Seek the Truth

I’m tired. There are many ways to be tired; physically tired, emotionally tired, depleted of strength, sick and tired. And there are many things to be tired of. For me, it’s politics. It’s only May, six months away from elections and I’m already hitting the mute button whenever I see a political ad or news story. It only takes a few words or visuals and I can literally feel my blood pressure rising. To avoid exploding, I hit the mute button. I’ve even have my husband trained that if I can’t get to the button fast enough, he’ll do it for me. (I think it’s to avoid listening to my rant if the ad doesn’t get turned off quickly enough!)

So I’ve given this some thought. What is it that’s so upsetting to me? Are the ads really worse than they used to be? Is it the language, the pictures? And I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s all of the above plus one more thing. And that one more thing is that we seem willing to believe those ads.

It’s been proven time and again that a lot of these ads take a small grain of truth (maybe) and expand it or twist it, not just to make us believe a particular point, but also to make us angry about it! They want us to believe that Mitt Romney single-handedly ruined the economy or the jobs market with his role at Bain Capital; or that Barack Obama single-handedly spent us into our deficit crisis. And not only do they want us to believe these things, they want us to hate the candidate himself and anyone who supports them for it.

What’s disturbing to me is it seems that very few of us are willing to actually find out what the truth is. We don’t like the president, so we’re willing to believe the ads or hype that imply he is a Muslim, or that he wants to take our guns away or whatever suits us. We don’t like Mitt Romney, so we’re willing to believe he likes firing people because of a single comment and his involvement with Bain Capital. Again, whatever suits our personal position. Yes, that must be true! Because I never trusted that guy anyway.

Worse yet, our leaders are promoting it. They are fueling the hatred and divisiveness that has been growing for the past several years. Our current president was barely in office when an entire party stood up and said no matter what, we will do whatever it takes to see that he fails. They have stopped or hampered legislation, almost brought our country to its knees over the debt ceiling and any number of other things, because they don’t like the president. I didn’t get to bat first, so I’m taking my ball and going home. Really? Yet that’s exactly what has happened.

So now we all seem willing to distort the truth, twist the facts, hurl blame, and hate at each other to promote what we believe or to get our way. It’s okay, right? If you don’t believe what I believe, then I’m not going to work with you at all! And I’ll accuse you of being un-American or unpatriotic or not Christian enough or too liberal! I’m won’t play with you. Lines have been drawn and there seems to be no crossing them.

But the conclusion to all of it could be relatively simple, if we’re willing to do it. Start by doing your own research. Don’t believe everything you see in those distorted ads and newscasts. If you don’t like the president or Mitt Romney or whoever, fine, but don’t like them for the correct reasons. Know where they actually stand on your issues and react appropriately. And do you really have to hate them? Or can you just manage to disagree with their positions?

Second, stop judging me for my beliefs. Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean we can’t be neighbors or friends or that we can’t have intelligent conversation about the differences we have. Without calling each other names or assigning blame. We seem to have forgotten how to do this.

As a country, I always thought we prided ourselves on our “Christian” (and here I use the definition “showing a loving concern for others”) beliefs. We still profess it; quite loudly in fact, but I haven’t seen us living it for a very long time. Isn’t it time we start?

Cheryl J. Heldt
Lanark, IL

Wood’s Notes on Morrison City Council

Wheeeeew! I am bushed! May 14, 2012, Morrison had a public hearing on electric aggregation at 6:30 pm, followed by the regular Morrison City Council Meeting from 7:00 pm until 9:45 pm, followed by Executive Session that finished about 10:20 pm…

Public comment: Terry Wilkens stated refinancing Debt certificate 2008 for the Sports Complex would make that debt up to 2.25 million - increasing the total amount and extending the loan out 9 extra years….not advisable. He encouraged the council NOT to authorize the $25,600 to purchase the Nicor/ComEd parking lot from the $500,000 Emergency Line of Credit. Eliminate – DO NOT – add debt!

Public comment: Harvey Zuidema stated that refinancing the 2008 series bonds for 2 million dollars would raise it to 2.25 million—we need a complete breakdown- interest only now but at the back end of paying back it would be a lot more. We need to know what we are spending out to 2031 (what is the total package).

Public comment: Nancy Anderson-she has lived here 13 years and trying to figure out Morrison’s problem….we do not move ahead. Her observation: She applauds the new council members for the hard job they have taken on. Nancy has seen City Administrator Wise using a demeaning attitude toward the city council. He is hired, the council is elected and represent the citizens. She sees how frustrated some of the aldermen are because they are presented the packets, the night of the meeting they are given pages of data and are told they need to vote on the topic that evening. When problems were brought up, Administrator Wise did not support correcting them-like the Historic Preservation Commission timeline of errors. She feels the people need more information…Well #5-problems-inform the people; Sports Complex-it is there so move ahead and inform residents of issues; City Administrator talks down to the council - no respect - they are the lawmakers and it takes time to gather information and make good decisions for the residents they represent.

Layne - Christensen had a presentation on the Well #5 lost circulation issues. They are still working on it…not much progress….still more issues.

Tammy Tegeler from Resthave, showed everyone the plans for expansion of their facility. It should be a 2 year renovation. Congratulations to Resthave and staff!

Sarah Thorndike had 3 Morrison High School students show 2 of their commercial trailers to everyone. The Dorito commercial had a Morrison police squad car in it.

The Speer Financial refinancing of 2008 series bonds for the Sports Complex was discussed. The council did not receive vital information the City Administrator was to give them. It will increase the long term debt and the only savings would be up front cash flow—paying interest only for the first few years.

