Schedule of events for McHenry’s Fiesta Days
FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2013
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The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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AJ FANSELOW
SUMMER FESTIVAL
Recent Huntley graduate wins junior amateur Sports, C1
Lake in the Hills Rockin’ Ribfest kick offs Local&Region, B1
Judge doles out ‘cursed’ money Woman’s daughter gets bulk of cash found in J’burg garden; man’s son gets finder’s fee By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A McHenry County judge awarded $150,000 of found money to the daughter of a woman who believed it was cursed and tossed it over her neighbor’s fence.
An agreement settled in court Thursday by McHenry County Judge Thomas Meyer gave the money to Diane Howe, with an undisclosed finder’s fee to be given to Kevin Sabaj. The two are the only survivors of the owner of the cash and the man who found it in
his Johnsburg vegetable garden. The owner of the money, Dolores Johnson, died in January at age 87. She had accumulated her life savings but never deposited it in a bank. Believing it was cursed, she threw it over her fence and into the vegetable garden
Zinke email a possible breach
of Wayne Sabaj, who discovered it in August 2011 when gathering broccoli for dinner. Sabaj, 51, died just 10 days before a judge was to decide the money’s fate. “Turns out [the curse] may have been true because unfortunately Wayne has now left us,” his attorney,
Robert Burke, said outside the McHenry County Courthouse. Johnson’s daughter was able to explicitly detail the packaging of the money. It was bagged in fast-food, grocery and brown paper bags, Burke said. Some bills were bundled in bank wrapping
By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press
jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
Photos by Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Christine Olsen of Johnsburg walks her horse, Sanibel, to one of the riding arenas Wednesday at Dynasty Farm in Lake in the Hills. Olsen visits the farm every day to exercise the three horses she boards there. BELOW: Olsen grooms Sanibel.
Dynasty Farm’s future in doubt Horse barn needs new operator By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com LAKE IN THE HILLS – Christine Olsen is at Dynasty Farm every day. She rides and tends to the three horses she boards there. Even though it costs more in rent, the Johnsburg resident moved her horses from a boarding facility in the McHenry-Prairie Grove area to the Lake in the Hills facility. “I liked the plans for this barn,” Olsen said. “Just having so much more
possibility for the space as far as the arenas, the possibility of having clinics and shows.” But Olsen, along with those who have the six other horses boarded at Dynasty, might have to find a new place for their animals: The woman who runs the facility is planning to leave. Jennifer Valenti, who manages Dynasty, has given the village six months’ notice that she will leave
See BARN, page A6
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See ZINKE, page A6
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ended a lengthy and emotionally charged legal appeal over an abortion notification law Thursday, clearing the way for the state to begin enforcing a 1995 measure that requires doctors to notify a girl’s parents 48 hours before the procedure. The court ruled unanimously to uphold a circuit court’s earlier dismissal of a challenge to the law that was filed by a Granite City women’s health clinic and a doctor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. After court battles that lasted nearly two decades, Illinois now joins 38 other states in requiring some level of parental notification. The law goes into effect in 35 days unless it’s appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has found such laws to be constitutional elsewhere. Opponents of the notification law had argued that it violated privacy and gender equality rights because young women should be able to make their own decisions about their bodies and pregnancies. Supporters of the law, which was defended by the Illinois Attorney General’s office, argued that parents would be deprived of basic rights if they were not notified of a daughter’s decision to have an abortion. Anti-abortion activists have long said Illinois was a haven for teens from states with stricter laws on the books seeking abortions.
See ABORTION, page A4
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
LOW
81 57 Complete forecast on A8
BARRINGTON
EX-TEACHER PLEADS IN SEXTING CASE A former Des Plaines Middle School teacher accused of sexting a student pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge. Jack K. Pickup, 35, of Barrington worked for Sen. Dan Duffy’s election campaign when he was arrested in July 2012 and charged with grooming, a Class 4 felony, and sexual exploitation of a minor. For more, see page B1.
Jack Fischbach
HIGH
See MONEY, page A6
Ill. high court ends abortion law appeal
LAKE IN THE HILLS HORSE FACILITY
By JEFF ENGELHARDT CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke could have violated state election laws with a letter he sent from a county email address defending himself against political opponents. Zinke, a candidate for McHenry County sheriff in 2014, sent an email to current and former McHenry County Board members to address a picture posted by a local blogger Andrew who said Zinke flipped the Zinke middle finger McHenry toward him and County others in the undersheriff crowd at the Crystal Lake Independence Day Parade. In the letter, Zinke said his hand position was taken out of context and he had no ill intentions. The letter went on to explain that the blogger and political opponents have made “despicable” accusations since he announced his candidacy. He then reiterated his commitment to the office and thanked the recipients of the email for their support. The email was sent at 3:40 p.m. Wednesday. “During my 25-year career of chasing and apprehending criminals, nothing has ever
and others in paper clips. It was primarily $20 bills, with the newest bills from 2004. Wayne Sabaj, an out-ofwork carpenter, notified authorities when he found the money.
WOODSTOCK: Junior Jack Fischbach undeterred by setbacks during tennis match. Sports, C2 Vol. 28, Issue 193
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