McHenry County Blog

McHenry County Blog has published over 4,100 articles. Above the masthead is a search engine. Just enter a key word, such as, McHenry County College, Baseball Stadium, Crystal Lake Watershed, TIF, District 158, District 300, developer or a politician’s name and you’ll see articles with that word.

I find that people want to share information. One asked for an email address. The one way, way, way down on the lower right next to the wanted poster works. It is mchenrycountyblog@comcast.net

Or at least it could be if anyone wanted to pop for the cost.

Designed by John Coonen of Crystal Lake Network this one says, Watershed Moment, and shows a car in a lake with a young man looking at its going under.

Perhaps this is a reference to all the motor vehicles that will be parked at stores on Crystal Lake’s watershed north of Route 176 on Route 14 after the city council fulfills its development goals.

Labels: Billboard, Crystal Lake Watershed, John Coonen, Message of the Day

The day before yesterday and yesterday, I began a too long journey into the past toward a point about Huntley School Board President Shawn Green’s apparent unwillingness to pursue the repayment of money that should not have been paid District 158 employees until after criminal proceedings are completed.

It involved my foray into handing tax protests in cooperation with a young Crystal Lake attorney.


The deal was that the attorney and, I figured, I would take a cut of any successfully protested taxes. I figured that the first year very little money would be made, but in subsequent years there was a possibility of good revenue.

So, I’m playing the role of law clerk and one day right before the August due date for the first installment, I get a call from the Chicago bureau of United Press International.

I was asked my comments about having been sued for practicing law without a license by the McHenry County Bar Association.

To this day I have thankful that my exact comments were not printed.

The week before, the young attorney I had gotten to handle the legal work had backed out under pressure from the bar association. I figured I had enough protest taxes in house to find another to take his place and continued filing the paperwork for more complaints during that last week before the deadline.

The trial attracted the attention of a Mike Royko-like columnist who wrote his column under the pseudonym “Phoenix.” He was published in a mostly non-subscription paper published by Richardson Publications out of Dundee Township. It circulated there, plus Cary, Algonquin, Wonder Lake, probably McHenry and elsewhere.

Phoenix, who turned out to be Northwestern Railroad public relations man and former Wall Street Journal reporter Jim McDonnell, started writing about the “Bar X Gang’s” attacking Skinny. (I was a lot thinner then.)

I found the columns hilarious…probably the only bright spot most weeks while I awaited the trial.

I knew better than to hire a local lawyer. I hired Michael Shakman, who besides being the Shakman of the eventual Shakman decree had been president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a reform group in Cook County.

The trial was pretty open and shut.

Had I prepared and filed these tax protest forms?

Well, yes.

Was I under the supervision of an attorney?

Well, not all the time.


I think the Judge was Charlie Parker. I know the courtroom used was his, which was located right next to the county treasurer’s office.

In any event, I lost the case, was fined $150, told to hand over my paperwork to attorney Conerty and spent my life’s savings. I’m pretty sure I paid for Shakman’s trip to Greece the next year.

As we sat in my parent’s living room after the verdict with an associate who had graduated from my alma mater Oberlin College a bit before I did, I was as close to wanting to go the barricades as anytime in my life. Had I been an anti-war protester, I’m sure that’s what I would have done.
I thought—whether rightly or wrongly—that I had been done in by the system I had supported all of my adult life.

But, I couldn’t think of anything that needed changing more than the real estate tax system.

Tomorrow, the upsides to losing the case.

Labels: Cal Skinner, Charles Parker, Huntley School District 158, Jim McDonald, McHenry County Bar Association, Michael Shakman, Mike Royko, Mike Shakman, Phoenix, Richardson Publications, Shawn Green

Today’s message of the day is a continuation of a Christmas and Easter tradition of Hobby Lobby.

I saw a black and white version in Elgin’s Courier News.

Then, while at my brother and sister-in-laws’ home for Christmas morning, I found this color version in the Daily Herald.

The owners of Hobby Lobby put their Christian beliefs in practice by closing their stores on Sundays and by playing Christian hymns other stores don’t.

This year's ad shows the shadow of a cross on a manger. It's the top half of the ad, but the part with the message.

Labels: Christmas, Cross, Hobby Lobby, Manger

There was a lot of heavy snow that I shoveled Friday night before we went out to dinner at the Crystal Lake Country Club. I was really tired and slept as late as I can remember.

Undoubtedly part of the reason was because of the barbecued ribs and the rest of the food I stuffed down my gullet.

As I was finishing the ribs off for lunch, I got to page four of Saturday’s Chicago Tribune and, lo and behold, there was a big, 856-word article on libertarian Republican Party primary candidate Ron Paul, headlined,


The blotch on the article next to the Iowa voter’s photo is barbecue sauce.

Maybe because I played the role of the ignored candidate for Illinois governor in 2002, I look at ignored candidates more than others. I’ve always admired underdogs.

And does “underdog” fit obstetrician Ron Paul’s campaign.

Even the slogan of the recent movie by that name fits the campaign, if you will allow a substitute spelling for “paw.”


And this underdog physician has certainly been ignored by the mainstream media.

The Chicago Tribune ignored Paul’s 1,500-person Hyatt Regency rally in mid-September.

But they covered John McCain’s Union League Club press conference.

And the press conferences of the other “leading” presidential candidates who just stopped in Chicago to raise money and decided to get some free press.

I’ll show you the Chicago Tempo photo of him as a “lonely guy” with no supporters again.

