Will County News

Health care was a key issue for Congressman Kinzinger during his successful campaign against Democrat Debbie Halvorson. In the months leading up to the November 2010 election, Kinzinger held a series of town halls throughout the Illinois 11th Congressional District where he discussed the health care legislation with the citizens that came to the town halls. Kinzinger posted the following position on health care to his congressional campaign website--electadam.com-- " HEALTH CARE Our country does have a health care crisis of affordability and accessibility. I opposed the bill signed by President Obama as I found it did not address the issue of cost nor address the crisis in a fiscally responsible manner. We should take steps to increase the number of people with health insurance but the answer is not expanding the role of the federal government, cutting Medicare or raising taxes on Americans and businesses. We need to make health care coverage more affordable by allowing ...

UPDATE: 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration in Joliet. The Rainbow/Push Coalition-Joliet Chapter is hosting its Annual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this Sunday, January 16, at 7 p.m. The event will take place at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 402 Singleton Place, Joliet, Illinois. The speaker for the event will be Joliet City Councilman, Elder Warren Dorris, Jr.  Elder Dorris is also the Pastor of Prayer Tower COGIC and a candidate for Mayor of Joliet. The Joliet Central Gossip Choir and other local churches will participate in the celebration.

Yahoo Finance has placed Joliet on a list of 16 cities that could face bankruptcy in 2011. According to the article: " Joliet, Il Deficit through December 2011: $21 million Budget in FY2010: $274 million Annualized gap: 7.7% Last year, the city increased property tax by over 12 percent and hiked water and sewer rates by 45 percent over three years to help with the deficit. The city council also cut police and public sector jobs." The City of Joliet budget will obviously be a big issue in the 2011 April Mayoral race in Joliet.   The following people are running for Mayor of Joliet: Kevin Hegarty Andy Mihelich Jan Quillman Tom Giarrante Diane Harris Lester Brown Michael J. Marconi Warren Dorris Dale Vollmer The election will be held April 5, 2011.

Did your State Senator and State Representative vote for the State's Tax Increase? Here is a portion of the new tax bill, from the Illinois General Assembly's website: " Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Increases the rate of tax for individuals, trusts, and estates to (i) 5% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011 and prior to January 1, 2015, (ii) 3.75% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015 and prior to January 1, 2025, (iii) 3.25% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 (now, the rate is 3%). Increases the rate of tax for corporations to (i) 7% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011 and prior to January 1, 2015, (ii) 5.25% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015 and prior to January 1, 2025, (iii) 4.8% for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 (now, the rate is 4.8%). Contains provisions concerning estimated taxes. Provide...

Congressman Adam Kinzinger greeted veterans at the Will County Veterans Assistance Commission Annual Banquet held January 10, 2011 at Al's Steak House in Joliet, Illinois. The Veterans Assistance Commission is a local response team for area veterans that helps veterans with a variety of issues. Congressman Kinzinger greeted area veterans and in a short address said he is aware of the effort to make the old Silver Cross Hospital building an outpatient facility for veterans and he said he would work towards that goal.

The American Planning Association (APA) has selected the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Spring Creek Greenway Master Plan to receive the 2011 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation . "This is a great honor to be selected by the American Planning Association," said Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners President Cory Singer. "The scope of the Spring Creek Greenway restoration project was possible only because of the contributions by our many partners.  Such a large coalition of agencies coming together to preserve and restore hundreds of acres was a rare and wonderful accomplishment." "The Spring Creek Greenway, created by years of property acquisitions, stands as an oasis of preserved open space in the urbanized New Lenox, Homer Glen and Mokena areas," said Marcella DeMauro, executive director of the Forest Preserve District of Will County. "We were pleased to bring our expertise to restore the different habitat types t...

Are you looking for free, educational activities to fill some of your winter evenings?  Do you enjoy learning about nature and the ecology of Will County's Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie?   If so, you may want to check out the Midewin 2011 Lecture Series: From the Midewin website: "The 2011 Midewin Lecture Series will offer many interesting public lectures throughout the the winter months. Each program will introduce participants to some aspect of the natural and cultural history of Midewin and northeastern Illinois.  The presenters include Midewin staff, faculty from area universities, and individual experts. Thursday, January 20:  Bats , by Sharon Peterson, of Incredible Bats Thursday, February 3:  Barn Owl Reintroduction , by Dan Thompson, Ecologist, DuPage County Forest Preserve District Thursday, February 17:  Bison in the Tallgrass Prairie , by Chris Widga, Assistant Curator of Geology at the Illinois State Museum (Remainder of lectures to ...

Congressman Adam Kinzinger was sworn into office January 5, 2011. Kinzinger defeated Democrat Debbie Halvorson to become the Illinois 11th Congressional district congressman in the November 2, 2010 General Election.  In the Will County portion of the 11th Congressional district, Kinzinger received  60,087 votes while Halvorson received 49, 208. Kinzinger now has a new House of Representatives website, which you can find here . Kinzinger's Joliet office is located at 2801 Black Road, Suite 201, Joliet IL 60435. Kinzinger has said he would vote to repeal the health care act. Here is a recent interview Kinzinger did with WGN News in Chicago:  

all photos by ann baskerville No Airport Sign, between Peotone and Beecher, Illinois "State Property" sign on some of the land the State of Illinois owns in the Peotone Airport Footprint "State Property" sign on some of the land the State of Illinois owns in the Peotone Airport Footprint No Airport Sign, between Peotone and Beecher, Illinois More info and updates on the Peotone Airport available at Will County News Peotone Airport News . 

December 2, 2011 Rockdale Update on Escaped Prisoner:  http://willcountynews.blogspot.com/2011/12/will-county-sheriffs-office-cautions.html CenterPoint Joliet Intermodal visible from Rockdale, Illinois The Joliet CenterPoint Intermodal opened for business in August of 2010. The CenterPoint Joliet lights are visible from Midland Avenue in Rockdale.  This video was taken just before going down the big Rockdale hill near St. Joe's Catholic Church in Rockdale, Illinois: