Gunmen Rob Algonquin Gold Buying Store

Algonquin police are still seeking three armed men who held up a gold-buying store in the Downtown District Friday morning. 

Employees at Gold and Jewelry Direct, 130 S. Main, told police three men they identified as Hispanic robbed the store at handgun and knife-point at about 9:30 am. Algonquin Sergeant Rob Salazar said the men fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.  He said police are still conducting investigations and may release more information about the incident Monday.

LITH Legion Fish Fry Doubles Last Year

Lake In the Hills American Legion chefs fried up 200 pounds of tilapia and had to send out for more when double last year's number of diners showed up at the Post 1231's Good Friday Annual Fish Fry.

Everyone at Post 1231 was happy about that. "Our fish fry supports our soldiers and veterans and community and charitable programs like our new Veterans' Center in Hebron," said Bob Hollett, from the Sons of the Legion, event co-sponsors.

In the pic:  Tim Kohl, (front) and Steve Cook fried fish filets in a frenzy Friday at the LITH Legion.

Student Gives Her Own Award to Marlowe Teacher

Marlowe Middle School eighth-grader Chynnah Henn was disappointed to find she couldn't nominate Craig Pate for a Golden Apple teaching award; McHenry County isn't in the program. So she made her own award, a "Gilded Apple" and presented it to him at District 158's Board Meeting Thursday.

"I have trouble reading and writing," she told Board Members, "but Mr. Pate stayed after school to help me."

"I've been on the Board since 1998," Kim Skaja told her, "and we've never had a student come and do this before."

In the pic:  Young Chynna Henn presents an award she made for teaching excellence to Marlowe instructor Craig Pate at Thursday's D158 Board meeting.  (Her Dad helped with it, she said.)

Wisconsin And Illinois: Handling State Unions

By Mary J. Cristobal, Illinois Statehouse News
The two states share a border, but that's about all that Illinois and Wisconsin have in common these days. How the two states deal with their respective public sector unions and state employees is as different as night and day.

The Illinois Senate last week approved a measure on education reform sponsored by State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, that deals primarily with teachers’ collective bargaining rights. Written into the legislation are tougher standards for poorly performing teachers that could lead to their firing.

Illinois's northern neighbor, Wisconsin, had been in the national spotlight in recent months after its newly elected governor moved through a package of union reform measures that effectively limit collective bargaining to issues of wages and limit pay increases to the rate of inflation. It also calls for public employees to contribute more to the cost of their health care and pension plans.

Adam Andrzejewski, who ran unsuccessfully in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Illinois, called Walker’s actions courageous. “He actually ran on the policies that he’s implemented so he was very transparent about it when he was running for governor of Wisconsin, he told the taxpayers what he exactly what he was going to do,” Andrzejewski said. “They elected him, and then he did it – now this is very refreshing from a politician.”

Not everyone admires Walker’s approach, however. Cheryl Maranto, associate professor from Marquette University in Milwaukee, said Illinois worked through five months of negotiations with unions, teachers, parents and lawmakers to come up with a solutions found in the pending legislation. “Nobody is fully happy with it – everybody kind of feels like they got what they needed, which is what collective bargaining is supposed to be about,” said Maranto.

Illinois and Wisconsin have similarities and differences with political leadership. The Illinois General Assembly’s majority party is Democrat as is Quinn. Wisconsin’s General Assembly’s majority party is Republican, as is Walker.

Robert Bruno, professor and director of labor education programs at University of Illinois at Chicago, said the different political parties handle public employee unions differently. “I don’t think that it’s any secret that there’s a pretty sharp division between the two parties in their commitments to particular economic agendas, and social causes and institutions that they uphold,” Bruno said. “And shifts (in Wisconsin) from Democrats to Republicans in this political climate have led to a much more, frankly one of the most — if not the most —  anti-labor working class agenda that we’ve seen in the last couple of decades.”

“You need some sort of system of mediating those conflicts, and trying to sit down and negotiate with various conflicting interests,” said William Powell Jones, labor historian from University of Wisconsin.

Maranto, the collective bargaining expert from Marquette University, said no matter what their political leaning, each state could learn something from the other.

You can read Mary's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5822/a-wisconsin-and-illinois-showdown-handling-state-unions/

McHenry County Indictments

A McHenry County Grand Jury returned indictments this week against the following individuals:
The charges against these defendants are merely allegations against them.  The defendants are presumed innocent of any crime until proven guilty in court.

LUIS E. MARIN, DOB:  05/20/88, 1903 N. MEADOW LANE, MCHENRY, LEAVING THE SCENE OF A PERSONAL INJURY ACCIDENT, NO VALID DRIVER’S LICENSE.--McHenry PD

MICHAEL J. PILAT, DOB:  11/29/91, 3309 PLEASURE AVENUE, WONDER LAKE.
DANIEL H. CONNELLY, DOB:  12/11/91, 144 LAWRENCE AVENUE, WOODSTOCK.
EVAN M. LEDFORD, DOB:   11/08/90, 12213 COONEY DRIVE, WOODSTOCK. HOME INVASION, BATTERY, MOB ACTION, CRIMINAL TRESPASS TO RESIDENCE.--Crystal Lake PD

BRANDON A. ROUSE, DOB:  01/01/92, 124 GROVE STREET, WOODSTOCK. DOMESTIC BATTERY, RESISTING A PEACE OFFICER(2CTS), AGGRAVATED BATTERY, UNLAWFUL CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL.--Harvard PD
  
SCOTT A. JOYNER, DOB:  12/30/74, 503 N. EASTWOOD DRIVE, WOODSTOCK. UNLAWFUL FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER, UNLAWFUL RESIDING NEAR A DAY CARE BY A SEX OFFENDER, OBSTRUCTING A PEACE OFFICER.--Woodstock PD

RACHEL S. FALCONE, DOB:  08/17/74, 428 KRESSWOOD DRIVE, MCHENRY. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF PRESCRIPTION FORM(4CTS), UNLAWFUL ACQUISITION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE(4CTS), THEFT(4CTS), FORGERY(4CTS)--McHenry PD

JOSEPH W. CRISARA III, DOB:  05/17/87, 308 TULIP CIRCLE, ISLAND LAKE. INTIMIDATION, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE WITH THE INTENT TO DELIVER(3CTS), UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE(3CTS), UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF CANNABIS, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A HYPODERMIC SYRINGE, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, BATTERY, HARASSMENT BY TELEPHONE.--Island Lake PD

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 22
1503 HRS 10 BLOCK OF GAIL CT. VIOLATION OF AN ORDER OF PROTECTION.  REED, JOHN A., M/W 35 YEARS OF AGE, 8313 RUSSELL RD., CARY. CHARGES: Three Counts of Unlawful Violation of an Order of Protection. TURNED OVER TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
2131 HRS RAKOW RD. & ROUTE 31. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED. HOBEN, BRIAN THOMAS, M/W 39 YEARS OF AGE, 18516 E. IL HWY 142,  OPDYKE, IL. CHARGE: Driving While License Suspended, No Insurance and Disobeying a Traffic Control Device. RELEASED ON BOND.
042111@0919 HRS RANDALL RD. & VILLAGE RD. FOLLOW-UP ARREST: HIT & RUN. PRIEST, JESSICA L., F/W 33 YEARS OF AGE, 209 CLEVELAND, CARY. CHARGES: Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident, Driving While License Revoked. RELEASED ON BOND
2004 HRS 5400 BLOCK OF CROSSVIEW LN. VIOLATION OF AN ORDER OF PROTECTION. ELTVEDT, KEVIN F., M/W 41 YEARS OF AGE, 5429 CROSSVIEW CT., LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Violation of an Order of Protection. TURNED OVER TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
2321 HRS 1200 BLOCK OF MAPLE ST. ILLEGAL CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL BY A JUVENILE MINOR. M/W 16 YEARS OF AGE, LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Hosting an Underage Drinking Party. RELEASED TO PARENT.
0406 HRS 5300 BLOCK OF DANBURY CIRCLE. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 79 years of age, possibly having a stroke. Transported to Woodstock Hospital.
1856 HRS 500 BLOCK OF WEDGEWOOD CIRCLE. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 10 years of age, having an asthma attack. No transport.

