McHenry County Blog

As I struggle to lose weight, this tee shirt delivers the message to “eat up.”

From where I have stored the photo, it appears that a McHenry County Democrat is the one with a sense of humor.

Labels: Fat, Kidnap, Message of the Day, T-Shirt, Tee Shirt

I got press releases on the financial bailout bill from

• 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo


• his Green Party challenger Scott Summers, plus


• 8th District challenger Steve Greenberg (who agrees with the bailout's rejection by congress). (a supporter).

Melissa Bean doesn't have me on her press release list, so nothing from her. (She voted “Yes.”)

I expected one from Manzullo's Democratic Party opponent, Robert Abboud. The Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was raised and maintains a home on the family estate in his village of Barrington Hills.

Surely, Abboud is following the issue.

Does the lack of a press release suggest that Manzullo may be in touch with his constituents with his negative vote?

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The picture of Democratic Party candidate for congress in the 16th District, Robert Abboud, was taken last January in Woodstock at a McHenry County Democratic Party Central Committee meeting. It's the best one I could find of him "thinking."

Labels: 16th Congressional District, 8th Congressional District, Bailout, Don Manzullo, Melissa Bean, Robert Abboud, Scott Summers, Steve Greenberg

A press release from Patrick Murfin, Executive Director of Sunday's Diversity Day in Woodstock's Square:

HOUSING AUTHORITY’S SUE ROSE WINS PEACE & JUSTICE AWARD

WOODSTOCK—The 2008 Peace and Justice Award will be presented to Sue Rose, Community Service Director of the McHenry County Housing Authority at Diversity Day 2008: Democracy is Our Hope, Sunday, October 5 from 1 to 4 PM, on the Square in Woodstock.

The award will be presented around 2:30 by Alice and Bill Howenstine, the Quaker environmental and peace activists who won last year’s award.

“For years the advice ‘go see Sue Rose at the Housing Authority’ has meant hope for the homeless and those in danger of homelessness,” according to Diversity Day Executive Director Patrick Murfin. “We have never given the Peace & Justice award to a government employee, no mater how dedicated. But Sue Rose has always worked harder, gone the extra mile, to help McHenry County’s often forgotten and faceless poor.”

Rose was born in Chicago and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. She graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago with a BA in Sociology.

A McHenry County resident since 1981, Rose began her social work in McHenry County working with senior citizens at Royal Terrace Health Care Center (now Alden Terrace) as the Psychosocial Program Director. She also worked at Senior Services of McHenry County, where she was an elder abuse investigator and developed and administered a shared housing program that linked seniors who owned their homes with people who needed housing. This innovative program helped low-income people to share their housing expenses. While at Senior Services, Rose became a certified Advanced Case Manager, Elder Abuse Investigator, and Certified Ombudsman.

Rose joined the McHenry County Housing Authority in 1996. As Community Services Director she has been responsible for working with the homeless population, people at risk of homelessness and very low-income individuals and families that may be experiencing a temporary hardship. She has often been one of the first responders upon notification that a residential fire or other disaster has left people homeless. She received a certification as a Family and Community Development Specialist from the Illinois Community Action Agency and the University of Iowa, and she completed course work in working with the homeless population and substance abusers. For the past 12 years Rose has worked at the McHenry County Housing Authority with families in crisis situations and she has worked to ameliorate the causes of these crises. Many of the social service agencies in McHenry County look to her and the McHenry County Housing Authority for financial assistance, guidance to other resources and coordination of assistance for clients experiencing some very difficult situations.

In the words of Housing Authority Executive Director Julie Biel Claussen, “Sue is the voice for many people who have no voice.”

In addition to her work at McHenry County Housing Authority, Sue is on the Board of Directors for Consumer Credit Counseling Services of McHenry County. Her other interests include antiques, rock hunting, cats, nature and gardening.

“We are proud to induct Sue Rose into the distinguished company of Peace & Justice Award recipients,” Murfin said. “We believe this annual award has become one of the most prestigious honors in McHenry County.”

The Peace & Justice Award is presented by Diversity Day 2008, which is organized by the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock with the sponsorship support of the Land Conservancy of McHenry County.

PAST WINNERS OF THE PEACE AND JUSTICE AWARD

1997 - Werner Elmann, Holocaust camp liberator and human rights activist

1998 - Cindy Bloom, Native American activist

1999 - Susanne Hoban, Executive Director, Family Health Partnership Clinic

2000 - Gloria Urch, Community leader, journalist, business woman, educator

2001 - Mary Fox, Peace educator

2002 - Libby Pappalardo, McHenry County Peace Group founder

2003 - Carlos Acosta, Latino Coalition leader

2004 - Lou Ness, Former Executive Director, Turning Point

2005 - Janie Galarza, Harvard Human Relations Commission, community activist

2006 - Arielle Payne, MCC Black Student Union President, student trustee

2007 - Alice and Bill Hownstine, Quaker environmental and peace advocates

Labels: Alice Hownstine, Arielle Payne, Bill Hownstine, Carlos Acosta, Cindy Bloom, Diversity Day, Gloria Urch, Janie Galarza, Libby Pappalardo, Lou Ness, Mary Fox, Sue Rose, Susanne Hoban, Werner Elmann

While another AT&T repairman was trying to figure out why our digital answering machine stopped working after we installed internet telephone service, this trophy caught my attention.

I guess I ended up with it because Coventry airline pilot Jon Tenbrook had moved to Glenwood Springs to run his father's Chrysler dealership and, since I was the External Vice President of the Crystal Lake Jaycees while Jon did his work, my house was as logical a home as any. At least, I think it was that year.

