Latest injury, to linebacker Williams, tests Bears
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Shortfall in gas taxes Local governments seek other ways to fund street projects
Two face charges in check scam Police: Harvard women forwarded cash to Nigeria By LAWERENCE SYNETT lsynett@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
F.H. Paschen employee Jim Biondo works Wednesday on a retaining wall near Huntington Drive in Algonquin. The Algonquin bypass project is expected to cost $33.3 million, which includes construction of about two miles of a four-lane divided highway, a diamond interchange, four new bridges, retaining walls and noise abatement walls west of downtown Algonquin. The project is estimated to be finished in August 2014.
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By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com As gas prices rise and people buy less of it, local governments are finding the gas taxes collected aren’t keeping up with the rising cost of building and maintaining their roadways. For each gallon of gas bought in McHenry County, 41.4 cents is paid in motor-fuel taxes, with 18.4 cents going to the federal government, 19 cents to the state and 4 cents to the county. After the state takes its cut, it
distributes the remainder to local governments including counties, townships and municipalities, so they can maintain their roads. But that pool of money is shrinking: Miles driven by motorists in the United States is down about 2.35 percent since 2005, according Federal Highway Administration data. More than 106 billion miles were driven in Illinois in 2012, down from a high of 108.6 billion miles in 2005. At the same time, gas prices remain high. On Wednesday, the national average price of gas was $3.627, according to AAA. A
year ago, it was $3.500. In Illinois, Wednesday’s average price was $3.835, compared to $3.718 a year ago. And since the state formula used to distribute the gas tax funds to municipalities is tied to population, it’s resulted in some communities seeing increases in the amount they receive while others have seen drops. The city of Woodstock, for example, saw the amount of motor-fuel tax dollars received stay
Two Harvard women were involved in a large-scale international check-processing scam, according to the Warsaw, Ind.-based Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office. Desiree Starlette Blackburn, 20, and Barbara Ickes, 39, have been charged with felony counts of corrupt business influence and control, as well as attempted theft. Ickes also was charged with felony forgery. An investigation began after a Warsaw, Ind., man told sheriff’s detectives he was being scammed, according to a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office news release. Officers later determined the fraudulent check was part of a Nigerian check scam. The Nigerian check scam often originates with a response to a Craigslist advertisement. The responder sends a phony check for more than the item is worth with instructions to distribute the remaining amount to other locations. The fraudulent check then was tracked back to a residence in Harvard, where Ickes was believed to reside, the release states. Detectives were able to track the check through a fake transaction arranged with the help of the victim. Members of the Harvard Police Department later found elaborate check-printing equipment, which used fake banking institutions, in the home, authorities said.
Desiree Starlette Blackburn
Barbara Ickes
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See GAS TAX, page A6 See SCAM, page A6
Builder in hospital kickback scheme gets 27 months Kiferbaum was last defendant from investigation that led to Blagojevich’s conviction By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com with wire reports
Jacob Kiferbaum
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the contractor who offered a monetary kickback in exchange for the con-
tract to build a new hospital in Crystal Lake to 27 months in prison. Jacob Kiferbaum was the last defendant to be sentenced as a result of Operation Board Games, the investigation that led to the
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new hospital unless his firm was awarded the contract. He originally faced 22 counts, which included charges stemming from the aborted Crystal Lake hospital, but reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors in
Scot Forge is planning a major expansion at its Spring Grove headquarters that includes more space for offices and manufacturing. The company, which makes metal parts, expects to add nearly 120,000 square feet of space to its facility at 8001 Winn Road. It also plans to add at least 15 jobs over the next several years. For more, see page D1.
Dan Solomon
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conviction of former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Kiferbaum, 61, was convicted of one count of attempted extortion for telling the administrator of a Naperville hospital the state would not approve its plans for a
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2005. His sentencing had been postponed for eight years in the event that prosecutors needed him to testify, but he was never called to do so. Janesville, Wis.-based
See KIFERBAUM, page A6
Rod Blagojevich