DIXON – Lee County’s zoning panel has held 24 hearings on a proposed wind farm. Three more are planned for next week.

The first was July 5. That was more than a month before Mitt Romney chose his vice presidential running mate. Since, Romney lost the election, and President Barack Obama started his new term.

So far, the Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals has logged 60 hours of hearings for the wind farm. By comparison, Nicholas Sheley’s Whiteside County murder trial last year took about 40 hours over more than a week.