News Progress

•June 12, 2019•
By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

Democratic Gov. J. B. Pritzker and the Legislature have gambled on a new direction for Illinois. The dramatic new course seeks to turn our state from a government mired in conflict, impasse and perennial deficits to that of big picture thinking, and big spending.
The two primary enactments this past month were a capital construction bill of breathtaking dimensions and a path toward significant higher income taxes to be imposed on the top 3 percent of earners.
The effects of the construction program for both transportation projects and vertical ones such as university laboratories and repairs will be felt almost immediately. An increase of 19 cents per gallon in gas taxes goes into effect July 1, along with sharp increases in licenses for drivers and their auto plates, as well as other fees.
Revenues from new casinos, sports betting, and more video terminals, always uncertain, are to pay for the university labs and other brick-and-mortar projects. I believe gambling revenue is fool’s gold and has been since the 1980s, when the lottery was sold as the solution to our school funding problems.
The possible income tax increases require us to vote in the November 2020 election on the issue of authorizing graduated, as opposed to the present flat, rates. If three-fifths of voters casting ballots on the issue say Yes, then rates on those with incomes above $250,000 will go as high as 7.99 percent, from the present 4.95 percent. Read More

Measure would head off lawsuit in Douglas County

•April 10, 2019•

By Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

The Illinois Senate has passed and sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker a bill aimed at resolving a conflict in eastern Illinois over which unit of local government has authority to control zoning for wind farms.
House Bill 2298 provides that only a county may enact zoning regulations for wind farms in the rural parts of a county, outside the zoning jurisdiction of incorporated cities, even in counties that don’t have countywide zoning regulations.
The bill is aimed at Douglas County, where a Houston-based company, EDP Renewables North America LLC, plans build a 200-megawatt wind farm, known as the Harvest Ridge Wind Farm.
Douglas County is one of the few counties in Illinois that does not have a general countywide zoning system, but does have specific regulations for wind farms. Read More

•April 3, 2019•

By Evelyn Burtcheard
for the News Progress

Each spring Dad would take on the job of breaking two to four head of horses for other farmers. He would use our team of Molly and Queen to break the young horses to work in the fields.
Dad would hitch the new horse next to Queen who was a big, unflappable strawberry roan horse that knew what her job was and did it well. She would brook no nonsense from any other horse young or old.
As her name stated she was the Queen. The young horses would try to pull away, ahead, back just about anything except go straight forward with no fuss. Queen would put up with their antics for a while, then she would start by laying her ears back and threatening to bite. If the young horse did not heed her warnings, then the next threat would become a promise, and she would bite, usually on the neck. A few of these encounters and the young horse began to work as it was supposed to.
Once in a while Molly would act as though she had gone senile, and Queen would put her in her place. Dad always said Queen was worth any two horses on the farm. Read More

•March 27, 2019•

By Evelyn Burtcheard
for the News Progress

During World War II the schools and any boys’ or girls’ organizations, scouts and 4-H kids were asked to search and collect milkweed pods.
The fluffy white inside the seed pods was used to make lifejackets for the Navy. Milkweed contents replaced something called kapok which grew on trees in the East Indies but was lost to the Japanese during the war.
Uncle Ray, Mom’s youngest brother, was in Germany so all his nieces and nephews joined in the effort to collect the milkweed pods.
Mom cut burlap sacks in half, stitched the bottoms and tied the tops together leaving a small opening for us to put the pods through. If an overripe pod burst, the white fluff inside went everywhere.
At first we gathered the pods on foot, and then we started riding our roan mare Queen to collect pods faster and easier. Dad showed us how to hang the bags over our horse’s withers or flank which we did, and off we went to gather pods. Read More

•March 20, 2019•

By Evelyn Burtcheard
NP Guest Columnist

On our small farm horses were a big part of our livelihood. We always dreamed of riding each one that came to us. As we grew old enough to have our own horses we were in seventh heaven. The horse that I claimed was the black Morgan named Billy, a most intelligent little gentleman. Uncle Frank knew of some people who had a horse for sale; maybe he was trying to be redeemed from the goat fiasco.
Lady was the horse that Donny fell in love with. She had been broken to work double and to ride but she had some habits of which Mom did not approve. She was a long-legged blaze faced sorrel that was reputed to have been of racehorse heritage, and that suited Donny just fine.
The fact that she could run like the wind fit his lifestyle very well. Donny and I had numerous races in and out of the pasture. I don’t think I ever won even one race. Donny would give me a head start, and as he and Lady passed me, Billy would invariably bite at her as she ran past, much to the glee of Donny.
Lady had a bad habit. When she was ready to quit playing, she would head for the barn and try to rub the rider against the side of the barn. This did not bother Donny. As they headed for the barn, he would get on his hands and knees on her bare back until she had gotten past the barn. Then he was careful not to go near the barn again. Mom did not approve of this and started work to break the habit which she accomplished quickly. Read More