Winnebago County News

By Paul Gorski Special Report More than 160 residents living near the Winnebago Landfill filed a lawsuit against Winnebago Landfill, LLC, and Winnebago Reclamation Services, Inc. (WRS), Aug. 5. The filed paperwork refers to both companies jointly as the "WRS Landfill." The suit seeks financial awards for personal discomfort and loss of use and enjoyment of their properties. Todd S. Hageman of the Simon Law Firm, P.C., of St. Louis, is representing the residents. The primary goal of this lawsuit is not to close the landfill, but to award damages to the residents filing suit, and to encourage the landfill to solve the landfill odor problem. One of the plaintiffs, Kristin Ricker, stated: "At the end of it all, we want to be able to put our screens on and open our windows for the very first time since we moved here almost three years ago now; to enjoy a fresh, clean and cool breeze like everyone else does."... Read the Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivert

by Paul Gorski Consumer Watchdog  recently reported that Google filed court documents that imply that Gmail e-mail may not be private. Read the  Consumerwatchdog.org  column at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/google-tells-court-you-cannot-expect-privacy-when-sending-messages-gmail-people-who-care . Google's court filing states: "Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email today cannot be surprised if their emails are processed by the recipient's [email provider] in the course of delivery. Indeed, 'a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.'"... Read the Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2013/08/21/tech-friendly-google-to-court-gmail-users-should-not-expect-privacy/

by Paul Gorski I'm on the road to Chicago most business days, and very often, I take a bus to the Chicago Amtrak station. I wrote about this service and my good experiences with it last year — "Guest Column: Don't wait for the train — take the bus to Amtrak, O'Hare and Midway" (June 27-July 3, 2012, issue). Read the article online at http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/06/27/guest-column-don%E2%80%99t-wait-for-the-train-%E2%80%94-take-the-bus-to-amtrak-o%E2%80%99hare-and-midway/ . Friends told me recently they were hesitant to hit the highways this Labor Day weekend, or have family come to visit, because of the road construction on I-90. I told them they had little to worry about... Read the full Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2013/08/21/meet-john-doe-invite-friends-and-family-to-rockford-for-labor-day/