Survey: LITH Residents Mostly Happy With Village Services

Lake in the Hills residents are pretty happy with police, plowing and play in the village but they'd like more sidewalks, better streets and some help with their trees according to results of a month-long online survey released Friday.

Village officials collected responses to the LITH Resident Satisfaction Survey on the Village website during September. It drew 277 responses from residents living mostly between Haligus and Pyott. Officials said 87.6 percent of them rated the quality of life in the Village as good or excellent. On the other hand a few (in the six to eight percent range) gave the Village sour grapes for, variously, police issues, traffic, taxes, water and streets maintenance and plowing.

The three services rated the highest for overall satisfaction were police/public Safety (74 percent), snow and ice removal (64 percent) and recreational opportunities (63 percent).

The largest percentage of respondents, 37 percent, agreed that the level of Village services justifies the taxes paid, with another 11 percent who that strongly agreed. About 25 percent had no opinion. Over 80 percent of respondents indicated that when they contacted the Village in the past two years, their concerns were addressed and resolved to their satisfaction.

The services rated lowest were ease of walking, cycling and maintenance of sidewalks. The largest number of respondents requested sidewalk installations or repair. The next most common request was improved maintenance of the streets. When asked what new services they wanted, the largest number of answers wee about installing new sidewalks or helping with tree maintenance. There were also some asking for a pool or free beach access.

A more detailed summary of LITH's Resident Survey can be found here:

http://lith.org/pdf/PressReleases/2011-10-14SurveyResults.pdf

Huntley Park District Offers Dinner Mystery

The Huntley Park District's trying something new with a first-ever Murder Mystery Dinner at Pinecrest Golf Club next Saturday.  The event's described as an interactive golf-themed dinner in which diners may find themselves to be suspects in a murder or even the detective who's supposed to solve it. (Colonel Mustard did it in the library with a mashie niblick? Look out, Nickie! He's got a gun!)  

Doors will open at 5:15 pm with a buffet style dinner at 6 pm and a cash bar. Tickets $55 per person but there's a special group rate for 4 or more: $45 per person.  Either way, they're available at the Huntley Rec Center.

Flu Shots Available From County Or Centegra

The McHenry County Department of Health has scheduled a walk-in flu clinic for adults and children nine and older Thursday at its Crystal Lake office for $30.  Meanwhile, Centegra Physician Care and Centegra Immediate Care Centers are offering seasonal flu shots for $25 each in Algonquin and Huntley.

“Every flu season has the potential to cause serious illness, numerous doctor’s visits and hospitalization,” said Dr. Marietta Abraham, medical director for Centegra Immediate Care-Huntley.

MCDH spokesman Debora Quackenbush notes that flu vaccinations not only protect the stickee but also those nearby like pregnant women, young children and the elderly who are especially at risk for complications from the flu.

The shot's actually a cocktail of three vaccines.  This year, according to Centegra, it protects against influenza A H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus and the still-prevalent H1N1 swine flu virus.

For more flu information, call MCDH at 815-334-4510 or visit www.mcdh.info or call Centegra at 815-338-6600.

Regional Mortgage Relief Program Swamped At One Month

The Regional Home Ownership Initiative foreclosure help group announced Friday that Illinois' Hardest Hit Fund for stuggling homeowners has already received almost 15,000 applications for the estimated 15,000 loans available.  The Illinois Housing Development authority launched the program only four weeks ago.

The majority of government interventions like the HAMP loan modification program have focused on helping employed homeowners who got in over their heads from the start. Illinois' $445.6 million Hardest Hit Fund targets people who were doing fine until they became unemployed or underemployed. Funded by the Treasury Department, it offers struggling homeowners a 10-year forgivable loan for up to $25,000 to bring mortgages current including arrearages, penalties, and fines.

Applicants have to have had an income drop of 25 percent or more due to un- or under-employment to a level at or below 120 percent of area median income with a principal loan balance no higher than $500,000. Only homeowners with fixed or adjustable-rate mortgages are eligible. Interest-only or negatively amortizing loans aren't.  Ineligible homeowners work with counselors to find other options or appeal the decision.

Info and online applications are at the Hardest Hit Fund’s website:

https://www.illinoishardesthit.org 

The program's not a giveaway, according to Ronald Litke, Director of Communications at IHDA. It's targeted at “people who seem like they have a good chance of getting back on their feet,” he said.
A pilot version of the program that started in June had about an 80 percent acceptance rate for applications that were actually processed. However, it takes about three months to get an answer and IHDA says that's their speedy version. 

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
October 14
1113 HRS ALGONQUIN RD. & SQUARE BARN RD. WANTED ON WARRANT. DRUCKER, MORGAN L., F/W 26 YEARS OF AGE, 617 SOUTH EMARALD DR., MCHENRY. CHARGES: Wanted on Warrant, McHenry County Sherriff for Failure to Appear Possession. Amount Bond: $10,000 at 10%. Operating Uninsured Motor Vehicle, Driving with a Drivers License Expired Within Six Months or Less. RELEASED ON BOND.
1358 HRS ALBRECHT RD. & BANBURY LN. LIQUOR VIOLATION. ZEIS, MATTHEW S., M/W 18 YEARS OF AGE, 8930 DISBROW ST., HUNTLEY. CHARGES: Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor. NOTICE TO APPEAR ISSUED.
1457 HRS 900 BLOCK OF CYNTHIA LN. WANTED ON WARRANT. JANS, JOSHUA A., M/W 27 YEARS OF AGE, 14301 S., KNOX AVE MIDLOTHIAN. CHARGE: Wanted on Warrant, Cook County for Traffic Offenses. Bond Amount: $1,500.00 at 10%. RELEASED ON BOND.
2027 HRS 1115 CRYSTAL LAKE RD. (LAKE IN THE HILLS PD) INTERFERENCE WITH COURT ORDER VISITATION. BAILEY, TANYA, F/W 34 YEARS OF AGE, 219 LOCUST ST., MARENGO. CHARGE: Interference with Court Order Visitation. NOTICE TO APPEAR ISSUED.
1747 HRS 300 N. RANDALL RD. (LOWES) RETAIL THEFT. JONES, EDDIE L., M/B 41 YEARS OF AGE, 577 WEST 66 ST., CHICAGO. Retail Theft Greater than $300. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
YOUNG, MARISSA M., F/B 18 YEARS OF AGE, 1104 W 112TH STREET CHICAGO. CHARGES: Retail Theft Greater than $300, Resisting/Obstructing A Peace Officer. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
JUVENILE, F/B 14 YEARS OF AGE, CHICAGO. CHARGES: Retail Theft Greater than $300, Resisting/Obstructing A Peace Officer. TURNED OVER TO KANE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER.
0104 HRS 600 BLOCK OF LORREE LN. FOLLOW-UP ARREST: HIT & RUN. SHAVER, TIFFANY A., F/W 21 YEARS OF AGE, 2621 CHRISTIE LN., ALGONQUIN. CHARGES: Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident, Improper Lane Use and Failure to Give Aid or Information. RELEASED ON BOND.
0050 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF CUNAT CT. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Report for insurance. Damaged garage door.
0705 HRS 5200 MILLER RD. (SUNSET PARK) FOUND ARTICLE. Keys.
0745 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF ALGONQUIN RD. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. Several items taken from vehicle overnight. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
0757 HRS 700 BLOCK OF PARC CT. DOMESTIC. Mother vs. Daughter. Verbal Only. Three Priors.
0815 HRS 200 BLOCK OF INDIAN TRAIL. THEFT. Pressure washer taken from driveway overnight. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
0824 HRS 1300 BLOCK OF ALGONQUIN RD. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. Engine belt cut on a vehicle overnight. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
1832 HRS 1100 BLOCK OF MAPLE ST. THEFT. U.S. currency taken from residence. FAIL TO FILE.

D300 Information Forum Turns Into Anti-EDA Rally

The Jacobs High School rafters rang in Algonquin Thursday to calls to "Stop the EDA". About 2,000 teachers, administrators, students and parents were on hand for what School District 300 billed as an informational forum. It also served as a visual setpiece to dramatize opposition to a bill in Springfield in two weeks that could cost the District as much as $14 million per year in new revenue.

The meet was suppose to start at 6:30 pm but nothing happened for 15 minutes until a group of about 100 students waving signs and placards were herded through the gym past news cameras from two Chicago TV stations. Then District Superintendent Michael Bregy took the podium for a few soundbites. The battle's over a plan to extend a property tax rebate for Sears Holdings headquarters in Hoffman Estates.  Hard-pressed D300 is scheduled to receive much of the money when the rebate expires but Sears has threatened to move if it's not renewed. “We really want Sears to stay in Illinois,” Bregy said. “What's not going to work is putting the entire burden on a school district to figure out how we're going to move forward.”

A nostalgic clip from the 1975 Schoolhouse Rock video I'm Just A Bill introduced a narrative showing the conflict is more complicated than just Sears vs D300.  There are two other players who'd benefit from legislation to extend the Sears Economic Development Area.  One is the Village of Hoffman Estates which gets a big cut of the Sears rebate money, too, about $5 million. The other, largely ignored Thursday, is the State itself.  Illinois has no direct stake in the Sears property tax money but it would lose a lot of corporate income tax if Sears folded its tent.

Chief Sears Analyst Paul Winand at Chicago investment research company Morningstar told FEN this week, "The loss of tax revenue to the state would be in the $100 million range per annum in my rough estimation." Winand said if anything drives Sears out of Illinois it will be this year's State tax increase.  "Lawmakers should have thought of the implications when they raised the corporate income tax; now they’re falling all over themselves to make special adjustments for those who can negotiate a side deal," he said.

State senators Michael Noland and Chris Lauzen and State Rep. Mike Tryon sat in on the D300 meeting.  State Sen. Pam Althoff who uncovered the extension plan was in Island Lake Thursday.  State Rep. and former Hoffman Estates Trustee Fred Crespo who introduced it said he couldn't attend, either.

In the pic:  Most who attended Thursday's D300 informational meeting about extending the Sears Economic Development area thought they already knew enough about it.

Grafton Township Returns To Court Monday

The Grafton Township Board will be back in Court again Monday.  The conflict's still about who runs the Township but this time the argument will be less overt.

After almost an hour's wrangling over bills during the Board's monthly meeting Thursday, Supervisor Linda Moore accused trustees of filing another lawsuit. In fact, it's more of the old one.  Moore filed suit against trustees last year for usurping her executive powers, the trustees countersuing for Moore's usurping their legislative ones. The dispute resulted in a series of Circuit Judge Michael Caldwell opinions earlier this year that solved little.

What the case did accomplish was to generate a lot of legal bills and it turned out that's part of what Monday's hearing will be about.  Even though trustees repeatedly approved bills from their defense counsel, Ancel-Glink, partner Keri-Lyn Krafthefer complained in a filing last week that Moore hasn't paid the last $44,000 of them.

Ancel-Glink also complained that Moore was withholding trustee's pay for conducting Township meetings for the last five months. Moore and trustees agreed Thursday that she cut checks for most of that Saturday, though, so the question may turn out to be moot from a financial standpoint.  Moore, however, sounded as if she was thinking about charging Trustees with an Open Meeting Law violation for complaining to Krafthefer.  "The trustees conducted business without a public meeting," she said afterwards.

In other developments:

Trustees vetoed paying a contractor $3,000 for punching a new service window into Moore's office.  The Board hadn't authorized her to install the thing but Tustee Rob LaPorta argued it wasn't right to punish the contractor for it.  Later, though, he approved withholding the money on a 3-2 vote.

Moore didn't nominate anyone to become Township Attorney, a spot empty for almost a year.  "I'm not prepared to do that now," she said.  "We have enough attorney's around here."

The Board went into closed session to talk about selling the Township's Haligus Road property and approve minutes of closed sessions that included previous discussions of the property.  A local Muslim congregation wants to build a mosque and community center on the land but the Board still won't admit it and they voted not to release the closed meeting minutes, either.

In the pic:  There was a lot of squabbling over $1,400 in copying charges for a Supervisor's (above left) message to residents. "It's a public relations program for her aggrandizement," charged Trustee Jerry McMahon (back to camera). 

Halloween House Decorating Contest Open In LITH

With two weeks (give or take) to Halloween it's time for Lake in the Hills' annual house decorating contest. Who has the scariest or cheeriest house in LITH?  Enter now with a call to Village Parks & Rec at 847-960-7460 to find out.

Next Thursday professional spooky house judges will tour the Village with clipboards and a Thermos of hot chocolate to make their choices among the first 20 Lake in the Hills homes to register for the competition. Winners will receive a gift certificate to a Lake in the Hills restaurant.

Two provisos to entry: Contestants' addresses will be listed on the Village's web page and  the winners have to keep the decorations up through Halloween.

In the pic:  Toby and Stephanie Wrolson's home  won the Scariest House Division in LITH's Halloween House Contest last year.

Work Continues On Casino Compromise

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
It’s a sure bet that gaming expansion will come up during the Illinois Legislature’s fall veto session, but who will win and who will bust is uncertain. State Sen. President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, still has a temporary hold on sending the Governor a plan to add five new Illinois casinos, expand the number of places people can bet in them, and allow video gambling at horse tracks.

From the end of the spring session until now, Governor Pat Quinn and legislators have met to discuss the gaming legislation, said state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, who sponsored the gaming package in the House. “We’ve had a lot of conversations, but there’s been no negotiation. The governor’s office is unwilling to negotiate and unwilling to tell us exactly what he wants in a bill,” Lang said.

Quinn said he is concerned about oversaturation, referring to the 10 current casinos in Illinois.
“If you have too many positions and casinos, they hurt each other,” Quinn said.

Lang said competition between casinos isn’t the state’s problem. “Certainly we’d be worried about cannibalization, but it is not the role or function of Illinois state government to guarantee those 10 riverboat owners a profit,” he said. He's still trying to line up enough votes to override if the measure ever gets to Quinn and he vetoes it.

You can read Andrew's full report at:  http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/6979/work-continues-on-casino-compromise/

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
October 13
1016 HRS 4590 PRINCETON LN. (BRIGHTSTAR) BATTERY. SPEICHINGER, ERIC J., M/W 46 YEARS OF AGE, 24791N INDIAN GRASS CT., BARRINGTON. CHARGES: One Count of Battery. RELEASED ON BOND.
1926 HRS VILLAGE CREEK DR. & ACORN DR. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED. STRATMAN, TYLER D., M/W 19 YEARS OF AGE, 725 DEAN DR., SOUTH ELGIN.  CHARGES: Driving While License Suspended and Registration Suspended Mandatory Insurance Violation. RELEASED ON BOND.
0933 HRS RANDALL RD. & MILLER RD. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1237 HRS 200 BLOCK OF STICKLEY LN. CHILD NEGLECT. UNFOUNDED.
1803 HRS 4600 BLOCK OF HERON DR. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Complainant had an AT&T account opened in his name.
1902 HRS RANDALL RD & MILLER RD. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
Algonquin
October 10
09:32am Nunez-Garcia, Luis A., DOB: 07/20/92, of 1630 Cumberland Parkway, Algonquin, was charged with No Valid Driver’s License and Speeding.  He was taken into custody at Randall Road and Corporate Parkway.  He was released after posting $150 with a court date of 11/22/11 in McHenry County.
15:00pm A 15 year-old male from Algonquin was charged with two counts of Battery.  He was taken into custody at the Algonquin Police Department.  He was formally Petitioned into Juvenile Court and then released into the custody of his parents.
October 11
09:25am Beattie, Edwin Ross, DOB: 07/02/58, of 214 Powder horn Court, Gilberts, was charged with DWLS, Expired Registration, Suspended Registration and No Proof of Insurance.  He was taken into custody at County Line Road and Boyer Road.  He was released after posting $150 with a court date of 11/01/11 in McHenry County.
October 12
06:59am A 17 year-old female from Lake in the Hills was charged with Battery.  She was taken into custody at the Algonquin Police Department.  She was formally Petitioned into Juvenile Court and then released into the custody of her father.
09:11am Riva, Michael A., DOB: 05/15/91, of 316 Tecumseh Trail, Lake in the Hills, was charged with No Valid Driver’s License and Expired Registration.  He was taken into custody at Route 62 and Sandbloom Road.  He was released on a Personal Recognizance Bond with a court date of 11/16/11 in McHenry County.
15:45pm A 17 year-old female from Lake in the Hills was charged with Retail Theft.  She was taken into custody at Claire’s, 1728 S. Randall Road.  She was released on a Notice to Appear with a court date of 11/30/11 in Algonquin.
22:56pm Brandt, Michael A. DOB: 04/28/76 of 1060 Meghan Avenue, Algonquin, was Wanted on a Warrant out of McHenry County for Failure to Appear on a Reckless Driving charge.  He was taken into custody at 1060 Meghan Avenue.  He was released after posting $1000 with a court date of 11/14/11 in McHenry County.
Huntley
October 3
A theft report was taken in the 11110 block of Church St.  A bicycle was stolen from the driveway.
October 6
Louis J. Greenwood, age 20, of 385 S. Prospect, Bartlett, was arrested for driving with a suspended drivers license and was cited for improper use of registration, expired registration and driving with no insurance.  Mr. Greenwood posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of October 28, 2011.
October 7
Shannon T. Smith, age 32, of 315 Hoy Ave. Apt. A, Woodstock, was arrested on an outstanding Kane County warrant.  Ms. Smith posted bond and was released with a Kane County court date of October 20, 2011.
A theft report was taken in the 10500 block of Thornton Way.  Two skate boards were taken from an open garage.
Lloyd V. Kozak, age 43, of 10278 Fleetwood, Huntley, was arrested on an outstanding McHenry County warrant.  Mr. Kozak posted bond and was released with a McHenry County court date of October 20, 2011.
October 9
DeShawn A. Palmer, age 20, of 3710 Chadwick, Lake in the Hills, was issued a local ordinance complaint for possession of marijuana less than 10 grams and was cited for no headlights and driving with no insurance.  Mr. Palmer was released with a McHenry County court date of October 31, 2011.

Walsh Calls "Deadbeat Dad" Charge A Lie

Eighth District Congressman and Fourteenth District candidate Joe Walsh lashed out at his former wife Wednesday calling charges he owes her over $100,000 in back child support a lie. "I have unfairly endured two months of media ridicule as a 'deadbeat dad'," Walsh complained in a statement.

Laura Walsh filed suit nine months ago claiming the freshman Congressman was way behind on court-ordered child support payments.  Late Tuesday the Tea Party celeb filed answers claiming he and his ex had a verbal agreement that he didn't have to make all the payments anymore. Walsh claimed from 2007 on, the children lived with him half the time and, besides, he'd made payments even when his former wife said he didn't. Walsh claimed he paid for his kids' dog's vet bill, which wasn't covered in the court order.

“I don’t know why my ex-wife filed this complaint last December, three weeks after I was elected a U.S. Congressman. I don’t know why she and her lawyers knowingly filed a complaint with outright untrue allegations and claims. I don’t know why they have gone public and politicized this conflict," Walsh said in a statement.

In the pic: Joe Walsh advocating gun carry laws recently in Huntley.

Algonquin Township Promotes Free Discount Prescription Card

Supervisor Dianne Klemm told the Algonquin Township Board Wednesday a new free discount prescription card sponsored by the Township is available now via the Township website.

The Coast2Coast Rx Card claims savings on a single prescription "up to 95 percent off the retail price" with annual savings "up to 55 percent." Trustees wanted to know how that could be and Klemm admitted she didn't really know.  "Since it doesn't cost (residents) anything, there's nothing to lose," she said.

In fact the way it works is a mad mix of medicine, marketing and accounting The Coast2Coast card's the brainchild of a guy named Edward Rahn, President of a Florida company called Financial Marketing Concepts.  Even though the pharmacy cash register slip shows one price for a customer's latest refill of dopadril, the back office has to bill it in two pieces to the insurance companies or government programs who actually pay for it.  One part is the highly variable cost of the pills themselves. The other is the pharmacist's overhead for which most plans allow only a flat fee.  In Illinois, according to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the "dispensing fee" runs anywhere from $2 to $4.75.

FMC gets part of the dispensing fee, on average $2.50 per prescription. Meanwhile the drug store discounts the "usual and customary price" for the drug, a figure that almost no one really pays.  The company estimates an average 40 percent savings on the theoretical price.

In any case, the idea is the drug stores make up lost profit on prescriptions with added profit on the extra beer and pretzels and dandruff shampoo patients pick up when they stop in. "It sounds like Walgreen's discount card," said Trustee Joe Powalowski. "But that costs $20 so at least you'll save $20."

FMC cuts Algonquin Township in for $.50 per prescription for promoting the card.  "That will go into the (General Assistance) Fund," said Klemm.

