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Long Spurs Represent Carroll County at Nationals
Pheasants Forever Carroll County Long Spurs traveled to Sparta, IL, with 7 squads (35 Shooters) to compete at the 2010 SCTP National Competition held July 23-24. There were 27 States present with 1500 competitors – the largest National Competition to date. Each Shooter shot 100 targets each day totaling 200 targets and 1000 targets per squad. Out of the 7 squads competing, 3 placed in the Top 10.
Intermediate Entry 1 Squad placed 4th with a score of 904. There were 10 targets separating them from the 1st place position which was 914. This squad consisted of Dale Gerlich, Drew Strohecker, Coleton Eubanks, Devon Handel and Baily Queckboerner. With an impressive score of 197, Dale Gerlich will receive his 100 Straight Badge. Drew Strohecker with a score of 194, will receive his 50 Straight Badge. Baily Queckboerner with a score of 180, will receive his 25 Straight Badge.
Intermediate Advanced 1 Squad placed 5th with a score of 924. There were 23 targets separating them from the 1st place position which was 947. This squad consisted of Jonathan Armstrong, Hunter Binns, Parker Bates, Jeff Casey and Ty Harmston.
Rookies Squad placed 6th with a score of 783. There were 95 targets separating them from the 1st place position which was 878. This squad consisted of Jacob Casey, Jill Harmston, Jacob Dauphin, Austin Poffengberger and Daniel Hartman, III.
The remaining 4 squads all shot very impressively also. Almost every Shooter ended their season on a personal best. Senior 1 Squad consisted of Leigh Tipton, Jake Thomas, Wyatt Whitebread, Zachary Whitebread and Jason Bogue. Senior 2 Squad consisted of Aspen Binns, Ben Suiter, Joshua Reynolds, Garrett Eberle and Alexis Poffenberger. Int. Advanced 2 Squad consisted of Brandon Anderson, Hallie Mobley, Anna Badtke, Tyler Weber, and Jacob Armstrong. Int. Entry 2 Squad consisted of Devin Wilkinson, Everett Abernathy, Nick Abernathy, Josi Anderson, and Brandon Brown. Garrett Eberle and Joshua Reynolds (Senior Squads) and Brandon Anderson (Advanced Squads) will receive their 25 Straight Badge.
These Shooters competed with a heat index over 100 degrees on both days. Despite the heat, you could see smiles and looks of triumph on all their faces. Every Long Spurs Coach was overwhelmed with satisfaction and pride.
In memorium
Thank you to all of our Sponsors, Parents and Participants who helped make this Season even remotely possible. And to James “Lefty” Wackerlin, our Founder and Friend, and Wyatt Whitebread, our Son, Brother, Teammate and Friend, you are forever in our hearts.
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Jane Ryan Carrell
Guest Commentary
Filibuster Stops DISCLOSE Act
The Senate on Tuesday refused to take up a bill that would require more disclosure of the role of corporations, unions and other special interests in bankrolling political advertisements, after Democrats failed to persuade even one Republican to support it
The Congress came within inches of suppressing Free Speech before elections July 27th. The Senate vote was on cloture (Shall we vote on this bill?), rather than the actual legislation. The DISCLOSE ACT had passed the House on a 219-208 vote in June. DISCLOSE stands for the cutesy title, “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending Elections” but is more accurately summed up in a National Right to Life Committee press release: “Deterring Independent Speech about Congress except by Labor Organizations and Selected Elites.”
The House vote included only two Republicans, but that didn’t stop the President from calling it a “bipartisan bill” in a speech the day before the vote in the Senate. The bill gives a pass to unions and the NRA on its requirements that small and recently organized groups (read “Tea Party”) must file paperwork reporting their largest donors when they sponsor advertising about candidates before elections. The bill’s backers (most Democrats) know that these restrictions on speech will surely be found unconstitutional, but not before the fall election. The Disclose Act was offered as a response to the High Court’s strikedown of aspects of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform in its January decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
In a letter to members of Congress, the NRL Committee said the DISCLOSE ACT was designed “to discourage, as much as possible, disfavored groups (such as NRLC) from communicating about officeholders, by exposing citizens who support such efforts to harassment and intimidation, and by smothering organizations in layer on layer of record keeping and reporting requirements, all backed by the threat of civil and criminal sanctions.” The bill singles out organizations that are of recent vintage (Tea Party). What possible relevance does a group’s date of founding have for its right of free speech? The date distinction, and singling out smaller organizations, allowed them to carve an exception for the National Rifle Association (NRA), whose opposition Congress had hoped to avoid.