"Suspicious" Fire Destroys Huntley Barn

A plume of dense smoke rose 500 feet and flames leaped 30 feet in the air as a fire consumed a barn at 11209 Donald Drive in Huntley at 7 pm Thursday.  Huntley Fire Protection District Captain Russ Wilson said the fire was of suspicious origin since the farm where the barn was located was unoccupied and there was no electrical service to the site.

"It was fully involved when the (Police Department) got there," said Wilson who reported HFPD efforts were limited to keeping the blaze from spreading to the farmhouse nearby and surrounding fields.  Four HFPD engines and a brush truck were joined by units from Woodstock and Rutland.

Wilson said the State Fire Marshall's Office was expected to send an investigator to examine the embers later today.

D158 Issues "Headsup" Notice On Next Week's Tax Bills

Word of shocking tax bills due next week had clearly leaked and Sun City residents berated the D158 Board of Education for them Thursday.

"My taxes went up $1,000--I called the Assessor.  I can't pay that," complained Ardie Cichorski.

"I look at my tax bill and 70 percent goes to the District," said Toni Romain.  "I don't know what cuts you've made.  Maybe you need to make more."

Those complaints and others followed a headsup report by Member Mike Skala warning that 2010 tax assessments went haywire in District 158 and, while some residents may see lower tax bills soon, others will face whopping increases.

The short (perhaps too) version is home prices are in the dumper and it's finally beginning to show up in assessments, particularly Equalized Assessed Value, the three-year average.  That's half the equation by which tax bills are figured.  Despite a $6 million expense cut, the District's levy, the total amount it needs to raise, inceased $1.5 million, though.  That's 2.7 percent, all the law allows.

If EAV's had gone up 2.7 percent,too, the tax rate, the other half of the tax bill equation, would have stayed the same. They didn't, though. They fell and they fell a lot so the tax rate, the other half of the tax bill equation, has to go up alot to meet the new tax levy total. The problem is the EAV's dropped unevenly leaving some property owners holding more of the tax bag than their neighbors.

"There has been a significant shift of the tax burden in the District," said Skala. For one thing, according to research Skala did with D158 CFO Mark Altmayer, Kane County's collective EAV dropped 2.77 percent while McHenry's (even after an unprecedented State multiplier) dropped 14.1 percent. Worse, Skala reported, some assessments fell more than that, a lot more, and not evenly scattered, either.  Entire neighborhoods fell 25 to 30 percent, he said, offloading more of the district's tax bite to the ones that didn't. "They were all in Grafton," said Skala.

Altmayer tried to explain it could have been worse. "We have the lowest operating cost in McHenry County," he told the Board.  "We spend significantly less than not only McHenry County but most districts in all of Illinois."

Sun City homeowners eyeing a D158 tax rate up from $4.12 last year to $4.88 this time weren't mollified.  "Fix your expenses so we don't have this tax," thundered Frank Romain in a dudgeon.

In the pic:   This page from Skala's presentation shows the uneven impact of District 158's tax rate depending on how much an individual home assessment fell.

Editor's note:  Kane bills are supposed to be mailed Monday or Tuesday.  McHenry will be later.

Arts Open House Showcases D300 Students, Historic Rehab

The District 300 Foundation sponsored a Cultural Arts on the Fox Open House Thursday at Otto Engineering's newly-rehabbed commercial center in Carpentersville's old Star foundry.
Jacobs and Dundee-Crown students performed or displayed their works at the event showcasing the District's performing and fine arts.

For the past two years Otto's been gentrifying the southern half of the industrial complex that started as Illinois Iron and Bolt in 1864 following a similar repurposing project for the northern part in 2008. 

In the pic: Jacobs High School Goldenaires Chamber Choir raised the rafters at Otto Engineering's Star foundry Thursday.  The exposed stringers and beams are 138 years old.  

Legislators Look At Business "Location"

By Lauren N. Johnson and Jamey Dunn, Illinois Issues
Two bills about where a business is "located" would have big consequences for local governments throughout Illinois.  Both would clarify where businesses "are" for tax collections.

Illinois has a 6.5 percent state sales tax rate. However, local governments such as cities, counties and townships can collect their own sales taxes, making the total tax vary widely. Sen. Toi Hutchinson, an Olympia Fields Democrat sponsoring one bill, said it is simply geared toward clearing up where businesses owe local sales tax and how much they must pay.

“What I don’t like is any regulation that’s subjective. So only the person that’s coming in to audit you knows what that (sales tax rate) is, and you have to find out whether or not you’ve guessed right three years later,” said Hutchinson, saying that all businesses in the state need to be treated equally.

One bill to determine the point of sale for businesses that have multiple offices, passed the Senate last week, although not without a heated debate. It's a response to a court case involving a gasoline company that didn't turn out the way legislators liked. The company is headquartered in Cook County, but its sales office is in the low-taxed village of Mark in northern Putnam County. After the company ran sales through the Mark office for four years, the Revenue Department said it owed back sales taxes to Cook County because the sales actually were taking place there. A Putnam County judge ruled that the Mark office was legally the point of sale, though.

A second bill would allow businesses to use the location where they process orders as their point of sale for taxing purposes. Opponents of that bill say the change would allow businesses to ditch higher sales tax rates by setting up satellite offices in areas with little or no sales tax. Hutchinson said most of the pushback came from the local government with some of the highest sales tax rates in the state, Cook County.

“Clarity is always better than chaos,” Hutchinson added.

You can read the full report on this story at: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/legislators-look-at-local-governments.html

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 21
1911 HRS 3100 BLOCK OF BANBURY LN. DOMESTIC. SANTIAGO, DAVID C., M/W 29 YEARS OF AGE, 3161 BANBURY LN., LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Two counts of Domestic Battery. TURNED OVER TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL
2321 HRS 1200 BLOCK OF MAPLE ST. ILLEGAL CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL BY A MINOR. JUVENILE, F/W 15 YEARS OF AGE, ALGONQUIN. CHARGES: Illegal Consumption of Alcohol. RELEASED TO PARENT.
JUVENILE, F/W 16 YEARS OF AGE, Lake in the Hills. CHARGES: Illegal Consumption of Alcohol. RELEASED TO PARENT.
HRS RAKOW RD. & PYOTT RD. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
0921 HRS RANDALL RD. & VILLAGE RD. HIT & RUN. Vehicle hit by a gray minivan that left the scene.
1306 HRS RANDALL RD. & MILLER RD. ACCIDENT, Four vehicles. Property damage only.
1359 HRS RANDALL RD. & MILLER RD. ACCIDENT, Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1532 HRS 700 BLOCK OF ELDERBERRY CT. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Complainant advised subject had taken her vehicle without permission.
1641 HRS 9341 PYOTT RD. (BARBARA KEY PARK). FOUND ARTICLE A bicycle. Entered into Evidence. Returned to owner.
1921 HRS 0 BLOCK OF BANBURY CT. DOMESTIC BATTERY. Boyfriend vs. Girlfriend. No Priors. FAIL TO FILE.
2232 HRS 5400 BLOCK OF CROSSVIEW LN. VIOLATION OF AN ORDER OF PROTECTION. Subject was possibly in violation of a Court Ordered Order of Protection. PENDING INVESTIGATION BY REPORTING OFFICER.
2324 HRS 60 BLOCK OF HILLTOP DR. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. Items taken from unlocked vehicle.
2358 HRS 4500 ALGONQUIN RD. (7-11 GAS). ACCIDENT. 2 Vehicles. Property damage only.
Algonquin
moretocome
Huntley
April 11
Michael F. Alejandro, age 41, of 11809 Mill St., Huntley, was arrested for harassment by electronic communication.  Mr. Alejandro posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.
A theft report was taken in the 11100 block of Douglas Ave.  The victim states his garbage can was stolen.
April 12
Nicholas J. Golonka, age 27, of 1941 Brockton Lane, Huntley, was arrested for driving while license suspended, possession of a suspended license and a tinted window violation.  Mr. Golonka posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.
Edward Young, age 53, of 920 N. Sterling #230, Palatine, was arrested for driving while license revoked and was cited for a tinted windshield violation.  Mr. Young posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 27, 2011.
An identity theft report was taken in the 10600 block of Rushmore Lane.  The victim states an unknown person used his personal identifiers to open a credit account.
April 13
Anthony E. Romano, age 21, of 5422 Euclid McHenry, was arrested for DUI drugs and was cited for following too closely and improper lane use.  Mr. Romano posted bond and was released with a Kane County court date of May 3, 2011.
Paul D. Merling, age 40, 10745 Great Plaines, Huntley, was arrested for driving while license suspended.  Mr. Merling posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 6, 2011.
April 14
An identity theft report was taken in the 10500 block of Cindy Jo Ave.  The victim's Social Security number was used by an unknown person to gain employment.
Abigail D. Kroll, age 18, of 1370 Burke Lane, South Elgin, was charged with consumption of alcohol by a minor.  Ms. Kroll was released with a McHenry County court date of May 23, 2011.
April 15
Daniel A. Leahy, age 38, of 121 Hickory, Lake in the Hills, was arrested for driving while license suspended, display of suspended registration and possession of a suspended drivers license and was cited for display of a false insurance card and driving with no front plate.  Mr. Leahy posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.
Jane E. Montemayor, age 48, of 42W064 Retreat Court, Saint Charles, was arrested for driving while license suspended and unlawful display of a suspended drivers license and was cited for driving with no proof of insurance.  Ms. Montemayor posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.
A deceptive practice report was taken in the 10800 block of Timer Dr.  The victim states money was withdrawn from his checking account without his authorization.
Oscar Baez, age 48, of 10826 Cape Cod Ln., Huntley was charged with allowing access to alcohol by minors.  In the same incident five juveniles ages 15 and 16 years old from Huntley and Lake in the Hills were charged with consumption of alcohol by a minor.  All subjects were released with a McHenry County court date of May 23, 2011.
April 16
Ivan Gomez, age 21, of 924 Front St., McHenry, was arrested for driving while license suspended and was cited for driving with no insurance and driving with a defective windshield.  Mr. Gomez posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 27, 2011.
April 17
Paige N. Cook, age 20, of 11602 E. Main St., Huntley, was arrested for criminal trespass to residence.  Ms. Cook posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.
A criminal damage to vehicle report was taken in the 11600 block of Main St.
Jasmine C. Phrathep, age 19, of 1607 Marlbor Circle, Carpentersville, was arrested for driving with no valid drivers license and was cited for a tinted window violation.  Ms. Phrathep posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of May 20, 2011.