The signup site just asks for a name. It's here:

http://coast2coastrx.com/algonquin

The page after the "submit" button is all you get. There's no "print" icon but if you hit your "print screen" keyboard button and then click "print" on the file menu it'll spit the whole page out and then you can cut out the Coast2Coast card with scissors. The instructions suggest that "you might want to laminate it."

In the pic:  Coast2CoastRX claims its card is good in 59,000 pharmacies nationwide.  The National Association Of Chain Drug Stores says that's almost all there are.

Gourmet Popcorn Latest Algonquin Retail Entrant

One of the latest new stores to open on the Randall Corridor doesn't have a website up yet so it's been relying on word of mouth to bring in customers.  Customers with mouths full of high-class popcorn.

Gourmet Kernel offering seven rotating flavors of popcorn (October flavor of the month: green apple and caramel) opened in Algonquin Commons two weeks ago.  "I remember the days when gourmet popcorn shops were at malls like Spring Hill and Randhurst," said owner Judy Reyes.  "I thought it was time to bring them back again."

That's not so say it was all about nostalgia, though, said Reyes.  "I used to be a computer consultant but the technology's changed so much it got to the point where it was, 'Do I send myself back to school or do I take the plunge?'"

Reyes plunged and headlong at that.  Besides the new retail store between Claire's and Knock It Off she's planning a corporate promotions department offering custom baskets of gourmet popcorn.

In the pic:  "Popista" Chris Orda scoops up some cheese and caramel mix for LITH residents Dan And Diane Meyr at Gourmet Kernel popcorn.  "Somebody brought some to the office and it was very good," said Diane.

Last Fish Fry For 2011 At LITH Legion Friday.

The Sons of The American Legion will hold the last fish fry of the year Friday at Lake in the Hills' post 1231.  The event's all you can eat, Adults $9, Seniors $7, kids 10 and under, $6. Miller draft's on figurative tap at $2.25 each. The event supports Legion charities and programs throughout the year.

Illinois Taxpayers Kick In $400 Million To Teachers’ Pensions

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
Some Illinois taxpayers are being asked to shell out more for teachers’ retirement payments than others. new study by the Illinois Policy Institute, a free market think tank, said teachers in 416 of Illinois’ 867 school districts, not including Chicago, didn’t contribute anything to the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System for the 2009-2010 school year.

The report added that 139 school districts paid a portion of teachers’ contributions to TRS for the 2009-2010 school year. Teachers in the remaining 312 school districts contributed to TRS directly from their paychecks. In total, 554 school districts pitched in $400 million for teachers’ pensions during the 2009-2010 school year, according to the institute's report.

The policy institute said it is highlighting this practice now because of the severe underfunding of the pension system. TRS has an unfunded liability — how much money a pension system falls short of to pay current and future pensions — of $39.8 billion, or about 51 percent of what it needs to pay current and future pensions.

“The districts have used this as a sweetener over time, and it’s clear that the pension pickups have become a benefit for teachers,” said Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy for the institute. “To ask a teacher … to put money toward their own retirement fund is not too much.”

Whether the money is coming from the district or a teacher’s paycheck, it’s still coming out of the teacher’s pocket, said Charles McBarron, spokesman for the Illinois Education Association, a teachers’ union. “Regardless of who actually sends the money to the pension system, it is essentially from the teacher, because it is part of a negotiated agreement on compensation,” McBarron said. “It’s part of a teacher’s compensation, and it’s something they negotiate on the local level. There is nothing new about it, and nothing unusual about it.”

You can read Andrew's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/6961/illinois-taxpayers-kick-in-400-million-for-teachers-pensions/

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
October 12
1304HRS 100 BLOCK OF HILLTOP DR. DOMESTIC BATTERY. BIDDLE, CARLY, F/W 18 YEARS OF AGE, 191 HILLTOP DRIVE, LAKE IN THE HILLS.
CHARGES: Domestic Battery. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
0215 HRS 600 BLOCK OF LORREE LN. HIT & RUN. Unknown vehicle hit a mailbox.
1209HRS 100 BLOCK OF HARVEST GATE. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Report for insurance purposes.
2106 HRS 3000 BLOCK OF CHADWICK LN. DOMESTIC BATTERY. Mother vs. Son. Verbal argument only. No priors. FAIL TO FILE.

Ford School Move: Wait Until Spring

The Lake in the Hills Board Tuesday were all in favor of saving the area's historic Ford schoolhouse from the wreckers' ball but they were hesitant about spending cash money to do it.

LITH Historical Society's Bob Spooner appeared before the Board for the third time asking Village support to move the 125 year-old one-room school from its current location in the former Stonegate Nursery in Algonquin back to its original spot in LITH's Ford School Park.  The problem, according to a report by Village Administrator Jerry Sagona is that it'd cost over $30,000 to take out trees, build a new foundation, truck off dirt and do utility hookups at the park.

Spooner admitted the Society's only raised about $5,000 so far and said the estimate to actually move the school was another $15,000.

Trustee Paul Mulcahy was all for saving the school in principle.  "This is a significant part of the history of the Village," he said.  "Let's put it back where it belongs."  He said he just wasn't sure what the Historical Society wanted. Money, it turned out, which made a lot of difference to a village rifling the metaphorical sofa cushions to pay for a new guardrail on Hilltop Drive.  "I support this," said Trustee Ray Bogdanowski, "but I would be hard-pressed to justify laying out this as a village."

Sagona said the Village could probably pull workers off other projects to contribute in-kind aid to move the schoolhouse but cash outlays looked doubtful. village President Ed Plaza observed time's running out to get the project done this construction season, anyway.  "The Board is willing to move forward with this," he said, "but Spring might be more appropriate."

Spooner said he'd try to convince Stonegate's property owner to wait until then.

In the pic:  Where the schoolhouse is and where the LITH Historical Society would like to put it.

No End Yet For Sheriff's Special Prosecutor Call

Former McHenry County Deputy Zane Seipler's request for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the Sheriff will go on at least two more weeks after a Tuesday hearing but now there'll be three lawyers wrangling, two of them new ones.

Seipler attorney Blake Horowitz dragged a 3x5-foot display into Judge Thomas Meyer's courtroom ready to argue McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren used official resources in his campaign to defeat Seipler in the GOP Primary two years ago.  He never got a chance to use it, though, as argument bogged down again over whether the State's Attorney's office is "available" to conduct an investigation about it.

Meyer allowed the substitution of private Woodstock Attorney William Caldwell for Assistant State's Attorney Don Leist in the case.  State's Attorney Lou Bianchi told FEN Tuesday he pulled Leist off the case because Horwitz filings looked as if he was about to charge Leist with a conflict of interest since he'd previously defended Seipler when he was still a deputy.  "We wanted to avoid the appearance of impropriety," said Bianchi.

Meyer also allowed Woodstock Attorney Mark Gummerson to represent Nygren in the case, but only as man-on-the-street Keith Nygren, not the McHenry County Sheriff.

No one knew quite what to expect Tuesday since Caldwell had moved two weeks ago for an immediate decision on a Special Prosecutor whereupon Gummerson had demanded to enter the case ASAP charging Bianchi was out to get the Sheriff.  That meant Tuesday's hearing was thee days early and, in fact, Caldwell was in another court Tuesday with partner Sandy Kerrick standing in for him.