Michael Macleod-Ball, ACLU Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel, said of the bill: “The ACLU supports the disclosure of large contributions to candidates as long as it does not have a chilling effect on political participation, but the DISCLOSE Act would inflict unnecessary damage to free speech rights and does not include the proper safeguards to protect Americans’ privacy. The bill would severely impact donor anonymity, especially those donors who give to smaller and more controversial organizations.”
Dem staffers speak of resurrecting the bill in September. We will almost certainly be treated to pious-sounding Democrat candidates at election time, telling us how Republicans stood in the way of “campaign finance reform.” Don’t expect the mainstream media to clarify.
Jane Ryan Carrell is a stateline resident from Roscoe, IL whose interests are politics and family issues. She has contributed opinion pieces on a variety of issues to area newspapers. She is the Coordinator of the Northern IL Tea Party, and may be reached at .
Heroic Help
Over the weekend of July 24th and 25th Carroll County was hit by massive flooding. The deluge covered all of northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa.
In the early terrifying hours and the chaotic times that followed, Carroll County employees, State of Illinois employees, township employees, fire departments, police departments, EMS responders, and Carroll County residents pulled together. These people worked heroically to help those in need, saved those who needed saving, and rendered aid to those who were in dire trouble. In all that happened there were no fatalities and only minor injuries. The Carroll County 911 Dispatch Center and Savanna 911 Dispatch Center handled hundreds of calls. WCCI manned their station to put out ACCURATE information during the aftermath of the storms.
The damage totals are only now starting to come in and it will be massive. Some people have lost their homes, their property, and their belongings. But thanks to God, those cops, fireman, EMS who protect us and the volunteers who stepped up, there was no loss of human life.
We are very fortunate to live in Carroll County.
Jeff Doran
Carroll County Sheriff
Publisher’s note: For continued up-to-the-minute information regarding road conditions, local assistance efforts, and more, tune in to WCCI, or visit The Prairie Advocate website at www.pacc-news.com.
Lying Liars and the Lies they Lie
OK Paul, Round two. You state that you did not have to provide any citizenship papers for virtually anything that you have ever done in your life. I beg to differ as I happen to know for a fact that:
- When you get your first driver’s license you must provide a birth certificate and social security card to prove who you are, birth certificate/social security card = citizenship papers. Lie # 1
- When you bought your homes/properties you HAD to provide Identification to prove who you are plus years of tax documentation, = proof of citizenship papers. (Yes Paul I have purchased several properties too). Lie # 2.
- Your job at the pharmaceutical company, you have to provide documentation to prove you are eligible to work in the United States, i.e. Driver’s license and social security card for the federally required I-9 form. Lie #3
- Your children’s school? Don’t know where your children went to school but I had to provide birth certificates for all of my children to enroll them in school, right here in Carroll County. So where was it that your children went that you were not required to produce their birth certificates? Lie #4
- Each time I have been to a hospital or my doctor’s office I have had to provide my driver’s license and insurance card. You are correct in stating that hospitals cannot ask for citizenship papers, however, you are not correct in indicating that you only have to show insurance card. I don’t know where you doctor, but each and every time I have ever been to an emergency room/hospital/urgent care center, identification is always required! Therefore there is Lie #5
- Boarding planes, trains, donating blood? I don’t know where you travel but each and every time I have travelled, I have had to produce Identification, especially for the donation of blood so your name can be cross referenced with the AIDS virus database. Lie #6, 7, and 8. One more thing, your passport also required you to produce your birth certificate and other forms of identification so now we are up to lie #9.
Now Paul, I will make this easy for you and Chuck Wemstrom to understand. A driver’s license and social security cards are all proof of citizenship/legal status. You must provide birth certificate to obtain either one. Illegal aliens cannot LEGALLY obtain a D.L. or S.S. card. Get it? Got it? Good, let’s move on.
