Housing starts up, but not here

Housing starts are increasing in all areas except here in the Midwest, the New York Times reports. Experts surveyed by the newspaper indicated that low-interest rates and increased employment accounted for the increase. Despite a recent rise, home mortgage rates have remained around 8 percent, in contrast to the peak 9.25 percent rate in December 1994. Interest rates rose slightly in February and many people evidently hurried to buy a home in order to lock in relatively low rates.

Although home builders are optimistic about a continuing trend, a downward shift in the economy could leave many builders burdened with the costs of unsold homes. Generally, however, builders are seeing a relatively good year so far, as the 3 percent increase in housing starts in February follows on a 1.5 percent increase in January.

Take a hike

Where can you find Virginia bluebells, great white trillium, wild turkeys, and a free standing dolomite column that's 200 feet tall?

Find out in Hiking Illinois, a new paperback book published as part of the America's Best Day Hiking Series by Human Kinetics in Champaign. The book contains the best day hiking trails throughout the state, including maps and complete trail descriptions.

The book describes 100 trails, offers 143 park and trail maps, and practical information about how to get there, where to park, available facilities, permits and rules. There is also a section with nearby points of interest.

Susan Post, the author, has worked as a research biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey since 1978. As she's gone about her job, working on such projects as sampling streams for threatened and endangered plants and sampling soybean and horseradish fields for insect pests, Post has crisscrossed Illinois and become well-acquainted with the natural areas of the state. She also is co-author of Illinois Wilds, a book that showcases the state's natural areas.

Cost of the book (ISBN: 0-88011-568-8) is $19.95 and is available from local bookstores. Or contact Human Kinetics at P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076 or phone (217) 351-5076 for details.

Cider makers school offered

Cider makers are invited to learn the latest about their craft at a one-day cider school June 25 at a Marine, Ill., orchard. There have been some recent incidents of illness caused by E. coli contamination of unpasteurized cider in the East and in California (see Illinois Country Living, March 1997), and Illinois apple growers and state officials have been working to avoid such a contamination here.

"The school will cover the basics of cider mill operation, product handling and sanitation," said Lee Rife, marketing representative with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. "It's an opportunity for producers to demonstrate their commitment to producing a wholesome product using approved methods."

The school is sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society and the Illinois Department of Public Health. For more information, contact historical society president Jerry Mills at (618) 887-4732 or Lee Rife at (217) 785-5771.

Books examine co-ops' role

Two new books examine the future of cooperatives and how they can help rural areas avoid economic decline.

Seizing Control: The International Market Power of Cooperatives, edited by Lee Egerstrom, business writer for The St. Paul Pioneer Press, examines the views of leading U.S. and European academics, economists, and trade and public policy watchers. They see the global market and changing business structures as opportunities for farmer-owned cooperatives and community-based enterprises. Cost of the book is $29.95.

David Thompson and E.G. Nadeau have produced Cooperation Works, a collection of 50 successful examples of how individuals, local governments and businesses are using cooperative action to rebuild communities and revitalize the economy. Thompson is cooperative consultant and president of the board of Twin Pines Cooperative in California; Nadeau is director of research and development for Cooperative Development Services at Madison, WI. Cost of this book is $16.95.

The books are available from the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, 30 E. Seventh St, Suite 1720, St. Paul, MN 55101-4901. The shipping and handling cost for one book is $3, for two is $4. For more information, call (612) 2280213orfaxat(612) 228-1184.

MAY 1997 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING

Teachers: Got a bright idea?

The National Rural Education Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association are joining together to offer ten mini-grants of $250 each for classroom-based projects conducted during the 1997-98 school year.

Winning projects will feature student investigation of some aspect of the science of energy or electricity. Possible project topics might include local geology (as it relates to energy), or the history of hydroelectric generation in your community, or alternative sources of energy for the next generation.

Imagination and resourcefulness are encouraged.

To qualify for a mini-grant, some of a school's students must live on cooperative lines. To apply, teachers are asked to submit a 1-2 page proposal by June 15,1997, describing what the classroom will investigate, to Rural Teacher Mini-Grants, c/o NREA Headquarters, 230 Education Bldg., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. For more information, call John Freitag or Linda Comstock at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives, (217) 529-5561.

Furrow, Glickman powwow

Wally Furrow, state director for USDA Rural Development in Illinois, in a three-day late spring session that included U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, urged better coordination of programs affecting rural America's quality of life.

Furrow (Illinois Country Living guest columnist, March 1997) said Glickman told him the USDA is streamlining its field office structure to reduce operating costs as part of Vice President Gore's directive to make federal government work better for less.

At the same time, Glickman pledged to work in partnership with state governments, private business and nonprofit institutions to create jobs, better housing, utilities and other essential services.

"Programs such as the Fund for Rural America, Water 2000, distance learning and medicine, business and industry, guarantee loans and self-help housing are all examples of how USDA is addressing the broad range of needs of rural areas," Furrow said.

The USDA Rural Development mission area was created in 1994 by merging rural economic programs that had been splintered among the Farmers Home Administration, Rural Development Administration, Rural Electrification Administration and the Agricultural Cooperative Service. Its mission is to use the resources of the USDA to provide an improved quality of life for the nation's 53 million rural people.

Rural Development has authority to make loans to public bodies and not-for-profit corporations in rural areas to build or improve needed community facilities. Projects such as water and sewerage systems, fire and rescue vehicles, fire stations, hospital improvements and other essential community facilities are eligible loan purposes. Guaranteed loans also are available to finance community facility projects and real estate, buildings, equipment and working capital for eligible rural businesses.

Information about these programs may be obtained from district office locations in Princeton, Morris, Jacksonville, Galesburg, Champaign, Effingham, Salem, Nashville and Harrisburg. Or call the state office at (217) 398-5412, ext. 247.

Grants for senior co-op housing

To foster affordable housing for seniors in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, the Chicago-based Retirement Research Foundation made a $400,000 grant to the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF).

The grant is for a revolving loan fund to finance pre-development expenses of limited equity, senior co-op housing projects developed by the Homestead Housing Center in those three states. It is the second grant the foundation has given CDF for this purpose.

The Homestead Housing Center (HHC), founded in 1992, is a non-profit organization established to promote and develop senior co-op housing and has created several in rural Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

"In many rural areas there are few or no options for seniors who wish to remain within their communities but no longer want the hassles of owning a single-family home," said Judy Ziewacz, CDF executive director. "HHC offers them an option. Homestead coops allow rural seniors to live independently within a supportive community while still enjoying the benefits of home ownership."

RRF focuses entirely on aging and retirement issues, making about $8 million in grants each year to support research and public policy studies to improve the quality of life for older Americans. CDF promotes community, economic, and social development through coop enterprises based on self-help and mutual aid, and was one of the founders of HHC. For more information about obtaining a grant, contact CDF at (202) 6386222.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • MAY 1997