport Office is being singled out as one of two in the entire state to be closed out of a total of fifty offices.

The information came as a bombshell on Friday morning September 21, 2012. The irony hit me like a ton of bricks. Although Jay Rowell, the agency director, had left me a voicemail, before I could return the call Congressman Manzullo’s Office reached me.

An area of the state with one of the highest unemployment rates, an area that covers one of the largest geographical areas, all of Stephenson, Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties, and ironically, according to Jay Rowell himself when we did connect, one of the best managers (Linda Swalve), still we are being told we will close. I tactfully discussed possible options with Mr. Rowell and it was apparent that he had drawn his “line in the sand”.

I reached for my good friend Jerry Stermer who is the Governor’s trusted confidant, advisor, and friend. Jerry and I talked for some time. He outlined how the Governor had just been to Freeport this summer to advocate for jobs moving overseas. He shared with me his sense that there is good dynamic young leadership in Freeport that can help deal with the impact. He further noted that the effort in the closure is to get more people to go to the computer to avoid long distance travel to the office. (I’m sorry Jerry that one really lost me.) He shared his hope that with Chrysler at Belvidere doing much better that should improve the unemployment picture in Northwest Illinois.

In my opinion this is all smoke and mirrors. The bottom line is this should not be happening.

I’ve never done this before but I’m asking all of you, regardless of political affiliation, especially those of you who may have political influence, to call on the Governor’s Office to reverse this decision. Simply put, it makes no sense.

Congressman Manzullo, Senator Bivins, Mayor Gaulrapp, Chairman Blum, and I have cosigned a letter to the Governor. We need your help!

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

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