Meyer's never clearly ruled on whether there's enough evidence to justify an investigation.  What he has managed to decide is there's no inherent reason Bianchi couldn't conduct one.  The argument since has been whether a Bianchi policy to only defend him means The State's Attorney's legally "unavailable" to investigate.  If it does, that might justify a Special Prosecutor. Tuesday Meyer he only wanted to hear about that technical question, not Gummerson's claim that Bianchi wants to see Nygren criminally charged.

Gummerson may have dodged a bullet there since the Special Prosecutor's statute also lists the State's Attorney's being "interested in any cause or proceeding" as another reason to appoint someone else to investigate.  Even so, Gummerson said he wanted to look at records he thought might show Bianchi connivance.

Meyer set the next hearing in the case for Oct. 25.

In the pic:  Seipler claims this "Sheriff's Golf Cart" was cheating in the last campaign.

Two More To Run For New Version 52nd District

Barrington financial consultant Dave McSweeney announced Tuesday he'll run for State Rep in the reconfigured 52nd District including part of Algonquin and LITH next March.  Island Lake marketing exec Danielle Rowe's supposed to formally announce her run for the same spot this evening.
That would puts both up against Lake Barrington's Kent Gaffney, appointed to run out the term of the late Mark Beubien.

McSweeney's claim to fame is a failed run against former 8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean in 2006.  Rowe's is Wauconda organizing.  No Democrats have stepped forward yet.

Illinois Adds Jobs But Unemployment Rolls Grow

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
The extent of Illinois’ job loss this summer depends on who is speaking and how they are defining jobs. “We’ve lost 100,000 jobs in the last few months,” said Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, at an event in Chicago last week in response to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s claims that Illinois’ economy is rebounding.

But the Illinois Department of Economic Security, or IDES, said Illinois only lost 10,200 jobs between June and August. In fact, the state has netted a total of 36,000 jobs since January of this year, according to IDES.

Sara Wojcicki, spokeswoman for Cross, said the House Republican leader was using statistics from the Illinois Policy Institute, or IPI, a free market think tank. IPI’s statistics are based on a report by the U.S. Department of Labor showing the number of employed in Illinois has dropped by nearly 100,000 since January.

Comparing the number of unemployed to the number of jobs in the state is like comparing apples and oranges, Greg Rivera, IDES spokesman, said. “To try to use the number of people working and equate it to the number of jobs, they’re not the same thing. It’s not the same measurement,” Rivera said.

Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy at IPI, said the institute’s statistic about the number of unemployed shouldn’t be confused for job losses in the state, but the numbers are still worrying.
 “The number of unemployed has gone up relative to the number of jobs … There are 100,000 fewer people that are employed in the state of Illinois than in January. The question is what are these people doing, are they leaving the state, what are they doing?” Dabrowski said.
 
You can read Andrew's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/6950/illinois-adds-jobs-but-unemployment-rolls-continue-to-grow/

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
October 11
1603 HRS 800 BLOCK OF TARALON TRAIL. DOMESTIC BATTERY. SOLOMOU, KYRIACOULLA, F/W 25 YEARS OF AGE, 881 TARALON TRAIL LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Domestic Battery. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL.
0817 HRS 100 BLOCK OF HILLTOP DR. DOMESTIC. Mother-in-law vs. Son-in-law. Verbal only. No priors.
1444 HRS 800 BLOCK OF TARALON TRAIL. DOMESTIC BATTERY Brother vs. Sister. No priors. FAIL TO FILE.
1939 HRS 1000 BLOCK OF VIEWPOINT DR. IDENTITY THEFT. Credit card was utilized by an unknown subject.
2131 HRS 3700 BLOCK OF CHADWICK LN. DOMESTIC Aunt vs. Nephew. Verbal only. One prior.
2134 HRS 700 BLOCK OF WHITE PINE CIRCLE. DOMESTIC. Boyfriend vs. Girlfriend. Verbal only. 5 priors.
October 10
1543 HRS 213 N RANDALL RD. (TACO BELL) BATTERY. Victim identified a second offender from a previous occurrence. FAIL TO FILE.
1659 HRS RAKOW RD. & VIRGINIA RD. ACCIDENT. Three vehicles. Property damage only.
1738 HRS ALGONQUIN RD. & BLACKHAWK DR. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1815 HRS 156 N. RANDALL RD (HAPPY NAILS) ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.

Huntley Plan Commission Reviews Proposed St. Mary's Addition

The Village Plan Commission gave a general go-ahead to plans for a 33,000 square-foot addition to Huntley's St. Mary's Church Monday including relief from a zoning requirement for more parking spaces than the church thinks it really needs.

St. Mary's plans a 600-person parish hall, meeting rooms, offices and a kitchen in the addition to the southeast of the church.  Under village zoning regs that would require about 250 more parking spaces but church planners think they only need about 100 more.  "Saturday night was the heaviest volume I saw," said Barrington architect Steve Pate, "and there were plenty of parking spaces still empty."

Church Building Committee head Tom Manning told the Commission that was important because use of the proposed addition generally wouldn't overlap worship services.  That made sense to Commission members, half of whom present happened to be parishioners, anyway.

"It's more a circulation problem than anything," said Member Robert Chandler.  "It gets pretty chaotic." Bates said planned new dropoff areas would help that problem.

"Christmas and Easter generally fill the places up," said Member Len Stensing.  "Twice a year."

Manning said the Church needs the addition because, "We have over 30 different ministries and the religious education has grown so much with the growth of the parish."

"We rent upwards of $100,000 per year from the School Districts," he said.

Plans for the addition will require a public hearing after St. Mary's submits a formal application to the Village.

In the pic:  A computer rendering of St. Mary's Church and its proposed addition in Huntley.

More Room In Algonquin Garages, Cellars After Free Fall Cleanup

Waste Management trucks Monday hauled off fifteen 20-yard dumpsters full of stuff from Algonquin's first Fall Cleanup and Recycling Drop-Off at Presidential Park.  Village Manager's Assistant Mike Kumbera said recyclers also toted off two truckloads of castoff computer junk and filled a Purple Hearts Veterans truck to capacity with usable clothes and household goods.

The event was an added "freebie" the waste hauler included in its new contract with the Village.  Resident Brett Ratajczak with a trailer hitched to his van had somewhat mixed feelings about it.  He was just going to bring the van but, "the neighbors found out about it and they didn't have a truck."

In the pics:  (above) A steady stream of almost 450 cars and trucks brought elderly mattresses, defunct treadmills and dead lawnmowers to Algonquin's Fall Cleanup Monday. (below) Students from Jacobs High School's Interact Club helped with the unloading.  Freshman Brandon Chang is on the other end of Mike Gerard's quondam sofa.

Walsh To Host District Jobs Fair

Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-R8) Monday announced that his office is hosting a jobs fair Sunday, from Noon to 4 pm at Woodstock North High School. That's in Walsh's current 8th Congressional District which doesn't include the southeast corner of McHenry County. But it's also in what will be the newly-configured 14th Congressional District which will include this area--at least the part west of (roughly) Randall Road.