I was reminded of that year while I was at the Illinois Republican State Convention. I and Springfield's Jaycee Bob Gray co-chaired a mock Illinois constitutional convention at the Holiday Inn East. We discussed it along with his son's being a McCain delegate to the National Convention.

The inscription says,

Looks as if I didn't get all the basement dust off.

Labels: Crystal Lake Jaycees, Illinois Jaycees, Public Affairs

Monday's newly formatted Chicago Tribune had a feature story on air pollution.

There wasn't anything I could find in the paper about McHenry County except this map.

But, there were air pollution sources that could be found for each Illinois county.

McHenry County doesn't have any really, really big air polluters. The top three, ranking nationally at 1,218, 1,303 and 1,740 were Marengo's Arnold Magnetic Technologies, Woodstock's Arntzen and Marengo's Danaheer Motion.

Arnold Engineering I've heard of and I assume the company with the Arnold name is a successor. I am not aware of the other two.

The McHenry County list drops down to 3,625 with Ringwood's Rahm & Haas Chemicals at 4th.

Another big leap has to be taken to find air polluter 5 in the county. It's identified as Knaack Manufacturing in Crystal Lake at 6,088.

Back to Marengo for number 6 coming in at 6,357: Engineered Polymer Solutions.

Number 7 at 6,904 is in Ringwood: Huntsman Polyurethanes .

Algonquin's Wauconda Tool & Engineering Company is 8th at 7,416.

9th place--8,382--went to Bartlett Manufacturing of Cary.

At number 10 was Techalloy of Union. It ranked nationally at 8,787.

Companies coming in lower on the list are the following:

10 – 8,787 in Union: Techalloy.
11 – 8,858 in Spring Grove: Intermatic, which is moving overseas.
12 – 9,263 in Richmond: Claud S Gordon Company.
13 – 9,812 in Crystal Lake: G & M Manufacturing Group.
14 – 10,186 in Cary: Fox Valley Systems.
15 – 10,568 in Richmond: Surgipath Medical Industries Inc.
16 – 10,659 in Fox River Grove: Grove Plating Company.
17 – 10,832 in Huntley: Maass Midwest Manufacturing.
18 – 11,872 in McHenry: Allied Die Casting.
19 - 11,951 in Woodstock: Dura Bar Products.
20 – 12,061 in Marengo: Top Die Casting.
21 – 12,071 in Cary: True Value Manufacturing.
22 – 12,265 in Huntley: Union Special.
23 – 13,459 in Crystal Lake: Precision Twist Drill.
24 – 13,772 in Spring Grove: Sinterloy.
25 – 13,963 in McHenry: Chroma Corp.
26 - 14,315 in McHenry: Clariant Corp McHenry .
27 – 14,315 in Cary: Ampac Flexicon.
28 – 14,541 in Spring Grove: Actown-electrocoil, Inc.

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The top map is from yesterday's Chicago Tribune. The bottom map is from the Tribune's web site. It shows where McHenry County's major air pollution sources are located.

Labels: Air Pollution, McHenry County

The anti-incumbent political action committee in Cary during the last village election was called the Cary Area Citizens for Responsible Government. Former State Senator Jack Schaffer was and continues to be its chairman.

Of the slate supported - Raymond Chisholm, Jean Friedline, Robert Bragg and David Henry – Chisholm was elected.

$4,000 was spent on the 2007 campaign.

Unlike lots of village election committees, this one did not disappear after the election.

It's address is Sketch Book Reality on Route 14.

Mike Rein is the committee's treasurer.

The committee has only $142 in the bank, but filing for village office starts next month, as Cary Grade School District school board member explains here.

I wonder if any of the gravel pit opponents will be angry enough to run for village board. Their web site, Stop the Quarry in Cary, is still up.

Or will they turn out to have been “Meteors?”

Labels: Cary Area Citizens for Responsible Government, David Henry, Jack Schaffer, Jean Friedline, Ray Chisholm

Community Reinvestment Act Blamed for Bailout Crisis

The following press release was received from Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America:

WALL STREET BAILOUT DEFEAT IN HOUSE A BIG WIN FOR U.S. TAXPAYERS

The defeat in the U.S. House of Representatives of the $700 billion
bailout for Wall Street and big banks is a big win for U.S. taxpayers,
said the President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

"The federal government helped create this mess with its incompetent
regulatory intervention in the banking industry," said Jim Tobin, TUA
President. "The passage of the Community Reinvestment Act, which
literally forced financial institutions to give loans to applicants who
had no hope paying the loans back, was a major factor in crippling the
banks."

"The members of the U.S. House showed courage and good judgment when
they voted against this obscene bailout. Now the market will take over
and you will see healthy banks taking over insolvent banks rather than
saddling taxpayers with an additional, back-breaking debt of $700 billion."

“Executives who make dumb decisions should pay dearly for their
incompetence. Our economic system is the most dynamic on earth because
it rewards success and punishes failure. This failed bailout bill would
have rewarded incompetence on the backs of U.S. taxpayers."

"The consequences of this bailout bill very likely would have been
worse than the dire events predicted by its sponsors. The U.S. economy
is basically healthy, and can handle these bank failures and liquidity
problems without any more incompetent intervention by politicians and
bank lobbyists."

According to Tobin, the law was originally passed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter. It was strengthened under President Bill Clinton in the late 1990's. Of course, in the late 1990's Republicans controlled Congress.

Labels: Jim Tobin, Taxpayers United of America

Citizens Caring For Kids, the Harvard School District tax hike committee, didn't fold its tent after the last failed referendum.

Julie Lehmann is now its chairwoman and Karen Kruckenberg is treasurer.

How much money does the committee, formed in 2004 have?

We really don't know, because Illinois campaign disclosure laws don't require timely reporting.

But, as of July 1st, there was $1,765.67 in the bank.

