Here we go again... from Breitbart

The immigration bill introduced to the Senate a week and a half ago would, if passed, allow illegal immigrants to access state and local welfare benefits immediately, Breitbart News has learned. The financial impact of allowing potentially millions of immigrants onto state and local public assistance could overwhelm these programs' budgets.

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) uncovered this loophole in the bill and many others, and he will circulate a memo detailing the gaps in the bill on Tuesday. Breitbart News exclusively obtained a copy of the memo before its public release.

Kind of a different world

If you look closely you will see a rusted out car in the brush. This is one of the ways the southern boys used to dispose of old cars in Southwestern Iowa. Either drive them down by the railroad tracks and leave them or just pick a place on the farm for them to park and rust away.

Another car abandoned in the ditch by the tracks. These cars are really old. I can't guess the years.

Then there is this. Belvidere was $3.69 when we left the 24th. Notice super is cheaper than regular, which is the norm there. The lowest price I noticed was $3.27 per gallon.

This is probably where I would have ended up if we hadn't moved to Rockford. Benton is a small town of probably 25 people close to my home town. If it like most of the jails there used to be the barred in area is in the rear of the building.

Coming later in the week, pics of our trip over to Council Bluffs. Prepare to be bored! Ken

Weekly Public Safety report

Important Candlewick Lake Information

Candlewick Lake Public Safety

 

WEEKLY REPORT

Week Ending 4/28/2013

Rescue Calls

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Squire for a subject with severe stomach pains.  The subject was transported for treatment.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Hastings for a report of a subject having a possible stroke.  The subject was transported for treatment.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Prince for a subject feeling ill.  The subject was transported for treatment.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Marquette for a co2 detector going off.

Damaged Property

Public Safety responded to Friendship Park for a report of a damaged fence post.  The post was repaired.

Public Safety took a report at Heathcliff and Candlewick Dr. for a report of street signs that were stolen.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Candlewick Dr. for a report of mailboxes being damaged.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Queens Place for a report of a vehicle that had tires slashed.  The matter is under investigation.

Public Safety responded to the 200 block of Rochester for a report of a house that was egged.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Birch for a report of decorative lights being damaged.  The matter is under investigation.

Threats

Public Safety responded to a threats complaint in the 200 block of Candlewick Blvd.  The matter was turned over to the Sheriff’s Department.

Citations Issued 10

Warnings Issued 5

Public Safety will be conducting extra traffic enforcement in the 200 block of Benedict this week.  Please drive carefully!!

 

 

We thank you for taking the time to read these important updates.

Being informed is half the battle.  

Tom Pinkowski sr.'s egg addling update

Hi Ken,  here is an update for today 4 -27

We are down in total oiled from 75 to 60

All of the nests on the dam are gone. Some critter must have got to them and the geese are not even on them anymore.  We will oil one more time and then pick up the eggs the following week.

Tom P.

Sunday on the lake

Photos courtesy of Barb Appelhans

Speaking of good young people

Her name is Karen Burke and she is a resident of Candlewick. I believe she deserves recognition for her commitment to spreading the Gospel to those in foreign lands. Trinidad is predominately Muslim. Karen is now on her second mission to that country at the ripe old age of 19. She is another truly good person I happen know personally. I am sure her parents and many others are very proud of her service.  Ken

If any readers have other examples of young folks you think deserve recognition please drop me an email with the information and I will be happy to profile them here.

A Sunday contemplation

Trying to help clean up the mess!

Important Candlewick Lake Information

Due to last weeks extreme amounts of rain, many of the CWL residents have experienced some basement flooding.

Cleaning up from this flooding has many residents trying to find a way to get rid of the water damaged material.

Because of this need the CWL Board of Directors has had Roscoe Disposal deliver three large dumpsters.

These dumpsters have been placed at Whiting Park, The Outpost and Highland Valley Green Park.

These dumpsters are for the use of construction type material damaged by the flooding only.

Anyone found to be dumping any other type of material is subject to a fine for illegal dumping at a cost of up to $500.00.

Kind of off topic for CWL, but maybe not

For years I have had trouble with algae growing on my roof. This is caused by government regulations about what materials now go into shingles. That is why in the past you didn't see all of the what appear to be dirty, unsightly roofs.
I had been power washing the junk off but you really are not supposed to do that because it knocks off the granules that are necessary to shingle longevity.
Luckily I have a roofer as a neighbor and I was discussing this problem with him. He said just have zinc strips installed. This was completely new to me. He told me where to get them and I asked if I bought them if I could pay him to install them. He agreed.
It seems tiny amounts of zinc leech from the strips with rainfall and algae can not tolerate zinc. My problem is solved, thanks to a knowledgeable neighbor. One strip along the top row on shingles, that is it!
Thought you might want to know.  Ken

Did you ever wonder?