Algonquin Bypass Demolition Set For Monday--Probably

The signs are up on Algonquin Road between Main Street and the Post Office warning of road construction starting Monday.  As the spray-painted signs nearby indicate, they're about Algonquin's Route 31 Bypass but what's scheduled to happen is more about demolition than construction and the start date's still a little tentative.

Algonquin Public Works Director Bob Mitchard said Wednesday 'dozers are scheduled Monday to start knocking down the Parkside, Burnex and Roadhouse buildings and a barn to make way for bypass construction. That means big trucks entering and leaving the roadway to bring in the machines and haul away the debris.

But that Monday start's contingent. "(IDOT's contractor) will begin demolition for the Bypass as soon as they get a permit from the Village," said Mitchard.  "They hope to get the permit tomorrow," he said but if the paperwork isn't straight by then, the work can't start Monday since Village Offices will be closed for Good Friday.

Whenever work begins, the construction signs undoubtedly have one part right for sure: "Expect Delays".

Chesak/Martin PTA Flower Sale Underway

Although it's hard to believe, by the calendar it's really Spring and one of these days the weather's going to act like it.  The first nice day thousands will  suddenly  find themselves gripped by the urge to rush out of the house, bask in the sun and, um,  yeah, dig a hole and, erh, yeah, plant something!

Not entirely by chance, the Chesak/Martin PTA is once again offering a variety of 10-inch baskets and 48-plants flats at 2007 prices (tax included, yet) just in time for spring planting and Mother's Day. All the flowers are locally started in Marengo, by the way.

The baskets are $14 and the flats are $13. There's an order form here: http://www.cmpta158.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/10_11_FlowerSaleFlyer.108100055.pdf but the orders are due Monday.  Pickup's at Chesak Elementary May 4.

A portion of all the PTA flower sales goes towards the beautification of the Chesak and Martin schools' campus with shrubs, trees and flowers.

Turning Point To Hold Annual Auction

Turning Point, McHenry County's domestic violence agency, will host a fund raising auction next Friday in Crystal Lake. The event will feature dinner and an auction of items  ranging  from  a pearl and coral necklace to (we're not making this up) a wheelbarrow full of chocolate.

Turning Point serves victims of domestic violence with group and individual counseling, legal and other advocacy, a partner intervention program and educational programs in area schools. The agency is celebrating 30 years of service to McHenry County this year.

The evening will begin with a silent auction at 6:30 pm  Friday, April 29, followed by dinner and a live auction at Crystal Lake Country Club. Tickets to the event are $75 and may be reserved by calling Turning Point at (815) 338 8081.


A complete list of items for auction is here: http://www.mchenrycountyturningpoint.org/blog/. 

In the pic:  Renee Shopp of Direct Service Counseling displays a handmade quilt up for auction at next week's Turning Point fundraiser.

Quinn Wants More Time For Expired Appointees

By Diane S.W. Lee, Illinois Statehouse News
Lawmakers are remulling a proposal that would have tightened the executive appointment process. The Legislature two months ago approved a bill requiring him to renominate appointees whose terms have expired. Tuesday Quinn used his amendatory power to tack on a provision to keep appointees from the previous administration in office a while longer.

"My recommendations for change would honor the intent of the sponsors but would also give citizens ample time to apply for a vacant position and allow a reasonable amount of time for identifying and recruiting qualified candidates,"  Quinn said in an emailed statement.

The legislation would have cleared out expired salaried appointees once their terms ended, unless renominated by the governor and then reconfirmed by the Senate. Unsalaried appointees would have had 30 days to leave their jobs. Quinn made changes to keep salaried appointees in office until July 1, and unsalaried appointees until Oct. 1.

Some 547 appointees are serving expired terms, according to information from John Patterson, a spokesman for Senate Democrats.

Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for for Senate President John Cullerton said, "I think it is important for people to know cleaning up the appointments process in the wake of the (Gov. Rod) Blagojevich scandal remains a top priority for the Senate president."

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said the House will wait to see what the Senate does with the legislation. Lawmakers in both chambers can vote to accept Quinn's changes, or override his partial veto with a three-fifths vote.

You can read Diane's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5814/quinn-wants-more-time-for-expired-appointees/

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 20
0854 HRS 0 BLOCK OF CRIMSON CT. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1018 HRS 1480 IMHOFF DR. (M&A PRECISION TRUCK). INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Information received regarding a location of a stolen vehicle. UNFOUNDED.
1047 HRS 300 BLOCK OF HIAWATHA DR. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 64 years of age with high blood pressure. No transport.
1248 HRS 1115 CRYSTAL LAKE RD. (LAKE IN THE HILLS POLICE). SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. PENDING INVESTIGATION.
1517 HRS 4400 BLOCK OF LARKSPUR LN. HIT & RUN. Vehicle struck a mailbox and left.
1528 HRS 100 BLOCK OF WANDER WAY. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1832 HRS MILLER RD. & WORTHINGTON LN. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO STATE PROPERTY. Speed readout trailer was damaged by a glass bottle.

Thumbs Down To Smaller County Board, Districts

By a show of hands the County Board gave an initial thumbs down to changing McHenry County's 24-member, six-district regime during the upcoming redistricting process.  Most seemed to agree Tuesday with District 6 Member Ersel Schuster that, "It's not broken."

The naysayers were far from united, some favoring a smaller Board, others supporting smaller districts.  The straw poll vote in a Committee of the Whole meeting was about 3 to 1 in favor of the status quo but only 19 members were present.  It wasn't binding but the straw poll indicated an uphill fight to change things before an official vote in four weeks. Then everyone will have to buckle down to draw new district maps before a July 6 (it being Illinois, more or less) deadline.

Consultant and West Chicago GOP State Rep. Mike Fortner in a briefing to the Board in full session said one problem, McHenry County's roughly 10 percent Hispanic population, is solved already.  According to Fortner's analysis of current precincts, "It is not possible to draw a district with a majority minority population even if the County had 24 single-member districts."

That just leaves six geographic criteria and six political ones to satisfy in drawing the new map, at least on paper.  For instance, "There are over 30 different measures of what it means to be 'compact' that have held up in court," according to Fortner. "Illinois law is largely silent on details," he said.

