BLACKHAWKS GAMEDAY WRAPPED AROUND SPORTS WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS Game 4: Blackhawks at L.A. 8 p.m. Thursday, NBCSN
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Thursday, June 6, 2013 •
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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AFFRUNTI’S PATH TO SUCCESS
PERFORMANCE WITH TONY MONACO
CL native making his 1st PGA start of year Sports, C1
Guitarist Haque to jam at CL show Planit Play, inside
Interest in youth hockey grows Blackhawks’ success increases participation in McHenry County
Shelter to create fund Turning Point aims to raise $1M to help domestic abuse victims By LAWERENCE SYNETT lsynett@shawmedia.com
Photos by Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Owen Cassel (second from right), 10, of the Squirt AA Yellowjackets from Crystal Lake pauses during practice Tuesday at the Crystal Ice House in Crystal Lake. The team of 8- to 10-year-olds looks to the Blackhawks for motivation. By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com
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RYSTAL LAKE – While watching Chicago Blackhawks games, 9-year-old Gavin Reining studies goalie Corey Crawford’s every move. Reining, a goalie on the Squirt AA Yellowjackets from Crystal Lake, uses what he learns from his favorite Blackhawks player to help lead his team, which recently won a May 19 tournament. “[The Blackhawks] have given me a lot of confidence in myself to win championships and playoff games,” Reining said. “I had two shutouts in that tournament.” The success of a local professional sports team typically affects an entire city, from restaurant sales to tourism to an increased sense of community. In the case of the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks, who are up 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals and face the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series, the effects of the team’s success are even reaching youth hockey in McHenry County.
Goalie Gavin Reining, 9, sits in the locker room Tuesday before the Yellowjackets practice at the Crystal Ice House in Crystal Lake. “It’s definitely good for the game in this area when your hometown team is doing as well as they’re doing,” said Dean Britt, head coach of the Yellowjackets. “Enrollment here at this club has gone up with the success of the Blackhawks.” The Yellowjackets, who are practicing and competing in tournaments during the spring season,
are keeping a close eye on the Blackhawks as Chicago continues its run through the playoffs. The group of 8- to 10-year-olds looks to the professional team for motivation during its own games. The Yellowjackets, who play home games at the Crystal Ice
See HOCKEY, page A6
Dean Britt, head coach of the Squirt AA Yellowjackets in Crystal Lake
LOCALLY SPEAKING
By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A Woodstock man admitted to aggravated street racing before a crash that led to the deaths of two teenagers. Daniel L. Huber, 21, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of street racing and two counts of obstructing justice, all Class 4 felonies. Huber entered a blind plea Wednesday to McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather, meaning there was no agreement made with prosecutors on his sentence.
CRYSTAL LAKE
CITY PLANS MAIN STREET PROJECT City officials took the first step toward a $6.5 million road project that would widen Main Street and improve access to the Route 14 commercial corridor. It would widen South Main Street to a five-lane section from Liberty Drive to Jennings Drive and create a continuous four-lane roadway between Rakow Road and Crystal Lake Avenue. For more, see page B1.
Kyle Slusser of McHenry
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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It costs about $300,000 annually to operate the Turning Point of McHenry County facility. Since it opened in 2007, 372 women and 347 children have spent a total of 25,687 nights in the shelter.
March 2004, but financial problems held up the project. The building includes rooms with beds for 21 women and children. Donated items help furnish the facility. A handful of staff members keep the shelter – which includes surveillance cameras, bulletproof glass, a direct phone line to the police and double-locked entry doors – open 24 hours a day. To date, 372 women and 347 children have spent a total of 25,687 nights in the shelter, Farmer said. It costs about $300,000 annually to operate the facility.
See SHELTER, page A6
Guilty plea made in street-racing deaths
“It’s definitely good for the game in this area when your hometown team is doing as well as [the Blackhawks are] doing.”
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WOODSTOCK – Turning Point of McHenry County has created a fund to help offset the costs of running its emergency shelter for abused women and children. Officials hope to raise $1 million over the next three years for the Cecelia Fund, named after the first woman to use the Woodstock-based shelter, as dwindling revenue streams continue to strain the nonprofit agency’s budget. “This will be the first year that we have to dip into reserves to run the shelter,” said Jane Farmer, executive director of the organization. “The state is a mess, and we can’t wait any longer for them to figure it out. We as a community need to come together to ensure this shelter is here for the people who need it.” The shelter for victims of domestic abuse opened in 2007, due in large part to community donations. The facility originally was supposed to open in
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Prosecutors said that on July 1, Huber was racing Woodstock teens Jacob Norys and Alec Kaiser, both 16, on Davis Road in Woodstock just before the fatal crash. The vehicle the teens were riding in swerved off the roadway, rolled and hit a tree and brick pillar. The vehicle uprooted a second tree, which landed partially on the car. Both teens, students at Woodstock High School, were killed within seconds, authorities said at the time.
See RACING, page A6