Until, he ended up raising more money in one day than any other presidential candidate ever has…twice.

Then, the Tribune gave him front page coverage.

Now, Paul’s campaign is sitting on a couple of tens of millions of dollars, enough, his campaign folks say, to take him through the February 5th primary elections.

I pointed out that Paul is the only candidate with energized Illinois supporters.

While that does not by any means translate into significant numbers of votes, it meant something to press coverage four years ago to Howard Dean.

Dean got it.

Paul hasn’t.

Now in a "cover our read end” article “just in case,” the Tribune assigned reporter Jason George to check out what the Paul campaign is doing in Iowa.

Illinois’ ex-presidential candidate John Cox’ campaign manager Craig Bergman is Paul’s political director there. Cox spent a lot of time in Iowa, so my guess is that Bergman has a lot of current grass roots Republican contacts. State chairman Drew Ivers ran the 1988 Pat Robertson campaign, plus two for Pat Buchanan. More contacts.

University of Iowa political scientist David Redlawsk had this observation:

“It might be the one thing that will make the Republican caucuses interesting.”

Paul now has thirty staffers in Iowa, up from four, and hundreds of volunteers, the article says.

“So, could Paul end up in the top three?” reporter George asks. “Could Paul ace out better-known candidates like New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain?”

“Odder things have happened,” political scientist Fedlawsk points out, noting that Pat Robertson finished second ahead of V.P. George Bush in 1988.

The Tribune found one “normal” (my characterization) Iowa Republican, a veterinarian named Carl Bockenstedt. He’s dropping off literature to farmers as he tends their animals.

“Here we are, a model family in Iowa, and the people who are supposed to work for us don’t.”

I think he’s talking about government folks in Washington.

Maybe that attitude among Republicans is why the Chicago Tribune wrote Saturday’s

“Does Ron Paul Have a Chance to Do
Better than the Tribune Has Treated Him?”

article. Former Springfield bureau writer Christi Parsons even mentions “maverick libertarian” Paul in her national wrap-up article, but can’t bring herself to call his position on abortion “pro-life.”

Meanwhile, this in the Wall Street Journal, written by editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader:

” Mr. Paul draws an unusual mix of libertarians, fiscally conservative Democrats, conservative Republicans, home-schoolers, vegans, gambling aficionados, anti-abortion activists and others who want the government to butt out of some aspect of their lives.”

All images may be enlarged by clicking on them. The blimp is from Ron Paul Blimp. Here is was in Norfolk, Virginia, now near Orlando, Florida.

Labels: Carl Bockenstedt, Chicago Tribune, Craig Bergman, Iowa, John Cox, Ron Paul, Underdog

Yesterday, I brought up how Huntley School Board President Shawn Green, a policeman, didn’t seem to know the difference between a criminal and a civil case.

That brought to mind a chain of events in my life that started with my being sued for practicing law without a license.

[It’s going to take me a long time to get to my point about Green, so, if you aren’t interested in part of my life story, just come back a couple of days from now for the lesson of this story.]

After all, the low point in my life (besides the disappearance of my daughter Alexandra at age 2¾ ) was when the McHenry County Bar Association sued me for practicing law without a license.

My term as McHenry County Treasurer had ended. I had not followed the career path of some county treasurers and run for sheriff. (Couldn’t picture myself in that role.)

Then Woodstock attorney Joe Conerty announced that he was not going to do tax protests anymore.

I knew that there 10% of the taxes paid to the county treasurer was paid under protest. That was about $2 million in 1971. The reason was that tax districts, including McHenry County, were levying taxes illegally.

Just to give you an example, the McHenry County Board was illegally accumulating money to build a new courthouse. The members knew they were not trusted enough to pass a referendum.

The summer of my first year as treasurer, I used the budgeting skills I had learned at the United States Bureau of the Budget to estimate the county’s beginning general fund balance at the beginning of December, the start of the budget year.

I estimated it would be about $8 million.

The Finance Committee insisted it would be zero.

It was my first year, so I presented my case and sat back and waited. The December 1st balanced turned out to be closer to $10 million. I had underestimated, but I was a lot closer than the county budget’s starting zero balance.

People who paid their county taxes under protest with Conerty got a refund for the entire amount levied for its general fund. And there were other districts that didn’t meet the technical requirements of the tax laws.

In any event, in 1971 I discovered that Conerty was going to file taxes under protest for the railroads and other large property owners. He was just shedding the small tax protesters.

“Ah ha,” my unemployed brain thought.

The paperwork for filing taxes under protest is simple.

I knew I couldn’t do the legal work, so I found a young attorney and got him to agree to handle that.

I knew lawyers couldn’t advertise (hard to believe now, isn’t it?), but I wasn’t an attorney.

More tomorrow.

Labels: Cal Skinner, Joe Conerty, McHenry County Courthouse, McHenry County Government Center, McHenry County Jail

In the category of stuff other people would have thrown away is this charter identification pin from the Woodstock Rotary.

We formed the club while I was McHenry County Treasurer. Woodstock’s city manager asked me to be a part of the formation.

It met in the lower level of the Timbers restaurant at the intersection of Routes 47 and Bypass 14 where Benoy Motors is now located.

One of the projects I was involved with was a revolving loan program for Woodstock students at McHenry County College.

I was disappointed to find out that it no longer exists when I asked MCC officials. I wonder what MCC did with the money.

Labels: MCC, McHenry County College, Rotary, Woodstock Rotary

Thursday’s Daily Herald story by Jameel Naqvi has so many strands that I couldn’t deal with them all in one piece.