Why is it that when you look at wall clocks for sale on line or almost any other clock in an ad they are set to 10:10? I have read theories that indicate this is to show a smile rather than a frown. Others say it is so you see the manufacturer's name. You could also see the manufacturer's name at a lot of other times. Just odd.
Ken

I don't even need to comment on this

In February, identical bills were introduced in the House and Senate to add seasonal flu vaccines to the IRS code as taxable. The legislation would exact a 75¢ per dose tax on any "vaccine against seasonal influenza." Given that the Centers for Disease Control projects that 135 million doses of flu vaccine will be used this year, the government's take on flu vaccines alone is over $100,000,000 per year.

I appreciate your help

 I am far from perfect and I want all of you to know how much I appreciate it when you drop me an email if I post something that isn't clear, miss-spell someone's name, or make some other error. I really want the posts to be readable and correct so please keep it up. I don't mind criticism as all.
 I also appreciate any story ideas or questions I can try to answer regarding Candlewick. I don't know everything that goes on here but I try to keep up on as much as I can.
 Ken

Tuesday special board meeting notes, continued

Barb Appelhans pic.

The work station at the rec center is no longer able to handle the required functions with the identification cards and other additional input so the board voted to purchase $348.04 in components for Mark Helmer to use to build the system to necessary capabilities.
The alum treatment is something that needs to be handled before we get algae recurring in the lake. When bid requests were mailed the bidders were required to do their own core samples and analysis and provide a bid based upon necessary application quantities and other factors. To put it simply only one bidder did the required work and we need more than one bid to assure a competitive price so we are paying HAB for their analysis and attaching it to a new bid document then once again soliciting bids. This analysis is not cheap at $15,000.00 but it includes four sediment core samples, interpretation, dosage determination, buffer determination, and bid addendum so this is no small task. If the bidding process is not expedited we will not be able to do the treatment this year so we are going full speed ahead to get this in the works.
We will be doing the mowing in-house this year so this requires the purchase of two new commercial mowers. It is projected using our own people and equipment will put us in a cost saving situation after the initial year so long term it will not only allow savings but also better control of where and when mowings are handled. The two mowers cost about $12,300 total.
A property owner asked since he owns five properties here if he would be allowed to use the monthly installment payment without paying the fee others pay who own less properties. The request was denied.
Ken

May 4th, an important date for your community

Karl Steiskal  hard at it wearing his
Sunday best

Chuck Corso will once again this year be heading the Candlewick Clean-up Day. If you have not already signed up please do. Even if you only do a few blocks around your home it makes a difference. Last year a huge amount of litter was picked up and disposed of. There are sign-up sheets at the office and rec center. You will be supplied with bags to fill then just leave them by the road or take them to Savannah Oaks for disposal. One bag can make a difference.
Email Chuck with any questions at chuckcorso@frontier.com. He will be glad to assist you.
Ken

Stein is a highly respected economist

Pictures from Barb Appelhans from last night's board meeting

Ralph Monge addressing the board regarding a sewer back-up

Joel Gehrett addressing the board

Joel Gehrett from AQUA fielding questions

Kevin Culver, also from AQUA

Breaking the post into two

Last night's special board meeting had several topics and the post will get too long so today I will post the situation with AQUA then tomorrow I will get you up to date on the rest of the meeting.

During the public comment segment a property owner complained about getting sewage in his basement during the recent heavy rains. His comments tied in perfectly with the address to come from Joel Gehrett from AQUA.

Joel reported the amount of rain we received in such a short amount of time overwhelmed the sewer system and a choice had to be made... either let the diluted sewage go into basements or pump the system into ditches, meaning eventually into the lake. They felt the lesser of the two evils was to pump into the ditches. He indicated we were not alone in the situation but that doesn't change the impact of their decision. The plant was being deluged with ten times the normal influx.

He called the IEPA to report the discharge as well as informing our general manager, although by that time the pumping had already started. AQUA took samples of the discharging water for analysis to see the concentration of undesirable material that was being discharged. Obviously the discharge was highly diluted due to the amount of rain water mixed in. To be sure we would get accurate results our G.M. Took it upon himself to take our own samples for analysis as well. To me this was a smart move. The results should come back quickly but as of last night's meeting they were not available from either source.

