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McHenry County Blog

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Cal Skinner

This is a journal of news and opinion designed to bring to light matters of public interest and to encourage public participation in the governmental process. Emphasis will be on McHenry County, but Illinois state news will be covered. Articles and photos are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without explicit written permission.

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About Cal Skinner

About Cal Skinner
Email Cal Skinner

Recent Posts

  • Ten-Year Old Reports Three Years of Sex Abuse by Lake in the Hills Man February 14, 2026
  • Blast from the Past February 14, 2026
  • More Evidence That the Chicago Tribune Just Doesn’t Like Republicans February 14, 2026
  • Two Adult Organizers of High School Walkouts February 14, 2026
  • Alleged Car Thief Arrested February 14, 2026
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Ten-Year Old Reports Three Years of Sex Abuse by Lake in the Hills Man

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

From the State’s Attorney: LAKE IN THE HILLS MAN DETAINED ON CHARGES OF PREDATORY CRIMINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST TWO VICTIMS McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese announces that on February 13, 2026, the Honorable Judge Cynthia Lamb granted the State’s petition to […]

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Blast from the Past

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 11, 2026

A Friend of McHenry County Blog sent this candidate pitch from about 1978: I got the Director of the Conservation Department out to look at what is now Three Oaks Recreation Area. Included in my vision was an area where periodically a […]

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More Evidence That the Chicago Tribune Just Doesn’t Like Republicans

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

Look at this photo in today’s internet feed on article: One would think a more attractive photo of Republican Congressman Darin LaHood could be found.

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Two Adult Organizers of High School Walkouts

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

From Facebook comes this video of McHenry County school walkouts that identifies two adults who appear to be organizers: Check it out. https://www.facebook.com/reel/7692525328961 From the video is this photo::

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Alleged Car Thief Arrested

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 13, 2026

From the Crystal Lake Police:

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Democratic Party Establishment Backing Biss

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

From Evanston Now: Tammy Duckworth and Melissa Bean are the latest two members of the Democratic Party Establishment to back Danial Biss in the 9th Congressional District race.

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Poll Still Shows Biss Running First

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

This was an internal poll by Biss.

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Three, Plus Dogs Rescued from Home Burned Near McCullom Lake

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 14, 2026

From the McHenry Township Fire Protection District: 2500 Block Freedom Dr – McHenry Structure Fire On February 14, 2026, at approximately 1:52 a.m., the McHenry Township Fire Protection District (MTFPD) responded to a reported structure fire in the 2500 block of N. […]

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LaHood Introduces Bill about Housing Help for Those Transitioning Out off Foster Care

Cal SkinnerFebruary 14, 2026February 10, 2026

From Congressman Darin LaHood: LaHood, Moore Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Increase Access to Housing for Foster Youth Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) introduced the Foster Youth Housing Opportunity Act.  This legislation aims to help youth transitioning out of foster […]

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Appellate Court Orders Teodora Brawn Back on the Ballot in 11th District GOP Race for Congress

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

Here is the order: Now there are three men and one woman. As I have written before Brown was the only 11th District candidate I got a photo of at the Marengo parade. Charlie Kim was there, but I didn’t get a […]

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Pickup Driver Seemingly Deliberately Hits Widely Separated Home & Business in Crystal Lake

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

From the Crystal Lake Police: Crystal Lake Police Make Criminal Damage to Property Arrest On February 12, 2026, at approximately 11:28 pm, the Crystal Lake Police Department responded to the 600 block of Tomahawk Lane for a reported crash involving a pickup […]

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Johnsburg Picks Assistant Village Administrator to Replace Retiring Claudett Sofiakis

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

From the Village of Johnsburg: Congratulation’s New Employee – Ethan J. Hoffman With the upcoming retirement of Village Administrator Claudett Sofiakis this summer, current Assistant Village Administrator Vinny LaMontagna will be assuming the role of Village Administrator.  After an extensive interview process, we […]

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A Year Since Madigan’s Conviction

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

From Illinois House Republicans: The Michael Madigan playbook is still largely in place in the Statehouse. One year after Madigan’s conviction, House Republicans have introduced numerous anti-corruption measures, but Democrats continue to drag their feet on ethics reform. Illinoisans deserve better accountability […]

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GOP House Leader Trying to Make It Possible To View and Listen To Committee Hearings

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

From The Center Squire: Lawmaker says Illinois behind 44 states in legislative transparency (The Center Square) – Illinois House Minority Leader Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, is renewing her bid to increase transparency in state government by making live legislative committee hearings available to […]

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Illinois Has the Eight Highest Seriously Underwater Mortgages, Four Downstate Counties on Top

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 12, 2026

From Attom: Percentage of Seriously Underwater Properties: 3 percent of mortgaged residential properties, where the combined estimated loan balances are at least 25 percent more than the property’s estimated market value… Below is the complete state-by-state ranking for the fourth quarter of 2025, […]

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Lakewood Switches from Vehicle Stickers to Higher Sewer/Water Fee

