John Wayne "Taps" An American Tribute to Veterans

John Wayne & Celebrity Ensemble - God Bless America

The Entire State is Losing Jobs and Peru is NO EXCEPTION

Madigan budget debate: House Minority Leader Jim Durkin on SB 2048

Lobbyist Contract Will Be Up Midsummer.

Either in July or August Mr McAnarney our lobbyist in Springfield will have his contract up for renewal. Is it time to pull the plug on this one? How will you tell your alderman to vote on this? I

Mr Vickery holds several position in our government relating to economic development. He started out as volunteer economic director and then his company Oval Wacker was also hired to do the same or similiar. I believe we also support IVAC and not sure if we joined the multi country organization  that involved Bureau and Putnam counties.

The purpose of the new Economic Development Corporation of North Central Illinois (EDCNCI) is to forge the local governments and private business sectors of Bureau, LaSalle and Putnam counties into a team with the ability and resources to aggressively pursue economic growth and new job creation for the three-county region.

Peru: Fireworks cause sparks - LaSalle News Tribune - LaSalle, IL

Peru: Fireworks cause sparks - LaSalle News Tribune - LaSalle, IL

Is this a wise use of taxpayer money? Do we really need a July 4 fireworks program when we don't have a good location we own and can use every year? If you were an alderman how would you have voted?

We say we don't have money for some projects that residents would like and yet we seem to always have money for this one. Who is benefiting?  And why?

What is your favorite city to go to for Fireworks beside Peru? Or maybe Peru is your fav? This seems to be a fairly complex situation since we must pay the farmer to use his property and build a road into the field and we must rent the Mall parking lot plus the usual $20,000 fireworks program and the usual people have decided to go back to the old vendor for that, reason unknown.

Thank You Debbie and Anita, Friends of the Peru Pool

From WLPO:

Debbie Noonan and Anita Kapinski turned in their resignations Monday night to the Peru City Council as co-presidents of the Friends for Peru Pool Committee. Noonan and Kapinski say “Mayor Harl and council members have stated a swimming pool is a luxury that they can’t afford, we felt it was a necessity”. The city council plans to send Noonan and Kapinski a thank you letter.

And when a pool looked to be something not attainablle, they turned their eyes toward a Peru Splash Pad and at that point sought a grant from the state of Illinois. At that point, it turned out that the state had become fiscally irresponsible and could not even pay their debts let alone give out grants to cities. I believe the city would have had to fund the splash pad but then would be reinbursed by the state. The fund I believe contains something in the amount of $150,000 which itself would build a small splash pad but they certainly needed the assistance of the city of Peru. The company they were interested in using was Vortex who has a good reputation and their web site shows what they can do with a small city to a very large private organization. I think with the money already available and the cities cooperation we could have had something but the City Council has no enthusiasm for the things enjoyed by the residents.

Can you tell me one thing the city has done to improve our Peru parks within the past few years? I also want to add that if you noticed that the Peru planters along Rte 6 are filled with flowers and greenery from one end of town to the other on 6. Please thank 3 Peru residents for getting it done: Sherry Mayszak, Rodney Perez and Tom Riordan as they took time from their busy lives and did most of plantings.  A few were privately planted by business owners who had them in front of their bldgs. No elected or appointed official did any of this work but volunteers did. 

Anyone know if the new bleachers have been installed at McKinley park?

Consolidation of School Districts Eliminate Waste

Many Illinoisans sense their property taxes are out of control, but not all of them know more than 60 percent of property-tax revenue goes toward their local school districts. Illinois has 859 local school districts – the fifth-most in the nation. Many are large, expensive and redundant bureaucracies that contribute to Illinois’ growing debt, waste and corruption. Those districts are ripe for consolidation. If all school districts in Illinois managed half a dozen schools and thousands of children, the high count of districts might be justifiable. But that’s not the case. The reality is nearly half of Illinois school districts serve just one to two schools. And over one-third of all Illinois school districts have fewer than 600 students. Having two layers of bureaucracy in such small districts is inefficient and a huge drain on taxpayers' wallets.

To clarify: The reform advocated here is district consolidation, not school consolidation. School consolidations should remain a local decision. District consolidations, however, have the potential to reduce costs for the entire state – and especially for all those burdened by Illinois’ high property taxes. The majority of savings from consolidation would come from reduced administrative costs. More than three-quarters of Illinois’ superintendents have six-figure salaries, and many also get additional benefits in car and housing allowances, as well as bonuses. Those high salaries lead to pension benefits of $2 million to $6 million each over the course of their retirements. Just look at the salaries and pensions of the top-paid school district administrators in Illinois.

Eliminating those salaries and pension costs could save Illinoisans a great deal of money. School district consolidation would eliminate waste, cut spending, streamline services Illinois’ school district structure is incredibly inefficient, especially when compared with peer states with student populations of similar size. For example, if Illinois school districts served the same number of students as school districts in California, the most populous state in the country, serve, Illinois would have just 342 school districts. And if Illinois school districts served the same number of students as North Carolina’s, Illinois would have just one-fifth of the school districts it has today – and one-fifth of the administrative bloat.

By cutting the number of school districts in half, Illinois could experience district operating savings of nearly $130 million to $170 million annually and could conservatively save the state $3 billion to $4 billion in pension costs over the next 30 years. For example, consider what would happen if New Trier Township High School District 203 and its six elementary feeder districts were consolidated. Combining these seven districts into one would eliminate many of the 136 administrators directly employed at the seven district offices.

By consolidating seven sets of staff, New Trier could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in salary and pension costs over the next 30 years. Local taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for multiple layers of government that duplicate services, waste tax dollars, increase government debt, and decrease transparency. Taxpayers need consolidation reform There are currently so many school districts in Illinois that they’ve escaped accountability. That’s why school districts have managed to amass $20 billion in debt, or $10,000 per Illinois student, and why property taxes in Illinois have grown three times faster than household incomes since 1990. And that’s why school district consolidation is an important and necessary reform for Illinois. To clarify, however, reforms should focus on district consolidations, not school consolidations. School consolidations should remain a local decision. New consolidation efforts should also end the state’s policy of providing financial incentives to districts for consolidating. And to prevent local property taxes from rising, any new consolidation efforts should develop policies that block the merger of teachers contracts in any newly combined districts. To that end, the state should create a district consolidation commission, similar to the Base Closure and Realignment Commission that closes and consolidates U.S. military bases. Illinois’ commission would focus on cutting the cost of duplicative district administrations. The commission’s recommendations would be subject to an up or down vote in the General Assembly, meaning no amendments would be permitted. If done properly, school district consolidation would lead to significant savings for both local taxpayers and the state – and, if taxpayers demand it, could lead to even greater reforms in education.

Ted Dabrowski Vice President of Policy

The Roundabout: Love em or Hate em, they're here to stay!

The Roundabout: Love em or Hate em, they're here to stay!


Interesting video on Roundabouts, and reasons for them. There has been talk about locating one or two in Peru, perhaps at Peoria and Shooting Park Rd.

imageedit_1295_8287307150.jpg (750×900)

imageedit_1295_8287307150.jpg (750×900)

After Unions Were Kicked Out of WI Schools; An AMAZING Thing Happened

After Unions Were Kicked Out of WI Schools; An AMAZING Thing Happened

I think this is worth a read, although I do know most will not believe it or will have reason to bash the idea. Wisconsin is kind of a test state to see if education really needs unions involved in the schools or not.

Be sure to read comments.