It may be cold in the Midwest and much of the country, but our neighbors to the south in Florida are enjoying a warm winter. In fact the above picture was taken of flag flying from a house in Florida – note the palm trees in the background! Do they really have to rub it in?
A taxpayer undergoing an audit at an Internal Revenue Service office on Long Island successfully sued the IRS for $862,000 after he was injured by tripping over a phone cord. The taxpayer claimed in his lawsuit that he could not enjoy activities from golf to sex after he fell during a 2008 audit at an IRS office in Hauppauge, N.Y., according to the New York Post. He had visited the offices to work out a payment agreement for a $60,000 tax bill when he tripped on the phone cord. He then spent 17 days in hospitals and rehabilitation centers recovering from his injury. Attorneys for the IRS claimed he was exaggerating his injury, but the judge awarded him $862,000 for pain and suffering. He won’t have to pay taxes on the damages either.
The moral of this story – Don’t let an IRS agent come to your office. If the agent comes to your office, then you will not only end up paying your tax bill, but damages to the agent who falls in your office on a pile of your tax records stacked on your floor!
Read the judge’s decision at http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nyedce/2:2010cv03888/308197/57/0.pdf?1388754242
The historic Civil War Monument in downtown Freeport, dedicated in 1871 and on the National Register, is in need of repair. This Expo showcases the monument and the repair efforts. In addition, the Expo includes a display of Civil War memorabilia provided by the Stephenson County Historical Society . The Expo can be viewed at the Freeport/Stephenson County Visitors Center, 4596 US Highway 20 East, Freeport from 8 am to 6 pm. 815.233.1357
To read more about the monument and how you can donate, go to http://www.monumentfund.org/index.html
Winter activities in the Freeport Parks include ice skating, ice hockey, sledding, and cross Country skiing. The ice skating and hockey are Read Park while the sledding is at Krape Park.
At Oakdale you can enjoy cross-country skiing, and if you don’t have skis (or snowshoes), you can rent them for the weekend at the Park District main office in Read Park. Go to the Park District website for details at http://www.freeportparkdistrict.org/ and look under programs, winter activities.
And don’t forget snowmobiling –
There are over 300 miles of marked trails for snowmobiling in Northwest Illinois, including on the Jane Addams Trail between Freeport and Wisconsin. Detailed trail maps are available at the Freeport/Stephenson County Visitors Center, 4596 US Highway 20 East, Freeport. Call 800.369.2955 for snowmobile conditions.
The Weather Channel at one time really did give the weather. Since it was purchased by NBC in 2008, it has in recent years become just another source of entertainment. When you turn on the channel to get the weather, you often just get programs on topics only marginally related to the weather such as one of its newest programs dealing with prospectors. During the recent cold weather in the Midwest, the weather persons had a field day in their warm studios in Atlanta talking about the cold weather. Terms such as “killer cold” were thrown around by individuals who looked like the coldest weather they had even seen was the morning frost on their cars in Atlanta. The U.S. Weather Bureau names hurricanes, but not winter storms, so the Weather Channel decided that America needs to name its winter storms. What a joke! The last winter storm was named Ion – so the Weather Channel could then say – “Ion Blasts Plains.” For most of us it would be enough to say – It looks like another cold, snowy and windy day tomorrow – dress warmly. The Weather Channel would say – It looks like another killer day where you will die in minutes outside with the snow making travel impossible and the winds are so strong that you will be unable to walk. Give America a break and go back to reporting the weather!
The concert will be at 7:30 pm at the Jeannette Lloyd Theatre, 701 W. Empire Street, Freeport. The 101st annual formal band concert featuring the FHS Concert Band, under the direction of Mr. T.J. Mack, and the FHS Symphonic Band, under the baton of Mr. Bill Petersen, will include a variety of band music and some of the greatest music written for wind band including works by Gustav Holst and Ludwig Von Beethoven. The featured guest artist with the Symphonic Band will be Mr. Mark Baldin, Principal Trumpet with the Rockford and Elgin Symphonies as well as the Rockford Wind Ensemble. 815.990.1739
The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.
Items of interest:
Presentation by students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Urban and
Regional Planning on projects such as passenger rail, housing, Tutty’s crossing, and public transit.
This should be an interesting presentaton. Go to http://urpl.wisc.edu/ for more about the Department.
Update from Dave Young, Director of Northwest Illinois Development Alliance (NIDA). Probably wants more money!
1st Reading (no comment allowed since there was a public hearing) of Ordiance for Variation for Group
Home (eight residents) for special need individuals at 325 West Rye Ridge. Since there were no written
objections and a unanimous recommendation from Planning Commission, it can be voted on with only one only one reading. In the minutes of the meeting, Laura Kelly who represented the applicant,
Northwest Illinois CILA, LLC, of Galesburg, Illinois, when asked what types of disabilities the residents would have stated that the primary disability would be developmental/mental retardation. The use of the term “mental retardation” which many people find offensive has been replaced by the term “intellectual disability” by most organizations and governmental agencies such as Social Security. It is surprising that someone in this field who purports to be an advocate in the area of helping individuals with special needs would use such a term. Someone should ask Ms. Kelly if she has heard of “Rosa’s
Law.”
Now for the big question that no one asked – How much will this home pay in real estate taxes or is it just another tax exempt parcel in Freeport which will demand city services and pay nothing towards them? A similar home for individuals with intellectual disabilities at 1774-1776 S Hance Dr pays –you know the answer – no real estate taxes!
The minutes of the Planning Commission hearing are informative and can be found at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/SUP%20325%20RYE%20RIDGE%20_20140121.pdf
For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20140121a.pdf
On November 2, 1983, former President Ronald Reagan signed into law House of Representatives Bill Number 3706 declaring January 15, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national holiday. His birthday is now observed on the third Monday of January.
In Freeport there will be a celebration of his birthday at the Boys and Girls Club at 511 S. Liberty Avenue, Freeport at 5 pm. The community is invited to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King through song, dance and praise. Praise and worship service from 5 to 6 pm, and the program begins at 6:15 pm with the theme “Strength to Love” with Rev. Dr. Kenneth Board, Pilgrim Baptist Church, Rockford as guest speaker. 815.233.1600
In Phillips v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2013-215, the Tax Court rejected a taxpayer’s attempt to deduct expenses relating to bowling tournaments. The court noted that, although the taxpayer did win bowling tournaments in 2000 and 2003, by 2008 he had not won a tournament in three years and, despite this long losing streak, the taxpayer had done nothing to change his approach to the game. The fact that the taxpayer did not hire a coach, conduct additional research, or attempt to change his technique indicated to the court that he did not carry on his bowling activities in a businesslike manner. To make matters worse the taxpayer in his testimony could not identify a single tournament in which he had participated in 2008. Does this case mean that if you try hard and lose you can deduct your expenses, but if you lose and don’t really seem to try hard, you cannot deduct your expenses. Perhaps the old phrase “an A for effort applies.” (If you don’t know it, the building pictured is the IRS Headquarters in Washinington)
Eric Sorenson of WREX TV in Rockford is presently number two in the voting which ends January 17.
Weatherist which is sponsoring the contest will be donating $500 to the winning forecaster’s favorite charity – and Eric’s favorite charity is Freeport’s own Friends for Ever Humane Society.
Let’s get voting because he is presently a few thousand votes behind.
Vote for Eric at http://weatherist.com/blog/2014/01/06/vote-for-americas-favorite-weather-forecaster
Good Day Illinois - Happenings in Northwest Illinois 