Outrage News - Kankakee County

State Representative Lisa Dugan says the Illinois State budge must be balanced on the backs of the people. This goes along with her recent statement about the need for revenue enhancement which was reported in a 8-25-10 Daily Journal article. Click here for details.

Despite budget problems, the City of Kankakee continues to pay a Washington D. C. lobbyists with local ties. Click here for details.

Great News on the Schneider, Indiana garbage-to-ethanol plant located about 17 miles east of Momence and Grant Park. Click here for details.

=>"Taxbites & Tasty Morsels", a new book out by Nevada author Susie Iventosch, names OUTRAGE as the runner up for the best name for a taxpayer association. Second only to PETT (People for the Ethical Treatment of Taxpayers). It is an innovative cookbook, with 151 recipes for everything from appetizers to dessert and every course in between! Each recipe is accompanied by a "tax bite", a bit of trivia about the wacky taxes levied upon U.S. citizens. The City of Kankakee Utility Tax on water consumption from the Kankakee River is listed as one of the wacky taxes. Click for details.

=>Bourbonnais Elementary Superintendent Palomba doesn't care about wasting energy or the cost to taxpayers. After repeated complaints by a Bourbonnais resident, outside lights on school buildings remain on in the daytime. Click for pictures. Picture #1 Picture #2

=>Property tax bills payable July and September, 2010 have been mailed out in Kankakee County. Here is information on what 17 taxing bodies in the area are taxing us. OUTRAGE did a Freedom of Information request on 28. Click here for all the details.

=>The Bourbonnais Township Park District property tax bill just received includes a 29% increase for debt service because of failed baseball park purchase. Click here for details.

Bourbonnais Elementary School District Superintendent Palomba is preparing to place a property tax increase referendum on the ballot this November so year in and year out salary and benefit increases can go on forever. The arrogance is unbelievable! Click here for the details.

=>Civic Federation Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability says Governor Quinn's recommended FY 2011 State of Illinois budget is unbalanced, relies too heavy on borrowing, doesn't address $6.2 billion in unpaid bills and requires deeper spending cuts. Click here for the full report.

Call your state representative and senator. Ask them to support HR1057 which calls for a forensic audit of Illinois state spending. The purpose of the audit is to identify and eliminate waste, fraud and corruption. Click here for details.

Taxpayers Alert! State legislators making changes to the Property Tax Cap Law to allow local taxing bodies to raise property taxes without going to referendum as is now required. Details here.

=>NTUI announces top 100 Illinois teacher salaries. Sky high pensions also discussed. Details here.

=>Watch The Daily Journal sponsored forum on the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Acts. Guess speakers were Cara Smith, Public Access Counselor with the Illinois Attorney General's office and Donald Craven, general counsel to the Illinois Press Association along with Kankakee County States Attorney Jamie Boyd . Click here to watch the forum.

=>Great News!! OUTRAGE has learned the Illinois Supreme Court has declined Fred Barbara and Tom Volini's request to appeal the 3rd District Appellate Court rulings against their proposed Chicago regional garbage dump with the City of Kankakee. This means the 8 year battle against this dump proposal is over. The dump is dead! Lots of people to thank!

=>Analysis of Illinois revenue for the first 8 months of fiscal year 2010 shows an overall increase. The fiscal year ends June 30. Details on 07, 08, 09 and 10 here.

=>Update on the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, FAA investigation of the Kankakee Valley Airport and the proposed Fred Barbara garbage dump because of information they were never told until OUTRAGE sent them a letter with 7 supporting documents. Click here to read the full story.

=>Kankakee County Sheriff Bukowski's recent Daily Journal view point left out some facts. Click here for the details!

=>BBCHS, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School: Everything district taxpayers should know, Click here!

=>The December 30, 2009 memorial to Keith Runyon, citizen activists and co-founder of OUTRAGE, POWER and CUT, maybe viewed at http://www.blip.tv/file/3033846/ It is about 50 minutes long. A little over 100 people attended including 20 family members. The memorial was held in the Bourbonnais Municipal Center Community Room and clearly shows the impact Keith had on this community and elsewhere. Keith Runyon passed away on December 23.

=>Another garbage-to-energy plant announced. It will be built by St. Louis based CleanTech Biofuels, Inc. Click here for the details.

=>Great News!! Illinois Appellate Court rules against Fred Barbara's second Chicago regional garbage dump application. Click here for the details.

=>Things of note at the November 25, Kankakee County Executive Committee Meeting. Click here for details!

=>Lots of anger directed at the Daily Journal and the Kankakee County Auditor during the Kankakee County Criminal Justice Committee Meeting. Check out County Board member Karen Campbell and Sheriff Bukowski's comments at 29 minutes 23 seconds through 34 minutes. Click here to read the full story.

