NWH-7-18-2013

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Special-needs youth show spirit in CL cheer squad

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013

WWW.NWHERALD.COM Folk duo Red Tail Ring

75 CENTS

FESTIVAL FOLK WELCOMES BEST OF THE GENRE W O O D S T O C K

The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.

Sports, C1

In Pl@y

2014 ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ELECTION

GOP hopefuls visit area

ALSO IN PL@Y ...

• Gavers Barndance • HH for ‘Red 2’ • Area festival guide

Snag in Huntley hospital project Board must explain decision on permit By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO and BRETT ROWLAND sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com browland@shawmedia.com

Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com

Ken Koehler (left) of Crystal Lake and Dennis Adams of McHenry talk with Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford (right) during Wednesday’s McHenry County Republican Party golf outing at the McHenry County Club.

Gubernatorial candidates attend golf event By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Three of the four men running for the GOP nomination for Illinois governor visited with local Republicans on Wednesday to briefly speak about their campaigns. McHenry County Republicans gathered for their annual golf outing, which organizers

expected to raise about $10,000. The event, at the McHenry Country Club, attracted three people running for the GOP nomination: state Sen. Bill Brady, who greeted golfers out on the course early in the day, state Treasurer Dan Rutherford and state Sen. Kirk Dillard, who spoke with attendees during the early evening. Bruce Rauner, a venture

capitalist who lives in Winnetka, did not attend, said Geri Davis, executive director of the McHenry County Republicans. Davis said the event was an opportunity for candidates to meet with fellow Republicans. “They’re working the room,” Davis said. “They know pretty much this is a friendly crowd.”

Bill Brady

Kirk Dillard

Bruce Rauner

Voice your opinion: Who do you think will win the GOP primary for governor? Vote online at NWHerald.com.

Inside: Lisa Madigan won’t discuss father’s See GOP, page A4

role in 2014 decision. PAGE A3

A Will County judge has ordered the Illinois Health and Facilities Review Board to explain why it reversed course and approved a permit for Centegra’s $233 million Huntley hospital. The ruling comes almost a year after the state review board voted, 6-3, to approve Centegra’s plan to build a 128-bed hospital in Huntley. The decision came after the board twice rejected Centegra’s plans on the heels of staff recommendations that the plan failed to meet all of the state requirements. Judge Bobbi Petrungaro on Monday ordered the board to provide additional explanation for the decision. Petrungaro noted the administrative record on the plan has more than 9,000 pages of material and that the board’s decision permitting the Huntley project had the same one-paragraph explanation for approving Centegra’s initial application to the board. “However, the decision contains no findings of fact, no adoption of the [state agency report], no indication as to which criteria and standards were met or were not met, no indication as to why the board must have disagreed with the [state agency report] and no conclusions by the

See HOSPITAL, page A4

Ex-CEO describes rough state politics He says he was kicked out at Metra for resisting corruption By JASON KEYSER The Associated Press CHICAGO – A former California transit executive tapped to clean up the scandal-tarnished Metra commuter rail agency said Wednesday he was pushed out barely two years into the job for doing exactly that and resisting pressure from some of Illi-

nois’ most powerful politicians. Alex Clifford was allowed to speak publicly for the first time Wednesday about his lucrative buyout, which critics have called hush money and a waste of taxpayer funds. Clifford alleged that House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed Metra staff for a pay raise for a political pal and that Madigan and another politician

LOCALLY SPEAKING

also sought patronage hires. Clifford also described an episode in which he was asked to simply write a $50,000 check to an organization of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s choosing. When he refused, Clifford said he got a taste of Illinois politics at its worst. In hiring a new director, Metra’s board had searched

for “somebody who would be squeaky clean and not tainted by, if you will, Illinois politics,” Clifford said. He was just a year into the job when Madigan pushed for a campaign contributor to get a pay raise at his Metra job. “This is my first ... experience with things that I’ve heard about Illinois politics but not yet experienced,” Clifford said of that incident.

See METRA, page A4

CRYSTAL LAKE

MCC WEIGHS RAISES, NEXT BUDGET A pair of new proposals before the McHenry County College Board would give a 1.7 percent cost-of-living increase to administrators and show two budget options for the next fiscal year – one including revenue generated by a possible 4.9 percent increase to the tax levy and another showing revenue if there was no increase. For more, see page B1.

Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com

HIGH

LOW

92 72 Complete forecast on A6

WOODSTOCK: Chocolate is heart of business, but cocktails, coffee add to shop’s appeal. Business, D1

Where to find it Advice Business Buzz Classified

C8 D1-4 C10 F3-14

Vol. 28, Issue 199 Comics C9 Local&Region B1-6 Lottery A2 Obituaries B5

Opinion A5 Puzzles F10-11 Real Estate F1-2 Sports C1-7

AP photo

Former Metra CEO Alex Clifford testifies Wednesday before the Regional Transportation Authority board.


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