Walsh’s free jobs fair will feature a number of Illinois employers, including Northrop Grumman, Scot Forge, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Bridgeview Bank Group, Mercy Health System, the Schaumburg Police Department, among others. The fair will also include a seminar on how to approach job interviews.

Walsh and fellow Republican, 14th District incumbent, Randy Hultgren both appeared Monday at a Nunda Township GOP meeting. They complained that remapping districts so they had to run against each other was a dirty trick by the Democrats.

In the pic:  Woodstock North.

Democrats Push Rail Project For Obama Jobs Plan

By Jamey Dunn, Illinois Issues
Illinois Democratic officials Monday used the ground breaking of a project aimed at reducing rail congestion to urge support of President Barack Obama’s jobs plan. Gov. Pat Quinn was joined by several of Illinois’ political elite, such as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, to kick off the so-called Englewood Flyover, a bridge meant to untangle one of the state’s worst snarls in rail traffic

The $133 million project will be funded with about $6.6 million from Illinois’ capital construction legislation, which leveraged $126 million in federal dollars. A group of railroads kicked in more than $3 million for design costs through the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE).

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a Republican from Peoria, said more money will be needed to complete to project, and he urged lawmakers to approve President Obama's jobs creation package. “We don’t have all the money for this project right now. We have a good share of it, but we know that it needs a lot more money that can really come about as a result of the American Jobs Act,” LaHood said.

The President’s plan includes a cut to payroll taxes, an extension of unemployment benefits, spending for new infrastructure projects, incentives for businesses that hire the long-term unemployed and money for local governments to fund salaries for teachers and first responders.

The bill has been widely panned by Republicans in the Senate and the House, however, who say  it relies on accounting tricks and taxes on the wealthy for funding.  "I am concerned that the president is pushing a formula of partisan tax hikes and budget gimmicks," said Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk Monday.


You can read Jamey's full report at: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/democrats-use-rail-construction-project.html

Obituaries

A Memorial Mass for Diane M. Mazouch, 74, of Huntley will be held at 11 am Friday at St. Mary Catholic Church, Huntley. A visitation will be at the church 9 am to 11 am.

Mazouch is survived by her children, Karen (Don) Hewitt and Lisa (Don) Rogus; grandchildren,  of Sara, Kevin, Nicole and Kyle, and sisters Madelyn (Bill) Murphy, Karen (Jack) Fuerst, and Claudia (the late Thomas) Marek.  She was preceded in death by her son, John.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or any charity.

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
Delayed.  FEN Scheduling conflict.

Sheriff To Appeal Firing Ruling, Asks For Lawyer In Prosecutor Case

A Sunday announcement that he plans to take a deputy's firing all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court capped a week of legal maneuvers for McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren.  He'll be in McHenry County Circuit Court Tuesday asking to have his own attorney argue against a Special Prosecutor to investigate charges of wrongdoing brought by the same former deputy.

Three years ago Nygren fired Woodstock Deputy Zane Seipler for falsifying a pair of minor traffic tickets.  An arbitrator, Circuit Judge and Appellate Court panel have all ruled a three-day suspension was all the punishment he deserved but in a Sunday story in the Crystal Lake Northwest Herald Nygren confirmed that he intends to appeal the case again.  FEN could find no evidence over the weekend that he's actually done it yet but the deadline isn't for another two weeks.

Nygren's expected to be in Associate Circuit Judge Thomas Meyer's courtroom Tuesday to ask that Woodstock attorney Mark Gummerson be appointed to represent him in Seipler's demand for Special Prosecutor.  After Nygren fired him, Seipler ran against him for the GOP Sheriff's nomination.  He lost but charged Nygren cheated using official County resources in his personal campaign.  Looking into that would normally fall to the State's Attorney but Lou Bianchi's first said he couldn't because he's the Sheriff's official legal counsel.  Then he said he really meant he wouldn't because he'd made a policy decision to only defend the Sheriff.  The case has been bogged down for 18 months in excruciating argument over whether that would statutorily trigger appointment of a Special Prosecutor.

However, according to a secretary's notation, at least as early as Sept. 22 Bianchi decided to pull the Assistant working the case and replace him with private Woodstock attorney William Caldwell.  Caldwell filed a motion last week to replace the Assistant and another asking Judge Meyer to make up his mind about the Special Prosecutor.

Gummerson Thursday filed a Nygren petition to make his own case against a Special Prosecutor claiming Bianchi's out to get him in retaliation for Nygren's ginning up Bianchi's recent failed misconduct Special Prosecution.  The petition doesn't say Nygren actually did it, just that Bianchi thinks he did.

Judge Meyer had been scheduled to hear final arguments Thursday about whether the State's Attorney can investigate the Sheriff.  Now he's scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday about who'll make those arguments.

In the pic:  McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren in his last campaign. 

Four Area Blood Drives Set For October, One In LITH Today

The Heartland Blood Centers bloodmobile will be at LITH Village Hall today for donations from 11 am to 1 pm.  It's the first of four blood drives set this month in the area.

Next Sunday the St. Margaret Mary Knights of Columbus will sponsor at drive from 7:30 am to 1 pm at St. Margaret Mary School in Algonquin.  That one's a Lifesource Blood Centers drive.

October 25 from 3 to 7 pm the Heartland Bloodmobile will be at the Huntley Public Library and
October 30 from 8 am to Noon it'll be  at Faith Community Church in Huntley.

Heartland and Lifesource at the two centers that supply most of the blood and blood components to hospitals in Northern Illinois. To be a blood donor, individuals must be at least 17 years old, or 16 with written parental consent; weigh at least 110 pounds; be symptom free of cold, flu and allergies; and be in general good health.

In the pic: Knights of Columbus Council Chaplin Monsignor Steve Knox (left) and Council Chancellor Jerry O’Sullivan (center) talked with Knight Scott Bytnar (right) while he made a double red cell donation at last month's St. Mary of Huntley Knights blood drive.

Saturday Shred Fest At Algonquin Twp., Last Paint Recycle Soon

Saturday will see the second free document shredding event this year at Algonquin Township. Two weeks later will see the last paint recycling of the year.

The Township Highway department's been running the paint recycling program for 13 years now, the last two at its own expense after the State chopped funds to support it.  Besides a similar program in Marengo Township, it's the only place left in McHenry County where residents can responsibly dispose of old paint for free.

The Shred Fest is a new recycling addition.  One earlier this summer drew over 90 tons of documents for shredding.

Saturday's Shred Fest at the Township complex on Route 14 will run from 9 am to 1 pm.  The last Paint Recycling Oct. 29 will run from 9 am to Noon with a limit of two 5-gallon buckets for free.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story indicated Saturday would be the day for paint recycling.  FEN regrets the error.

Pay Still Doubtful For Regional Superintendents

By Benjamin Yount,Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois’ regional superintendents hope to be paid by the end of the fall veto session, but how the men and women who oversee schools across the state will be paid remains unknown. Governor Pat Quinn struck the money to pay them from his State Budget.

