Huntley girls basketball headed to sectional final
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
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Mental Health Board vote delayed Committee chair skeptical of reason for postponing appointments By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Embattled Mental Health Board President Lee Ellis may have gotten a reprieve from the McHenry County Board, courtesy of concerns over Illinois Open Meetings Act compliance. In a surprise move Tues-
day evening, County Board Chairwoman Tina Hill, RWoodstock, pulled all but one appointment from the meeting agenda, including three newcomers to the McHenry County Mental Health Board. The Public Health and Human Services Committee on Friday recommended the appointments, and spurned Ellis’ bid
for reappointment to a fouryear term. But the delay could put the new Mental Health Board members in a position in which they take their seats the same night that some worry a vote could take place to hire a new executive director. Hill, acting on the advice of the State’s Attorney’s Office,
said she delayed the appointments to ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Act, which since Jan. 1 has required more descriptive meeting agendas. The committee agendas in question listed the interviews of candidates, but not that a vote would be taken. Hill said former County
Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake, raised the issue of whether a Tuesday vote would conflict with the law. She pulled a total of seven appointments to four boards and commissions. The decision means that the public health committee will have to vote again on its recommendations at its meeting
Feb. 27, with a County Board confirmation vote March 5. “It’s a transparency issue, and we’re going to do things by the rules,” Hill said. However, new public health committee Chairwoman Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, alleged that something more
See VOTE, page A7
MCC: Tuition hike on horizon
Getting creative to combat obesity
$3 per credit hour increase expected By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County College students likely can expect a tuition increase next year if trustees approve a $3 per credit hour hike that was discussed Tuesday. A $3 increase would bring the cost per credit hour from $99 to $102. MCC falls behind other community colleges in the state where the average cost per credit hour is $107.89, according to the Illinois Community College Board. The college needs to look at tuition increases to bridge projected revenue gaps, MCC’s Chief Financial Officer Bob Tenuta told the board. Future deficits could occur as a result of decreased funding from the state, property taxation limits and annual fund transfers for deferred maintenance, he said. “Even with a tuition increase there’s some gaps we’ll have to plug,” Tenuta said at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. A tuition increase and a $1.27 million error in the 2013 budget were not related, college officials said. The miscalculation “certainly is not driving the conversation we’re having tonight,” Trustee Dennis Adams said.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Kids play with a parachute Friday while at an after-school program provided by the Crystal Lake Park District at Woods Creek Elementary School in Crystal Lake.
Keeping children active more of a challenge in winter By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com When it comes to keeping kids active during the winter, experts agree that success comes by getting creative. Too cold to go outside? Bring the snow inside to play with, suggested Diana Vroman, the director of Grand Oaks Child Care. Parents also can cook with their kids or play games such
as hide-and-seek or hopscotch, Vroman said. They can use pots and pans to pretend they’re in a marching band, or use cushions to make a fort – all activities that get kids using their large motor skills. Childhood obesity has more than doubled during the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trend seems to have slowed at least in Illinois,
where the number of high school students who are obese has hovered around 12 percent since 2009. Area programs designed to combat childhood obesity focus on healthy eating and getting kids active. Kathy Varrassi, a site supervisor for the extended time program at Canterbury and Coventry elementary schools in
See ACTIVE, page A7
Activity ideas • Using the TV show “Minute to Win It” as inspiration, Kathy Varrassi of the Crystal Lake Park District recommended challenging kids to do all sorts of activities and challenge their own times. • Use the child’s interests as a starting point, Grand Oaks Child Care director Diana Vroman said. If the child likes race cars, have him or her pretend to be a race car and run around. Dinosaurs more their thing? Go on a dino hunt, Vroman said. • As one of seven siblings, physical education teacher Jay Fuller spent a lot of time outside during the winter when he was young. He said it’s good to get outside and recommended walking the dog, sledding or building a makeshift ice rink in the backyard.
See MCC, page A7
LOCALLY SPEAKING
WOODstOCK
WITNESS IN MURDER CASE FREED The man who said he delivered what may have been the fatal blow to a Johnsburg teenager in 2002 is free again after being released from prison Tuesday on unrelated charges.Shane Lamb, 28, had been at the Dixon Correctional Center since he was taken back into custody on a parole violation in November.
Harvard’s Reiss Bielski
For more, see page B1.
Randy Stukenberg – For the Northwest Herald
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Harvard and Crystal Lake Central wrestling knocked out of dual team sectional. Sports C1, C2
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