The only clear criterion is that districts have to be about the same size.  In the case of six, each one would have to encompass about 51,500 people, but by State law the difference between the smallest and the largest couldn't be more than 10 percent.  Board Chairman Ken Koehler said it would be good to hold that to 3 percent.

Former County Democratic Chairman Kathy Bergan Schmidt,  made the case for a smaller Board with one-person districts.  "You don't have to have a private fortune or a great funding machine.  You could get out and do a little grassroots campaigning," she said.

District 6's Randy Donley suggested a smaller professional Board, salaried at $40,000 per year, "to keep up with other counties."

District 5's Paul Yensen from LITH said it would be nice if a new map actually gave some voice to the southeast corner of the county.  "I'm probably the only one in my district that represents the lower area," she said.

One way or another, the present Board is geographically and politically lopsided.  Listed by where Members actually live instead of by nominal district and including party affiliation here's how it currently shapes up:

(R)James L Heisler--Crystal Lake
(R)Ken Koehler--Crystal Lake
(R)Donna Kurtz--Crystal Lake
(D)Kathleen Bergan Schmidt--Crystal Lake
(R)Barbara Wheeler--Crystal Lake
(R)Mary L. Donner--Crystal Lake

(R)Tina Hill--Woodstock
(R)John Jung--Woodstock
(R)Virginia Peschke--Woodstock
(R)Mary T. McCann--Woodstock
(R)Ersel Schuster--Woodstock

(R)Peter J. Merkel--McHenry
(R)Sandra Fay Salgado--McHenry
(R)Nick Provenzano--McHenry

(R)Robert "Bob" Nowak--Cary
(R)Anna May Miller--Cary

(R)Sue Draffkorn--Wonder Lake
(R)John Hammerand--Wonder Lake

(R)Marc Munaretto--Algonquin
(D)Paula Yensen--Lake in the Hills
(R)Robert Bless--Fox River Grove
(R)Diane Evertsen--Harvard
(R)Scott Breeden--Lakewood
(R)Randy Donley--Union

In the pic:  The McHenry County Board Tuesday raised their hands to give a thumbs down to a smaller Board and smaller districts.

No More Money Yet For Special Prosecutors

McHenry County won't pay the latest Bianchi Special Prosecutors' bill for at least two more weeks.  After an unusual closed-door joint session Tuesday of the Board's Finance and Audit and Law and Justice committees to add about $13,000 to the fund for Prosecutors' bills, members emerged to say they wouldn't make a decision until May 2.

The extra money would have been enough to pay the Special Prosecutor's latest $90,000 round of bills now totaling $312,000 for an investigation and prosecution of State's Attorney Lou Bianchi that in an embarrassing fashion so far has yielded nothing.

A late-arriving FEN reporter had three seconds before being chivvied out to observe State Appellate Prosecutor Charles Colburn briefing Members on what he thought the law had to say about Special Prosecutors' compensation. Circuit Judge Gordon Graham last week rejected Colburn's arguments on behalf of County coffers that the bills he'd ok'ed for Henry "Skip" Tonigan and Thomas K. McQueen were way too high.

After Tuesday's session, Finance Chairman Scott Breeden would only say three different ways that the group hadn't reached a decision, but he wouldn't say what they hadn't reached a decision about.

Board Chairman Ken Koehler smiled and commented cryptically, "The plot thickens."

Law Chairman Nick Provenzano said, "I think we need to let the justice system work its way through.  We're not going to jump to any rash decisions."

One possibly rash decision right now might be to appeal Graham's ruling.  Directly or indirectly, the judge is going to have to consider the matter again soon since Bianchi defense attorney Terry Ekl has also asked to have Special Prosecutor's bills examined only on behalf of some Bianchi-supporting taxpayers instead of the County itself.

In the pic: Finance and Audit Chairman Scott Breeden (left) and Law and Justice Chairman Nick Provenzano.

FUN Fair Planned For Marlowe Middle School

Friends of the District 158 Education Foundation plan “The Greatest FUN Fair on Earth” May 6 at Marlowe Middle School.  Fun is described as including games, prizes, hot dogs, pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, hissing cockroaches and a Burmese python.

This year’s Fair has a Big Top circus theme, hence the cotton candy and unusual fauna. For  $5 per person, families can purchase a punch pass for eight designated games, popcorn and a door prize raffle ticket. |Concession tickets at $1 and
 50¢ tickets for extra games will also be available, not to mention raffle tickets for more prizes!

The Fair's free Side Show features naturalist Dan Mitchell of the Bartlett Nature Center. That includes a "hands-on encounter", apparently with the afore-mentioned cockroaches and python and whatever else Mitchell brings along.

Punch passes are available at www.district158.org/education-foundation, or from Tami Buczkiewicz at (224) 569-6284 or Linda Lipse at (630) 728-4700.

In addition to having fun, participants are encouraged to give back to the community by bringing a canned food donation for the Grafton Township Food Pantry.

Treasurer Supports Short-Term Borrowing

By Diane S.W. Lee, Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford met privately Tuesday with Governor Pat Quinn to lobby against a plan to borrow $8.75 billion to help the state pay off its $9 billion to $10 billion debt. Quinn wants to borrow $2 billion in short-term loans to help pay the state's backlog of bills.

“I told him I don’t support the $8.7 billion borrowing plan; 14-year payment ballooned at the end,” Rutherford said. “I said ‘I don’t support any of that stuff, but I will work with you on short-term borrowing, which I can either sign-off on that or not.’”

The quicker the State pays its bills the more of an $80 billion  federal stimulus fund it can claim for Medicaid match rates to hospitals and nursing homes. Since March 31, Illinois' match dropped from 59 percent to 57 percent early this month. By July 1, the match will drop to 50 percent because of late pays.

"We do not want to leave over $200 million in federal match on the table," Quinn's spokeswoman Kelly Kraft said. "We want to get this debt restructured, so we can take advantage of an extra $200 million that we could use for programs in our state. We want to get these bills paid. And the sooner we do that, the more match we get." The comptroller's office estimates the state has $4.7 billion in unpaid bills as of Tuesday afternoon.

Comptroller's spokesman Brad Hahn said at the moment Judy Barr Topinka doesn't believe in short-term borrowing.

Quinn needs to win support from Republicans in both chambers for any borrowing measure, which requires a three-fifths vote. The governor and his office have discussed with both the treasurer and comptroller solutions to the state's budget challenges, Kraft said.

“I am cautiously optimistic that before this is all over at the end of May, that we will be able to have some kind of a reasonable effort on the finances of our state,” Rutherford said. "The two biggest sticking points will be the public pensions and workers' comp."

You can read Diane's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5811/treasurer-offers-support-for-short-term-borrowing/

No Borrowing For State Pensions This Year Claim Legislators

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
Paying bills from your checking account usually isn’t a big deal, unless you're the State of Illinois. The General Assembly's approved a plan to pay about $4.5 billion into its various pension systems during the upcoming fiscal year using cash instead of borrowing. It's the first time that has happened in two years.

In the current year, Illinois sold $3.7 billion in bonds in February and $3.5 billion in bonds in January 2010 to cover the pension payment.

“This is a message that we’re no longer going to kick the can down the road,” State Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge, said. “It’s going to allow us to keep a commitment we made as Democrats this year that we’re going to fully fund our pension system and that borrowing is no longer going to be an option.”

The state’s unfunded pension liabilities — how much the state has promised to pay employees when they retire minus funds that will be available for pensions — stands at $79 billion, according to a recent report from the University of Illinois’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

J. Fred Giertz, is a professor of economics at the University of Illinois and a member of the Institute of Government and Public affairs. He explained at a recent symposium on Illinois’ pension systems that when revenue slows for governments, it’s easier to skirt payments that don’t have an immediate effect. “If you don’t have enough money, what do you do? Well if you don’t want to raise taxes, you don’t want to make cuts, you simply don’t put all the money into the pension system that’s need that particular year,” Giertz said. “And nothing bad happens right away, but you do that year after year after year and sort of the opposite of compound interest (happens).” Money not put into the funds is money that can’t be invested and therefore can’t bring in a return. “One hundred million dollars not put in 20 years ago becomes a $1 billion shortfall today,” Giertz went on to say.