One thing is for sure.

This is no grass roots movement...at least as far as campaign contributions that showed up in the first half of the year.

No $20 checks.

Two bankers made contributions:

• $1,000 from Roger Lehman, President of the Harvard State Bank and
• $500 from Vern Sisson of the Harvard Castle Bank.

Two citizens contributed:

• Deb Szczap - $150
• Lee Meyers - $100

I imagine there has been fund raising since the beginning of July.

About $6,000 was spent in the 2004 campaign counting in-kind contributions.

Northwest Herald reporter Tim Kane wrote an article about other aspects of the tax hike effort.

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The photo is of Harvard Junior High School, which was rented to the Mexican Consulate.

Labels: Harvard School District 50, School Referendum

Below are two commentaries by 16th district congressional Green Party candidate Scott Summers. The first was written last Wednesday; the second (at the bottom) yesterday.


In meetups and speeches and one-on-ones during my current campaign for Congress, I've been asking a rhetorical question:

"Whatever happened to capitalism in this country?"

When all of the financial dominoes fell, that became far more prescient -- and salient -- then I would have thought mere weeks ago.

We don't do capitalism anymore, friends. We've devolved to a perverse sort of semi-socialism.

We have welfare for the wealthy. And peanuts for the poor.

Privatize reward. Socialize risk.

Think about that. Wealth with no risk for elites. Debt with no chance of reward for everyday Americans.

What kind of deal is that?

Whenever times are good, the fat cats make out. Big time.

Whenever the fat cats become too arrogant and stupid and greedy, they dump their problems on the rest of us.

Today, the treasury secretary is saying cavalierly -- and impatiently -- that Congress needs to get a move on. The mountains of overly ripe kitty litter are starting to reek. Hurry up and send in the taxpayers to start a-cleanin'.

"Clean it up," the secretary seems to say. "Or else the fat cats won't come back!"

Like -- we, the cleaning crew, WANT them back? Oh, please!

Okay. Enough of a rant. Deep breath.

People are asking:

"Scott, what do you think? Scott, what should we do?"

It's a bunch of lousy choices, friends. For now, all we can do is make the least lousy choices.

Not a happy thought. Not a happy prospect.

On balance -- I think we have to go through with it. Bail 'em out.

If we don't, everything else is at increased risk. Our jobs. Our homes. Our retirements.

I'll not rehash all of the common-sense conditions that must attach, other than to mention a few in passing. More regulation. More oversight. More transparency.

Instead, I'll dwell on a few items that no one else is talking about.

Have you noticed that all the so-called regulation and reform is directed toward the big markets? And to the aforementioned fat cats?

As part of the overall package -- how about correcting some of the onerous and oppressive financial abuses under which so many of us labor?

How about workouts and writedowns for individual homeowners in mortgage trouble?

How about credit card reform? Payday loan protections?

Remember the "stick-it-to-'em" changes to bankruptcy laws a couple of years ago? Rescind them.

Another thing. We need to raise some revenue to service the monster debt.

In the best tradition of the old Ronald Reagan sleight-of-hand -- borrow and spend (which George W. has happily, and recklessly, amplified in the extreme) -- all this bailout does is pile on new debt.

No federal spending cuts. No new revenues. Just new debt.

That's irresponsible.

Here's a condition for the bailout that NO ONE is proposing. But politically, I have the freedom -- and courage -- to suggest it.

I propose a temporary income tax surcharge on the wealthiest Americans.

(The well-to-do have the most at risk in this mess, do they not?)

If you're in the top five percent of earners, pay an extra twenty percent for the next five years.

In other words, if your tax bill for year 2008 ends up at $50,000, well, it'll bump to $60,000.

Thank you very much. Have a nice day.

This is not the end of the mess. I regret to forecast that there will be more bailouts.

But let's not stoically absorb them and endure them. Let's seize on them as ways to force changes in public policy.

I was at a candidate forum in Rockford last night, and I was asked what I thought about the prospect of bailouts for the carmakers.

I told the crowd that I'd support them -- if, and only if, the manufacturers agreed to stop their decades of whining and procrastination and delay, and IMMEDIATELY cease making gas guzzlers.

Yes. Make them manufacture all high mileage cars, and move expeditiously to hybrids and electrics.

If they want our help, then they finally, finally, have to do the right thing. On our terms.

And now -- to the extent I can peer through murk -- the future.

Our lives are changing. Our country is changing. Fundamentally. Precipitously. Forever.

Let's start with government.

Our role as a dominant economic power is about to end. No one is going to buy up all our debt anymore -- except at high rates of interest.

You see, it's not just the debt that Washington is piling on. There's way too much debt now. Investors from across the globe are becoming skeptical. So the interest we taxpayers have to pay will go up, too.

The federal spending priorities are being force-fed to us. Defense. And interest on the debt. Figurative pennies for health and education and welfare. No discretion at all. The end.

Increase taxes across the board? There's not a whole lot that average taxpayers can kick in anymore. (Especially in our Congressional district, where unemployment in the Rockford area now is running at a spectacularly-awful nine percent.)

So we have to turn to the spending side. Time for another brave (foolish?) Scott Summers pronouncement.

Cut defense spending. Lots.

You know, our defense colossus isn't fighting a war on terrorism. It's still fighting the Cold War (much to the benefit of a subspecies of fat cats, the defense contractors.)

We don't need all the aircraft carrier battle groups. We don't need all the nuclear submarines prowling the oceans of the world. We don't need all the thousands upon thousands of nuclear-armed missiles.

We don't need idiotic missile defense shields that don't work. We don't need outrageous cost overruns on weapons systems of marginal usefulness (and dubious workability).

But you see, in our new economic order, my tirade on this doesn't matter.

The time has finally come. We simply cannot afford it.