You claim that Arizona’s SB 1070 is unconstitutional yet you provide no proof whatsoever. Here is some US Code for you to indulge in:
Title 8, Section 1304, subsection e)” Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties. Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
My source is the Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov in case you don’t believe that your precious big government does not require proof of legal status. Federal Statute is far more draconian than Arizona’s SB 1070, so you can stop with the claim that what Arizona has done is unconstitutional. It’s not.
At this time Paul, I would like to thank you for proving my previous point about Leftist Progressives such as yourself and Chuck Wemstrom and your complete and total disregard for the victims of violent crimes perpetuated by illegal aliens. Your letter brings up the rancher killed (Rob Krentz, Concise County, AZ) that I mentioned, but you immediately make the claim that the murder as never associated with an illegal alien, I don’t know where you get your news but all you have to do is an Internet search for “rancher killed” and virtually every article that the search engine provides mentions an illegal alien is the main suspect in the murder.
You also completely ignored Danielle Bologna and her husband and two son’s murder, again proving my point that Leftist Progressives don’t care about victims of violent crimes, you only care that someone may be required to show ID. You will be far more credible when you learn to concern yourself with the victims first.
Kathy Hood
Chadwick, IL
Small Dairies for the Future
The University of Kentucky sold off their large dairy herd, now the University of Minnesota has followed suit. This is the 4th university to quit “Big Dairying”. The interesting part is that the university was given 436 acres of land in the early 1900’s. Even they could not make it with all their donations and financial support. You can’t teach an ag model that is not financially and environmentally sustainable. If it fails in the real world, and sets students up to call a suicide hotline for farmers, what is the point of the” modern “mega dairy?
On 7/23/2010 the University of Minnesota-Crookston auctioned off its entire dairy herd. This was done in conjunction with the ending of their dairy program. The university will consolidate its operations around the state. The Northwest Regional Outreach and Research Center’s decision to sell its 235 head of dairy cattle, was the result of budget cuts and determining how to best serve the UM campuses by eliminating duplication in programs. This decision saves UMC about $300,000 annually, but will also result in a job loss of 6 to 7. The university is considering a proposal to expand its beef and sheep programs and start a new, small-scale dairy program with 30 to 40 milking cows.
Such a dairy model encourages economic growth in rural communities. We need more farmers and their small dairies to support the local infrastructure. We need to repair the damage “Modern Mega Dairy Models” have inflicted on the agricultural landscape.
Susan Turner
Warren, IL
National Debt Clock is Ticking . . .
While we were working, something happened to our country.
When I grew up in the 50’s life seemed so carefree. I guess a lot of that had something to do with being a dumb kid, with no responsibilities. We went to the small country school with 27 kids and one school teacher located in the small town of Normandy, IL, just to the west of Walnut.
In 1946 after W.W.2, our leaders had a decision to make on the economy. Should we tax and spend as Woodrow Wilson and FDR did which was a disaster, or cut government and spending like Warren Harding did, which stopped the short lived hidden depression of 1920 thus creating the roaring 20’s. Thankfully our leaders decided to do nothing. With tires, gas, sugar, and farm implements being rationed, it was a gamble that paid off. What a turn around. Get government out of the way and watch hard working Americans roll up their sleeves and make things happen. (Take note Mr. President.)
In the early 1950s, my dad bought a full line of farm machinery and paid for it in one year. While we were so busy working, paying our mortgage, taxes, and insurance, things turned around. My school teacher, Mrs. House, taught 8 grades. Our local police were janitors at the school by day, and police by night. Our politicians were more concerned about the people than the lobbyists. All were called public servants, who made on the most part less than those paying the taxes.
Now the top 100 State Police annual salary = $142,636, and the top 100 IL. education pension payout range from $178,000 to $390,000 per year/ 2008-2009. Not to mention our Politicians’ gold plated pensions, and lavish health care that is exclusive to them.