One of the more stunning comments made by Huntley School District officials in Naqvi’s article confirming McHenry County Blog’s finding that Post Office officials are investigating was made by Board President Shawn Green, who earns his living as a policeman.

It was way at the bottom of Naqvi’s article:

“Board President Shawn Green said if the auditor looked into all of (board member Larry) Snow's issues, the audit ‘wouldn't cost $100,000; it would probably be closer to $200,000 or $300,000.’"

[This comes from one of the people who didn’t even want a forensic audit, as you can see in this article. He later supported Snow’s suggestion.]

“Green said the district may be able to recover some of the $100,000 -- depending on the outcome of the state's attorney's investigation.

"’I don't want it to ruin our chances for getting back any money we may be owed,’ Green said.”

I guess that is an improvement over what has been said in the past.

Previously, Green and most of the ruling board majority have shown no interest I’ve noticed in recovering any of the money paid to administrators for fringe benefits not approved in open session by the board.

But let’s visit this lawman’s knowledge of the law.

“’I don't want it to ruin our chances for getting back any money we may be owed,” Green says as if a criminal conviction is necessary before one can sue for compensation for misdeeds.

The difference between criminal and civil law suits should probably come from someone other than me.

To find out why, read tomorrow’s McHenry County Blog

Labels: Civil Case, Criminal Case, Forensic Audit, Huntley School District 158, Larry Snow, Shawn Green

I read the lead headline in the December 20th Sumner Press.

“To Make Lawrence County Great in 2008”

Then, it hit me.

I wonder how many other papers will rhyme “Great” with “Eight.”

I’ll start counting.

Labels: Lawrence County, Sumner Press

Our neighbor Judy Peterson has this wonderful Christmas tradition.

She makes cookies and delivers them to some of her neighbors.

We are blessed to be among the grateful recipients.

This year she labeled them.

Sugar cookies.

Snickerdoodles.

Butterscotch.

Molasses

Mother’s Best.

Wt. Chocolate/Macadamia.

Peppermint.

Amaretti.

And, two loaves of sweet bread.

Underneath were small pretzels, half covered with white chocolate, plus walnuts covered with sugar.

WOW!

What a neighbor!

Labels: Cookies, Judy Peterson, Message of the Day

Illinois Republican United States Senate candidate Andy Martin has sent out his take on the murder of Pakistan's leading advocate for democracy. Thought you might be interested in the views of the candidate whose name must never be mentioned.


(CHICAGO)(December 28, 2007) When a friend suggested going to see the new film "Charlie Wilson's War," I readily accepted. I had been in Afghanistan with the Mujaheddin, and was familiar with operations at both ends of the country. One of my best friends, an Afghan refugee to the United States, was later killed by the Northern Alliance. But before I could see the movie, tragedy struck in Pakistan yesterday.

My own connections to Pakistan go back to the early days of my life, when I met Pakistani students at a prep school in England. Who were all of these people, and where did they come from? I soon learned. I became very close with my Paki pals. And thus I was familiar with the area when I ended up in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion. In Iran I teamed up with my Afghan buddy and we slipped into Afghanistan from the west, starting in Meshad, Iran. For two decades I was probably the last American to enter Afghanistan in that manner. We linked up with the Mujaheddin.

In the meantime, in the east, Pakistan was being overrun by Afghan refugees fleeing into Peshawar, a city that became a living version of a film noir. Every warlord had his refugee group, and their followers marched through the streets claiming they were ready to take on and takeout the Soviet Union. The Red Army was slaughtering the Afghans, trying to break the back of resistance to the Soviet invasion.

Simultaneously, Pakistan was being undermined by its military dictator, Zia al-Huq, who appears in the movie. Zia killed the elected leader of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto's father, and installed Muslim holy law, or Shariah, to tamp down the free spirits of secular Pakistanis. The last thirty years have been a disaster for Pakistan, and for us.

So who killed Benazir Bhutto? I believe that Pakistani intelligence will try to on the assassination on "Islamic militants." But this is probably one time when the fundamentalists are not guilty.

The current military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, who styles himself a president, and was once known as "Busharraf" because of the mutual fawning between himself and President Bush after 9/11, is most likely at fault for this murder. Ironically, the dictator's brother lives in the Chicago area, quietly, where he is a respected doctor.

While neighboring India has firmly planted democratic roots in recent years, Pakistan remains a military dictatorship. India has become a leading nation of the world. Pakistan is a basket case. When British India was divided in 1947, most people would have wagered that it was Pakistan, not India, which would eventually prosper and succeed. Because the British had favored the Punjabis, the dominant group in Pakistan, Pakistan received most of the combined region's managerial and military class. A solid social structure was in place.

Because Pakistan was Muslim, but only nominally so, a free society could have developed. Sadly, under military dictatorships, Pakistan has become a disaster. The United States has welcomed India into the expanding circle of influential nations while Pakistan has become more and more unstable.

Musharraf has been under relentless pressure to end his military dictatorship. He has come under increasing scrutiny for misdirecting and squandering $10 billion in American military and economic aid. And Senator Barack Obama has even suggested we bomb Pakistan "tribal areas" if we find Osama Bin Laden and the Pakistanis are reluctant to act.

Musharraf grudgingly made a deal with Bhutto, under U. S. pressure, and then reluctantly readmitted her rival for power Nawaz Sharif into Pakistan after initially deporting him. But Musharraf has kept recalcitrant Pakistan Supreme Court Judges and lawyers under house arrest. All in all, Musharraf faces a very untidy and potentially explosive situation.