=>The Journal’s recent editorial favoring a trash- to- ethanol plant like the one being built in Schneider Indiana, over the proposed Fred Barbara landfill, came to the correct conclusion. However, it did misinformed the public about the relative risk factors of the two different means of garbage processing. Click here for the full article.

Bourbonnais Elementary School District is partnering with Professor Daake and the marketing class at Olivet to conduct a phone survey of district residents during November. Superintendent Palomba does not say what the questions will be. He stated earlier this year he wants to put a referendum on the ballot to increase property taxes to build a new school for all day kindergarten so it is likely questions about putting a referendum on the ballot next year will be part of this phone survey. Read the article on the survey in the district's November newsletter

=>Powers Energy of America announces Schneider, Indiana as the location for their privately funded $285,000,000 garbage-to-ethanol plant. Schneider is about 30 miles form the City of Kankakee in Lake County, Indiana. Local government will be paid millions of dollars in taxes and fees annually. Hundreds of good paying jobs will be created. Full story here.

Want to retire with a fat pension? Get a state or local government job! Full story here.

=>America's top states for business in 2009. Illinois ranks 25th. Indiana ranks 15th. Details on all 50 states here.

=>Waste Management and Terrabon, LLC Announce Investment Agreement for Waste-To-Fuel Conversion Technology. This is the second company Waste Management has announce a partnership with for Waste-To-Energy production. More proof garbage is too valuable to bury making garbage dumps a thing of the past. Get the details here!

=> Great News! The U.S. Dept. of Transportation, FAA has responded to a letter with supporting documents from OUTRAGE. They are going to do a new review of the proposed Fred Barbara Chicago regional garbage dump and the required flood relief channel. The letter was about the dangers this project posses to aircraft flying in and out of the Kankakee Valley Airport. It will be a major water and food source for thousands of birds and will be less then 10,000 feet from the runway as measured by GPS. Click here to read the OUTRAGE letter, supporting documents and the FAA response!

=>New Illinois law strengthens the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Gives the public more power to obtain public records. Details here.

UPDATE: Fred Barbara agrees to settlement with the Illinois EPA in the law suit against his company, Kankakee Regional Landfill, LLC.. Other defendants in the case, Tom Volini and his company Town & Country Utilities, have refused to settle. The next hearing in the case is Wednesday, September 2, 9:00 A.M. Room 204 at the Kankakee County Court House. Click here for all the details..

=>Bourbonnais Township Park District OKs purchase of failed baseball park for $2.8 million or $46,667 per acre. Property owners to get the bill! Details here.

=>The four mayors who expressed their support for a local garbage dump clearly demonstrates there is no logic in their logic. Click here for full story

=>St. Louis based CleanTech Biofuels, Inc., an early-stage provider of technology to convert municipal solid waste into renewable energy production, has announced a joint research agreement. This is another step in their plan to build a garbage-to-energy plant at the site of a Chicago garbage transfer station. Details here

=>Bourbonnais Township Park District sent surveys to 15,000 households in the township. Around 1270 or 8.5% is all that was returned. They now say they have the support of the community to keep taxing to the max for expansion. Details here

=>Watch Herscher native Adam Andrzejewski, who is running for governor, speak at the Springfield Tea party. He wants state and local government to post all spending, "Every dime on line in real time", so the public can see the wasteful spending that needs to be cut. What a great idea!

=>Garbage dump developer Fred Barbara is a campaign donor to Appellate Court Judge William E. Holdridge who later ruled in favor of the Barbara proposed dump. City of Kankakee attorney Chris Bohlen also made a donation. Click here for details.

=>Waste Management announces it is getting into the garbage-to-energy business. More proof garbage dumps are a thing of the past! Full story here.

=>Cleantech Biofuels, Inc. achieves operational milestone with Chicago garbage! Another blow to the business plan of the proposed Fred Barbara and Tom Volini garbage dump. Full story here.

=>The future impact of the intermodal and logistics industry on the cities and villages in Kankakee County is discussed. Watch the meeting.

=>Is Manteno village President Tim Nugent using his office for personal gain? You be the judge. Documents and details here.

On the heels of Governor Quinn's proposed 50% income tax increase, legislation has been introduced to raise your property taxes as well. Details here.

=>Illinois Supreme Court orders Appellate Court to vacate their decision in favor of the Fred Barbara second dump application. Details here.

=>Lame duck Mayor Green makes desperate offer to county board chairman for his Fred Barbara dump without city council approval. Fails to understand huge advances in garbage-to-energy technologies. Details and document here.

Did former State Rep. Phil Novak sell out the area's clean water source to boost his salary and pension by participating in Governor Blagojevich's "Pay for Play"? Article with details here.

=>City of Kankakee mayoral candidate Nina Epstein doesn't have a clue! She fails to show up at the Kankakee public meeting on the Lake County Indiana garbage-to-ethanol plant. Watch the meeting.

=>Bourbonnais Elementary School District is planning a deficit spending spree. A referendum to raise property taxes maybe coming! Details here.