FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
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Quarterback Bret Mooney and Jacobs heating up END RESULT OF MONTHS-LONG DRUG INVESTIGATIONS
16 suspects nabbed
Committee will sign off on budget Mental Health Board pledges to slash costs By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Police wait Thursday outside a home on Seminary Avenue in Woodstock while a suspect is arrested under a felony warrant. Thirty-five officers from Woodstock, Lake in the Hills, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force went to 20 different locations around McHenry County on Thursday morning to arrest suspects with drug-related felony warrants. Sixteen of the 20 warrants ended in arrests.
CRYSTAL LAKE – A McHenry County Board committee will agree to approve the Mental Health Board’s 2014 budget after members pledged to continue pursuing cost-cutting measures. The Public Health and Human Services Committee, which last month voted against approving the Mental Health Board’s budget, will change course after a Tuesday sit-down with its finance committee. Committee Chairwoman Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, said members of her committee wanted assurances that budget cutting would continue, and they got it Tuesday evening. The committee will vote to approve the budget at a later meeting. “[They] strongly reiterated what they have said in the past – they believe that
Public Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, got assurances Tuesday that cutting would continue of the Mental Health Board’s budget. The committee is poised to approve the budget at a later meeting.
See BUDGET, page A5
Police call countywide warrant roundup a success By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Shortly after 5:30 a.m. Thursday, police entered a Woodstock home on Seminary Avenue. A heavy-set man, wanted on felony drug charges, was ushered quietly through the dense fog and into a squad car in what would be the first of more than a dozen drug-related arrests across McHenry County. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, along with officers from Lake in the Hills police, Woodstock police and U.S. Marshals from the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, apprehended 16 of the 20 suspects they intended to arrest during a warrant roundup Thursday. The majority of arrests were heroin related and involved street-level drug dealers. Of the 16 arrests, 10 individuals were charged with additional crimes, most of
A suspect enters a Woodstock police car after being arrested Thursday at Willow Brooke Apartments in Woodstock. which were for paraphernalia possession. “We’re really happy with that,” said Lt. James Wagner of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, adding that arresting more than 50 percent of the suspects during a roundup is considered a success. “People who live this lifestyle don’t have regular habits
VOICE YOUR OPINION: Do you notice a problem with drug activity in your neighborhood? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
and addresses,” he said. The arrests were the end result of months-long investigations by local police. Using confidential informants and tips from neighbors, officers spent many hours monitoring and interacting with the drug dealers leading up to Thursday’s arrests. Thirty-five law enforce-
ment officers split into three teams covering Woodstock, Algonquin and Lake in the Hills, and Hebron and McHenry. The Northwest Herald was invited to join the officers during the warrant roundup. While attempting to arrest a heroin dealer on Rolla Farm Road in Woodstock, officers discovered a marijuana growing operation valued at $30,000, said Sgt. Michael Muraski of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. Fifty plants in three growing stages were found at the home, and officers found an additional growing location in a cornfield next to the home. The man officers intended to arrest was not there, but another man, who said he did not live at the residence and was just baby-sitting a child, let officers in the home where the marijuana was found. The marijuana growing
See ROUNDUP, page A5
ON THE NET: View more photos of the arrests during Thursday’s warrant roundup in a gallery at NWHerald.com.
Dixon auditors missed red flags By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CHICAGO – A $40 million settlement against two auditing firms and a bank for what one attorney called being “grossly negligent for over 20 years” hasn’t had many ripple effects for area auditors or municipalities. Crystal Lake, with computerized systems and strong checks and balances, can’t be compared to the small northern Illinois city of Dixon, Crystal Lake Finance Director Mark Nannini said. A town of about 15,000 people, Dixon was rocked by the news in April 2012 that its longtime comptroller, Rita Crundwell, had stolen $53 million over two decades. Crundwell was sentenced to 19 years, 7 months in prison on Feb. 14 after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud.
See RED FLAGS, page A8
LOCALLY SPEAKING
CRYSTAL LAKE
MCC BOARD APPROVES BUDGET The McHenry County Board of Trustees approved a $54.2 million budget Thursday, but a final decision on whether to pay a portion of it with a property-tax increase or reserves will be made in December. Trustees moved ahead with the budget that was approved 4-3 at their August meeting. For more, see page B1.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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CRYSTAL LAKE: Julia Thome helps Crystal Lake South tennis team top Prairie Ridge. Sports, C1 Vol. 28, Issue 270
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“It’s about knowing who your client is and getting a feel for them. ... Is there one red flag or 15?” Shelly CasellaDercole Partner at McHenry-based Eder, Casella & Co. accounting firm