What's about to happen to military expenditures in this country happened to the Roman and Chinese Empires. And to the British Empire. And even to the Soviets twenty years ago.

They all had to mothball their militaries. They ran out of money to support them.

So now will we.

I don't mean to leave you on a down note. Those of you who are coming to know me know that I'm outspoken. But you also know that I'm also optimistic. And hopeful.

In short -- events now are moving so rapidly that the fundamentals HAVE to change.

It's up to us channel that change positively.

This has become a bit long. I'll have to leave it for now.

Thanks.

POSTSCRIPT, September 29:

Today, the House of Representatives voted down the "financial rescue package", a/k/a "buy-in", a/k/a "bailout".

And markets worldwide are down precipitously.

Fasten your seatbelts, friends. And make sure that the figurative airbags are working. This is -- and will continue to be -- nasty. Very nasty.

President Bush, and Treasury Secretary Paulson, and Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke -- inadvertently or otherwise -- have us all in panic mode.

Wrong.

You know, I think Congress did the right thing today.

Whether or not the members really thought about it, Congress stood up for itself.

The founders intended for Congress to be a deliberative body. Not a sheep ranch.

America simply will not write a gigantic check unless there are meaningful reforms.

I still think that Congress needs to enact a comprehensive solution.

And Congress needs to move expeditiously.

But this is an opportunity. An opportunity to create smart new public policy.

We, through our Congress, can -- and must -- resolutely work through the wreckage, and seize the opportunity to rework national fiscal policy for the better.

Tonight, I say: let's stay positive, friends.

In the coming few days, Congress will -- indeed, must -- set the stage for thoughtful and far-ranging solutions.

"We the people" have every right to expect that this debacle will not be visited upon us again.

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The mustached Scott Summers photo was taken in late April. He's probably shaved by now, but the looks deserves to be memorialized, don't you think?

Labels: Bailout, Green Party, Scott Summers

16th District Republican Congressman Don Manzullo and Steve Greenberg, Republican candidate for the 8th district seat now held by U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, weighed in the House of Representative's rejection of the leadership-supported financial bailout package.

Manzullo voted against the bill, while neighboring Congressman Bill Foster and Congresswoman Bean voted in favor. The bills failed 205 to 228. Approximately two-thirds of the GOP lower house members voted against the bill, while 95 Democrats voted “No.”

That obviously means Democrats could have passed the bill. It also means that House Republicans rejected the leadership of President George Bush. The Dow-Jones Index fell 778 points, about 7%.

Manzullo's comments come first, then, Greenberg:

Manzullo: “Congress Must Fix this Financial Crisis, But Not on the Backs of the American Taxpayers”

[WASHINGTON] Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) issued the following statement this afternoon after the House voted down the proposed $700 billion taxpayer-funded financial bailout bill.

Manzullo opposed the legislation but supported alternative bills that would have alleviated the crisis without putting taxpayer money at risk:

STATEMENT

“The American people today rejected the $700 billion taxpayer bailout of the bad investments of Wall Street. The American people did not cause this mess and loudly proclaimed that they demand a better deal. They were furious that those who caused the problem would be the ones to benefit at their expense.

"They recognized the solution offered was untested, expensive, and risky, while reasonable, cheaper, and proven solutions should have been given consideration by Congress.

“While I joined with the American taxpayers in opposition to this bill, I recognize the crisis at hand and the need to quickly approve a new measure that uses free-market incentives to encourage investment in the markets without taxpayer liability.

"Congress should stay in session around the clock until we solve this crisis.”

Greenberg's reaction:

Washington Fails the People Again

LAKE ZURICH 9/29/08 – "First, Washington failed the people by collecting millions of dollars from the financial sector in exchange for a lack of regulation and oversight.1 This led to an economic crisis, putting the future of families at risk.

"Now, after their initial failure led us to this unenviable position, they have failed the American people again by failing to pass an economic recovery plan to restore credit flow and provide relief to Americans.

“I am disgusted with our elected officials in Washington,” said Steve Greenberg, candidate for Congress in the 8th District of Illinois. “Their lack of leadership in this economic crisis has only served to intensify the problem. Hard working Americans are suffering—sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem goes away is not an acceptable strategy.”

1. http://www.steveforus.com/newsDetail.aspx?newsID=4930

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The photo was taken at an NFIB meeting in Crystal Lake about a month ago. The one of Steve Greenberg was taken at the Nunda Township Republican Central Committee congressional debate.

Labels: 16th Congressional District, 8th Congressional District, Don Manzullo, Melissa Bean, Steve Greenberg

That's what I read when I picked up today's Chicago Tribune.

Really!

Is that irony or what?

Just so you non-Chicago Tribune readers can see how the newly revamped format looks like, on the left I've laid out all the sections below.

Now, compare it with the retired version, which is on the right

One major difference is that the front page of the Tribune now looks like that of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Another is that the Metro section is missing. It always was outside of the Chicago circulation area, e.g., Springfield. Whatever local news there is now located inside the main section.

The biggest change from a business perspective is the paper is no longer 60% news and 40% advertising. Now it is 50-50.

There is color everywhere in the ads.

And, boy, are there a lot of them.

The replacement for the Metro section didn't look as if it had news in it, so at first I tossed it.

When I retrieved it, I couldn't find one story that had anything to do with McHenry County.

I looked for a comprehensive story on the bailout, but found none.

John Kass' column had two color photos. I don't know about you, but I read him because of the words he writes.

I did find an editorial about the need to impeach or indict Blagojevich, but that was about it for pieces that were worth reading.

Labels: Chicago Tribune

Driving down McHenry Avenue in Crystal Lake on Saturday, I saw toilet paper.