Why does Pakistan matter? Of today's Islamic countries, Pakistan still has more potential to become a beacon of Islamic moderation and stability than any other nation. Americans probably passed over the pictures of Pakistani judges and lawyers protesting Musharraf's recent repression and his bogus "state of emergency." But there, in public, was proof positive that despite all of the chaos of the past 30 years, Pakistan still had the infrastructure, and superstructure of a civil society in place. Pakistan is still a place where the future holds great promise both for Islam and for freedom.

The demonstrating judges and attorneys were crying out for our help. Once again we choose to back the dictator Musharraf and ignore cries from the Pakistani people. Although Pakistan is vastly more unstable and radicalized than it was in my era 30 years ago, Pakistan is still worth saving and must be saved. The nation has nuclear weapons.

So why do I believe Musharraf killed Bhutto? First, the killing looks suspicious. The way the attack unfolded, with firearms first and explosions second, leads me to believe the detonations were designed to cover up the killing and indeed to create chaos as a cover for escape of the perpetrators. The bomb explosions were incidental to the murder of Bhutto. Assassins planning to use a bomb do not shoot first and bomb second.

Second, I see the security situation around Bhutto as incredibly lax and ineffective. When Bhutto landed in Pakistan several weeks ago, another bombing attack led to massive death. She had virtually no protection moments before yesterday's attack. Either she was incredibly foolhardy, or she had been poorly advised to unnecessarily expose herself.

One of the failings of military dictatorships is that the military ceases to be the servant of the state, and becomes its oppressor. And having arrogated power to itself, Pakistan's military is not anxious to see a restoration of civilian control. And so, the easiest way to derail a return to civil society was to kill the emissary of future democracy. Benazir Bhutto.

Sadly, her death will likely create even more unstable conditions. American foreign policy stands on the brink. We have banked on Musharraf, but his bank is bankrupt. His military has swallowed our billions with very little to show, and he lacks any future. He has lost the people. The tribal areas have become a Taliban suburb. His regime is likely to become increasingly despotic, as he tries to blame "Islamic fundamentalists" for Bhutto's death.

Musharraf probably believed his rule would be cemented in place by the death of Bhutto. I believe he was very wrong. And I think it would be wrong to blame the fundamentalists for Bhutto's death. Potentially, they stood to gain if Bhutto became a growing threat to Musharraf. I would not rule out a fundamentalist plot, but right now I believe Musharraf is the guilty party.

So where do we go from here? The United States must (i) conduct its own independent investigation into Bhutto's death. Such an investigation will not be easy, because we will receive no cooperation from Pakistani intelligence services, all of which are still loyal to Musharraf. (ii) We need to inventory the Pakistani nuclear weapons stockpiles as best we can, and be ready to seize them if the government falls. (iii) As distasteful as it will be to the State Department, we need to begin a new opening to Nawaz Sharif, who remains the only civilian leader likely to stem the collapse of this nation.

None of these options is pleasant, and all of them involve more and more risk, but right now we have to double up, or we will surely be doubled down by the unfolding events in Pakistan.

Labels: Andy Martin, Benazir Bhutto

Readership is typically down during holiday periods, but it appears as if at least one reporter took a look on Monday.

That was the day McHenry County Blog revealed the United States Post Office’s investigation of the Huntley School District.

The source?

An answer from a McHenry County Blog Freedom of Information request.

So, what’s it all about?

The Daily Herald’s Jameel Naqvi reports that

“according to school board Vice President Tony Quagliano, (the complaint) alleges District 158 sent voters intentionally misleading information in a district newsletter before the 2004 referendum.”

So, not only was the B.E.S.T. tax hike political action committee sending out false information, but the school district itself was as well.

A Crystal Lake High School District 155 school superintendent, one whom I respected, came this/close to losing his pension for similar use of school resources in support of a referendum.

The news article reports that district officials say a former superintendent was named in a complaint, but won’t fess up who it was.

Not too tough a mystery to unravel.

“Officials would not reveal who was named, but the alleged activity occurred sometime before (Steve) Swanson left the district and after his interim successor, Robert Hammon, was hired,” Naqvi reported.

Steve Swanson was superintendent from 2001 until he and then-finance officer Paul Halverson resigned in 2005, after public outcry over misinformation distributed as part of the referendum campaign.

The blatantly false campaign information led to

• the election of Larry Snow,


• the re-working of tax cap legislation, in which Larry Snow and Tony Quagliano provided their expertise, to prevent similar lie-based referendum campaigns in the future and, subsequently, and


• the election of a second reform-minded inquiring citizen—Aileen Seedorf—to the Huntley school board.

This led to a blow-back by organizers and active participants in the B.E.S.T. referendum effort at a recent Huntley School Board meeting. The resignations of Snow and Seedorf were demanded. In addition, millionaire Michael Leucht ran a full-page ad in the Northwest Herald calling for two board members to resign.

No reason to let financial impropriety or mail fraud to get in the way of a fight to retain total control over a malfunctioning local government, I guess.

Labels: Aileen Seedorf, FOI, Huntley School District 158, Larry Snow, Mail Fraud, Michael Leucht, Paul Halverson, Robert Hammon, Steve Swanson, Tax Cap, Tony Quagliano

I guess I didn’t realize that Alaska was a corrupt state.

Oh, I know about the investigation of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens.