Wake up America! Look up the National debt clock. With the unfunded liabilities, our government is giving our grandchildren a bill for $110 Trillion, that’s $354 thousand per citizen, or $1 million per tax payer. Forget patronage to your political party. We must vote the tax and spenders out! Do nothing and hope for the best, or get involved, get educated.
Stephenson County Tea Party meeting, Aug. 12th. 7pm, at Dietz’s Old School Apartments, 111 E. Mason St. Lena, IL. Jim Tobin from the IL. Taxpayers United will be our guest Speaker. He will come loaded with facts and figures on IL. spending. Bill Dietz
Lenan, IL
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Illinois Press Association Statement Regarding Governor’s Amendatory Veto of HB5154
The Illinois Press Association expressed disappointment today in Governor Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of House Bill 5154, which would extend an exemption to performance evaluations of local and state law enforcement personnel in Illinois.
The IPA opposed the original legislation, HB 5154, which would have exempted performance evaluations of all public employees from public record. The legislation contradicts the new Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which went into law January 1st of this year and states that information that bears on the public duties of public employees should be open and accessible to the public.
“The governor’s amendatory veto goes against the basic principles of openness and transparency in government,” said Dennis DeRossett, executive director of the IPA. “Taxpayers have the right to reasonable access to information about how public employees perform their jobs, no matter what public job they hold.”
Josh Sharp, director of government relations for the IPA, said “Some people are trying to confuse the terms ‘personnel files’ with ‘personal files’. Performance evaluations relate only to how an employee performs in his or her job; it has nothing to do with personal information such as medical records and home phone numbers. No segment of public employees should be exempted.”
Requests for actual performance evaluations are rare, according to Cara Smith, Public Access Counselor within the Illinois Attorney General’s office. She said that of the several thousand FOIA requests her office has reviewed this year, only about 25 involved performance reviews.
DeRossett said, “This is poor public policy on so many levels. The new FOIA law needs to be given time to work before being assaulted with attempts to make changes and exemptions. We urged the Governor to veto the entire bill and still believe that was the best action to take.”
The Illinois Press Association is the largest state newspaper association in the U.S. with more than 500 daily and weekly newspaper members.
Commentary
Debtors Anonymous
The first step in a state spending intervention
By Heather Wilhelm
Are you a compulsive debtor? The state of Illinois certainly is.
Leave alone the fact that the state is broke, facing $4.7 billion in unpaid bills. From a purely psychological standpoint, judging by the guidelines from Debtors Anonymous, the state is a textbook case in compulsive insolvency. Some highlights:
Sign #1: Being unclear about your financial situation. Not knowing account balances, monthly expenses, loan interest rates, fees, fines, or contractual obligations.
Sign #5: Difficulty in meeting basic financial or personal obligations, and/or an inordinate sense of accomplishment when such obligations are met.
Sign #7: Living in chaos and drama around money: Using one credit card to pay another; bouncing checks; always having a financial crisis to contend with.
Sign #9: Unwarranted inhibition and embarrassment in what should be a normal discussion of money.
It’s a pretty open-and-shut case-but Illinois, meanwhile, remains deep in denial, telling citizens that it’s doing all that it can to curb spending and budget responsibly.
But is it? “Shopping Without Price Tags,” the Illinois Policy Institute’s latest budget report, shows that Illinois government fails to perform even the most basic financial analysis of most proposed spending bills. Fiscal notes, which are tools used by legislators to calculate how much a proposed program will cost or save, are rarely used in the spendthrift state capitol.
“State legislators receive precious little information on how much the laws they’re approving will save or cost taxpayers,” writes Kristina Rasmussen, author of the report. “Fiscal notes in Illinois often fail to provide useful information-if they exist at all.”
A June 2010 Illinois Policy Institute survey found that out of 545 bills pending review by the governor, only 3 percent (or 16 bills) had fiscal notes attached. Many of the notes were just a few sentences long. Legislators, in other words, are unable to calculate the budgetary impact of key bills, adding to the budget chaos that reigns in Springfield. They repeatedly shop without price tags...and then watch the debt pile up.
“The free lunch is still an elusive dream,” writes Stuart Vyse in Going Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hang On to Their Money, “but in the modern world, there are many ways to handle the unpleasantness of paying. How we time and structure our payments affects our mental accounting system, which can have a powerful influence on whether we save or spend.”
