New Year’s is a natural time of reflection on the past and wonder about the future.

The year 2009. Sounds strange. This past year marked the 20th year of this paper, and 15 years of publishing and editing The Rock River Times. Actually, that’s 17 years of newspapering for me, when the two years of just writing and selling for the paper are counted. In comparison, the now of the future seems surreal at times.

News and notes from the Dec. 22 and 29 Rockford City Council meetings

Dec. 22 City Council meeting

In the wake of a recent political cartoon, Mayor Larry Morrissey (I) defended his critiques of the local justice system and school district.

The cartoon, printed in the corporate daily, depicted Morrissey saying he doesn’t like the way the schools are run, and that he doesn’t think judges are tough enough on crime. In the third frame, with the mayor on his lap, Santa Claus tells Morrissey, “Look—how ’bout you just stick to being mayor, and I’ll decide who’s naughty and who’s nice?”

Consensus is growing that 2009 will be a difficult year economically. Robert Peston of BBC News sees the global economic crisis as more significant for developed economies than was the collapse of Communism.

Having borrowed too much, paying back our massive debts will lead to a fall in living standards and precipitate significant changes in the global financial system’s functioning. The numbers tell it all: both the UK and the U.S. have a debt to annual economic output of 300 percent.

Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen (R) and Freedom Field Board Chairman John Holmstrom pitched for city participation Dec. 22, asking aldermen to consider funding the renewable energy initiative during upcoming budget talks.

“Even though all our budgets are struggling at the time, we can ill afford to not look seriously, and invest some dollars, when it comes to alternative energy,” Christiansen said, noting interest from as far away as China and Sweden. “We certainly have the opportunity to be the center of that.”