Winnebago County News

Meet John Doe: Labor unions gave us Labor Day and longer life spans By Paul Gorski According to the U.S. Department of Labor website,  http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm : “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. … The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on Sept. 5, 1883.” This history was apparently news to some Rockford City Council members as they recently debated whether to issue a permit for this year’s Labor Day Parade. Yes, organized labor worked to create and sponsor the Labor Day holiday for more than 100 years... Read the full article at...

Tech-Friendly: Should I upgrade my Mac OS X? By Paul Gorski Reader Nicole Montgomery asked for my opinion whether she should upgrade her Mac OS. Read her request and comments at http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/07/01/tech-friendly-apple-releases-security-updates-and-bug-fixes-for-mavericks-and-ios-7/ . Apple updates the Mac OS very often, issuing a major upgrade about every 18 months, with minor patches in between. Sometimes these upgrades are not so “major,” but do bring a few useful new features or bug fixes. Over the past few years, these upgrades have fixed, or created, problems with the Mail.app, Wi-Fi connectivity, and corporate file server connections. More often, Apple updates a service, like iCloud, or an app, like Pages or Keynote, that requires a Mac OS upgrade, whether you want to upgrade... Read the full article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/08/26/tech-friendly-should-i-upgrade-my-mac-os-x/

Robert Alan Yeske, 62, died August 26, 2014. Memorial celebration service at 2 p.m. Saturday August 30, 2014 at Faith Center, 4721 S. Main St. Rockford.  Visitation from 1 to 2 p.m., Saturday, August 30, 2014. Memorial service at 2 p.m.,  Saturday, August 30, 2014 Condolences to the Yeske family from Paul Gorski and family. See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rrstar/obituary.aspx?n=robert-yeske&pid=172284655

Stadelman reports on passenger rail progress at town hall meeting ROCKFORD – Anyone interested in learning more about passenger rail service between Rockford and Chicago is encouraged attend an Amtrak Town Hall Meeting hosted by Illinois Senator Steve Stadelman. Senator Stadelman, D-Rockford, has invited Illinois Department of Transportation experts to give a 45-minute report on the status of the $223 million project. A question-and-answer session will follow. AMTRAK TOWN HALL MEETING 5:30-7 PM, WED., AUG. 27 Zeke Giorgi Center Auditorium 200 S. Wyman St., Rockford, IL
 “Passenger rail service to and from Chicago holds tremendous potential for economic growth and enhanced quality of life in the Rockford area,” Stadelman said. “The public is excited about the prospect of a rail link with Chicago, and I think it is important to keep the public fully informed and to involve as much public input as possible.” Construction is expected to begin in October 2014, with one dail...

By Paul Gorski U.S. Cellular (USC) recently began selling the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 tablet, and I used the tablet for almost two weeks. It took me a few days to appreciate the strengths of this tablet, but I now see why some people like their tablets so much. Since my revelation stems more from the experience rather than the hardware, my review will focus on the experience first, the hardware last... Read the full Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/08/12/tech-friendly-review-of-the-samsung-galaxy-tab-4-10-1-tablet-from-u-s-cellular/

By Paul Gorski Please vote this fall — do not let a small group of vocal voters control the election this November. Less than 20 percent of the registered voters in Winnebago County voted in the spring primary elections. Worse, less than 15 percent of the registered voters in Rockford cast a ballot in the primaries. Primary voters decided some of the races. This means a small group of residents decided who is going to hold local office, or at least, advance to the next step in the election process... Read the full Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/08/13/meet-john-doe-take-control-of-your-local-government-and-vote-in-the-november-election/

By Paul Gorski The basic premise of my article “Meet John Doe: Climate change is not global warming, and neither are hoaxes” from the June 18-24, 2014, issue was that the measurements and arguments used to support the belief that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing are not part of an elaborate hoax or lie. What purpose would that hoax serve? Readers responded. One reader replied with an explanation... Read the full Rock River Times article by Paul Gorski at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/07/30/meet-john-doe-climate-change-is-not-global-warming-and-neither-are-hoaxes-part-two/

By Paul Gorski I am writing this article with the global climate change naysayer in mind. Some people seemed confused about climate change, global warming, the facts surrounding these topics, and the scientific theories used to explain these phenomena. I have read some odd articles and/or comments in local and national news sources discussing climate change, so I thought I would clarify some of the key points... Read the entire Rock River Times article by Paul Gorski at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/06/18/meet-john-doe-climate-change-is-not-global-warming-and-neither-are-hoaxes/

The new  Rock River Times  website ( http://www.rockrivertimes.com ) is easy to read and navigate on your laptop, desktop and mobile devices, but you may also read the full print version in all of its four-color glory online as a page flip document. Page flip, or page turner software, allows publishers to convert electronic versions of their print publications into virtual, turn page by page books, magazines and newspapers... Read the full Rock River Times article at: http://rockrivertimes.com/2014/07/29/tech-friendly-read-the-full-print-version-of-the-rock-river-times-as-a-page-flip-document-on-issuu-com/