But indelibly etched in my mind is Governor Walter Hickel’s getting into trouble for renting a building from a campaign contributor.

“Does a building ever get rented from a non-campaign contributor in Illinois?” I thought at the time.

Former Governor George Ryan is now in that prison near the Wisconsin Dells because of deals involving campaign contributors, but I don’t remember the U.S. Attorney’s proving Ryan got any money personally from state landlords.

Thursday the Chicago Tribune featured a second (see story about the first one) Republican governor building a reputation on being honest. It’s in an Associated Press story by Steve Quinn.

She is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

She’s 43, took office in 2006 and, as Claremont political scientist put it,

“What separates her from others is that at a time when Republicans have suffered from the taint of corruption, she represents clean politics.”

She’s got four kids, the youngest six years old.

Where is Illinois’ Sarah Palin when we need her?

Labels: Alaska, Republican, Sarah Palin

A week ago my son and I drove past Gate 7 after school one day and this is what we saw.

It was a man and his son.

The dog was there, too.

All were out on the ice where the father had drilled a hole in the ice getting ready to go fishing.

I yelled, “How deep?”

“Six inches,” was the shouted reply.

So, I guess it’s safe to walk on the ice.

Or, maybe not with the warm weather.

Labels: Crystal Lake, Gate 7, Ice Fishing, Message of the Day

In the category of “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a noise?” comes last Thursday night’s McHenry County College Board meeting motion to declare the baseball stadium proposal dead.

Then again, the Northwest Herald didn’t report on the devastating 3rd party analysis of the baseball promoter’s predicted revenues and expenses and I know that exists, even though McHenry County Blog is the only source that wrote a story.

Declaring the contract with the baseball promoter a nullity may not have been exactly Scott Summers’ motion, but that was its goal.

Summers pointed out that since Crystal Lake re-zoning approval for the Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex (or baseball stadium, as I have referred to its most prominent part) was one of the terms of the contract with baseball promoter Pete Heitman had failed that the contract does not exist and the board should declare it a dead. Fellow censured board member Donna Kurtz seconded the motion.

Summers argued that purchase of the 57 adjacent acres between the current college property and the train tracks should be considered on its own merits.

In any event, three MCC board members—Summers, Donna Kurtz and Frances Glosson—voted together. McHenry County Blog first noticed the position switch on November 15th.

Newly elected MCC Board President George Lowe, Barbara Walters, Carol Larson and Mary Miller outvoted them.

But, there were fireworks, expression of anger, hostility and, as one observer put it, “denial” during the discussion.

Kurtz and Glosson argued for an objective 3rd party review of Heitman’s financial projections.

Lowe suggested (maybe that is too mild a word because another source said at one point Lowe “shouted” at one of the baseball stadium dissenters) that Kurtz should have read her board packet (about the baseball stadium) the first time.

Crystal Lake CPA Miller argued that the board did a good job, looking at the buildings, as well as the numbers.

Summers pointed out that those who stand to make money on the project could not be expected to be objective.

Larson explained that she did not see any conflict, that this was a public-private partnership in which the goal was to make money.

Kurtz’ retort pointed out that it wasn’t much of a partnership, with the private investors putting up $25,000 and the college the rest of the rest of the required $25 or more million.

My sources tell me that President Walt Packard tried to interpret the appearance of the Economics Research Associates as proposing to do a more "thorough" analysis.

That is, as I have reported in a fair amount of detail, not an accurate representation of what ERA’s presentation was about.

ERA was there pitching an entirely different role, telling college board members that it could put together a partnership to get the project off and running.

ERA's Richard Starr made a sales pitch to make the baseball stadium happen, plain and simple.

Erv LeCoque’s report of the withdrawal of a $1 million scholarship pledge was disputed by President Packard.

= = = = =
None of the pictures were taken at the meeting. The article is based on notes from two observers. Scott Summers is on the upper left with Pete Heitman on the upper left. A map of the Gilger property is below Heitman's head shot. George Lowe is below Summers and Mary Miller is under Heitman. Carol Larson is on the left below those two. Donna Kurtz is on the right. Economics Research Associates spokesman Richard Starr is beneath Larson. Walt Packard is on the bottom right.

Labels: Baseball Stadium, Carol Larson, Donna Kurtz, Economics Research Associates, ERA, George Lowe, Mary Miller, MCC, McHenry County College, Pete Heitman, Richard Starr, Scott Summers, Walt Packard

The day before Christmas I posted an editorial cartoon which basically asked consideration of whether one would use torture if one could stop a 9/11.

I had one reply from my posting here:

Jared said...

I find it ironic that the United States claims it does not torture, but prosecuted Japanese military personnel for the same methods that they used.

As if the information that they get from detainees is worth anything. Hmmmm.....coercing people who have been locked up for 5 years to find "new information." It's moronic to think that any viable information is still in these detainees. Al Qaeda already has changed their tactics and plans, so the people incarcerated are out of the loop.

Never mind the fact that the United States circumvents international law by deeming people captured as supposed terrorists as "enemy combatants," places them in prison complexes outside of the country (to go around the Geneva Conventions), and then denies them the right to have formal charges placed against them. I mean, I don't support people who attack our country, but America is not being the beacon of freedom it claims to be.

And as for the editorial, I think that if the US had stayed out of Iraq and Saudi Arabia during Gulf War One we would not have been attacked. Obviously if Christians had some Muslims or pagans establish military bases in their sacred land, they would resort to guerrilla warfare. Better American foreign policy would have prevented 9/11, not treating other human beings as if they were animals.

