September 8th, 2010 05:44pm
Alex Gary
If you believe your Winnebago County home’s assessment is too high you have until the end of the week to file a complaint.
You may check your property assessment on the Web at http://assessor.wincoil.us and the 2010 complaint form is online at http://co.winnebago.il.us and is due by mail in duplicate with supporting evidence to the Winnebago County supervisor of assessments by Sept. 10.
Last year, 79 percent of the complaints were successful.
September 8th, 2010 04:51pm
Alex Gary
Automotive News is reporting that Chrysler reached a deal with U.S. Bank to offer leasing options on select vehicles.
The deal, announced in an email to dealers today, gives customers the option to lease through U.S. Bank and Ally Financial.
The company is offering leasing only the Chrysler 300 and Town & Country, the Dodge Charger, Grand Caravan, Journey and Nitro and the Jeep Wrangler and Liberty.
The company’s three products made in Belvidere, the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass aren’t part of the deal.
For more about Chrysler’s efforts to rebuild its leasing business, click here.
September 8th, 2010 01:20pm
Alex Gary
Janyce Fadden, head of the Rockford Area Economic Development Corp., will update news outlets tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. of the still forming plans to convince Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to build a residential campus in Rockford.
Fadden said three people are flying to Embry-Riddle’s main campus in Daytona Beach Thursday to learn more about what the top aviation college in the United States would need for a residential campus. The three are Jeff Kaney, founder and CEO of Kaney Aerospace, Bob O’Brien, executive director of the Chicago Rockford International Airport, and Eric Voyles of the RAEDC.
Fadden also said she’ll discuss the two committees that are being formed. One is a site selection committee that will work on the logistical plans and incentives to convince Embry-Riddle to pick Rockford over places such as Houston and Phoenix. The other is a community outreach committee in charge of getting the area involved in wooing the university that trains 22 percent of the pilots in the country and has the largest aerospace engineering program.
Community outreach programs have been successful in the past for a variety of efforts. Back in 2003, O’Brien launched a 20-day campaign to raise $250,000 to convince TransMeridian Airline of Atlanta to begin passenger service at the airline.
More than 4,500 people and 450 businesses donated $10 or more and TransMeridian did start flying out of Rockford.
Back in 1998, J.C. Penney announced it was going to close its store in Machesney Park Mall. Village leaders launched a petition drive and then flew to Texas to personally hand the signatures to company leaders. J.C. Penney, instead of closing the store, converted it to an outlet store and it has survived even as the vast majority of the stores at the mall left.
Embry-Riddle officials came to Rockford last week and told elected and economic development officials and educational leaders that it was considering building a full-fledged campus that would open 1,000 students in Rockford. Its other campuses are in Florida and Prescott, Ariz. It has 171 other satellite campuses for continuing education, including one in Rockford.
An Embry-Riddle campus in Rockford would be the biggest economic development to Rockford in years. It would attract students from throughout the Midwest to the area who then might stay to work for the more than 90 local companies in the aerospace industry. It would create about 300 well paying college administration and teaching positions. It would attract residential and retail development to south Rockford. The campus could be used as a tool to entice other companies to locate here.
As Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said a day after meeting with Embry-Riddle, “We need to pull out all the stops on this one.”
September 8th, 2010 10:04am
Alex Gary
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey showed overall mortgage applications fell 1.5 percent from a week earlier.
The decline came in refinancing applications, which fell 3.1 percent. Mortgage applications to buy a home actually rose 6.3 percent to the highest level since May.
Refinancing is making up more than 80 percent of the mortgage activity because 30-year mortgage rates are at levels not seen since the 1950s. But refinancing activity fell as rates rose. The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan rose to 4.5 percent from 4.43 percent a week earlier.
The Mortgage Bankers Association survey covers more than 50 percent of all applications nationwide.
September 8th, 2010 08:00am
Alex Gary
August was the third busiest month in 2010 for foreclosure filings, according to the circuit clerk’s offices in Boone, Ogle and Winnebago counties.
August also marked the seventh straight month that filings were up year over year. That was sparked by Boone County where filings were more than double from 2009 — 28 last year versus 59 this year. Foreclosure filings in Winnebago County actually declined slightly — from 225 last year to 213 this year.
The continued climb in foreclosure filings is not good news for home sellers. The number of homes selling has plunged in July and August without the federal tax credit that spurred the market in the first half of 2010. With few buyers, the backlog of distressed properties holding prices down is spiraling.
September 8th, 2010 07:00am
Alex Gary
I will be posting the latest foreclosure figures for the Rock River Valley today. Also, we’ll be writing more about the efforts to bring a full Embry-Riddle campus to Rockford.
September 7th, 2010 05:44pm
Alex Gary
Beginning next week, the Federal Housing Authority will allow lenders to give borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth refinanced loans backed by the government as long as the lenders forgive at least 10 percent of the original mortgage amount.
The plan was first announced in March.
It’s the latest effort by the administration to tackle the mounting number of home owners nearing or in foreclosure.
A Treasury Department program meant to help owners modify loans had 1.3 million enroll, but nearly half have fallen out of the program.
The new program will allow investors in mortgage-backed securities to evaluate their holdings and select borrowers that will be offered refinanced mortgages guaranteed by the FHA. The government is hoping that investors will want to unload a large number of these rather than see them go into default.
To read more about the program, click here.
September 7th, 2010 01:41pm
Alex Gary
Chicago-based Boeing Co. will cut its military aircraft division from six divisions to four and will layoff some workers, the company reported today.
Heres a link to the news release.
The company estimated it will cut about 10 percent of its workers in military aircraft.
September 7th, 2010 11:30am
Alex Gary
Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration are looking into the accident last Wednesday that caused the death of a 25-year-old man at a Rochelle plastics plant.
Mackenzie T. Downing, 25, of Rochelle, died after getting caught in some machinery at TransWorld Plastic Films Inc., 150 N. 15th St.
Rochelle Police Chief Eric Higby said his department completed its investigation and found nothing criminal. Higby said it’s the first death at the plant — which used to be known as Rochelle Plastic Films — that he can remember in his 15 years on the Rochelle force.
An official from OSHA’s Aurora office confirmed that they are investigating the death. They have no complaints on file lodged against TransWorld.
Privately-owned TransWorld makes embossed polyethylene films for the tire, rubber and automotive industries.
September 7th, 2010 11:00am
Alex Gary
Chung Sung-eun, vice chairman and CEO of Kia Motors, resigned on Friday after the company recalled more than 100,000 vehicles worldwide over defective wiring.
Kia is South Korea’s No. 2 automaker. It is an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co. Together they form the world’s fifth-largest automotive group.
Earlier this month, Kia issued a global recall for 104,047 vehicles for a problem in electric wiring that could cause heat-related damage. Of that total, 35,185 vehicles were recalled in the U.S.
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