Thank you for sharing, Kevin. I live in Chicago now, but grew up in the Rock Falls/Sauk Valley area and regularly visit family there. I have been following the development of the wind projects closely. I fully support wind and Mainstream.

-Brian

From the title of the article, I thought we may read how tourism has spurred the local economy by the installation of turbines, but it turned out that it was being used to spread propoganda... So disappointing...

"Some people stop by spur of the moment after noticing the turbines while driving on Interstate 80, with others making appointments for organized tours to see firsthand how we harvest clean energy," said Alissa Krinsky, spokeswoman for Invenergy.

Do you wonder why people stop by "spur of the moment"? Awhile back, an "Ace of Cakes" episode featured a small rural community in Lee county (Franklin Grove). In the beginning of the show the folks on the show stopped to see turbines up close, stating something to the fact of "holy crap!". I have to admit, turbines were interesting as I saw them while driving down I39, but then it hit me... What if I had to live near this, never having the opportunity to "get away" from it? It changed my perspective on it and I began studying everything I could on the subject of wind turbines (first, colelcting informationfrom a wind company called RES).

Educate yourselves and make sure you are not simply accepting pro-wind infromation as being open and honest regarding aspects of wind turbines. If thery were being open and honest, this web site would allow comments on every posted article it had!

There was a video made and distributed to all residents of the town of Franklin Grove. Wanting to learn as much as I could, I watched it. Honestly, it sums up everything. It was evidence-based and referenced non-biased sources. Send an email protectfranklingrove@gmail.com. I am sure they would be happy to send you a copy.

As for this article, however, I have just a few questions for any reader to consider before blindly accepting it as a postiive result from the wind turbines that have buried the little town of Ohio, IL.

- “That will make our rate similar to surrounding districts,” Sweger said. Why isn't it already similar to surrounding districts?

- "in anticipation of receiving more wind farm tax dollars next year, that’s going to change" - So this is all in anticipation of something happening, not that it has. Ever hear of a wind company suing a school district to get money back? Hmmm.... Yep! I have! Ask someone around Princeton.

- "Big Sky has substantially increased property values around Ohio, Sweger said, almost doubling the districts’ equalized assessed valuation." - Really??? What property values are they making this claim about? Definitely not the houses sitting amongst the turbines with only a 750 foot setback from their homes!

- What numbers do you suppose may be going down? Check out the enrollment numbers for the schools in Ohio. Interesting...

Folks, don't simply accept everything you read (especially on this web site) as something coming from one who is being forthright and honest. If it actually were, Kevin would allow comments on every story he posts.

Let's see how long he lets this comment stay online.

Happy New Year and God Bless!

I hope that, with the age of your comment you have since come around to see the ignorace in that statement...

The initial pitch for wind turbines was that it would reduce the need for foreign oil. Oops. We don't generate electricity with oil!

It then turned to the pitch that wind turbines would reduce the consumption of fossil fuel. Oops. The coal plants provide a base load for electricity generation and can't be shut down and brought back online in correspondence with the variable speed of the wind!

In the farthest stretch I have heard, Kevin (the one who runs this web site) was quoted in a presentation in down state Illinois earlier this year that the use of wind turbines would conserve water. This was about the time that southern Illinois was suffering from tremendous floods. Oops!

I am far from an activist, but what I am hearing from the pro-wind side of the argument does not sound logical, and never has.

Ask yourself why Kevin Borgia (sp?) hasn't allowed comments on any newer articles on his web site. More and more citizens are becoming informed and he does not want to risk getting into an argument on facts, because pro-wind will always lose.

Finally a rebuttal on the pro-wind side! Keep it up! Please try to include more specifics, though, like references and links, please. Like the 30% funding from the fed. I have not heard that before. Can you be more specific on the regulations?

The Minority Report by the Mayor's Wind Farm Committee members, Joe Jaskulski and Fred Wittenberg, is in strong opposition to any further development of offshore wind and why the City should immediately stop any further involvement. While all members of Mayor’s Wind Farm Committee bring to the table a breath of expertise, Joe Jaskulski’s expertise in the energy industry far surpasses, most, if not all of the members of the Mayor’s Wind Farm Committee. Joe Jaskulski is a Senior Executive with a strong record of leadership and thorough knowledge of the energy industry in the United States and international experience in United Kingdom, Canada, Guatemala, and Guyana. His green energy experience includes wind energy construction, smart grid implementation, building energy conservation measures. Joe’s experience is comprehensive and in all aspects of the independent power industry; development, financing, operations, maintenance, asset management, and facility acquisition. Fred Wittenberg’s enterprise is in a long history of environmental & mechanical engineering. A summary of their expertise: Fred Wittenberg is an Environmental & Mechanical Engineer, licensed in Illinois for 31-1/2 years. Retired from 30 years of governmental service, he worked for the City of Evanston and is now President of Envimech.

The City’s staff and the Citizens Greener Evanston “ruling members” of the Mayor’s Wind Farm Committee have repeatedly suppressed, discredited or diminished issues raised. Case in point, that’s why it’s called a “Minority Report”; they fought to keep this information out of the public eye.