It was Homecoming Weekend for my nearby alma mater Crystal Lake Central (used to be “Community”) High School.

I wonder what the motive was.

Is it the home of a football player, the Homecoming Queen or King?

Labels: CLCHS, Crystal Lake Central High School, Message of the Day, Tollet Paper

Imagine my surprise when I was looking up readership statistics to find that the week before last McHenry County Blog hit the million hit mark.

That means that since McHenry County Blog began with a little article on the Route 14/Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing district proposal on October 21, 2005, people have entered the web site over 1 million times.

The number of hits averages about 2,000 a day. During rainy weekends the average goes up.

On the week the million hit mark was cross, week day traffic ranged from over 2,300 up to well over 2,900 hits per day.

Looks like it's time to solicit advertising.

Labels: McHenry County Blog

More folks are picking up on Barack Obama's failure to fight Illinois corruption when he was in the state senate.

The most devastating to date is probably a Saturday Night Live skit this past weekend.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday of a John McCain character criticizing an earmark called the "Tony Rezko hush fund."

“Obama's character shot back, 'Sen. McCain, you know I withdrew that initiative after he began cooperating with federal authorities,'” the Sun-Times said in a last minute page 2 story.

Rezko, as the Chicago Tribune reports boldly (at least the picture of Rezko was big), is talking to the U.S. Attorney's Office according to defense attorneys who do not wish to be named.

Later in the skit when the McCain character complains that Obama will have to increase taxes to provide all the programs he has proposed, according to the Tribune's “The Swamp” blog (according to a transcript supplied by NBC):

“ARMISEN AS SEN. OBAMA:

"John, once again, you're not being truthful about my proposals.

"Under my tax plan, not only would every American making less than $250,000 per year get a tax cut; so would most members of the Chicago City Council as well as city Building Inspectors.

"That's because my plan would not tax income from bribes, kickbacks, shakedowns, embezzlement of government funds, or extortion."

The worst thing that can happen to a politician is ridicule.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, Sin of Omission, Tony Rezko

With almost $4,900 in the bank at the beginning of July, the tax hike committee calling itself Citizens for Harper has new leadership.

Chairman is Kris Howard Jensen of Inverness. Co-Chairman is Dr Richard Kolze of Palatine. Treasurer Helen Shumate is from Barrington.

A tiny bit of the Harper College district is in Fox River Grove and Barrington Hills, that part which is in the Barrington School District.

The campaign is off an running, with internet advertising on the Daily Herald web site.

The pitch is that the Harper tax rate will not increase or specifically,
In red ink appears the following on the pitch page:

"Because the College is retiring debt on existing bonds, passing this referendum will not increase the tax rate."

For those of you not into tax hike speak, please note that the pitch does not say that taxes won't be raised.

All that is promised is that the tax rate won't rise.

It is not abundantly evident that the tax rate would fall, if the referendum is not passed.

In short, a vote in favor of the referendum is a vote against a tax cut.

So, a "Yes" vote would mean a tax hike.

Is everything clear?

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You really have to click on the internet ad to be able to read it. Sorry about that.

Labels: Citizens for Harper, Harper College, Tax Hike Committee

This was found on a pickup truck in McHenry County, probably between Crystal Lake and Wonder Lake.

It says,


A bit fuzzy but appropriate for any day and it certainly fits a Sunday

Labels: License Plate, Message of the Day, Miracle

Former Fox River Grove Village President and, more recently, candidate for the GOP nomination for the McHenry County Board in District, has filed a final report for his campaign committee.

The final $444.65 went to partially repay a $4,475.67 loan Yocius had made to finance this past winter's campaign.

Yocius did not do a lot of fund raising from others. The only contribution I can find is from his predecessor as village president, current and retiring county board member Dan Shea.

Newcomer and political unknown Bob Bless from Fox River Grove and incumbent Marc Munaretto from Algoquin won the two Republican primary spots.

Labels: Bill Yocius, Bob Bless, Dan Shea, Marc Munaretto

Filing its organization papers last week on Monday was a committee calling itself
“Con-Con Yes.”

McHenry County's State Rep. Jack Franks is listed as its chairman. Treasurer is Hampshire's Steve King.

Although it seems pretty obvious what the committee is all about, that is, passing this fall's referendum to call a constitutional convention, here's what the committee's filing statement says,

“There are no Propositions connected to this committee.“

Not terribly precise.

Or accurate.

I'm not sure I've mentioned before that I shall not be voting to call a constitutional convention. That's because I figure the same type of Democrats would control one who control Springfield right now.

Not a very pleasing prospect.

Labels: Con-Con Yes, Constitutional Convention, Jack Franks

Not in the Carpentersville School District this time.

Farther down the Fox River Valley in St. Charles.

And they are apparently being paid by the taxpayers to run touch-feely meetings to prepare taxpayers for a big bond issue.

The (Elgin) Daily Courier News' Janelle Walker calls the outfit “a facilitating team.”

But readers of McHenry County Blog know that Unicom/ARC out of St. Louis is a tax hiker's consultant. Here are the details of St. Charles District 303's tax hike preparations, as set forth in the Courier News.

And here is what one of ARC/Unicom's Missouri clients—a school superintendent—wrote as a testimony:

“School leaders who hope to move their district's forward must understand that we can't make progress without the informed consent, active participation, and sound advice of those who pay the bills! UNICOM•ARC understands this fact of life in public education better than any group I know. They can steer a district through a public engagement process, secure accurate survey data, and guide election efforts to achieve even the most ambitious district goals.”

Look far enough on the web site and you can even find prior work for the St. Charles School District:

“Client: St. Charles (IL) Community Unit School District 303

“Challenge: Determine support level for a bond issue to build a new elementary and middle school, improve and expand a high school and make repairs and renovations to other District buildings, and to test possible messages in favor and opposition of a bond proposal.

