Someone needs to tell Mother Nature that it is spring.
Snow, cold, wind, cold… did I mention cold? Seems to be enough to make a person want to move to a warmer state.
Lots of people appear to be leaving Illinois…we continue to lose residents and now have fallen to sixth place among states based on population. Pennsylvania passed us in 2017.
I know you have heard the same arguments I have: High taxes, bad weather, high housing costs, lack of jobs… and a host of other issues.
The key to any economy is jobs. Our state has not produced jobs, it seems. Our community has been steady in its work force, but it has not grown as much as everyone expected when Nippon Sharyo announced plans to locate here.  
Kishwaukee College has been working with local industries to provide trained workers, Gredco has been active in recruiting industries, but nothing seems to be currently working.
Perhaps the workmen’s compensation plan is the reason, or maybe property taxes, or a dozen other reasons.
But whatever the issues, our state leadership needs to quit the name calling and arguing and get the ship righted.
Otherwise we’ll be going further down that population ladder. That means less representation in Washington, less federal dollars coming back to our citizens, and a weaker economy.

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The state of Illinois recently released a list of railroad grade crossing projects.
These projects will be done over the next five or six years. 
Rochelle and the area has several projects listed for the 2020-2023 portion of the plan, including the state spending almost $18 million for “grade separation” at the Union Pacific tracks at First Avenue.
Other area projects are flashing signal lights and gates at Fowler Road, Skare Road, Hemstock Road and Grist Mill Road track crossings.
I am a skeptic, but I sure hope these projects come to completion.  
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I talked to a friend the other day who used to raise hogs. He said he doesn’t do that anymore because the costs of feeding and housing the porkers made his profit margin pretty small. 
I wonder what the possible tariffs on pork products will have on local farmers.  If you are just making it, will the tariffs, if imposed, drive you out of business? The same with corn and soybean farmers… tariffs imposed by China on those crops could have a negative impact on Illinois farmers.
I don’t ever see trade wars as a good thing.
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This coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday budding thespians at Rochelle Township High School will be staging “Whistling in the Dark, a Sherlock Holmes Adventure.”  
I had a brain freeze in my last column about the dates but the RTHS calendar reads April 12, 13 and 14 are show dates.
The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. in the beautiful RTHS auditorium.  It’s a great place to watch a play and it would be nice to see a lot of people there.  I hope to go Thursday, because I know I can’t go Friday. That will be my first game of the year at Wrigley Field.
Four of us bought eight packs for Friday games. If the weather is anything like what we currently have, I’ll be wearing long underwear to a baseball game.
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I see the park district has a special meeting set to discuss the director’s position. I have a fondness for parks and outdoor recreation and I hope the good folks on the board can find a fair and balanced solution to any problems it may be encountering.
It is not easy sitting on a public board, especially when waves start rocking the boat.