http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees Want an inside look at a yearlong project by journalists at the newspaper and the Web site to help Rockford solve serious problems and turn around? We’re focusing on five areas that are key to our way of life in the Rock River Valley: Crime, education, the local economy, state and local government and our culture/sense of place. Would you like to help us in this campaign to bring about change? Give us your ideas and insights and help guide us to better solutions for Rockford. You can join the conversation here. Wed, 14 May 2008 22:51:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en All the pieces are starting to fall into place. We are preparing the stories, photos, videos and databases for the second piece of the project. This one will focus on where we are and where we've been on crime. We've even gone back to our newspaper ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/14/next-up-crime/ As part of Chuck Sweeney's assignment of this project, we requested Rockford city audits back to 1980. I'm about 2 percent into the data and already one statistic jumped out at me. In 1980, 48 percent of the city's local tax revenue came from property taxes -- $9,920,816 in property taxes ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/14/taxpayers-vs-shoppers/ Really, altho we're focusing on Rockford in this series, the Forest City isn't all that different from hundreds of cities throughout the nation -- not just the Midwest. We are in a fundamental economic shift in the world, in which America will assume a much lesser role in the world ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/13/rockfords-problems-not-unique/ A study released this week by sociology staff and students at Rock Valley College reveals interesting perceptions of our hometown. RVC says the phone survey of 450 people reflects the population. Keep in mind is that the survey was done in February 2007, before the economy sunk and gas prices reached ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/08/powerful-perceptions/ Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson talked on camera about crime in our city. Watch the video. http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/08/chief-appalled-by-gun-crime/ Law enforcement officials say heroin use is rising in this area because the drug is cheap and readily available. I'm reporting on this issue for our next installment in the 180 Degrees project. Has heroin affected your life? E-mail me at jemerson@rrstar.com or comment here. http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/07/heroin-use-in-area/ We all know Rockford is a great place to raise a family. It's a generous community, a church-going community, place you can round up volunteers for a worthy cause quicker than the weather changes in April. But, how much fun is our region? Are you, and/or your family, happy with the ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/06/but-is-living-here-fun/ We met this afternoon to talk about the 180 Degrees campaign. We're looking at five areas that are essential to this community’s way of life: Crime, education, local economy, government and culture/our sense of place. We kicked off the project last week online and have been posting your comments as ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/06/how-has-crime-affected-you/ we've been working on a timeline of notable points in rockford history for this project, from the metrocentre opening in 1981 to the deseg case ending in 2002. while people who have lived here a long time will remember all of them, those of us non-natives sometimes remember things from the ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/06/rockford-moments-in-time-the-biggies/ We started talking in depth this morning about the next piece of the project, a look at crime and how we got to where we are over the last three decades. Judy Emerson has been digging into the topic for a couple of months, and we’ve outlined the main stories she’ll ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/180degrees/2008/05/05/whats-up-next/