“Solution: In collaboration with the District, UNICOM•ARC drafted a comprehensive telephone survey to gather information about District residents’ perception of these issues, and a sample was developed with quotas that ensured all areas of the District would be represented in appropriate proportions.

“It was determined that the District lacked majority support for a bond issue with 48.8% of survey participants answering they would favor this proposal. The results of the bond election substantiated this research, with 49.0% favoring the proposal.“

Take a look at the list of school districts these tax hikers have helped hike taxes here.

One of them is Belvidere.

I am sure it is no coincidence that the school superintendent in St. Charles came from Belvidere.

There's no mention of Carpentersville District 300 on the Unicom/Arc web site now...like you can see here.

Labels: Belvidere School District, District 300, St. Charles School District

You can see Eleanor Eising getting a donation at Joseph's Market in Crystal Lake yesterday.

Friday and Saturday are Kiwanis Peanut Days.

Today you will find people at Joseph's and Jewel.

All donations got to help kids after subtracting the cost of the peanuts.

Labels: Crystal Lake Kiwanis, Kiwanis, Peanut Day

I have been waiting for official news the teachers actually signed off on their new contract.

Something about its not official until there are signatures on the signature page.

Apparently not.

Hmmm.

The union wanted tentative agreements signed so the Board signed 49 of them out of 57 issues. The was the day before the strike. Maybe more by the time the final agreement was reached.

The purpose of having so many tentative agreements signed before reaching a final agreement is so each part of the agreement receives individual scrutiny by both negotiating teams. The final agreement becomes collating all of the tentative agreement's as the tentative agreements are moved into one final package.

Because the union went on strike, the union leaders could have picked out any tentative agreement that was in place and renegotiated that one or more entative's. They apparently decided to keep in place everything already tentatively agreed to at the time.

So why no official word about the co-presidents signing the contract?

It's not like they work miles apart. Both Kim Ashenbach and Julie Hunter are
elementary teachers at Conley Elementary. Same school where Britt Crowe teaches
music and was the spokesperson for the teachers union.

Speaking of music, it took a lot of brass from Britt Crowe to make this statement to the Daily Herald after the teachers ratified the contract:

"The decision to strike was really out of our hands, something we were forced into."

What was the teachers last official proposal when they went on strike September 15th?

It was the union's August 21st counterproposal made public on the District's web site.

6%, 7% and 8% pay hikes in each of three consecutive years

It averaged 7.4% using detailed calculations. A basic pay raise of 7.4%. Yes, that is a lot of brass to say they were forced into striking.

It was 100% in the union leaders’ hands. They used a strike as an attempt to pressure the Board into caving still more. Rather than a radical step, striking for these teachers on the negotiations team became a negotiating tactic:

• Julie Hunter - 5th Grade - Conley Elementary
• Kim Aschenbach - 5th Grade - Conley Elementary
• Britt Crowe - Music - Conley Elementary


• Christy Henderson - Kindergarten - Chesak Elementary
• Chris Laird - 1st Grade - Chesak Elementary
• Jane Kantor - 2nd grade - Chesak Elementary


• Mark Stahl - 7th grade Social Studies - Heinemann Middle School


• Jennifer Heuck - P.E teacher - High School

Does anything “strike” you as unusual about this grouping of teachers as Huntley’s union leaders?

District 158 has eight schools, 5 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.

There were 8 negotiating team members.

So, there could have been on negotiating team member from each school.

Does it really make a difference if you pay a first grade teacher $70,000 or $80,000 a year for the additional education and experience? I would think rapport with the kids would be more important to their education than extra graduate courses.

But the teachers union has taxpayers paying elementary P.E. teachers the same money as the high school English teacher who has to grade papers.

Very interesting.

= = = = =
Photos are from two pre-stike visits of teachers to the Huntley School Board.

Labels: Huntley Education Association, Huntley School District 158, Teacher Contract, Teacher Negotiations, Teacher Salaries, Teacher Strike

The Chicago Tribune's Carolyn Starks and Jeff Long plowed new ground on the Woodstock Residence yesterday.

The two reporters covering McHenry County discovered that the Illinois Department of Public Health has fined the nursing home $360,000

“The Department of Public Health said the most serious violations involved the use of "chemical restraints"—drugs used to sedate patients. State law prohibits using drugs to discipline nursing home residents or as a staff convenience,” the article said.

The story also reprised McHenry County Blog's discovery by Pete Gonigam that unnamed employees had told the IDPH people were being overdosed with morphine because they were hard to care for making the description "Angel of Death" completely misleading.

Labels: Angel of Death, Illinois Department of Public Health, Woodstock Residence

AFL-CIO Endorses Gentes

The Illinois AFL-CIO represents a rich and diverse group of 1,500 local unions across the state which amounts to one million union men and women in Illinois. The AFL-CIO has a long history of fighting for the rights of working men and women and constantly works for strong labor laws in Springfield.

The AFL-CIO cited Mayor Gentes support of issues benefiting working families as the central reason for its endorsement of his campaign.

In response to this key endorsement, Mayor Gentes issued the following statement:

"The AFL-CIO has worked tirelessly on behalf of working families in Illinois and I am extremely grateful for their support. I look forward to continuing this great tradition in Springfield.

"With working families hit the hardest by the current economic downturn, it is crucial, now more than ever, that Illinois workers receive the support they need from their representatives in Springfield. Illinois workers cannot afford representatives who will support big business interests over the working men and women who are the backbone of our economy. I have the experience and knowledge to give Illinois workers the support they need as they continue to work hard to support their families and our state.