The dearth of fiscal notes in Springfield, quite naturally, pushes the decision-meter towards spend. And spend. And spend. Many taxpayers likely assume that detailed cost assessment is an integral part of the decision-making process in Springfield. Scarily, that’s not so.
Having a fiscal impact statement for each proposed legislative bill, it seems, is only common sense. The Institute’s report offers several specific recommendations for fiscal note reform, including requiring notes for every proposed bill that involves spending or taxation; a detailed explanation of each note’s methodology; a minimum five-year fiscal forecast; independent authorship; and a transparent and searchable fiscal note system.
We currently have “a situation where legislators and the public are unable to conduct a proper analysis of the budgetary effects of proposed legislation,” Rasmussen writes, “and this has real consequences for the state budget.”
It also has real consequences for core government services, citizens and taxpayers. Those who keep an eye on Springfield, after all, might want to be aware of the final telltale sign of compulsive debting, courtesy of Debtor’s Anonymous:
Sign #12: A feeling or hope that someone will take care of you if necessary, so that you won’t really get into serious financial trouble, that there will always be someone you can turn to.
Uh oh. Yes, taxpayers, that’s us.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Springfield needs an intervention, complete with prompt enactment a meaningful, consistent, fiscal note policy-a simple, common-sense reform long overdue in the state capitol.
Heather Wilhelm is the senior communication fellow with the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization focused on advancing liberty-based public policy in Illinois.
Capitol Report
By Jim Sacia, State Representative 89th District
It’s a somewhat dubious honor – the Governor declared 12 Illinois counties disaster areas following the 12 to 14 inches of rain that fell over parts of the state last weekend. Five of those counties make up our 89th district.
I listened in disbelief to WBBM radio in Chicago, once again reporting that the Chicago Water Reclamation District discharged millions of gallons of waste water into Lake Michigan. The 1:00PM news on July 28th reports that each year municipalities, including Chicago, discharge more than 25 billion gallons of sewer water into Lake Michigan. Contrast that with our many livestock confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) which are held to a zero discharge standard. Once again, they come through with flying colors in what is considered by many a “100 year flood”. The ones built in the past ten years have amazing EPA standards. Other flood-related damage throughout our district is significant and you just have to admire neighbor helping neighbor to make repairs.
Not an easy segue, but certainly timely, are the significant scams and myths that are being reported to my office. Once again the Nigerian scam letters are hitting area mail boxes. This particular letter has been circulating for years. You know, you are the only one who can be trusted with this information as your bank may be the culprit. My good friend Attorney Dan Gilbert, who practices in both Winnebago and Jo Daviess Counties, shared the latest twist with me: you receive a letter from an FBI agent with the return address in Washington D.C. They have confiscated trunks at JFK or another airport. The trunks are addressed to you and of course they are full of money. You must immediately do the following or face arrest.
You say “come on Sacia, nobody would fall for that crap.” Want to bet? Each year hundreds perhaps thousands do what the scam artists demand of them to get their make-believe trunk full of money or whatever is the latest twist…and very few of the scam artists are arrested or convicted. One area lady, who lost thousands in a similar scam, told me that it had to be legitimate because the man on the phone was a great Christian and even prayed with her on the phone. The point is they will stop at nothing to get your money, so ignore the letters and phone calls, notify law enforcement and get on with your life.
Myths that continue to circulate include the claim that legal immigrants, who come to this country and start businesses, don’t have to pay any taxes for seven years. Sadly, some believe that. No way. They pay taxes just like you and I. Another one is that congressmen and senators receive all their pay in pensions when they leave office. No, they are in the Federal Employees Retirement System. They must serve a minimum number of years to qualify for pension. Senator Burris will leave office with no senate pension. And then there’s the free “Obama” cell phones to welfare recipients. Not true. No federal or state money is being spent. Low income families can qualify for phones provided through the private telecommunications system. For more information, go to www.safelink.com.
I will be at the BP Gas Station in Orangeville on Friday, August 13, 2010, at 6:30 AM – coffee and doughnuts are on me.
As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at . You can also visi
t my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.
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