Coupled with the Soda Tax is a little known proposal to change the fees for driver’s licenses in Illinois. Next time you renew your driver’s license, the fee will be based on your weight. The basic fee would be $50.00 for the first 100 pounds, and $3.00 a pound for each additional pound over 100 pounds. Some state lawmakers believe the proposal would raise over a billion dollars the first year, and would also have health benefits by encouraging people to lose weight and save money. The proposal does contain a couple of exceptions where your weight would not be a factor, and your license fee would be a flat $50.00. The following would be excused: those with a medical excuse for their weight, and all Illinois State Employees, including our legislators, who have gotten fat on generous state government benefits. Now, for the really bad news. The State will now verify the weights on the driver’s licenses of all Illinois residents. To accomplish this, scales will be installed at all facilities. So next time when you renew your license, you will be weighed and you will hear the weight czar at the driver’s facility yell out for all to hear – “Another fat one, 220 pounds. Give me $410.00, and we will renew your license.” Only in Illinois!

Although Allegiant Air flies out of Rockford, Illinois, the local media has totally abdicated its responsibility to the public to report the continuing problems with Allegiant Air. I guess Rockford cares so much about having any “passenger” service that it does not want any adverse publicity for Allegiant Air. Well, let’s look at what has happened recently.

Allegiant Flight 904 to Kansas City leaving St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport had to abort a takeoff on February 25. According to a report, an engine failed on takeoff. Listen to the chilling report on Fox Channel 13 in Tampa. See http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/97628567-story

 An aviation expert says about Allegiant “It’s an accident waiting to happen.” Listen to interview on Fox Channel 13 in Tampa. See http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/98130709-story   

How can one fly this airline after listening to this interview?  

A report by the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition, which is working with the Teamster local representing pilots, said the Las Vegas airline continues to suffer from a “high rate” of preventable emergency landings, flight delays, aborted takeoffs and other issues — 98 from September 2015 to January. The coalition said 35 of those involved engine issues, including two catastrophic engine failures — a failure that causes an engine to partially break apart.

See http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/union-report-allegiant-air-planes-suffer-high-number-of-mechanical-problems/2268027

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Allegiant Air. The FAA confirmed that it is conducting an evaluation of Allegiant. The agency said the evaluation, known as the National Certificate Holder Evaluation, is performed on all airlines every five years, but Allegiant’s evaluation was moved up from 2018 to this month after a pair of high-profile incidents. See http://www.tbo.com/news/business/faa-investigating-allegiant-air-after-high-profile-incidents-20160428/

On April 28, an Allegiant Air flight landing in Arizona made an emergency landing after an engine failure. See http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/allegiant-air-flight-declares-emergency-in-phoenix-after-engine-failure/2275276

The Allegiant Air problems were first reported on Good Day Illinois on January 25, 2016, but local media has continued to ignore the issues.   

Is this your Will?

Heather spoke on April 22 in Chicago at a sold out Illinois State Bar Association course – the 3rd Annual Elder Law Bootcamp: Basics and Beyond! Her topic was “Planning for an Aging Population…Your Clients, Your Parents, and Someday You.” Also, she spoke at a joint meeting of the Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Ogle, and Lee County Bar Associations on April 28 on the topic: Changing the Unchangeable: Decanting Trusts, Virtual Representation, and Directed Trusts. The seminar was sponsored by the Highland Community College Foundation, and was held at the College.

The interim corporation counsel for the City of Freeport, Illinois seems to have one agenda – promote Notre Dame at City Council Meetings. Enough is enough. It seems only fair that the Wisconsin Badgers get equal time – replace the city seal with a Badger Banner. As you will note, the chair of the interim corporation counsel is vacant, but his large Notre Dame is visible for all to see.

Unfortunately, due to the deer problem in much of Freeport, people will no longer plant tulips since the deer will eat all of them. Of course, the deer now will eat anything that grows. Where have all those beautification people gone, and the $50,000 that Mayor Gaulrapp gave them a few years ago? Let’s fill the food pantries with venison home grown in Freeport! The deer have done thousands (more than $250,000 which is a conservative estimate) of dollars of damage to expensive plantings in this community, but no one seems to care in Freeport. I say this – No public funds for landscaping in Freeport until the deer problem is addressed!

Michael Koester in the Journal Standard on April 10, 2016 wrote an article in support of one of his fellow public employees. Frankly, I don’t care for Mr. Koester. He is in the same category as the Wenstroms who write a weekly column for the Journal Standard. The Wenstroms are also promoters of higher taxes in the State of Illinois. It may be time that Mr. Koester leaves the Freeport City Council so he can join his fellow retired public employees, and then tell the taxpayers each week in Freeport why they can and should pay higher taxes. I might add that in Freeport we have many great public employees who appreciate the citizens of Freeport. Unfortunately, Mr. Koester is not one of them.