The situation has been dire enough to push through changes for new state employees last year. This “second tier” of employees must wait until they are 67 years old, instead of 60 years old, to retire to get their full benefits. Additionally, the new law limits cost of living adjustments to 3 percent or half of the actual inflation rate, whichever is less. However none of those changes have any impact on what the state already owes employees.

You can read Andrew's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5812/pensions-to-be-paid-without-borrowing-first-time-in-two-years-2/

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 19
0711 HRS ALGONQUIN RD. & PYOTT RD. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED. ORTEGA-MENDEZ, CARLOS, M/W 38 YEARS OF AGE, 164 B WOOODSTOCK ST., CRYSTAL LAKE. CHARGES: Driving While License Suspended, No Valid Drivers License, Failure to Yield.
RELEASED ON BOND.
1619 HRS ALGONQUIN RD. & LAKEWOOD RD. POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED A SUBSTANCE. TIRADO, ANTONIO, M/W 23 YEARS OF AGE, 716 SANDRA LN., CARY. CHARGES: Two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Class 4 Felony), Driving without a Seat Belt, Texting while Driving, Failure to Notify Secretary of State of Address Change, Driving with No Insurance. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
0703 HRS 3900 BLOCK OF PEARTREE DR. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 58 years of age, with low blood pressure. Transported to Northern Illinois Medical Center.
1134 HRS 0 BLOCK OF CHADWICK CT. LOST ARTICLE. Lost passport.
1538 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF CUNAT CT. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 35 years of age, with back pain. Transported to Sherman Hospital.
1629 HRS 300 BLOCK OF CLEAR SKY TRAIL. MISSING JUVENILE. Female, 17 years of age, left the residence. Subject was located. Transported to Sherman Hospital for an evaluation.
2135 HRS 2300 BLOCK OF CLAREMONT LN. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Subject possibly trespassing. Subject was issued a trespass warning.

ALITH Food Pantry Remodel: Back To Square One?

A complicated land deal nine years ago has suddenly knocked plans into a hat to remodel the Algonquin Lake in the Hills Interfaith Food Pantry.  That might turn out to be a good thing in the long run, though.

The Pantry's architect was in the middle of generating construction drawings to revamp its current location in a drafty, leaky Lake in the Hills machine shed on Oak Street when attorneys reported that the Village had finally assumed full title to the Gordon Larsen farm on Pyott Road.  Suddenly Village staff had to figure out what to do with the Larsen home, barn and (Hmm.)  large weather-tight pole barn.

LITH bought the 30-acre farm from prominent business figure Gordon Larsen in 2002 so he wouldn't have to sell some of the last open property on the village's east side to developers.  The price was about half the property's then-appraised $5 million value but it came with a catch;  Larsen and his wife got to use their home and surrounding four acres for the rest of their lives.  For Larsen, killed in a car crash the following year, that wasn't long but wife Joan survived him until last September.

When the lawyers closed out all the paperwork a couple of weeks ago, LITH staffers found themselves facing the unexpected question of what to do with the property.  "We need equipment storage," said Village Administrator Jerry Sagona, "and we need to decide if the house should be rented out."  And then there was that pole barn.

"I heard about it from Jerry Sagona," said Pantry Director Dick Hoferle. "He wanted to know if there was a possibility we could do something with it."

Architect Jim Steigert figured with a little remodeling, indeed there was, more than the Pantry had been planning at the Oak Street location.  "I could see it would cost out pretty much the same," said Steigert.

The Larsen barn's in a less public spot than Oak Street and it's bigger, too.  That would allow the Pantry to open, say, a revnue-generating resale shop later on.  "Then they wouldn't be living a, pardon the pun, 'hand to mouth' existence," said Steigert.

"The location would be parklike, a really nice place for our clients," said Hoferle but he observed the whole idea's still in the brainstorm stage right now.  "If anything happens it would still have to be approved by the Lake in the Hills Board," he said.

In the pic:  The Algonquin Lake in the Hills Food Pantry might move into this pole barn at the back of the Gordon Larsen farmstead on Pyott Road.

Bianchi Bills May Bring Battle

Lines are being drawn in the sand in a battle shaping up over how big a bill McHenry County's going to be stuck with in the so-far failed Lou Bianchi prosecution.  One line was half-drawn in Springfield Friday and the County Board may gouge out another one this evening.

Special Prosecutors in the Bianchi case so far have submitted bills for $312,000 and that's only through last November.  About half of the total's for a PI company that conducted investigations but the other half is bills from the Special Prosecutors themselves. Some Board members were upset about that even before a Rockford judge ended the State's Attorney's misconduct trial early ruling the Prosecutors picked the wrong laws for their charges and didn't have any evidence for those, anyway.

Last week Judge Gordon Graham, who's been reviewing the Special Prosecutors' bills, refused a County motion to pare the bills down even though there's a law that says he could. The next day the Illinois House almost unanimously passed a bill by McHenry County legislators Mike Tryon and Jack Franks that matches complaints about Graham's handling of the case in detail.

The proposed change says the next time a county needs a special prosecutor, first preference should be one that's free--a lawyer from the Attorney General's Office, the Appellate Prosecutor's Office or some other county's State's Attorney's office.  The bill also says if a judge hires a private Special Prosecutor, the county gets a voice in setting his pay and if an investigation balloons past its original purpose, the county's supposed to be told about it.  Finally, the proposed  law says the county's supposed to get an itemized bill for a Special Prosecutor, not a one-line summary.

Tryon said in a release Monday, "County board members are the custodians of the taxpayers’ money, the current method by which the they must blindly pay these bills is unacceptable.”

Over the weekend there was speculation about McHenry County's appealing Graham's decision, at least on the latest $90,000 worth of Bianchi bills.  After Graham appointed the Special Prosecutors, the County kept adding $100,000 chunks of money to a kitty set aside to pay their bills.  This evening the County Finance and Audit Committee will consider topping the kitty up with another $12,000.  That would be just enough to cover the bills so far but more are expected. 
 

Reservations Due For St. Margaret Mary Bunco

"What do you have with three dice, a bell and lots of food and drink?"  Dice? Bell? ...Sky Masterson and Sergeant Sarah Brown--A production of Guys and Dolls?  "A Bunco Party!" (Don't you hate trick questions?)

Anyway, make your reservation now for St. Margaret Mary Youth Ministry's Bunco evening Friday, April 29, at 7:30 pm in McDonnell Hall in Algonquin.  A $25 donation will buy hours of fun, lots of appetizers and desserts, beverages and the chance of winning swell prize baskets. The Bunco Pary will benefit St. Marget Mary's World Youth Day Pilgrimage Fund

Questions?  Call Barb Read at 847-366-4516 or email her at readbw@comcast.net .

Rutherford Revamps Agriculture Loan Program

By Mary Massingale, Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford celebrated his 99th day in office Monday by revamping a low-interest loan program for farmers. “Ag Invest” now replaces “Cultivate Illinois,” and Rutherford said it offers a lower interest rate and streamlined process for Illinois farmers to borrow for operating expenses, construction needs or equipment.

The program is open to any Illinois farmer, according to Rutherford. "Ag Invest" lends money from the treasurer's office to participating banks and credit unions, which then lend it to farmers who apply for loans. Rutherford said he froze the program during his first weeks in office to examine it. He said he was surprised to find that the drop-off in the agriculture loan program during the four previous years was “dramatic.”

“Come to find out, the interest rates were not competitive in today’s market,” Rutherford said. “We found out that there was excessive amounts of paperwork and bureaucracy involved with participating. We found out that the threshold or the dollars available was relatively modest.”

The program offers funding from the treasurer’s office to financial institutions at 1 percent interest — instead of 2 percent —  to be loaned to farmers at a maximum of 4.5 percent. The program also increases the amount of an annual loan from $100,000 to $120,000 per individual, and from $200,000 to $240,000 for a single farm. Five-year loans for up to $200,000 also can be locked in at 4.5 percent.

Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson said he was glad when Rutherford approached him to work out the kinks in the program. “I think this is going to be a much more customer-friendly approach for the people that utilize this program,” Nelson said.

“Ag Invest” is one of several “linked-deposit” programs the treasurer’s office offers, with $500 million available from the state's portfolio. However, 80 percent of the funding for "linked-deposit" programs — which use money lent from the treasurer’s office at a low interest rate to banks and credit unions to loan out for specific needs — are used in the “Ag Invest” program, he said.