Obviously there were many questions for Joel. I led off by asking how many times this has happened before here because we have all noticed the pumps running after periods of heavy rains. Joel is fairly new here and has no knowledge or documentation of past situations. Tracy said he has never been informed of such an issue until this one. Next I asked if we have a sealed system how this can happen. Joel indicated they are in the process of sealing joints in the underground system and are three fourths of the way through. They seal the joints then pressure test. He also indicated other sources are allowing water into the system such as people illegally discharging sump pumps into drains, tile leaking from the homes into the system, manhole covers not sealed well enough and water running into them, and other causes. They have to date spent $400,000 trying to seal the system and the work continues.

Jeff Lutzow brought up the alternative of pumping water into the sedimentation pond if this were to happen again and asked if other alternatives have been explored to keep this from happening again. Joel was peppered with more questions from both the board and audience and was very aware of the anger toward his company due to the situation. Karl Steiskal said how ridiculous it seemed to him to have hydrant flushing mere days after the pumping. Frankly there were so many rapid fire questions I could not listen and make notes at the same time.

Suffice it to say the seriousness of the situation as well as the ire of the property owners was not lost on the AQUA representatives.

As this situation progresses I will keep you advised of the outcome. This will not just fade away.

Ken

Kids soccer class. Six weeks $20.00 is a steal!

In case you missed it in the ad, there is a free trial class this Saturday. This is good family fun the kids will remember.  Ken

Don't wait too long. Lots to do at CWL!

 This was last year's garden. This year's will be even better. Remember he who hesitates is lost!  Ken

Talk about going over the edge. Dangerous weapons!

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit against a Chicago public school district on behalf of a second-grade teacher who was suspended after he displayed garden-variety tools such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers in his classroom as part of a "tool discussion" in his class.

Despite the fact that all potentially hazardous items were kept out of the students' reach, school officials at Washington Irving Elementary School informed Doug Bartlett, a 17-year veteran in the classroom, that his use of the tools as visual aids endangered his students. Bartlett was subsequently penalized with a four-day suspension without pay - charged with possessing, carrying, storing or using a weapon.

Do you wonder when pens and pencils will be outlawed as well? These people are nuts!  Ken

Congratulations to Rich DeVries

Your board is moving in the direction of having more non-board member chairpersons for the committees and commissions. Last night at our legal committee meeting Rich (with some prodding) agreed to chair the legal committee for the next year. He is a good man with a lot of experience and old fashioned common sense. He will do well.   Ken

Earth Day 2013.... today

This is a small sampling of the trash picked up on Dawson Lake Road and Caledonia Road this weekend. I heard the estimate of forty bags filled.
Thanks to all who did their part making our area more pleasing to the eye.
Ken

Weekly Public Safety report

Important Candlewick Lake Information

Candlewick Lake Public Safety

 

WEEKLY REPORT

Week Ending 04/21/2013

Rescue Calls

Public safety responded to the 100 block of Prince Ct. for a report of a subject with kidney problems and vomiting.  Subject was transported for treatment.

Public Safety responded to the 200 block of Candlewick Dr. for a subject who activated a life line alarm.  The subject was not transported for treatment.

Public Safety responded to the 200 block of Briarcliff for a report of a vehicle fire.  The fire was extinguished.

Criminal Damage

Public Safety responded to the 1000 block of Candlewick Dr. for a report of damaged mailboxes.  The matter is under investigation.

Public Safety responded to Whiting Park for a report of playground equipment damaged.  The matter is under investigation.

Public Safety responded to the 100 block of Hastings for a report of a bb shot through a window.  The matter is under investigation.

Public Safety responded to multiple calls in Candlewick for flooded areas.  Public safety assisted with traffic control until the water subsided.

Public safety will be conducting extra traffic enforcement in the 200 block of Constitution. Please drive carefully.

Citations issued 12

Warnings issued 7

 

 

We thank you for taking the time to read these important updates.

Being informed is half the battle.  

So much truth in this

The media reports incorrect information and gives others who wish us harm ideas. I for one didn't know how to make the bomb used in Boston but the national media explained how to get the information and what was used. Why? Ken

Caledonia Road clean up last Saturday

Left to right Jim Brefeld, Evelyn Brefeld, Ken Dillenburg, Bonnie Marron, Tom Pinkowski sr., Sandy Morse
These are some of the clean up volunteers.

The clean up crew hard at it

Thank you again to Barb Appelhans for the pictures

Evelyn Brefeld explaining to Jim how to correctly pick up trash

Lonesome Ken Dillenburg. No one wanted to be seen working with him.

A Sunday thought

THE SILENT SERMON

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preacher's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace...and waited.
The preacher made himself at home but said nothing . In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone, then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.'

