NWH-2-8-2013

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A GUIDE TO SUNDAY’S GRAMMY AWARDS • We pick winners in the

Kelly Clarkson

major categories • Kelly Clarkson talks about her engagement and Grammy nod In Screen WWW.NWHERALD.COM

75 CENTS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Blackhawks get revenge on Torres, Coyotes in blowout

Sports, C1

Expert: Mom wasn’t sane

Winter snarls

Knife down baby’s throat; facts to be agreed upon By SARAH SUTSCHEK ssutschek@shawmedia.com

Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com

A women cleans off her car in downtown Marengo on Thursday. A winter weather warning expired at midnight and forecasters predicted abovefreezing highs today, Saturday and Sunday.

Snow makes roads in county dicey for a day By JANE HUH

On the Net

jhuh@shawmedia.com

and LAWERENCE SYNETT

To view scenes from Thursday’s snowfall from throughout McHenry County, visit NWHerald.com.

lsynett@shawmedia.com Thursday’s snowstorm brought treacherous road conditions, snarled traffic across McHenry County and slowed the evening commute to a crawl. “If you must travel, please be patient,” the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office advised in a statement. “If you do not need to travel, please stay home.” A winter weather warning was in effect until midnight.

The Accuweather.com forecast calls for a high of 33 degrees today and Saturday with little chance of precipitation. Sunday’s high will reach 41 degrees, with light rain in

Traffic was backed up on Route 14 in Crystal Lake as snow fell in McHenry County.

See WEATHER, page A6

WOODSTOCK – Based on a psychologist’s evaluation, a Harvard woman accused of putting a knife down her infant son’s throat likely will be found not guilty by reason of insanity. A stipulated bench trial is set for March 21 for Claudia Mejia, 37, during which both her defense attorney and prosecutors will agree on most of the facts in the case. Mejia is charged with one count each of attempted murder and aggravated battery of a child. Her son, Isaac, has recovered. Mejia was declared mentally unfit to stand trial soon after her arrest in December 2011. She received treatment at Elgin Mental Health Center, where physicians said she was profoundly mentally ill – mute, immobile and in a catatonic state. She was diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and, while treatment options were being considered, suffered one of at least two seizures. In September, Mejia was

Claudia Mejia is charged with one count each of attempted murder and aggravated battery of a child.

See MEJIA, page A6

Quinn signs short-term spending for road projects, more By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois road construction projects will get a $675 million boost this spring under a package of short-term spending projects Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Thursday. Republicans complained it was rushed

through with little input from taxpayers. The supplemental spending bill, which the Senate approved just hours before Quinn signed it, also includes $9 million to keep East St. Louis public schools open through the end of the term and restores $12 million for community mental health program

LOCALLY SPEAKING

grants, which had been cut from the previous budget. Senate Republicans complained that Gov. Pat the $1.5 billion Quinn spending package was too much, too soon – although

some of it simply was redirected from other purposes or federal money that just needed legislative authorization. “There’s some decent things in there,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine. “We felt there was an opportunity to reach common ground on some smaller pieces of the package, and that would

Jim Dallke – jdallke@shawmedia.com

HIGH

LOW

32 19 Complete forecast on A8

C6 F1-2 F3-12 C7

See QUINN, page A6

LePEILBET OUT AFTER TEARING ACL

CRYSTAL LAKE: Ex-student’s transplants rally Central’s students to raise money for Chicago children’s hospital. Local, B1 Vol. 28, Issue 39

Where to find it Advice Business Classified Comics

bridge projects this spring. Construction season is just around the corner. “The projects are going to be let in March so we had to move expeditiously to make sure we move forward on them and get them built,” said Sen. Dan Kotowski, the Park

SOCCER Prairie Ridge alumna and U.S. women’s national team defender Amy LePeilbet, who was to play for the Chicago Red Stars in the new National Women’s Soccer League, will be sidelined for at least six months following surgery Jan. 29 to repair the ACL in her left knee – the same one she tore and had repaired in 2006. For more, see page C1.

Matthew Jazwinski

have been a good start to the session, to look for common ground rather than ramming through more spending on a partisan basis.” But the rush was on because unanticipated state and federal revenue will allow the Illinois Department of Transportation to pump $675 million into additional road and

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Opinion A7 Planit Screen D1-6 Puzzles F2, F7 Sports C1-5

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