You can read Mary's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5796/rutherford-revamps-agriculture-loan-program-for-farmers/

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 18
1643 HRS LAKEWOOD RD. & ALGONQUIN RD. NO VALID DRIVER’S LICENSE. GARCIA, RENE, M/W 25 YEARS OF AGE, 1435 KINGS RD., CARPENTERSVILLE. CHARGES: No Valid Driver’s License. RELEASED ON BOND.
0824 HRS ALGONQUIN RD. & HILLTOP DR. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1035 HRS RANDALL RD. & POLARIS DR. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1333 HRS 10 BLOCK OF DEERPATH. ASSIST OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENT. Assisted West Dundee Police with the apprehension of a battery suspect.
1357 HRS 2400 BLOCK OF CLAREMONT LN. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 19 months old, having difficulty breathing. Transported to Woodstock Centegra Hospital.
1555 HRS 100 BLOCK OF QUAIL RUN. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 45 years of age, having a seizure. No transport.
1606 HRS 250 N. RANDALL RD. (COSTCO). INFORMATION FOR POLICE. The wind blew a shopping cart into complainant’s vehicle. Report for insurance.
1900 HRS 1200 BLOCK OF ASH ST. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 48 years of age, violently vomiting. Transported to Sherman Hospital.
2023 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF CUNAT CT. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 32 years of age, having chest pains. Transported to Sherman Hospital.
2127 HRS 2600 BLOCK OF MELBOURNE LN. CRIMINAL TRESPASS TO PROPERTY. Subject trespassing on property. PENDING INVESTIGATION BY REPORTING OFFICER.
2242 HRS 5400 BLOCK OF WILDSPRING DR. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 65 years of age, having difficulty breathing. Transported to Woodstock Centegra Hospital.

Emerald Borers: Kiss Your Ash Goodbye

"It's exactly what (researchers) said it was going to be," said Algonquin Parks and Forestry  Superintendent Steve Ludwig last week.  The number of Emerald Ash Borer infested trees by the Village's latest count has doubled again.  After four years, roughly one quarter of the ash trees in Algonquin are contaminated, according to Ludwig.

In fact, the Ash Borer is spreading so fast in Algonquin that Tuesday the Village Board will probably OK the purchase of a new heavy duty stump grinder.  The one the Village uses now doesn't work fast enough.

"We've got 578 trees (this year)," said Ludwig.  That brings the borer's toll so far to about 1,000 of the formerly 4,400 ash trees growing on village verges and parkland. "It's present in every neighborhood in the Village now," Ludwig reported.  He only monitors the trees that belong to the village but Ludwig said since the bugs don't care who owns an ash, residents' trees are probably similarly infested.

The Emerald Ash Borer's a Chinese bug thought to have hitchhiked to the US on wooden shipping pallets.  In the past 10 years the half-inch monsters have spread from their original entrance point near Detroit throughout the Midwest.  They turned up in Algonquin in 2008, and LITH and Huntley the following year and they've been spreading every since.

That's going to be rough since a tree census in Algonquin, for instance, found one out of every four trees was a cheap fast-growing ash.  "It's a natural disaster," said Ludwig. "You manage it as best you can."

Algonquin's info page about Emeral Ash Borers is here: http://www.algonquin.org/egov/docs/1292078273657.htm

In the pic:  Algonquin workers planted a northern catalpa on Timberwood Lane last week, a replacement for one of the Village's many whilom ash trees.

Now Two (Count 'Em, 2) Entrances To LITH Fen

Lake in the Hills Fen finally has two official ways to get in after McHenry County Conservation District's dedication this weekend of a new entrance on Jefferson Street to the nature preserve including a parking area and restrooms.

The project was under construction most of last year but the restroom facilities weren't finished until late in the season so the official opening waited until this year.  Besides the new entrance it includes asphalt paths for walking through the preserve just like the Pottawatamies used to use.

Gail and Phyllis Harms who farmed the area 60 years ago stopped by Sunday to examine the new facilities.  "We're so happy," said Phyllis.  "We were always afraid the frontage was going to be turned into a shopping center."

Counting the newly-cleared Rothschild parcel, the Fen now includes nearly 400 acres of dry hill prairie, sedge meadow and rare calcereous fen.  The other Fen entrance is at the back end of Barbara Key Park in Lake in the Hills.

In the pic:  Lakewood resident Gail Harms examined the information board at the new entrance to Lake In the Hills Fen Sunday. 

Huntley Route 47 Widening Update

Weather permitting (!), IDOT crews wills start to lay sidewalks today on the west side of Route 47 between Mill Street and Kreutzer Road in Huntley. Whenever the pour begins, it'll squeeze 47 down to one lane with flaggers directing traffic so village officials warn to be prepared for long traffic delays.

Sanitary sewers and water mains are still being installed on the East side of 47 between Main and Kenneth, temporarily blocking driveways. Meanwhile crews will be putting down roadway base aggregate throughout the project. IDOT plans to keep access open to Dean Street, Mill Street, and Main Street, though, according to a release.

Installation of new street lights along the West side of 47 between Algonquin Road and Vine Street is also set this week.

AAYO Ramps Up For New Ball Season

The AAYO Aces travel baseball team held a Fastpitch Softball Spring Training Camp at Presidential Park Sunday.  The 12 U team also took time out to trounce their Warren counterparts 18 to 2 and then put in a little more training time after lunch.

Coach Rich Reidel said his group's got 60 games on tap this year before the big showdown in Cooperstown in July. "It's all about concentrating on business and team chemistry," he said.

The Algonquin Area Youth Organization wouldn't mind having a few more volunteers sign up to help the 1,000 or so kids signed up this year.  You can find out all about the program here:

http://www.aayo.net/home.html?org_id=80&page=info&info_id=1540

In the pic:  Players worked off that "I shouldn't have eaten that last hot dog" languor at an AAYO session in Algonquin Sunday.

LITH Legion Fish Fry Coming Good Fri.

Post 1231 has its big annual Fish Fry set for Friday with a big banner advertising it at Algonquin and Crystal Lake Roads.  However, cars fly by there so fast it might be safer to read it here.

Too Many Taxing Authorities In Illinois?

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois has too many units of government, at least according to Illinois Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat. Illinois leads the nation with the number of taxing bodies nearly 7,000. Link is behind a plan to eliminate or consolidate some of them.

“We’ve studied this to death, because Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing, we do have too many units of local government,” Link said. Taxing authorities include park districts, townships, counties and even mosquito abatement districts. The large number stems from a 19th century law that limited how much debt local governments could take on. That law has since changed, but the large number of taxing bodies has not.

Link’s measure, Senate Bill 173, creates an eight-person commission to study the topic. The four legislative leaders would each appoint two members to the commission, although no local government official could serve on the panel. Commission members would then recommend eliminating or consolidating either a specific type of taxing body or individual taxing districts. A majority of the panel would have to agree for a unit of government to be put on the "end" list. The list would go to the General Assembly for an up or down vote.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, called Link’s proposal imperfect, but commended him for taking on the topic. “I have a problem with some of the provisions in here, but he’s taking a stab at what everyone in this room says is a problem, but there’s been a real hesitancy to reach out and make a specific attempt to deal with it,” said Righter, who voted against the plan in a committee hearing.

Others had stronger opinions. Timothy Bramlet, of Township Officials of Illinois, called the measure unconstitutional.  Having eight unelected people holding the fate of the more than 1,400 townships in the state in their hands is unacceptable, according to Bramlet. “I think it usurps your authority, your power, the voters’ authority and power and the ability of townships and other local governments to make our case before you as elected officials, or voters by referendum,” Bramlet said.

You can read Andrew's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5755/too-many-taxing-authorities-in-illinois/

Troubled College Investment Prompts Investigation

By Diane S.W. Lee, Illinois Statehouse News
House lawmakers lst week unanimously called for an investigation into the investment practices of the state’s College Illinois tuition program. Families make payments to "lock in" present rates but a recent state audit revealed the program is underfunded 31 percent and wasted millions on “risky” investments last year.

State Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, is chief sponsor of the resolution. He invested in a 15-year contract with the program for his 9-year-old daughter. “I thought it was a good, safe investment,” Durkin said, “… to ensure that my daughter would have an affordable education available for her by the time she graduates from high school.” About 55,000 students participate statewide.