"Republicans have consistently shown that they have no interest in the rights of working families in Illinois. I will not allow Republicans to place Illinois workers on the chopping block when economic struggles continue to plague working families. I will ensure that workers in the 26th district are provided with the tools they need to help put our economy back on track."

Labels: 26th District, Bill Gentes, Dan Duffy, Illinois AFL-CIO

8th District Republican challenger to Congresswoman Melissa Bean Steve Greenberg has issued the following press release, which includes how much campaign money Bean took from the finance industry on whose regulatory committee she sits:

Bean Plays Partisan Politics,
Blames McCain for Delay in Recovery Plan

The economic recovery plan stalled on Thursday, and Democrat Melissa Bean placed the blame directly on Senator John McCain while obviously stumping for her preferred presidential candidate.

However, if Melissa Bean wants to play the blame game, small business owner and candidate for Congress Steve Greenberg is more than willing.

“Melissa Bean touts her service on the House Financial Services Committee, yet she is very quick to place the blame elsewhere for our current situation,” said Greenberg. “If anyone wonders what Melissa Bean was doing while our nation was spiraling towards financial crisis, they need look no further than the $801,000 she has collected from the very sector she was supposed to be regulating. While she was collecting rather than regulating, our economy was stumbling. Now we are faced with a full-blown crisis.”

Greenberg continued, “The economic recovery plan needs to be enacted immediately in a bipartisan manner, yet Melissa Bean would rather campaign for her presidential candidate. The American people are hurting and the economy is failing—now is not the time for our Representatives to be playing politics.”

1. http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1186585,5_1_WA26_BEAN_S1.article

^2. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00024875

Labels: 8th Congressional District, Financial Services Committee, John McCain, Melissa Bean, Steve Greenberg

This cake was at Colonial Cafe when I walked in for last Wednesday's Crystal Lake Kiwanis Club meeting.

It was the meeting at which new officers were being sworn in.

Today and Saturday Kiwanis members will be handing out peanuts at their annual fund raiser various places in Crystal Lake.

The money collected goes to programs for kids.

Baker and decorator of the cake was the Salvation Army's Linda Hunter.

Labels: Cake, Colonial Cafe, Crystal Lake Kiwanis, Kiwanis, Linda Hunter, Message of the Day

by Pete Gonigam

State Police believe a nurse killed six patients at the Woodstock Residence so her work would be easier. Meanwhile coroner's numbers show deaths began to skyrocket there before the first killing and stayed high more than a year after she left.

Who's supposed to be watching for this sort of thing?

Essentially, no one.

Technically the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services monitors nursing homes.

Just not very much.

Regulations require each nursing home to submit weekly reports for each patient including dozens of measures of care.

That includes death.

The numbers go into something called the MDS database but a spokesman said the department has no program to regularly examine it for patterns of unusual deaths.

Some area nursing home administrators send notices of deaths at their facilities to the Illinois Department of Health, but a spokesman there said there is no requirement to do so. A Freedom of Information Act request for IDPH nursing home death records prompted the response that there were none.

HHS regulations also require unannounced inspections at each nursing home "once in a twelve-month" period. In practice in Illinois that works out to an inspection once each year. Surveyors appear unannounced but almost as predictably as clockwork, according to records on the Medicare website.

In Illinois the inspections are carried out by the Illinois Department of Public Health as a subcontractor to HHS.

Otherwise the only time IDPH looks at a nursing home is when someone files a complaint. That's how the Woodstock Residence came to department attention when a nurse told investigators she couldn't get management there to look at what was being done to patients.

IDPH's report on that complaint outlines conditions six months after the annual inspection bordering on the Dickensian.

The report charges blood sugar levels were poorly monitored for at least half the diabetic patients at the home, 10 to 15 percent of all the patients there. Levels too high or too low can lead to complications, coma or death.

Morphine, required to be kept under lock and key, was tossed into a drawer in the desk of the nursing supervisor, according to the report. Police investigators believed morphine left over from the first patient killed was used to kill another patient later.

Inspectors also found filthy toilets, strewn garbage, broken walls, spiderwebs, dustunnies, grime and paint yellowed with cigarette smoke.

Finally, in Illinois, contrary to popular belief, there's no law requiring nursing home deaths to be reported to the coroner.

A spokesman for the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association who asked not to be identified said there was a move afoot for that three years ago, but it was shot down by the Cook County Medical Examiner. Cook County, he said, sees several thousand patients die in nursing homes each year and the ME claimed he didn't have enough time and money to track them.

There remains a state pilot program requiring nursing home deaths reports to the local coroner but only six counties are in it, according to ICMEA.

McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz announced recently she will require nursing homes to report all patient deaths. However, that only formalizes the reports she was already receiving "as a courtesy".

Former Crystal Lake Funeral Director Dave Bachmann said he'd monitor such reports monthly if he were coroner. Indeed, he's running for the office.

Adam Smith's "invisible hand" ought to watch over patient care at nursing homes. It's bad business to kill your customers. Deaths at the Woodstock Residence suggest enlightened self-interest may not always be enough.

Labels: Nursing Homes, Woodstock Residence

Chuck Keeshan's Daily Herald story based on McHenry County Blog's story about how the real motive of the person labeled the “Angel of Death” by Pete Gonigam caught the attention of Chicago media.

The novelty?

How often have you heard of an “Angel of Death” story where mercy was not the motive?

I certainly have never heard of a nurse who killed patients because they were tough to care for.

It's a different angle, hence, newsworthy.

The Chicago Tribune put up a story by Jeff Long about noon.

ABC Channel 7 had a story last night.

So did CBS Channel Two.

CBS reporter Mike Puccinelli was surprised that the woman he interviewed, Jennifer Guasta, already knew what was in the Illinois Department of Public Health report he was reading her.