Miller Trucking was paid $309,856.50 for the East Water Main improvement. Bills payable were $229,547.13. So the city paid out over $500,000 - half a million dollars for a two week period.

Discussion was held on Right Of Way Obstructions. The mayor sited several areas in town that seem to bother a few people. One is Luke Vander Bleek’s 30 year old trees on his property on Maple & Rt 30, where there has NEVER been an accident. Another spot is Lincolnway Court & Rt 30 – Barb Bees bushes that grow on the front of her property – no accidents there either. Reference is made to the Ordinance book - Vegetation – People need to be aware of the ordinance – maybe Chief Melton will be notifying you. (Maybe some parts of the ordinance need to be updated.)

The City Council voted no (6 nays) and (2 ayes) – against using money from the Emergency Line of Credit to purchase the Market Street parking lot. Now we are having a Special Meeting on Tuesday, May 22 at 7:00 pm because MADC has decided to gift the funds to purchase the parking lot. It will be discussed at the special meeting. Then the Administrator wants to go forward and enter into an agreement with DCEO for the grant of $75,000…by getting an extension and asking to change what the city would be asking for. I asked if get the extension and we change what we said we were going to do to the parking lot, would we still get the $75,000? Administrator Wise said we would. The Grant states we could “get up to $75,000.”

There will be a closed session to discuss PERSONNEL. Items for possible action resulting from Executive Session which can be voted on will be: 1. City Administrator Contract.

There was way too much going on at this meeting to tell you all of it….that was an overload on the agenda—again—the council doesn’t have enough time to research all of the items when there is so much in such a short time.

The next regular meeting is TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2012 (BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAY) AT 7:00 PM. We should be discussing whether taverns can be open on Sundays at this meeting. Hope to see you all there! Hope your Memorial Day weekend was safe.

A Morrison Taxpayer
Marti Wood

Prescription and OTC Drug Take Back Event

Prescription and over the counter drugs use/abuse is not new to our county. We have been monitoring local trends since 2008 through the Illinois Youth Survey taken by local students, as well as information from local teens and law enforcement.

Carroll County teens in grades 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th report easy access to these substances from social sources in the community such as friends, adults and parties. In an effort to raise awareness and reduce access to these substances the Carroll County Substance Education Coalition and their community partners are sponsoring a county-wide take back event on Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 8 -10 a.m..

Local law enforcement agencies across the county are assisting in this event to raise awareness about Prescription and Over the Counter Drugs and the impact on the health and safety of our county. We want to do our part and work together to keep these substances away from our youth, but we also want to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way so as not to pollute our groundwater.

The Carroll County Substance Education Coalition and their members have been working together in Carroll County to address this issue with the long term goal of enacting a permanent take back site in the county which will be available soon.

Anyone wishing to dispose of unwanted medications including prescription and over the counter drugs can drop them off at participating communities on June 9, 2012. If you have any questions or want further information regarding prescription and OTC drug prevention, including ways you can reduce access to these substance, you can contact the Carroll County Substance Education Coalition at or email .

Thank you for your efforts to protect our youth and our environment.

Carol Geary
Project Coordinator
Carroll County Substance Education Coalition

Clarification

On hind sight, I realized that some people may think that all community economic groups were being attacked in the Agenda 21 commentaries. That is not what was intended and I apologize if that was misconstrued. Many groups do great things for their communities. When I think about information I get, I often run the following phrase through my head, “by their fruits, you shall know them.” There are many groups selflessly helping and improving their communities. The Agenda 21 commentaries in no way intend to disparage these many good people.

Also, in the article about cottage foods at farmers markets. It should have said, “sales of $25,000,” not “income of $25,000.”

Lynn Kocal
Prairie Advocate News

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Illinois i2s beyond broke. Oh yes, there could be much finger pointing to say who is at fault. I find myself compelled to ignore that and simply concentrate on the fix.

The overriding issues the last two weeks of session will be pension reform and a sustainable budget. They are definitely tied together and the reason many of you have sent scathing emails demanding a fix. All 13 million of us have a stake in this and we, the 177 legislators, better get it right.

Sometimes I find myself saying, “Why”. It is almost surreal that each day in session we continue to run bills through that have absolutely nothing to do with those two issues. In fairness, each of us has concerns from citizens back home and we need to get those bills through the system. I get that. Then, “Wham!” here is the “Why?” I’m referring to. Up pops a bill orchestrated by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). This is the organization that exists to help business and improve the Illinois economy. That’s a very worthwhile cause. Here is reality.

In my affiliation with them over the past several years, they have proven themselves to be very ineffective. Each time I’ve worked with them, and there have been many, they invariably show concern, assure me that they will have a conference call and that’s usually the end of it. Simply put – nothing.

Yes, I’m tired of it

Enter Senate Bill 3243, a bill from DCEO to create the “Illinois Microloan Act”. It’s a bill to provide up to 300 new non-profit businesses up to $35,000 to start their business if their new business can provide up to 15% of the amount. Let me get this straight. I want to start a new non-profit business (that would be one that generates no tax revenue). I have $5,250 so you will give me a loan or grant of $35,000 through an intermediary. The sponsor can not adequately explain who the intermediary will be. (Maybe we can start a new government entity). DCEO will provide “intensive marketing, management, and technical assistance to the microloan borrowers”. (RIGHT!) This will cost the state of Illinois $10.5 million. A broke state creating 300 non-profits that do not generate tax money! God help us all.

How it ever got out of the Senate, with 44 yes votes, I’ll never know. Common sense prevailed in the House and we killed it.

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.