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Saturday, May 18, 2013 •
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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AMERICAN PROFILE • INSIDE
Huntley wins relay, heads to state
Celebrating Superman and other superheroes
Huntley’s Keagan Smith (right) and Trevor Obecny
EVENT SUPPORTS MARCH OF DIMES ORGANIZATION
Marching for healthy babies
NTSB: Toughen DUI laws Agency urges states to lower legal limit to 0.05 By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Lisa Koenen of Crystal Lake gives a presentation Friday about March of Dimes to employees at Kmart in Crystal Lake. The Koenen family will serve as the McHenry County March for Babies Ambassador Family in remembrance of their daughter Melinda during Sunday’s event.
Event helps Crystal Lake family honor daughter’s memory By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Lisa Koenen wants to put the March of Dimes out of business. It’s not that the Crystal Lake resident doesn’t support the organization dedicated to preventing premature infant deaths and diseases. She just does not want any mother to experience the
lected as the McHenry County Family Ambassador for Sunday’s March for Babies walk at McHenry County College. The Koenen family is the first in the county to be selected as an ambassador family whose child did not survive birth complications. Jennifer Smith, spokeswoman for March of Dimes,
pain she endured in 2010. “No one really ever had a chance to meet Melinda, so I am here to tell her story,” Koenen said of her 7-month old daughter who died in 2010 after being born 27 weeks into pregnancy, weighing just more than 2 pounds. “Our job is to put March of Dimes out of business because then we’ll know every baby is going home healthy.” The Koenen family was se-
See MARCHING, page A9
If you go What: McHenry County March For Babies When: Sunday at 9 a.m. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Where: McHenry County College Why: A walk to support the March of Dimes and its mission to prevent premature birth complications
States should cut the threshold for drunken driving from 0.08 to 0.05, a federal safety board said this week in a suggestion that was met with misgivings among some in the legal system. But to advocates, it offered a renewed promise for reducing impaired driving deaths. The National Transportation Safety Board said that driving impairment occurs in alcohol concentration levels at 0.05 or lower, and that a 0.05 blood-alcohol concentration significantly increases the risk of fatal crashes. NTSB may have made the recommendation, but it’s up to states to adopt it, and not everyone is on board with the recommendation. Advocates predict an uphill battle getting the measure passed in Illinois. Criminal defense attorney Patrick Walsh, whose McHenry law firm Donahue and Walsh represents a high volume of driving under the influence cases, said the change would further clog the legal system. “It would load up courtrooms that are already crowded as is,” Walsh said. “These cases would have to be tried. …. At 0.05 it’s incredibly
At a glance The National Transportation Safety Board said that driving impairment occurs in alcohol concentration levels at 0.05 or lower, and that a 0.05 blood-alcohol concentration significantly increases the risk of fatal crashes. The recommended threshold means about one drink per hour for a woman weighing less than 120 pounds, two for a 160-pound man.
See NTSB, page A9
Illinois Senate approves medical marijuana legislation By REGINA GARCIA CANO
How they voted
The Associated Press
Of McHenry County’s legislators, Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, voted for the medical marijuana legalization. Sens. Dan Duffy, R-Lake Barrington, and Karen McConnaughay, R-St. Charles, voted against the measure.
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers agreed to legalize the use of medical marijuana on Friday under a plan that’s being billed as the strictest in the nation among states that have authorized the drug’s me-
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dicinal use, although it was unclear whether the Democratic governor plans to sign it. The plan authorizes a pilot program for physicians to prescribe marijuana only to patients with whom they have an existing relationship. Background checks are required,
and patients must have at least one of more than three dozen terminal illnesses or other debilitating medical conditions specifically listed in the bill. Gov. Pat Quinn has declined to say whether he supports the legislation, saying only that he was “open-minded” on the issue. Lt. Gov.
WOODSTOCK
D-200 PRAISED FOR HEALTHY HABITS This year, all 12 District 200 schools received certification under the United States Department of Agriculture’s HealthierU.S. School Challenge. The program challenges schools to meet certain criteria for healthy foods, and then gives award levels based on the percentage of children that eat school lunches.
Employee Virginia Soldon (left)
For more, see page B1.
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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CRYSTAL LAKE: Breakers reopens after being closed because a vehicle crashed into the building. Business, E1
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Sheila Simon, a former prosecutor, has said she is in favor of the plan after meeting with patients, including military veterans. The proposed legislation creates a framework for a four-year pilot program that includes requiring
See MARIJUANA, page A9