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Still some good young folks around

 I drove down Dawson Lake Road this morning and there were April Dillenburg and Connor Carmody filling the orange bags with litter. April said she drives that road every day to work and can no longer stand seeing all the trash so they are cleaning it up all the way from 76 to Caledonia Road. Caledonia road is being cleaned today by some of us as well so this should really help our appearance. I am more than a little proud of my Granddaughter and Connor.
Ken

Tuesday special board meeting

This may be an interesting meeting to attend. AQUA representitives are scheduled to be in attendance to discuss and explain the recent problems with the excessive rainfall. The alum bid situation will also be a topic of discussion under HAB.  Ken

Chuck Corso has a car for sale

This is not Chuck's, car but it shows the general appearance

Just telling everyone I can, I am selling my '99 Cutlass

$2K

Runs like a top

Needs brakes

222,000 miles

Butitta Bros in Loves Park can bring up a six year history on it.

Chuck

(Chuck is in the book or email chuckcorso@frontier.com)  Ken

I wouldn't count on it

Although Savannah Oaks is supposed to be open for walk-only golf on weekends the latest report I have is one of the paths washed out and of course the course itself is like walking on a sponge. Don't be surprised if course use is suspended until things get back to normal. No sense in causing further damage by walking on it. Pray for warmth and drying, just the opposite of what was needed last summer.
Ken

No time to write a decent post today

I have been vacuuming water in my lower level all day and now my pier is almost to the point of floating. If it does and we get a strong wind it will rip loose from the dock. I have no idea how much rain we have had but I am about to have the lake in my yard. Bear with me until things get back to normal. The picture is of our sedimentation pond by the golf course running like a waterfall into our lake.  YUCH!
 Ken

Raffle picture from Barb Appelhans

Chuck tried his best to pull out his own name but failed miserably. Actually no board members won and this is a good thing. The Naysayers would have been yelling "rigged" as usual.  Ken

Board Secretary Chuck Corso picking one of the Dues Reduction raffle tickets.

Tuesday board meeting notes

I will preface this by saying again these are simply my meeting notes and you will need to read the Candlewick paper for the official minutes.
The dues credit drawing was held with four winners, each receiving the $525.00 credit. Winners were James Everett, Jerry Gengrich, Larry Santini, and Phil Berger jr. Excuse any name misspellings please.
During the open comments section a P.O. Stated she was unhappy the swans will not be back this year. We had to make several unwanted cuts in the budget this year to cover life guards for the pool.
Jeff Lutzow led off with the financial report. We are still running strong with reserves of $2,729,498.52. Our total operating cash sits at $3,637,018.35 at the end of March. Later in the meeting bad debt was written off in the amount of $15,184.90, mostly due to chapter 7 filings. Pretty much every month there are write-offs but this was larger than normal.
Don Parisi reported on our ECC meetings. Nothing extraordinary there, just some color changes and miscellaneous tree removals and small construction jobs. Ron Drake was appointed as a new member and Darin Wheeler will be an associate member. We are at full membership again.
Bonnie Marron gave the lake management report in Steve Lambright's absence, indicating volunteers have now addled 71 goose eggs. The plantings for water quality are being addressed and the alum treatment bid specs are being reworked. Fish stocking had also been discussed in their meeting. Eight new docking spots will be available this year. A kid's fishing tournament is scheduled for June 16^th this year. A goose roundup was discussed in commission but that is simply in the discussion stage and may be too expensive to pursue.
I gave the roads report. There has been not formal meeting since our last board meeting but some of us met informally with Mark Rice at McClure Engineering about the possibility of being our project manager this year. The first job of the project manager will be to check last year's work to see areas that Rabine may need to address. He is putting together a cost for us. Joel Gehrett from AQUA contacted me and asked to attend meetings with the roads commission so they can find out the areas we will be working on this year and coordinate their part of the project. I told him I would inform him when we are ready to designate areas so he can be involved. Jeff (maintenance supervisor) is working on a map of areas that he feels need work this year so we can assign priorities and see what can be done with allocated funding. As I have mentioned before, the job will start later this year so we can get the shoulder and drainage work done prior to laying the new surface. We need one more member and a couple associates for the commission. This commission is really tough to fill.
Karl Steiskal reported the Rec commission would like Bonnie Marron to be appointed as a member. She was voted in by the board. Lifeguards are being hired for the pool. Michele reported on the upcoming activities. Those have been posted here before. The Eagles Nest cafe is still on schedule for opening June 1.
Bonnie Marron reported the legal committee has not met since the last board meeting so nothing to report. I was asked to rejoin the legal committee.
Chuck Corso reported the golf commission has several events planned for the coming season. I have reported those on this site and will continue updates. A discussion was held regarding where meeting are to be held.
The commission will decide on their own where to meet.
A property owner made an offer to sell his lot at a good discount to the association. The offer was refused. Your association already carries eleven lots on the books we would like to sell so we don't want to add to that total.
A property owner that helps coach fifth grade girls basketball at North Boone asked for permission to use the gym for practices twice per week for two hours weekly this summer. We were unable to grant the request because of the amount of time our current programs use the gym plus if we allow one we will have many more similar requests.
Scott Pointner was again hired as our legal council for the next fiscal year.
The new president of Poplar Grove (John Neitzel) sent a letter asking to informally meet with board representatives to discuss possible opportunities for our communities to work together for the benefit of both. We agreed to do so. If there are ways we can both benefit this is a good thing and John should be commended for the initiative. Anyone who knows me will know this discussion will in no way involve any possibility of either annexation or incorporation. Opportunities in other areas should never be dismissed. Don Parisi, Bonnie Marron, and myself will be the attendees along with our general manager.
The group “Friends of Candlewick” has purchased a solar light that flashes and will disturb geese, hopefully making the area an unpleasant place for them to stay. The unit also has a cage to avoid tampering and mischief. They asked to be allowed to install the unit by the beach to see how well it works and if we can avoid the mess of goose droppings and the clean-up labor in the area. Of course this was a no-brainer and was passed. Let's hope it does the job and one can be used in the future in other areas.
The board had a discussion about a possible format for committee and commission charters. Some template changes were made. Charters are currently being looked at for improvement in specifics of responsibility and general make-up.
I hope that covers it. If I missed some points please check the CWL paper. This was a lot of info to note. Ken

