Local&Region News editor: Kevin Lyons • kelyons@shawmedia.com
8COMMUNITY NEWS
NYGREN TO AWARD $500 SCHoLArSHIP
WOODSTOCK – The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association will award more than $53,000 in college scholarships to Illinois students who wish to pursue higher education in the 2013-14 academic year. Sheriff Keith Nygren will award one $500 scholarship to be applied to tuition, books and fees only. The students must be enrolled full-time at a certified institution of higher learning in the state. Applicants must be permanent Illinois residents and McHenry County residents. Students must be enrolled as full-time students during the 2013-2014 school year (excluding summer session). Applications are available at the sheriff’s office, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock, or online at www.ilsheriff.org. Students must complete the application, answer the essay question, and return all documentation to the sheriff’s office by March 7. For information, call the sheriff’s office at 815-338-2144 or consult the student’s high school, advising center or college financial aid office.
SECTION B Sunday, February 3, 2013 Northwest Herald
Breaking news @ www.NWHerald.com
MCC OKs parking lot work Trustees pave way for $2.3 million in lot improvements by CHeLSeA mcDouGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County College trustees recently approved reconstructing two of its parking lots, but some auxiliary expenses were too much for two trustees who rejected the project. At a Committee of the Whole meet-
ing last month, the MCC board voted, 5-2, to rebuild parking lots B and D for a cost not to exceed $2.3 million. Trustees Ron Parrish and Dennis Adams turned it down. Parrish called the spending “out of control.” “These ancillaries go on and on,” Parrish said at the January Committee of the Whole meeting. “That’s not
our need right now.” Adams preferred a Band-Aid fix. “I think we could patch it and make it go another year,” Adams said. “When you look at the private sector, there’s a lot of bad parking lots because of this economy.” College officials argued that because the parking lots already are being dug into, it was a good time to in-
clude other repairs at the same time. “These other projects make sense to do as long as you’ve got everything torn up. ... As long as you’re buying asphalt and digging it out,” MCC President Vicky Smith said at the meeting. “It would be much more costly if you did it two years from now.”
District 26 putting together its vision, goals
GROUNDHOG DAY
By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
– Northwest Herald
NUNDA TOWNSHIP forum oN feb. 13
CRYSTAL LAKE – Nunda Township Republicans will host a candidates forum at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at the American Community Bank, 1500 S. Route 31 in McHenry. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Candidates running for the Republican nomination in the February primaries have been invited to attend, including those in the contested races for Nunda Township supervisor, highway commissioner and clerk. There will be a question-andanswer session for candidates in contested races, and candidates running unopposed for trustee will have an opportunity to introduce themselves to voters. Voters may submit questions for the forum at nundagop.org. Because of security requirements, doors to the facility will be locked at 7:10 p.m. and no one will be admitted after that. For information, visit nundagop.org.
– Northwest Herald
8LOCAL BEST BET
LIBRARY SHOWS ‘THE BOURNE LEGACY’
McHENRY – A “Free Movies @ Your Library” showing of “The Bourne Legacy” will be from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the McHenry Public Library, 809 N. Front St. The film is rated PG-13. The event is for those 18 and older. For information, call 815-3850036 or visit www.mchenrylibrary.org.
8LOCAL DEATHS Duane K. Ainlay 83, Cary Howard Daniel Appenfeldt 82, Harvard richard S. Partyka 91, Crystal Lake martin P. “mike” Stimac 88, Huntley Carolina Torres 66, Crystal Lake Douglas m. Zogus 69, formerly of Cary OBITUARIES on pages B6-7
See PARKING, page B3
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Handler mark Szafran of Norridge presents Woodstock Willie to a crowd of about 500 Saturday morning on the Woodstock Square. To the delight of most in attendance, Willie prognosticated an early spring.