On Illinois Review, there was more reaction:

Posted by Swimmer

Cute, but in waterboarding they put a towel over your face so the water only gets in your nose if you breath.

Posted by Hascat

Torture doesn't guarantee results.

Posted by TheReallyRightGuy

If you knew about 9/11 and its victims ahead of time, what more do you need?

Posted by Mark Rhoads

There are many moving targets in this debate. It is complicated and there are not easy answers when U.S. intelligence agents think a prisoner has knowledge that could save innocent lives. No one deserves to be tortured but there is no unilateral constitutional or treaty guarantee for battlefield combatants that they may never be exposed to very aggressive questioning techniques.

1. As Hascat said, torture doesn't guarantee results. But sometimes very aggressive interrogation can yield information that can help save US lives.
2. There are not common definitions about what torture is and there are degrees of mistreatment and interrogation techniques that are much rougher than others.
3. I hate to see any the U.S. agency responsible for any interrogation technique that could even be described as torture on the margins. But I also have to concede this is a new kind of war where the prisoners of war did not wear uniforms and were not employed directly by any government.
4. The difference between aggressive interrogation and "torture" is a very subjective one. My biggest concern was the breakdown in the normal chain of command when poorly trained National Guard enlisted people without officer supervision had access to prisoners when they had no business being in the area. The CIA does not belong inside the Army chain of command relating to the supervision of prisoners.
5. Without come state authority that can guarantee that Americans taken prisoner will not be beheaded ot tortued to death, the U.S. cannot unilaterally treat all battlefield terrorists as they would treaty-protected prisoners of war wearing the uniform of a country. If we say we will never aggressively interrogate a terrorist just so we can feel good about ourselves, we are not doing the job of protecting future victims of terrorism. Start with current rules on prisoners but a new set of rules needs to be carefully thought about and written.

Posted by Pete Speer

Nitty Pick --

"Pease on Earth Good Will Towards Men" is a corruption of the original: Peace on Earth to Men of Good Will" in the Bible.

There is a huge difference.

However that original is now been soft soaped down so the last one is translated now as "...to men on whom God has shown his favor..." whatever the heck that means.
Anyway -- to me the purpose of the tactic is what to me defines the difference between interrogation tactics and torture.

The former is related to the extraction of information, for which the interrogator wants the subject to be kept in good condition. The latter, describes a method during which the torturer has no interest in keeping the subject alive -- in fact, death may be the desired result.

Anyone up for some serious debate?

Labels: 9/11, Torture

After we opened out stockings Christmas Eve and took a family photo, I decided to take the tripod outside and get some pictures of the luminaries we put out each Christmas Eve.

After I took shots of the driveway from the front walk, I went down to the intersection to take a picture of the house from a distance.

There I noticed that someone had put paper bag luminaries on Meridian Street from Lake Avenue all the way down to Broadway.

Boy, did they look good.

Naturally, I decided to take pictures of them.

What you see here is the Gate 12 sign with that long block full of lights.

If not a full moon, it was one day off, so the landscape was well lit.

The photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Labels: Christmas Eve, Gate 12, Lakewood, Luminaries, Meridian Street

It was the day before Christmas and the Chicago Tribune decided to do a Christmas story.

The headline on the its front page was


But, you know what?

It had to go to Savannah, Georgia, to find one to write an article about.

Oh, it did run some commentary about Willow Creek.’

And, it mentioned the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

And the Prestwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

And the First Baptist Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

But, the Chicago Tribune couldn’t find the Quentin Road Baptist Church in Lake County. That pageant didn't use a doll like the one in Savanna, Georgia. It used a real baby to represent Jesus.

Our family found it last year and I wrote the following article about what we saw:

Full Gospel Christmas Pageant

For the first time, my family saw a full gospel Christmas pageant.

This was not just a nativity scene-focused presentation, although there was a nativity scene.

This was a quick step through the Bible from creation to the return of Christ.

The beginning had a somewhat subtle, yet obvious illustration of the impermanence of things temporal.

Marshall Field’s was featured in the secularized scene, which featured shopping and gifts.

Two screens beside the huge stage at the Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church in Lake Zurich were used effectively to show celestial light at the creation of the world, narrators, prophecies and even comic relief.

This was a complete telling of the Bible’s message. Even if it was in a Reader’s Digest condensed form, it seemed to me to touch on the Bible’s major points right up to the Second Coming.

Pastor James Scudder’s wife Linda wrote the script.

The animals were real and the camel mature.

We stayed late talking to friends and were shown where the camel and other animals were kept between shows. We were warned not to get too close to the camel. It was skittish. (I would be, too, if I had to enter a darkened room with spotlights.)

Most spectacular was Christ’s Ascension. I could see the wires from our balcony seats, but it was quite impressive.

Interspersed were songs aplenty by children as young as three and a full chorus of older youth and adults.

After the extravaganza, Steven saw Jesus walking toward from the stage. We had already met one of the Wise Men. When I suggested it must be hot inside his costume, he readily agreed.

“Let’s go see Jesus,” Steven said.

A couple of steps away, “Jesus” asked my son, “What’s your name?”

“Steven,” he replied.

“My name’s Mark,” the church member said.

Steven looked at the big black dots in the center of his palms and asked how they put the nails in.

Mark replied that they had bent them and he had grasped them so they looked like they were piercing his hands.

The show was rebroadcast on TLN (Total Living Network) at 9 PM on Christmas Eve. That’s December 24th.