Going into the veto session, lawmakers have two options to pay the regional superintendents.
The General Assembly can override Quinn’s veto and restore the $11 million to the budget. Or lawmakers can pay the regional superintendents with money from the Personal Property Tax Replacement fund, the state's income tax on corporations that's supposed to go to muncipalities.

House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, controls the original legislation containing the regional superintendents’ pay, and only he can call for an override. Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan, said last week “there has not been a final decision made” about whether to push for an override or introduce new legislation that would pay regional superintendents from local tax money.

Rock Island County Regional Superintendent of School Tammy Muerhoff said she doesn’t care how she is paid, as long she is paid soon. “This has created a hardship for everyone,” said Muerhoff, one of a handful of new regional superintendents whose first day on the job was a day after the last paycheck. “It’s hard to describe the feelings that you have,” she said, "knowing that you are doing great work, you’re providing a service, but you’re not being compensated for it.”

McHenry County's even worse off than that.  Joe Williams couldn't afford, under the circumstance,  to take the job he won in the last election and no one who could has turned out to meet all the obscure qualifications for the post.  Lake County's Superintendent's been doing double duty since June so McHenry County schools don't have to shut down.

You can read Ben's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/6918/pay-still-in-question-for-illinois-regional-superintendents/

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
October 9
0431 HRS BRISBANE DR. & MELBOURNE LN. DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL. BURKE, THOMAS J., M/W 26 YEARS OF AGE, 3416 N. MARSHFIELD, CHICAGO. CHARGES: Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. RELEASED ON BOND.
1531 HRS PYOTT RD. & INDUSTRIAL DR. NO VALID LICENSE. GURROLA ACOSTA, MOISES, M/W 34 YEARS OF AGE, 872 CREEKVIEW LN., LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: No Valid License and Speeding. RELEASED ON BOND.
2326 HRS LITCHFIELD LN. & NOELLE BEND. HIT & RUN. KELLEY, JASON R., M/W 22 YEARS OF AGE, 2741 BRIARCLIFF LN., LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident, Failure to Report a Vehicle Accident, Improper Lane Use, Failure to Reduce Speed, and Expired Registration. RELEASED ON BOND.
2322 HRS 100 BLOCK OF OAKLEAF DR.FOLLOW-UP ARREST: DOMESTIC BATTERY. SCHNUR, TIMOTHY J., M/W 30 YEARS OF AGE, 101 OAKLEAF DR., LAKE IN THE HILLS, CHARGES: Two Counts of Domestic Battery. TRANSPORTED TO MCHENRY COUNTY JAIL
0237 HRS 220 N. RANDALL RD. (MORETTI’S) BATTERY. PENDING INVESTIGATION BY REPORTING OFFICER.
0937 HRS 100 BLOCK OF QUAIL RUN. DOMESTIC. Girlfriend vs. boyfriend. Verbal only. No priors.
1219 HRS 300 BLOCK OF PHEASANT TRAIL. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. GPS, IPod, and CD's taken from unlocked vehicle.
1439 HRS 900 BLOCK OF WINDSTONE CT. BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE. GPS and IPod taken from locked vehicle. TURNED OVER TO INVESTIGATIONS.
1702 HRS 3300 BLOCK OF SONOMA CIRCLE. ACCIDENT Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1847 HRS 550 HARVEST GATE (WELL HOUSE#15) NUISANCE. Unknown subjects started a fire.
1940 HRS RANDALL RD. & ACORN LN. INFORMATION FOR POLICE. Report for insurance.
2022 HRS 20 BLOCK OF ECHO HILL. ASSIST AMBULANCE. Male, 64 years of age, needing an evaluation. Transported to Sherman Hospital.
2208 HRS 101 N. RANDALL (TACO BELL) BATTERY. Male was struck by multiple subjects.  PENDING INVESTIGATION BY REPORTING OFFICER.
Algonquin
October 8
08:04am Sansaver, Richard J., DOB: 03/22/88, of 103 Centralia Place, Poplar Grove, was charged with Criminal Damage to Vehicle.  He was taken into custody at 246 Grandview Court.  He was released after posting $150 with a court date of 11/16/11 in McHenry County.
October 9
14:02pm Dilaura, Jennifer L., DOB: 05/20/81, of 1870 Beachview Road, Pingree Grove, was charged with DWLS, Speeding, No Proof of Insurance and Expired Registration.  She was taken into custody at Eineke Boulevard and Boyer Road.  She was released after posting $150 with a court date of 11/09/11 in McHenry County.

Scouts Restore Vegetable Garden For ALITH Food Pantry

While volunteers from Carpenters and Joiners Local 2087 continued remodeling LITH's Larsen Farm pole barn Saturday to make a new home for the Algonquin Lake In the Hills Interfaith Food Pantry, Scouts from Algonquin Troop 151 rehabbed the farm's garden.

Eagle candidate Nick Magerko rounded up fellow Scouts to clean up the late Joan Larsen's vegetable patch, unused for several years.  "It was in disarray," said Magerko but the boys, a few parents and an industrial strength rotary tiller soon put things right.

"Next year the Food Pantry will be able to grow food for for their clients," said Margerko.  "Probably some of the other Scouts will help next year, too," he said.

Meanwhile, back at the barn, the carpenters were putting sill plates on the footing for a new entrance.  "We had to pay for that concrete ourselves," said Pantry Manager Sal Maggio who's still looking for a benefactor to donate a few cubic yards of ready mix.  "We've got feelers out but we're still waiting for something to come back," he said.

Algonquin Cemetery Walk Recalls Bygone Days

The skitter of scattered dead leaves lent an Indian Summer note to the Algonquin Historic Commission's Annual Cemetery Walk in Algonquin Cemetery Saturday.  For the ninth year, re-enactors stood among the gravestones channeling past residents  recounting episodes from the Village's past.

Algonquin wasn't always as it is now, or even very much like it.  Saturday's walk concentrated on the period from about 1890 to 1930 when the village was a day-trip tourist and recreation area for Chicago residents looking for a relaxing cruise on the rustic Fox River.

Commission helpers said Cemetery Walk attendance was as good as last year even though there wasn't shuttle bus service this time from Algonquin's Old Time Harvest Day event downtown.

In the pic: Historic Commission Member Louise Nee played Josephine Suchek recalled the 40 years when husband John Janak's excursion boat the Myrtle plied the Fox.  The cruises ended when the boathouse blew down in a storm. 

Harvest Day Closes Out Algonquin Farmers Market This Year

The Downtown Algonquin Partnership’s Old Time Country Harvest Day Old Time Country Harvest Day added live music this year to the usual array of crafts, Farmers' Market veggies and dancing girls (in exhibition) and games, a  pumpkin contest, and costume parade for the kids.  The ninth edition of the Downtown Algonquin harvest fest lacked one feature this year, though.  No one, absolutely no one, entered a dish in the yearly pumpkin recipe contest.  Note for next year:  work up recipe for pumpkin brittle, select prominent spot to display trophy.