When asked how she knew, the now-deceased sister of John Sherman replied that she had read it on a blog.

Pucinelli asked which one.

You don't need to ask which one printed Pete Gonigam's story first, do you?

Guasta's brother was a very large man who was quite difficult to move.

Labels: Angel of Death, John Sherman, Pete Gonigam, Woodsotck Residence

And long-time Quaker Oats lobbyist Tom Roeser, who writes a quite insightful blog, knows that Mayor Richard Daley's brother Bill was a lobbyist.

Whether he bothered to register as a lobbyist or not, he exerted political influence on behalf of SBC during the first year of Governor Rod Blagojevich's administration to pass a bill lickity split. And Roeser saw him often in Washington.

Here's most of his biting commentary:

“In a TV ad, John McCain listed Bill Daley as a lobbyist which has drawn a shout of anger and resentment from Daley since he has never been registered as a lobbyist. The shout he gave off was that of a wounded animal, unjustly shot at, in a forest.

“Dear me, as one who went to Washington weekly as a lobbyist for Quaker Oats for 27 years and would frequently see Bill Daley on the early morning UAL or American Airlines 7:30 a.m. Red Eye, I am utterly aghast that all the while, big firms were sending Bill Daley to D. C. because of his expertise on the technical end of Big Business…and not because his name was Daley, that he was the mayor’s son and mayor’s brother but because he was so expert in business economics. All the time I thought it was because he was an expert at plying his trade with Democratic power brokers who would recall his surname with fondness.

“That is amazing to me and I apologize fully to Mr. Daley since I…with my cynical Chicago upbringing…figured that a top son of the old Mayor might be hired by SBC and the others for his savvy with Democratic pols.

“All the times I saw him chomping steaks with Democratic power lords at Morton’s of Chicago on the edge of Georgetown and tippling drinks at Hill fund-raisers he was sharing his great knowledge of the economy and his scientific expertise with the telecommunications industry without any political connection…and was not seeking favor with the power people which is what a lobbyist is supposed to do.

“How I misjudged Daley all these years!

“Indeed, John McCain should be ashamed of himself for saying that Daley was lobbyist.

“Ergo: Daley was NOT a lobbyist or applied pressure or gratification to lawmakers in return for favors because Daley never registered as a lobbyist!”

= = = = =
This photo of Tom Roeser was taken at the Union League Club at a February, 2007, meeting with then-presidential hopeful John McCain.

Labels: Bill Daley, Lobbyist, Quaker Oats, SBC, Tom Roeser

The Daily Herald editorial on Thursday doesn't sound accurate.

• That said, property taxpayers in Cook County and the rest of the suburbs should be looking at smaller tax bills next year.


• The thing is, if property values are down 10 percent, those tax extenders won't be able to give school districts, park districts, townships, libraries, mosquito abatement districts and the rest all they're asking for.

The editorial goes on to suggest there will be tax rate hike referendums in the offing.

The editorial assumes that as real estate values decrease that real estate taxes will go down.

“Not next year” is my prediction.

Assessments are supposed to be one-third of a three-year running average.

It does sound logical that if one's assessment goes down that one's tax bill would decrease.

But, tax bills are the function of multiplying a tax rate times the assessment.

If the tax rate stayed constant, the Daily Herald editorial writers would be correct.

However, the rate can be raised without a referendum.

How can that be?

The tax cap has been in effect since the early 1990's.

Each year until very recently real estate values have increased more than the cost of living.

Because the tax cap limits the increase in what I would call “tax take” to what was gotten last year, plus the increase in the cost of living (plus new growth), tax rates for all but home rule units have been ratcheted down.

They are well below their statutory or referendum authorized maximums.

That means, if tax districts request what they got last year, plus the increase in the CPI (4.1% for the coming year's tax bills), county clerks will look at the assessment base to figure out that last year's rate will raise the amount legally requested.

Then, the county clerk will look at the maximum rates of each district. If last year's rate was lower than its maximum, up the rate will go as high as necessary so that the amount allowed the tax district by law will be billed.

In McHenry County the assessment base is not down.

It's up, so expect a higher bill.

It is possible that some districts may butt up against their maximums in some counties, but I frankly doubt it will happen for next year's tax cycle.

So, in McHenry County homeowners and businesses can expect tax increases next year and future years the same as they have been getting since the tax cap went into effect.

If there is an extended and continuing multi-year downturn in property values, some year the Daily Herald editorial will be correct.

But, not next year. Not the year after.

Labels: Daily Herald, McHenry County Clerk, Tax Cap

The following press release was received from 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo:

Bill Aims To Level Playing Field For Illinois’ Self-Employed Congressman Manzullo Co-Sponsors Legislation That Would End Double-Digit Rate Disparity

Washington, D.C., September 25, 2008 – Federal legislation cosponsored by Congressman Donald Manzullo (R-16th District) would give Illinois’ 851,330 self-employed individuals better access to affordable health-care coverage, ending a significant double-digit disparity in premium rates that has contributed to the nation’s health-care crisis.

The Equity for Our Nation’s Self-Employed Act (H.R. 3660) would eliminate the cost penalties in health insurance imposed on sole proprietors and make quality health care more affordable for Americans who make up the majority of the working uninsured.

In the nation’s current health-care crisis, the self-employed have been hit particularly hard, facing rising costs of health care combined with laws that require these business owners to pay 15.3 percent in self-employment (Medicare and Social Security) taxes on their health insurance premiums. This segment -- comprised of the smallest business owners -- is the only group of American workers that bears this tax burden.

"Surging health care costs are drowning our small business owners, especially the self-employed who have to pay extra tax on their premiums," Manzullo said. "This is a wonderful bill that would provide our small employers – the job creators of our economy -- tremendous relief at a small cost.”