The office of Illinois Auditor General William Holland released a report last week raising red flags about the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s investment losses and questionable business practices concerning College Illinois.
 The audit found that ISAC in 2008 invested $12.7 million in Chicago-based Shorebank, despite concerns about the bank's financial health. When federal regulators closed the bank in 2010, the original investment was worthless. Also, College Illinois had a deficit of $338 million on June 30, and a deficit of $342 million in 2009.

An investigation would help ensure the program lives up to its marketing as “low-risk,” Durkin said. “We need to restore confidence in the parents who have made these investments for their children and grandchildren," Durkin said. The audit revealed officials invested in “virtually all stocks and bonds” in 2009, but by January 2011, had shifted $419 million of its investment portfolio into “riskier alternatives,” like hedge funds, real estate and private equity, according to the resolution.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said the new audit would help to ensure college investments are available in the future. Lang also invested in the program for his daughter, who is now in college. “We are going to take care of these college savings,” Lang said, “and make sure that the money is there to send our kids to college, especially when it is so expensive now.”

The resolution calls for the Auditor General’s office to conduct a management audit into the program’s administrative operations and its recent cost growth. The Auditor General’s office is expected to submit its findings to the Illinois Legislature and the governor by Jan. 15

You can read Diane's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5756/troubled-college-illinois-program-prompts-legislative-investigation/

Obituaries

Edward J. Olsen Jr., 60, of Union died Saturday at the Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry. A memorial gathering will be held from 5 to 8 pm Wednesday, at the DeFiore-Jorgensen Funeral  & Cremation Service, Huntley.

Olsen was born July 6, 1950, in Elgin, the son of Edward J. Olsen and Mary Ann Pape. He is survived by his daughter, Kris (Steve) Haldiman of Janesville, his son, Erik Olsen of Woodstock, his grandchildren, Seth and Matthew Haldiman and his father, Edward J. Olsen Sr., of Houston, MO. He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathleen, his mother, Mary Ann, and an infant brother.

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 17
1018 HRS 400 BLOCK OF VILLAGE CREEK DR. DOMESTIC BATTERY/ DIAZ, BEATRIZ. F/W 30 YEARS OF AGE. 5426 CROSSVIEW LN., LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Two Counts of Domestic Battery. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
1947 HRS RANDALL RD. & ACKMAN RD. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED/WANTED ON WARRANT. MCARDLE, ERIN M., F/W 36 YEARS OF AGE, 1330 IVY LN., CRYSTAL LAKE. CHARGES: Driving While License Suspended, Wanted on Warrant, McHenry County, for Probation
Violation for Traffic Offense. Bond Set at $5,000/10% Applies. Wanted on Warrant, McHenry County, for Failure to Appear for Traffic Offense. Bond Set at $5,000/10% Applies. RELEASED ON BOND.
0027 HRS 800 BLOCK OF PROVENCE PL. DOMESTIC. Ex-husband vs. Ex-wife. Verbal only. No priors.
0050 HRS 200 BLOCK OF HAWTHORNE RD. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 24 years of age, made suicidal statements. No transport.
0933 HRS 20 BLOCK OF HILLTOP DR. ACCIDENT. Vehicle vs. boulder.
1012 HRS 900 BLOCK OF NOELLE BEND. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. Vehicle scratched while parked in driveway.
1353 HRS 250 RANDALL RD. (COSTCO). ACCIDENT Three vehicles. Property damage only.
1438 HRS 2265 W ALGONQUIN RD. (THORNTONS). ACCIDENT. Vehicle vs. handicap sign.
1804 HRS 600 BLOCK OF LORREE LN. BURGLARY TO A MOTOR VEHICLE. Items removed from an unsecured vehicle parked in the garage. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
Algonquin
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Politcos Complain In First Local Redistricting Meet

About 45 area political pros and a handful of actual citizens turned out at Marengo High School Saturday for the first of 15 Illinois hearings by the House Redistricting Committee.  That's one of two tasked with drawing the State's new state and congressional legislative maps now that the 2010 census figures are official.

The number of districts will stay the same but their boundaries have to be reconfigured. There's 3.3 percent more people in the state than 10 years ago, but the newcomers are haphazardly distributed.  Where the revised lines fall could affect the balance of political power in both the Congress and Legislature.  The concept's embedded in the Federal Voting Rights Act which protetcts a number of ethnic groups.  It doesn't shelter Republicans, though, and that worries the Illinois GOP since Democrats control both State Chambers and the Governor's Office, to boot.

"What's the name of the street where we're meeting?" asked GOP McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler. (Marengo high school's located on Franks Road, a hop and a skip from the law offices of Democrat Jack Franks who represents the more or less non-suburban part of McHenry County.)

Democratic State Rep. Lou Lang, Skokie, who chaired Saturday's hearing said it was to gather information so the process would be fully transparent.  McHenry County Republican State Rep. Mike Tryon said he thought things would be transparent, all right.  "I don't really think a Democratic Legislature is going to vote against a Democratic-drawn map." 

Tryon said all he hoped was the Committee would at least put up the map two or three weeks ahead of approval so everyone can complain about it.  "I think the public will lose a lot of trust if we don't put the map out."

The new map won't just affect macropolitics, though. Depending on how the lines twist and turn it could also affect local representation.  A lot of people Saturday complained the current lines leave residents in some McHenry communities cut off from their next-door neighbors.  Right now, for instance, district boundaries already chainsaw through the southern parts of Huntley and Algonquin.

Former Sun City resident, now Algonquinite, Jim Carlin spoke warmly of both Tryon who represents the McHenry County parts of the two villages and Tim Schmitz who represents the Kane County bits.  Even so, he said, "I'd like to see a single Representative and a single Senator" for each village.

Woodstock resident Bill Jordan ranged through ancient Greece and Medieval Venice to come up with a 21st Century idea:  cut the politicians out of the process and leave it up to a computer.  "An algorithm could be written into the (State) Constitution," he suggested.

In the pic:  (right to left) Skokie State Rep. (D) Lou Lang, an unidentified staffer, Marengo State Rep. (D) Jack Franks, Spring Valley State Rep. (D) Bud Mautino and Crystal Lake State Rep. (R) Mike Tryon at Saturday's redistricting hearing in Marengo.

McHenry County Home Prices Rise But Remain Low

Home prices bounced back in March according to the latest report from the McHenry County Association of Realtors.  Despite the increase the price of an average home remained low,
only $174,000.  It was the second-lowest figure in three years, only exceeded by February's $167,000 number.  Worse, the average came from 200 home sales during the month, the best showing since October.

The March figures were generally in line with the latest report from housing analyst company Clear Capital which this month said except for the nation's still-declining western region, housing prices have at least flattened out.  “While some markets are already in double dip territory, specifically in the West, widespread fear of a collective fall in market prices is overstated,”  said Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital.

Still troubling, however, the average time to sale on a McHenry County home rose again in March according to the McHAR report.  At 200 days it was the third-highest in the past three years, exceeded only three times, twice back in 2009 and again this January.

McHAR's report covers Alden, Algonquin, Cary, Oakwood Hills, Chemung, Harvard, Lawrence, Crystal Lake, Lakewood, Prairie Grove, Fox River Grove, Bull Valley, Greenwood, Woodstock, Harmony, Marengo, Hebron, Huntley, Holiday Hills, Johnsburg, McHenry, Lake Moor, McCullom
Lake, Sunnyside, Ringwood, Lake In The Hills, Richmond, SolonMills, Spring Grove, Union, and Wonder Lake.

In the graph:  One group of analysts read these curves as national home prices stabilizing.

LITH Rotary Mission Aids Guatemalan Villagers

The pictures are back from the Rexall after LITH Rotary's expedition to Guatamala a couple of weeks ago.  (They're really digital but Internet access is one of many scarce commodities in the Central American hinterlands.) Nine Rotarians and some of their family members went to village called Ak Tenamit in the rainforest to help residents build a fish farm.

Rotary ex-President Steve Swanson said if everything works right the farm will produce about 5 tons of tilapia each month to supplement the villagers' current diet of "corn, beans and rice."  And all the, um, fish excreta will help fertilize a couple of hundred acres of fields where the soil's pretty poor right now, he said. In fact, Swanson said Rotarians were so impressed with the whole project they're trying to figure out if fish farming has some sort of application back here in the Midwest.

