McHenry County Blog

What unions have done has devastated U.S. manufacturing, resulting in shipping jobs overseas has gone on for decades.

In Barack Obama language, they have “transformed” from fighting abuses to abusing taxpayers and creating widespread abuses.

Unions are largely now for a privileged class with employee rights certain to ship even more good paying jobs overseas.

Crystal Lake's Davenport Funeral Home and Crematorium

For the first time, there are now more government sector union jobs than those in the private sector.

And the work rules are ridiculous.

Just yesterday, I learned of a non-AFSCME union state employee who got written up for changing a light bulb. He/she was supposed to have called an 800 number.

Unemployment is so high, it seems Labor Day shouldn’t be a day of celebration.

Rather, it should be a day of mourning about how greedy union bosses and willing Dem accomplices have lead our country into an enormous economic mess.

There used to be a normal economic cycle that had manufacturing bring our country out of a recession as it shipped more product overseas because a falling U.S. dollar made them more competitive.

There’s too little manufacturing in the U.S. for that to happen now.

Shipping more farm products overseas doesn’t spread the farm wealth very far into the rest of the economy.

There are now fewer U.S. manufacturing jobs in the computer industry than when the first P.C. was introduced.

For people who are unemployed, they can thank what union greed steadily did to jobs over time.

Liberal Illinois Dems (are there any other kind?) married the union bosses and now the tar effigy of a lack of jobs is around their necks. Perhaps feathers will be added this fall.

Republicans can kick off the official election season by reminding voters how Illinois Dems from Obama on through all of their majorities have made Labor Day now a national day of mourning for what their greedy union bosses did to our country.

Even our schools are buying Dell computers, for example, made overseas.

Buy American may be impractical, as unions have gotten their way so much, that so little is made in the U.S.A. anymore.

Lake in the Hills is still holding its Sunset Festival Labor Day Parade this Saturday, starting at 10. The parade route can be found below.

Lake in the Hills parade route Saturday.

The Daily Herald is reporting that Lake in the Hills has received $400,000 in state grant money to improve Sunset Park.

“Meanwhile, a $45,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will fund a picnic shelter and tables, as well as recycling containers, (Trudy) Wakeman told reporter Lenore Adkins.

Cary got $391,000 for its park district, too.

The McHenry County Conservation District received $750,000 to buy 98 acres in the Kishwaukee River Valley as an addition to the 1,800-acre Pleasant Valley Conservation Area.

Spring Grove got a check for $337,500 to “renovate the historical and former IDNR Fish Hatchery property, turning it into an educational / tourist destination by restoring the building as an educational center and the grounds to their original beauty for conservation education.”

That’s out of $21 million announced May 6th.

And, that list does not include the $400,000 for Lake in the Hills.

Did anyone but me read that Governor Pat Quinn thinks we have a financial crisis?

If so, why is the state giving away $21 million that is not as essential an expenditure as his hit list.

That list, by the way, includes eliminating all money going to local governments.

I decided to ask the Department of Natural Resources. Tim Schweizer, who is DNR’s Public Information Officer had this answer when I asked why the grants were going out if we had a “Doomsday Budget” situation:

I asked if Federal money were involved and he indicated that might be the reason, but that he would check it out and get back to me.

Here’s his researched answer:

The funds for OSLAD come from the real estate transfer tax and by statute are specifically designated for that purpose.

I wonder why this earmarked fund hasn’t been raided as so many others have.

Trying to get good photos of cellular towers, I stopped on Briarwood north of Route 176 and took this photo.

This cell tower is located just north of the old Christ farm.

As an aside for those interested in the Cary Park District’s efforts to sell off valuable commercial space on Route 31 may I suggest that the part of the old Christ Farm that fronts on Route 14 south of the high power lines might someday present a similar way for the Crystal Lake Board to raise money to finance something?

But back to the tower.

Quite ornamental, wouldn’t you say?

T-Mobile says the tower proposed in Ken Bird Park will be a pole. No close-up photograph was provided to show what the top will look like at the selected and park board-approved park site.

Trying to get good photos of cellular towers, I stopped on Briarwood north of Route 176 and took this photo.

This cell tower is located just north of the old Christ farm.

As an aside for those interested in the Cary Park District’s efforts to sell off valuable commercial space on Route 31 may I suggest that the part of the old Christ Farm that fronts on Route 14 south of the high power lines might someday present a similar way for the Crystal Lake Board to raise money to finance something?

But back to the tower.

Quite ornamental, wouldn’t you say?

T-Mobile says the tower proposed in Ken Bird Park will be a pole. No close-up photograph was provided to show what the top will look like at the selected and park board-approved park site.

Its McHenry County members are the ones holding a Memory Walk September 14th at Lake in the Hills’ Sunset Park, which I promoted earlier.

“Last year with the help of corporate sponsors and more than 300 walkers we raised $80,000!!”

To download the coupon, click on “comments” at the bottom of this article and print the article you see. Then, it’s just a matter of clipping out the coupon.

If other group’s would like me to do the same for them, just send a copy of the coupon to the email in the article that stays at the top of McHenry County Blog.

Its McHenry County members are the ones holding a Memory Walk September 14th at Lake in the Hills’ Sunset Park, which I promoted earlier.

“Last year with the help of corporate sponsors and more than 300 walkers we raised $80,000!!”

To download the coupon, click on “comments” at the bottom of this article and print the article you see. Then, it’s just a matter of clipping out the coupon.

If other group’s would like me to do the same for them, just send a copy of the coupon to the email in the article that stays at the top of McHenry County Blog.

If you missed the Lake in the Hills Rotary Ribfest last July, it was a blowout.

Now is the time to put July 6-8 on your calendar for what is sure to become an annual event at Sunset Park. (Yes, there are directions on the web site.)

It’s pretty obvious that some Rotarian involved with the event has a great sense of humor.

Look at this picture from the event’s web site.

The banner reads,

PIGFOOT

There is a $3 admission fee. Free for those 12 and under.

Here’s the Northwest Herald’s Brenda Schory’s story on the event.

The Daily Herald’s Shreya Baxi wrote this story.

If you missed the Lake in the Hills Rotary Ribfest last July, it was a blowout.

Now is the time to put July 6-8 on your calendar for what is sure to become an annual event at Sunset Park. (Yes, there are directions on the web site.)

It’s pretty obvious that some Rotarian involved with the event has a great sense of humor.

Look at this picture from the event’s web site.

The banner reads,

PIGFOOT

There is a $3 admission fee. Free for those 12 and under.

Here’s the Northwest Herald’s Brenda Schory’s story on the event.

The Daily Herald’s Shreya Baxi wrote this story.