Woodstock Willie predicts early spring By LINDSAY WEBER editorial@nwherald.com WOODSTOCK – Amidst the twinkling lights of an early morning Woodstock Square and a freshly dusted wintery backdrop, a weather prophesier emerged from his cubbyhole Saturday morning and brought hope of an early spring. At 7:07 a.m., on his utmost important and single day of work per year, Woodstock Willie did not see his shadow, making his prognostication to the people of McHenry County for an early spring. Woodstock Willie is to the Midwest as his fellow prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil is to the East. “It’s really cool. We’ve got our own little weatherman right here,” handler Mark Szafran said. “I’ve been coming to Woodstock for 16 years now for Groundhog’s Day, and I still feel like the dad in the Lion King every time when I present Willie to the crowd.” Paula and Jeff Jarvis were among the nearly 500 in attendance. It was their first time witnessing the prognostication with their 4½-year-old twins, Paige and Chase, in tow. “We came out to start a new family tradition,” Paula Jarvis said. “We’ve been holed up in our house all winter, so it’s great to get out with the community.”
See EARLY SPRING, page B4
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Caitlin Christensen (center), 13, of Waukegan holds onto her stuffed groundhog while attending Woodstock’s Groundhog Day Prognostication on Saturday.
by emILY K. CoLemAN WOODSTOCK – The former campsite at Fox Bluff Conservation Area might be reinvented as a place for weddings, graduations and reunions. Draft schematics showing three of the former Camp Algonquin buildings located on 163 acres south of Cary near Cary-Algonquin and Cold Spring roads redesigned as rental facilities were presented to the McHenry County Conservation District Board at its last meeting. Staff also considered using the space for farmstands or a farmers market, but the area around Fox Bluff is sat-
See D-26, page B4
To learn more
A look at Groundhog Day in the U.S. Pa.’s Punxsutawney Phil also predicts early spring PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – An end to winter’s bitter cold will come soon, according to Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog. Following a recent stretch of weather that’s included temperatures well below freezing as well as record warmth, tornadoes in the South and Midwest and torren-
tial rains in the mid-Atlantic, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair Saturday in front of thousands but didn’t see his shadow. Legend has it that if the furry rodent sees his shadow on Feb. 2 on Gobbler’s Knob in west-central Pennsylvania, winter will last six more weeks. But if he doesn’t see his shadow, spring will come early.
MCCD looks at rental facilities at Fox Bluff ecoleman@shawmedia.com
CARY – Emphasizing that the entire community is part of District 26 is one of the cornerstones of the school system’s new mission, vision and goals document. District 26 adopted the new document after its steering committee worked on the project for more than three months. It includes vision statements for students, the curriculum, the culture of the district, finances, working in a learning community, and the community, parents and guardians. Steering committee members included school board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, parent-teacher organization members, committee engagement committee members, community members, and foundation members. Director of Curriculum Valerie McCall said that sometimes discussions became heated, but the process was worthwhile. “It was nice to see everybody was dedicated and committed ... [and] that our students in Cary District 26 have comparable learning opportunities that we’re able to provide,” McCall said. The district wants students to take intellectual risks and expects students to demonstrate and accept responsibility for their learning, decisions and actions, among other commitments.
If you go The preliminary draft plan will be presented at the McHenry County Conservation District Board of Trustees meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Brookdale administrative offices, 18410 Route 14, Woodstock. urated with them, Executive Director Elizabeth Kessler said. The board is not at the point where it has finalized what its plans are. A competitive analysis on the feasibility of a farmers market at Fox Bluff found 72 farmstands and 21 markets within a 20-mile radius.
While there also are 40plus rental facilities in the same area, Kessler said there is an opportunity to take advantage of the historical and natural setting of the facilities. The range of buildings can house a variety of differently sized events. This type of conversion also would open up space for the district’s own programs, said trustee Kent Krautstrunk of Crystal Lake. Andy Dogan, a principal at PHN Architects, walked the board through the three buildings it recommended for further review, one of the dormitories, the recreation hall and the dining hall.
See FACILTIES, page B3
– The Associated Press
The district’s new mission statement is, “The District 26 community works together to provide a sound educational foundation that supports and inspires all students to reach their full academic potential.” To read the full mission and vision document for District 26, visit www.cary26.org.
WOODSTOCK • MCHENRY • CRYSTAL LAKE • HUNTLEY
VOTED BEST TIRE DEALER IN MCHENRY COUNTY Schedule an appointment today and see why our expert technicians make the difference.
Woodstock, McHenry, Crystal Lake & Huntley www.autotechcenters.com M-F 7am-7pm Sat. 7:30am-5pm Sun Closed