Barb sent a few more pelican pictures

Goose... "Something is wrong here!"

Weight loss report

WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

                            THIS WEEK                     TOTAL LOST

STEVE              Lost 0 pounds               Lost 17 pounds !

BONNIE            Gained 1 pound             Lost 10 pounds

PAUL                Lost 1 pound                  Lost 6 pounds

KARL                Gained 0 pounds           Lost 3 1/2 pounds

RICH                 Gained 1 pound             Lost 5 1/2 pounds

KEN                  Gained 1 pound             Gained 3 pounds

Steve has not reported this week

Dawson Road clean-up

 I probably wasn't clear enough in the post. April is recruiting her friends for the clean-up so the post wasn't to get help for her. She is only 20 years old and I am so happy she has such a community spirit. This was entirely her idea and it looks like she has enough now in her group of friends to pull it off.  Ken

The Bass are moving

Sunday I decided to take a few casts off the pier. In about forty casts I had landed three bass and although I didn't measure them I am sure they were all over fourteen inches. After that I hauled back to make a long cast and hit the metal pier post, breaking my Rattletrap in half so I quit for the day.
Monday I decided to take a shot at it again about two in the afternoon. It was overcast and windy, with waves hitting the frontage pretty hard. Many fishermen don't realize a lot of fish species like the rough water. Stirred up water clouds it and confuses the bait fish, making finding a meal easier for the predators.
I hooked on a smaller Rattlin' Rap (the only one I had left) and gave it a hard cast along the shore about ten feet out. Nothing. I fan casted until I had turned toward the other side of the pier. One long cast and on a fast retrieve the lure just stopped. It felt like a snag until I realized the line was moving. I was sure it was a Northern or Muskie the way it stayed down and dug in. I was surprised when it turned out to be a Bass and not as huge as it felt. It must have been the waves making it feel stronger. Of course my net was about twenty feet away so I gently lifted it to the dock with the line, hoping he wouldn't flip and break the line. The next problem was he had just inhaled the bait and it was barely in sight down his throat. What to do? The limit for keeping a Bass is no more than fourteen inches but if you tear a gill the fish will never live. I got lucky and the lure came out without damage using needle nose. I measured it at eighteen inches, a very nice Bass but not a monster.
I understand the size limit must be strict but I would sure have hated to throw him back knowing he would die. If we didn't enforce the size limit the problem would be people would purposely tear a gill so they could keep the Bass. Sad, but we all know there are some that would.
Anyway, a fun couple days catching bass so if you are a fisherman, or fisherwoman like Fran you may want to try your luck. As I said, they are moving now.
Ken

Good thought April, I hope you can get a group together!

April Lyn Dillenburg

Hey friends! Trying to organize a small group of people willing to help clean Dawson lake road on Saturday morning! A need that's really on my heart, and even more importantly let's just take care of this planet! If you're interested message me for details :)

(this was a Facebook post that made me once again proud of my Granddaughter)  Ken