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 12, 2026

From the Village of Lakewood comes most of the information: Vehicle Stickers Replaced with Yearly Fee issu Village police are not allowed to go on one’s property for inspections. The only enforcement mechanism is finding those without stickers in public park or […]

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Predatory Sexual Assault Abuse of Child Under 13 and Sex Abuse of Older Teens

Cal SkinnerFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

From the Lake in the Hills Police: And, also art Marlowe Middle School:

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Four Years+ for Attack on Letter Carrier

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the U.S. Attrorney: FEDERAL JUDGE SENTENCES MAN TO MORE THAN FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROBBING UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CARRIER IN CHICAGO Federal Judge Sentences Man to More Than Four Years in Prison for Robbing United States Postal Service Carrier […]

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Sue Ness Makes Endorsements

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From a Sue Ness email: 2026 Primary Endorsements…

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Crystal Lake Man Gets Eight Years+ on Meth Charge

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the U.S. Attorney: Man Sentenced to More Than 8 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Methamphetamine ROCKFORD — A Crystal Lake, Ill., man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. JAMES ETTLESON, 39, pleaded […]

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More Federal Health Care Fraud Indictments

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the U.S. Attorney: TWO FOREIGN NATIONALS INDICTED IN CHICAGO AS PART OF $10 MILLION HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME CHICAGO — Two foreign nationals participated in a $10 million scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare and private insurers for nonexistent health care services, […]

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Two Women Crash Near Huntley Pond

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the Huntley Fire Protection District: Crash Sends Vehicle into Pond in Del Webb On Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 9:45 a.m., the Huntley Fire Protection District and Huntley Police Department responded to the area of W. River Park Drive and Del Webb […]

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Huntley Child Sex Images Arrest

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the Huntley Police Department: Child Sexual Abuse Materials Arrest The Huntley Police Department announces the arrest of John T. Ruffalo (20 years old) of the 10800 block of Grand Canyon Ave, Huntley, IL, on 17 counts of possession and distribution of […]

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McHenry County College Grad from Alden-Hebron High School Senior at NIU with Goal of Becoming a Physician

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026
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Campaign Finance for Joe Tirio and His Opponent Bill McNeese

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 11, 2026

McHenry County Clerk & Recorder Joe Tirio had a bit more than $39,700 in his Political Action Committee as of the end of 2025. He is facing Democrat Bill McNeese. McNeese is on the ballot for Democratic Party Precinct Committeeperson in Crystal […]

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Route 47 Brush Fire North of Huntley Started from Burning Wood Pile

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

From the Huntley Fire Protection District:  Brush Fire Along Route 47 On Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 11:47 a.m., the Huntley Fire Protection District was dispatched to the 8400 block of North Route 47 for a reported brush fire with a wood […]

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Unemployment Up in All Parts of Illinois But Chicago

Cal SkinnerFebruary 12, 2026February 11, 2026

From State Rep. Dan Ugaste: Year-to-year unemployment rate increased in 11 of Illinois’ 12 metro areas From December 2024 to December 2025, Illinois’ overall unemployment rate rose from 4.3% to 4.8% when counted by metro area. This increase hit every metro area except […]

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Taxes Being Proposed by Democrats

Cal SkinnerFebruary 11, 2026February 10, 2026

From State Rep. Dan Ugaste: Tax Your Campfires? When it comes to staying warm, some Illinois House Democrats seem determined to make it as expensive as possible. First came their massive energy rate hike last fall. Now, Representative Briel is proposing legislation […]

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Indictment of Man for Forcing Illegal Aliens to Work

Cal SkinnerFebruary 11, 2026February 11, 2026

From the U.S. Attorney: FOREIGN NATIONAL RESIDING IN CHICAGO SUBURB INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY BRINGING ILLEGAL ALIENS INTO UNITED STATES AND FORCING THEM TO WORK  CHICAGO — A foreign national residing in a Chicago suburb has been indicted in federal court for allegedly […]

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Spelling Bee Sponsors Sought

Cal SkinnerFebruary 11, 2026February 11, 2026

From McHenry County: Regional Office of Education Seeking Sponsors for 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee WOODSTOCK, Ill. – The McHenry County Regional Office of Education is seeking generous, community-minded sponsors to help send the winner of the McHenry County Regional Spelling Bee […]

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Recent Comments

  • Appellate Court Orders Teodora Brawn Back on the Ballot in 11th District GOP Race for Congress - McHenry County Blog on 11th District GOP Primary Candidate’s Removal from the Ballot Upheld by Judge
  • Spelling Bee Sponsors Sought - McHenry County Blog on Local Spelling Bee Champs
  • Opponents to Lithium Battery Farm Start Petition - McHenry County Blog on Steve Reick Adds More Information about Battery Farm Approval Sought in His District – Part 3
  • Opponents to Lithium Battery Farm Start Petition - McHenry County Blog on Reick Starts 3-Part Commentary on Proposed Battery Farm on Behan Road – Part 1
  • Opponents to Lithium Battery Farm Start Petition - McHenry County Blog on Reick Critiques Battery Storage of Electricity – Part 2
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