Labels: Christmas Pageant, Quentin Road Baptist Church

Made by the Scrappy Quilters of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, this little wall hanging is of the Three Wise Men on the way to worship the Christ Child.

Labels: First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Scrappy Quilters, Three Wise Men, UMW, United Methodist Women

So, it was over the hills and the Fox River and through the woods and the Port Barrington speed trap to Uncle Joe’s house we go.

And what did we see through the fog up above?

A lighted sign that said brightly,


I took a picture from the passenger seat.

"Isn't that sweet?" I thought. Some church has put up a sign for Christmas.

When we got closer to Silver Lakes Road, I saw the sign was a political one for


running for the McHenry County Board in District 1.

That’s the district that covers Fox River Grove, Cary and lots of Algonquin.

Fox River Grove resident Bless is running against two better known opponents from that town,

• former Fox River Grove village president Bill Yocius, who ran against me in the 1992 primary for state representative, and


• long-time Algonquin Township Trustee Lowell Cutsworth

Algonquin’s incumbent Marc Munaretto, is the fourth person on the ballot for the two slots.

The other incumbent, Dan Shea, also a former Fox River Grove village president, is retiring. Shea is the county board member who came up with the greatest quote about how irritating my taking flash pictures at a county board meeting:

“Law enforcement uses flash bombs to distract people, yet we are being asked to make important decisions under similar situations."

What does this have to do with Illinois’ U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama?

Hey, folks.

It’s Christmas.

When is the last time you saw a political sign B-E-F-O-R-E Christmas?

Illinois Democrats moved the primary election date forward from the third Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February.

They said they did it to give Obama an advantage, but I think at least a strong a reason was to discourage challengers.

Tough to go door-to-door when there’s snow on the ground and it’s freezing cold.

Of course, January could be as warm as last year and that might thwart the plans of incumbents to get re-nominated on name identification alone.

In any event, I have seen three signs of the February 5th Republican primary in the snow.

One was Bob Blessings’ 24-hour lit sign.

The second was a mini-billboard for State Senator Pam Althoff, who has no opponent.

The third were 4 foot by four foot yard signs for McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi. You can see the one no Pingree Road best, but a bit of the one on East Crystal Lake Avenue can be seen, too. The guys behind former McHenry County State’s Attorney Gary Pack are backing his opponent.

Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Yocius, Bob Bless, Lowell Cutsworth, Marc Munaretto, McHenry County Board, McHenry County Board Privatization, Political Sign

It seems I had a lot more time last year to write Christmas stories than I did this year. This year we had a family birthday party for all the missed fall birthdays the night of our church's children's Christmas program. But last year's was so good, I repeat it below.
Ever attend a Kids Christmas Pageant and think that you read an article about its theme before.

No, I’m not talking about some magazine article in which the liberal national news magazines do their best to shake the faithful with a “Was Jesus Really Born in Jerusalem?” or, worse yet, a "Was Jesus Ever Born?" piece or something like that.

This is one that could have been on that New York lawyer's show "Law and Order."

So, here’s the story line.

Kids put together their annual Christmas pageant, which has always been held in the town square for their Christmas pageant.

The mayor—a politically correct woman—is up for re-election.

The mayor decides she doesn’t want to offend anyone, so she tells the kids they can’t use the town square.

The kids decide to go door to door to ask people to call the mayor and urge her to change her mind.

First they go to a blasé rich people’s house. They attract them outside by singing carols.

The urbane husband asks the wife what the kids want, money?

“Here, give them $5.”

The kids say they don’t want money, they want the man and woman to call the mayor to allow them to put on their presentation in the town square.

The couple give no indication of following through.

They go to a second home and find two aging hippies.

These folks celebrate every holiday.

Their belief system consists of “Whatever.”

One of the youngsters observes that if one believes in everything, one really believes in nothing.

Finally, they find a mother with children asleep inside.

Her husband is the Armed Forces and she is horrified that the mayor has banned the play. She promises to call.

The next scene I remember is the mayor coming to tell children that she has changed her mind. She says has been getting phone calls all day, including one from her daughter.

The mayor's daughter is the mother with the sleeping kids and husband serving in the Armed Forces overseas.

The mayor has undergone an epiphany.

She doesn’t care if she loses votes.

It’s on with the show.

Not only can the show be put on at the town square, but the mayor wants to be in it next year.

So, it's on with the Christmas pageant, complete with Nativity scene.

= = = = =
I don't know all the names, so my apologies to those I leave out or misidentify.

In the top picture the children are shown "practicing" the show they are going to perform in the town square.

Part of the show included a chorus line. On the right is Gina Daleo. The other girl is Johanna Sveden.

The mayor was Megan Heidenreich.

The urbane couple were played by Julie Noack and Andrew Swlatly.

The hippies were Felicia Hornback and David Deemer.

The mayor's daughter was Jennifer Peterson.

Protraying Mary was Gabby Schweizer. Joseph was Brian Madigan. The shepherd was Sidney Schroepfer. Sarah Ripple was the angel.

Before the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake presentation the kids were in the community room practicing. For the finale, they couldn't remember the second verse. They certainly remembered during the show.

The photo under the Nativity scene and above this paragraph is of the rehearsal.

But, as someone mentioned at the reception (bottom right picture) after the show, there were no problems on the stage.

The title of the show?

"Miracle on Main Street" by Celeste Clydesdale, arranged by David Clydesdale, script by Mark Davis & Celeste Clydesdale.

