McHenry boys water polo team includes two girls
SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013
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Readers chime in with solutions for everyday life
Pendergrast photographs homelessness in county
Age-old issue persists about justice Some say law too subjective about severity of 17-year-olds’ crimes By SARAH SUTSCHEK ssutschek@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – In Illinois, 17-year-olds can’t vote, enlist in the military without permission or buy a lottery ticket. But they can be considered adults when it comes to the criminal justice system.
“Illinois treats a 17-yearold who shoplifts an iPhone as an adult criminal: held with adults in jail, tried in adult criminal court, sent to adult prison if incarcerated, and issued an employment-crushing permanent criminal record,” according to a recent report by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission.
In 38 other states, that 17-year-old would be in juvenile court, the report states. Under current law, 17-yearolds charged with misdemeanors have their cases handled in juvenile court. If the charge is a felony, the case goes to adult court. How that case is charged – as a misdemeanor or a felony
Iraq grapples with legacy of war decade after its start
– often is left to prosecutors’ discretion. A McHenry County example is the case of a Crystal Lake Central High School student accused earlier this month of planting a small camera in a boys locker room. Luke Gildea, 17, could have been charged with a misdemeanor and had the case han-
dled in juvenile court, where his name would have been confidential. Instead, he faces felony charges of unauthorized videotaping and was subjected to a barrage of media coverage, including several TV news crews waiting as he bonded out of the McHenry County Jail.
Voice your opinion Should 17-year-olds be charged as adults? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
Michael Combs, chief of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office criminal division, said his office did authorize felony charges, but he
See JUSTICE, page A9
A DEADLY DOSE
Stability, strength of country’s democracy remain open questions By ADAM SCHRECK
At a glance The Bush administration had hoped the war that began with airstrikes would quickly rid Iraq of purported weapons of mass destruction, go after extremists and replace a brutal dictatorship with the foundations of a pro-Western democracy. By the time the U.S. military pulled out of Iraq in 2011, nearly 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis had lost their lives. No active WMDs were ever found.
The Associated Press BAGHDAD – It’s been more than six years since a bomb ripped away the eyes from Shams Karim, killed her mother and left the little girl, now 7, blind and disfigured for life. Psychiatric drugs help control her outbursts of crying and screaming. Throughout Iraq there are tens of thousands of victims like her whose lives are forever scarred by the violence of war. Their wounds – and those of tens of thousands of U.S. and other foreign service members – may never entirely heal. In Baghdad, life goes on much as it has since the Ottoman sultan ruled these parts. Porters force loaded carts through narrow bazaars as amateur breeders’ beloved pigeons swoop overhead. The calls to prayer from turquoise-domed mosques provide a rhythm to the day. Yet the legacy of a war that began a decade ago remains very much a part of life here, too. Bullet holes still pockmark buildings, and towers wrecked by American missiles
Photo Illustration – Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
There were 122 drug overdose deaths in the county from 2009 to 2012, according to the Coroner’s Office. Of those deaths, 52 involved the use of heroin.
Heroin, prescription drugs often to blame for overdose fatalities in county, state By LAWERENCE SYNETT lsynett@shawmedia.com
F
rom heroin addiction to painkiller dependency, deaths from illegal drug use is an issue in McHenry County. As investigators probe whether drugs were involved in the recent death of a 17-year-old Crystal Lake South High School student, the tragedy has put the
spotlight on a growing problem that has local authorities and other officials rethinking policies and strategies. There were 122 drug overdose deaths in the county from 2009 to 2012, according to the McHenry County Coroner’s Office. Of those, 52 involved heroin, a drug that can cause a surge of euphoria and clouded thinking followed by alternately wakeful and drowsy states,
according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Drug overdose deaths in McHenry County during the past four years peaked in 2009, when there were 38 total, 15 of which involved heroin. Last year, 16 of the 31 overdose deaths involved heroin. Nationally, drug overdose deaths increased for the 11th
Overdose deaths in McHenry County 2009 - 38 (15 involving heroin) 2010 - 32 (12 involving heroin) 2011 - 21 (9 involving heroin) 2012 - 31 (16 involving heroin)
Source: McHenry County Coroner’s Office
See DRUGS, page A9
See IRAQ, page A10
LOCALLY SPEAKING
CRYSTAL LAKE
DIRECT STEEL FORGING NEW GROUND “Women are still forging new ground,” said Marianne Markowitz, regional administrator of the Small Business Administration. Markowitz toured Direct Steel on Thursday, a woman-owned general contractor, supply and construction firm at 3321 S. Route 31, Crystal Lake. President Rosemary Swierk started the company in 2004. For more, see page D1.
Danny Guelzo (left), 21, has his mother Lisa help him brush Maggie. Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
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34 26 Complete forecast on A12
RICHMOND: New animals allow program to incorporate animal assisted therapy class. Local&Region, B1
Where to find it Advice Planit 7 Business D1-8 Classified F1-6 Local&Region B1-8
Vol. 28, Issue 74 Lottery A2 Movies Planit 15 Obituaries B7 Opinion A11
Planit Style Inside Puzzles F5 Sports C1-12 TV Grid F5
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