There are so many exciting things happening in Rockford these days. Great momentum is building for positive change and actions are accelerating to make this positive change a reality. The strategic vision and plans for the Rockford School District were shared by Creig Day of Sharefest and Dr. Willis of Rockford Public Schools at last week’s general membership meeting.
Sharefest provides an opportunity for the community to volunteer to make Rockford better including annual projects to spruce up the city’s public schools. For over five years, hundreds of volunteers have helped provide a learning environment that is bright and clean and therefore more conducive to learning for …
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By Special Guest Writer: Zach Thanasilangkul
Intern for 69th District Representative Joe Sosnowski
What if, in turn, that same idea lowered the prices of everything from taxes to gasoline to designer clothes to fast food?
Wouldn’t you tell somebody? Of course, you might be thinking that there is no such thing as “a simple way” to accomplish all of this. After all, politicians in Washington have been arguing over money for a few hundred years; wouldn’t they have thought of something by now? Wouldn’t somebody have already stood up and raised their voice? That’s exactly the problem—nobody is standing up …
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Enterprise Zones, which allow communities to lower tax or regulatory burdens on potential businesses, have been in place in Illinois for thirty years and are set to expire next year. The Illinois State Legislature is considering extension of the programs with improvements and needs to do so. These pre-proven incentive programs provide solid consideration for businesses exploring development or expansion. The zones are typically areas of blight in need of improvement. Enterprise Zones have proven results, and provide targeted development to areas of distress which seed neighborhood improvement.
Enterprise Zones have been quite successful in Illinois and in Rockford. In …
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If you were anywhere near Sportscores 1 and 2 over the last couple of weekends, you might have wondered if there was a minivan convention in town. The Rockford Raptors FC hosted its annual two-weekend Puma Cup soccer tournament at both facilities, featuring more than 500 teams from across the Midwest. In and among the many vehicles bearing team logos, the brightly-clad kids and the windblown and sunburned parents was this; the smell of fresh money.
That smell came from the ringing of cash registers around the region as the players and their families, 99 percent of whom are not from …
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