Tomaso Walk/Run Raises Funds For Huntley Shop With Cop

With about 50 runners, Saturday's Coach Tomaso Celebration Walk, 5k Fun Run in Huntley raised about $500 for the village's Shop With a Cop program to aid less fortunate children.  The Huntley program is part of the McHenry County Police Charities initiative that's served the children of McHenry County since 1994. It aids over 300 kids a year by pairing them up with local police officers from police departments throughout McHenry County for a fun-filled day of Christmas and back to school shopping at local Walmart stores.

Union Leaders Pull Down Millions In Public Pensions

By Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News
Illinois taxpayers are on the hook to make sure union officials’ six-figure pensions keep flowing for years to come. Former employees of the National Education Association, Illinois Education Association,, Illinois Federation of Teachers and Illinois Association of School Boards have collected more than $47 million in pension benefits from the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System.

“The union leaders who are not government workers are draining millions of dollars from the hard working rank-and-file public employee's pension system each year," said Adam Andrzejewski, former GOP candidate for Governor who now runs a non-profit called For the Good of Illinois.

Employees of statewide teachers’ unions and the IASB nonprofit that helps school boards with professional development, pay into and collect a public pension as long as they hold a teaching certificate because of a decades-old state law. “It’s beyond disrespectful to rank-and-file teachers that their dues went to pay these people who are taking this kind of money out of an underfunded pensions system,” state Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, said.

Sixty-six retirees who once worked in public education and then jumped to work for the NEA, IEA, IFT or IASB are receiving a TRS pension — and another 53 employees in the queue. Murphy is working on legislation that would kick employees of statewide teachers’ unions and IASB out of TRS.

“We’re talking a couple hundred people. And our total membership is upwards of 378,000,” Dave Urbanek, spokesman for TRS said.

Murphy said removing these people from TRS won’t make much of a dent in the system's unfunded liability, but that’s not what his legislation is about. "These examples just fuel the cynicism that's out there that, frankly, makes it harder to govern," Murphy said.

You can read Andrew's full report at: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/6938/union-leaders-pull-down-millions-in-public-pensions/

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.

BRADLEY BORO, DOB:  11/25/84, 537 PARKSIDE TERRACE, CRYSTAL LAKE. FORGERY(3CTS), RESISTING A PEACE OFFICER(3CTS).--Crystal Lake PD
  
MICHAEL C. PARR, DOB:  03/29/91, 5 ARROWHEAD DRIVE, ALGONQUIN. DOMESTIC BATTERY(4CTS), RESISTING A PEACE OFFICER, CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, CRIMINAL TRESPASS TO RESIDENCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF CANNABIS.--Cary PD
  
ERICKA RIVERA TOPACIO, DOB:  05/22/90, 6236 N. ALBANY, CHICAGO. FORGERY.--McHenry PD
  
LANCE R. PORTZEN, DOB:  03/19/86, 5403 HILLTOP DRIVE, WONDER LAKE. UNLAWFUL FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER, POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY(2CTS).--McHenry County Sheriff's Office

ANDREW J. LOOMAN, DOB:  03/15/88, 4001 FOX TRAIL, CRYSTAL LAKE. UNLAWFUL FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER.--McHenry County Sheriff's Office

ROBERT L. HILT, DOB:  09/07/76, 902 W. LANDL PARK ROAD, LAKEMOOR. HOME INVASION, DOMESTIC BATTERY (SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE)(2CTS).--McHenry County Sheriff's Office
  
CHRISTOPHER M. SHAFER, DOB:  04/18/76, 616 CARTWRIGHT TRAIL, MCHENRY. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.--McHenry PD
  
KEITH E. LAMASSE, DOB:  06/19/63, 640 RUDAT COURT, CRYSTAL LAKE. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF CANNABIS.  
KEITH E. LAMASSE. UNLAWFUL DELIVERY OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.----McHenry County Sheriff's Office  
  
TIMOTHY J. THOMAS, DOB:  06/30/89, 648 KNOLLWOOD DRIVE, CARY. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DELIVER A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.--Cary PD
  
BUFORD BARNETT JR., DOB:  03/01/75, 5110 PARKVIEW, MCCULLOM LAKE. AGGRAVATED DOMESTIC BATTERY.--McCullom Lake PD
  
DAVID ANTHONY BADILLO, DOB: 03/31/85, LKA: 2521 N. WASHTENAW AVENUE CHICAGO. CRIMINAL TRESPASS TO RESIDENCE.--Crystal Lake PD

CHRISTOPHER A. KRISTAN, DOB: 12/27/79, 677 SUSSEX LANE, CRYSTAL LAKE. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A HYPODERMIC SYRINGE, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.--Crystal 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
October 8
0400 HRS 6900 RAKOW RD. (RAKOW CURVE) DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL/ACCIDENT. DELORD, LINDA M., F/W 30 YEARS OF AGE, 169 MCHENRY AVE., CRYSTAL LAKE. CHARGES: Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Improper Lane Usage, No Vehicle Insurance. RELEASED ON BOND.
1500 HRS OAKLEAF DR. & ALGONQUIN RD. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE REVOKED. HAIGES, JAKE D., M/W 21 YEARS OF AGE, 101 WOODY WAY, LAKE IN THE HILLS. CHARGES: Driving While License Revoked and No Insurance. RELEASED ON BOND.
2218 HRS RAKOW RD. & PYOTT RD. POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA. JOHANSSON, CARLY A., F/W 20 YEARS OF AGE, 363 BUCKINGHAM DR., CRYSTAL LAKE. CHARGES: Possession Cannabis more than 10 grams, less than 30 grams. Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
RELEASED ON BOND.
SKRODZKI, MICHAEL J., M/W 20 YEARS OF AGE, 650 W. ECHO LN., PALATINE. CHARGES: Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Cannabis more than 10 grams, less than 30 grams. RELEASED ON BOND.
0208 HRS QUAIL RUN & OAKLEAF RD. DOMESTIC. Boyfriend vs. girlfriend, verbal only. No priors.
0211 HRS 100 BLOCK OF NORTHLIGHT PASS. MISSING Female, 15 years of age, left residence on 10/07/11 @ 1800 hours. Subject was located and released to her parents.
0258 HRS 220 N. RANDALL RD., (MORETTIS) BATTERY. Four male subjects. FAIL TO FILE.
0543 HRS 100 BLOCK OF OAKLEAF RD. DOMESTIC BATTERY. Boyfriend vs. girlfriend. PENDING INVESTIGATION.
0703 HRS 1400 BLOCK OF ROYAL OAK LN. FOUND ARTICLE. Two DVD players and two car stereos were found in front of a residence. Items entered into evidence.
1917 HRS STANTON CIRCLE & RAXBURG CT. ACCIDENT. Two vehicles. Property damage only.
1946 HRS 00 BLOCK OF W. PHEASANT TRAIL. DOMESTIC. Husband vs. wife. Verbal argument only. No priors.
2221 HRS CHANCERY WAY & TERRAMERE LN. NUISANCE. Crowd of juveniles in street being disruptive.
2252 HRS 500 BLOCK OF WINDERMERE WAY. DOMESTIC. Mother vs son. Verbal only. Male, 23 years of age, transported to Woodstock Hospital for an evaluation.