Renee Schultz was the drama director. Jeannie Patterson did the choreography. Lisa Bishoff was children’s director. Katrina Jackson was the music director.

Lessons in practical politics in church.

Lessons on so many levels.

Who would have imagined that?

Labels: Christmas, First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake

I know it’s “Peace on Earth, Good Will To Man,” time, but I have seen an editorial cartoon by Michael Ramirez on torture in both the Chicago Tribune and Elgin’s Courier News.

There is a drawing of the U.S. Capitol.

In a balloon is the following, presumably from some member of the Democratic Party:

“We would never pour water up someone’s nose for 30 seconds to prevent 9/11 and save 2.995 lives.”

That pretty well lays out the stakes, doesn’t it?

Labels: 9/11, Editorial Cartoon, Message of the Day, Torture

I’m not quite sure what this is all about, but I filed a Freedom of Information request with Huntley School District 158 asking for

“all correspondence between District 158 officials and United State Postal Inspectors and/or other Post Office Officials within the last month.”

Here’s what Superintendent John Burkey said in his letter of denial:

“I am denying your request as per 5ILCS140/7(ii). Interfere with pending administrative enforcement proceedings conducted by any public body.”

If there were no investigation, Burkey’s reply would have been something like

“There is no record responsive to your request.”

Wouldn’t it?

Labels: 5ILCS140/7(ii), Huntley School District 158, John Burkey, Postal Inspector

The following story was first run last December, but there are so many new readers and I like the story so much, I'm running it again.

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune picked up the story and a full color picture of "Ralphie" ran in his Sunday column.

They say that my son’s Cub Scout leader David Rokusek is a “wild and crazy guy” is such an understatement.

The Crystal Laker delights the grade schoolers by devising programs around toys.

One was a Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robot Cub Scout den boxing tournament that my son won right in the community room of Pack sponsor First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake.

First prize was, guess what, a boxed Rock ‘Em, Sock 'Em game.

Some assembly required.

Second prize was the same thing, except assembled.

Trust me.

It would have been a lot easier if my Cub Scout had placed second.

Rokusek likes Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em so much that his float with that theme in a Galena Halloween parade won Honorable Mention.

The Pack 158 kids have shot off rockets two years in a row.

Mexican jumping beans delighted the boys (plus sisters who tag along) recently.

Rokusek opened a toy store in Galena, Illinois, called The Atomic Toy Company. It specializes in toys from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Although he has made no effort to promote his store in the media, it’s started to get some internet exposure as this article by Patrick Stutz from MKEOnline shows.

And, Rokusek was interviewed this week by Dubuque’s daily newspaper—the Telegraph-Herald--for an article scheduled to run Sunday.

So why did Rokusek start a toy store?

Here’s how MKEOnline reporter Patrick Stutz put it:

"Rokusek, 38, opened The Atomic Toy Co. (311 S. Main St.) last year after deciding one day that he didn't want to grow up. Instead, he said he wanted to bring everybody who walks through the door to his maturity level - around 10 years old."

I would note that 10-year olds are in Cub Scouts.

The pictures I am posting of his first place entry into the Galena’s “living Christmas” window display will give you but a little idea of how the brain of this toy store owner works. Son Jacob plays Ralphie with the broken glasses.

There is no telling what you will find from your childhood in his establishment.

And, if you enjoyed playing with it enough, you just might decided to buy it for your son or daughter.

The web site where you can buy old fashioned toys is here.

= = = = =
The photographs were taken by Sarah Breemer and are published with her permission.

For more McHenry County Blog, click here.

Labels: Christmas Story, Cub Scouts, David Rokusek, First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Pack 158, Raphie, Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em, The Atomic Toy Company

Guess we ought to give a nod to those who don’t find Christmas a joyous time.

So, today we see some of my underwear, even if bifurcated.

Boxer shorts that someone who loves me gave me.

I wonder if, like the Donald Duck sweatshirt I received last Christmas from my wife, there is a message to me in today’s message.

Remember,

Bah Hum Bug

is just the beginning of the Dickens’ story.

It’s the end that counts.

Tiny Tim taught us that.

This is a reprise from last December.

For more McHenry County Blog, click here.

Labels: Bah Humbug, Boxers, Message of the Day

The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification maintains a list of teachers who committed “misconduct,” as the Herald Tribune of Southwestern Florida puts it.

Thanks to a friend of McHenry County Blog, who found this on The Drudge Report, and Illinois Review's John Ruskin for pointing me to the article and list.

“A teacher who gropes a student and has his or her license suspended, but is not convicted of a crime, would not appear in the Clearinghouse,” the article by Chris Davis and Matthew Dlog says.

When I was state representative, I was told of such a case by the mother of a Crystal Lake girl. Delayed so long by State's Attorney Gary Pack, it ended up a misdemeanor which was wiped right off the court record.

I have reprinted on More McHenry County Blog 202 of those sanctioned in Illinois. The list goes back to at least 1935. Pennsylvania, a little smaller in population has 704 listed.

While Illinois has about 4.2% of the nation’s population, it has 8/10 of one percent of the teachers on the 24,000 teachers’ names on the list. (The story’s side bar says 204, but I can only find 202.)

The figures make it pretty obvious that it is difficult to discipline teachers in Illinois.

This is apparently a tightly held list. Under the State of Florida’s really good Sunshine Laws, the Herald-Tribune managed to pull it out of the educational bureaucracy.

From McHenry County, I recognize William Saturday, who had an affair with his North Jun