Jason Cregier: Kevin Haas is the managing editor of rockrivercurrent.com, and he joins us to discuss recent news around the Stateline. Kevin, thanks for joining us today.
Kevin Haas: Jason, thanks for having me.
JC: A proposal has been submitted to the city of Rockford to build a data center on the city's south side. What do we know about that?
KH: This became news because a company has filed an application for a data center with the state of Illinois, but we do not know many specifics yet.
What we do know is the company wants to position itself on 1,300 acres of land south of Chicago Rockford International Airport, but we are not sure of the exact location.
We also are not sure who the customer is. Is it for Meta? Amazon? An emerging artificial intelligence company?
Because of those factors, we also do not know the answers to some concerns people may have about the data center, such as the amount of energy it will use and how much water it will consume.
JC: Is uncertainty the main talking point for the community?
KH: Absolutely. People have seen what has happened with data centers in other parts of the U.S. Utility bills have increased, water aquifers have been depleted, and people are concerned about that happening in Rockford, too.
City officials say they share the same concerns, but they are also asking the public for patience. The city also touts possible economic benefits of what could be the largest monetary investment in Rockford’s history.
That said, the public is pushing to make sure that whatever happens, it is done responsibly.
JC: In other news, the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office recently released a year's worth of crime statistics. What stands out from that data?
KH: Before State's Attorney J. Hanley was elected, the county had never really tracked data in this way. It is also extremely complicated to determine what success looks like in a courtroom. Convictions and guilty pleas involve many factors when determining whether the right decisions were made as a prosecutor.
After being elected, Hanley pledged to share some of these data points with the public as an act of transparency. We learned that seven of the nine murder cases the state’s attorney’s office took to trial ended in guilty verdicts.
Hanley would like to see that number reach 100 percent, but before he took office almost half of murder trials in Winnebago County ended in not-guilty verdicts.
JC: Let's talk about some fun news. St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and this weekend marks the 50th edition of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Rockford. Are you hearing about anything special planned to celebrate the milestone?
KH: It is hard to believe it has been five decades since this parade began. The parade will take place Saturday through downtown Rockford along its normal route.
The big celebration will take place after the parade at Prairie Street Brewing Co. Paddyfest, organized by the Irish Marching Society, has been part of the celebration for five decades.
JC: Kevin, thanks for joining us today.
KH: Thank you.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