In the pic:  (left to right) LITH Rotarians Jim Wales and Steve Swanson and Wales' son, David, putting up the framework for a tank and growing beds at a fish farm last month in Guatemala.

Chicago Schools Workers' Reunion Set In Huntley

All working and former members of the Chicago Public School System (#299) in the area are invited to a reunion at the end of the month in Huntley.  The event, similar to last year's will be Saturday, April 30th, at 12:30 pm at Jameson's Restaurant in Sun City. RSPV to:  Ronda Goldman at rondanicky@hotmail.com by April 25th or call her at 224-654-2070.

Illinois Senators: Cuts Are A Must To Balance Budget

By Melissa Leu, Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois Senate Republicans and Democrats agree now that cuts are a must to balance next year’s budget, but they're still at loggerheads over how to do it. After the Senate Friday passed several measures to make payments to state pension funds, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said legislators would have to slash about $1.2 billion from Gov. Pat Quinn’s $35.4 billion budget to balance the checkbook for the next fiscal year.

“We’re not suggesting going behind closed doors, and having a take it or leave it plan that we dump on the desk of the members,” said Cullerton, who compared the process to budgets in recent years. Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, welcomed the idea of more cuts, but wanted to see fewer political “games” and a more holistic framework.

"That’s why we committed to put half the votes on any of these cuts," said Radogno. "But you don’t accomplish that by having a series of a partisan roll calls, and then turn around and use them in campaign brochures,” she said adding she hoped to see the governor’s office taking part in discussions.

For its part, Quinn’s office said it is welcoming collaboration with the Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives.

The Senate estimates the state will have $34.3 billion to spend for next fiscal year’s budget, a number senators based on information from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. On the House side, lawmakers are using a lower $33.2 billion budget estimate.  If the cuts don’t go far enough, Republicans won’t be voting on them individually, Radogno said.

You can read Melissa's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5759/illinois-senators-cuts-are-a-must-to-balance-budget/

McHenry County Indictments

A McHenry County Grand Jury returned indictments this past week against the following individuals:
The charges against these defendants are merely allegations against them.  The defendants are presumed innocent of any crime until proven guilty in court.
   
JUAN J. RIVERA, DOB:  09/09/83,    321 N. MAIN STREET  APT 1, ALGONQUIN. AGGRAVATED BATTERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, DOMESTIC BATTERY(2CTS).--Algonquin PD

MICHAEL G. AMMIRATI, DOB:  09/07/87, 31591 SAWGRASS COURT, LAKEMOOR. AGGRAVATED BATTERY, DISORDERLY CONDUCT(2CTS).--LITH PD

CHRISTOPHER P. RUMACHIK, DOB: 03/25/86, 927 ABERDEEN DRIVE, CRYSTAL LAKE. STALKING.--Cary PD.

COLBY L. CONLEY, DOB:  01/29/91, 5207 COBBLERS CROSSING, MCHENRY. RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY, THEFT.--McHenry PD
      
LARRY J. PRANGER, DOB:  08/22/69, 38 DEVLIN PLACE, KIRKSVILLE. BURGLARY, THEFT, CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.--Woodstock PD
  
CHARLES A. CAMPO, DOB:  07/04/85, 1404 MILLSTREAM DRIVE, MCHENRY. UNLAWFUL USE OF WEAPONS.
THOMAS P. FLEMING, DOB:  11/06/58, 1404 MILLSTREAM DRIVE, MCHENRY. UNLAWFUL USE OF WEAPONS, ARSON, POSSESSION OF EXPLOSIVES OR INCENDIARY DEVICES.--McHenry PD

LISA E. PESTKA, DOB:  02/16/61,    2020 GREENWOOD ROAD, WOODSTOCK. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.--McHenry County Sheriff's Office.

RICHARD HEDSTROM, DOB:  02/26/96, 610 AVENUE D, ROCK FALLS. BURGLARY, THEFT(4CTS).--McHenry County Sheriff's Office.
  
JOHNATHAN C. COULMAN, DOB:  03/27/81, N553 STATION STREET, ZENDA, WI. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL  POSSESSION OF CANNABIS, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.--Richmond, PD

Obituaries

Frank Pfeifer, 81, of Lake in the Hills died Thursday at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin. A Memorial Visitation will be held today from 2 to 5 pm at DeFiore Jorgensen Funeral Home, Huntley.

Pfeifer was born January 16, 1930, in Palanka, Yugoslavia, the son of Anton and Ewa Pfeifer. He worked as a cabinet maker until his retirement. He is survived by his children, Uwe (Cathy) Pfeifer of Huntley, Miguel Pfeifer of Palatine and Carmen (Doug) Berry of Streamwood and his grandchildren, Samantha, Mason, Mia, Ethan and Nathan. Pfeifer was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Hans and Anti, and sister, Ewa Marie.

Police Blotters

The filing of charges is not proof of guilt. A defendant charged is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lake in the Hills
April 16
0253 HRS LAKEWOOD RD. & ALGONQUIN RD. DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL. ALANIS, EFRAIN S., M/W 26 YEARS OF AGE, 932 N. MADISON ST., WOODSTOCK. CHARGES: Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Improper Lane Use. RELEASED ON BOND.
1043 HRS 300 BLOCK OF TECUMSEH TRAIL. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. CANTILENA, BRADLEY S., M/W 23 YEARS OF AGE, 25 W. OAK ST, LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGE: Criminal Damage to Vehicle and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. RELEASED ON BOND.
1134 HRS 300 BLOCK OF TECUMSEH TRAIL. POSSESSION OF CANNABIS. ZANDER, BEN E., M/W 25 YEARS OF AGE, 23577 N. MEADOW LNL., CARY. CHARGE: Possession of Cannabis. RELEASED ON BOND.
0244 HRS 101 PYOTT RD. (BUCKY’S EXPRESS). ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 22 years of age, vomiting. Transported to Sherman Hospital.
0434 HRS 2400 BLOCK OF STANTON CIRCLE. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 49 years of age, with low blood sugar. No transport.
0443 HRS 300 BLOCK OF TECUMSEH TRAIL. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 26 years of age, possibly took too much medication. No transport.
0730 HRS 200 BLOCK OF COOL STONE BEND. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 44 years of age, needing an evaluation. Transported to Woodstock Memorial Hospital.
0942 HRS 300 BLOCK OF COUNCIL TRAIL. VISITATION INTERFERENCE. Subject not compliant with a court-ordered child visitation arrangement.
1009 HRS 300 BLOCK OF HIAWATHA DR. BURGLARY FROM MOTOR VEHICLE. GPS device taken from an unlocked vehicle. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
1115 HRS 00 BLOCK OF INDIAN TRAIL. ASSIST OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENT. Assisted Carpentersville Police with serving an Order of Protection.
1133 HRS 1000 BLOCK OF HEAVENS GATE. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. Vehicle spray painted.
1136 HRS 400 BLOCK OF VILLAGE CREEK DR. VIOLATION OF AN ORDER OF PROTECTION. Possible Violation of an Order of protection. PENDING INVESTIGATION BY REPORTING OFFICER.
1151 HRS ACORN LN. & RANDALL RD. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1200 HRS 200 BLOCK OF CRYSTAL LAKE RD. IDENTITY THEFT. Fraudulent charge on a credit card.
1208 HRS 600 BLOCK OF GRACE DR. DOMESTIC. Husband vs. wife. Verbal only. No priors.
1344 HRS 5300 BLOCK OF DANBURY CIRCLE. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 75 years of age, low blood pressure. Transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
1547 HRS VIRGINIA RD. & ROUTE 31. HIT & RUN. Vehicle was struck. Offending vehicle left.
1704 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF CUNAT CT. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. Items removed from an unsecured vehicle. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
1833 HRS 1000 BLOCK OF VIEWPOINT DR. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. Items removed from an unsecured vehicle. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
1912 HRS 471 N. RANDALL RD. (PAPA SAVERIOS). BATTERY Complainant was struck by an employee. FAIL TO FILE.
1933 HRS 700 BLOCK OF WEDGEWOOD CIRCLE. REPORT FOR INSURANCE. An exterior light fixture caught fire.
2110 HRS 700 BLOCK OF WHITE PINES CIRCLE. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Female, 45 years of age, having a seizure. Transported to Woodstock Memorial Hospital.