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BULLY BATTLE
New pension pact still on shaky ground
Area schools encourage students to stop any abuse
Legislature to reconvene this month to attempt deal By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press
Photos by Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: Brooke Schubert, 8, draws a picture of a happy person Thursday as she participates in an activity about bullying at Edgebrook School in McHenry. Students drew happy faces and then insulted them, each time making a fold in the paper. The students then apologized to the faces they drew to undo the folds. The exercise demonstrated that even if you apologize to someone you hurt, the effects do not completely go away. TOP: Prevention specialist Cjay Harmer of the Pioneer Center talks with third-grade students Thursday at Edgebrook School in McHenry. By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
T
he fastest way to thwart school bullies, experts say, starts and stops with students. Advocates are lauding new attempts by schools to
reform reporting policies by making it easier to inform administrators about instances of bullying – measures that put the students in control of the problem. “Students are the ones who are going to get the bullying to stop because they see it more than the teach-
ers do, than social workers do, than administrations, parents and whatnot,” said Cjay Harmer, a bullying prevention specialist at Pioneer Center for Human Services. That is not to say school officials are taking a backseat. Huntley High School
Principal Scott Rowe said rather than targeting bullying with discipline after it happens, it’s important for students to feel empowered to speak up and divert bullying when they see it taking place.
SPRINGFIELD – As the Illinois Legislature prepares to reconvene this month, key Democrats tasked with helping solve the state’s crippling public pension problem are pushing a plan that would save $138 billion over 30 years, but also warning that continued partisan squabbling could scuttle any deal. Senate President John Cullerton has thrown his support behind the plan, which would save considerably more than a previous Senate proposal but still offer a compromise to state employees that could help it pass legal muster. He and House Speaker Michael Madigan were recently briefed on the plan’s details after it was hashed out behind closed doors. House Republicans, though, have made additional demands, including raising the retirement age for state workers from 55 and giving retirees the option of moving to a 401k-style plan in which workers have more control over how their money is invested and the state isn’t on the hook to pay a certain amount in benefits. After four months of work, panel leaders still are uncertain if they will have a plan ready for lawmakers’ annual fall veto session in Springfield Oct. 22. “I think we’re so close that we just need to agree to a middle ground and be done,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat and a leader of the pension negotiating committee. “But I do also think it’s possible that it all breaks down possibly, too.” Illinois’ five public-employee retirement funds have an unfunded liability of nearly $100 billion, due
John Cullerton, Ill. Senate president
Michael Madigan, Ill. House speaker
Jim Durkin, Ill. House GOP leader, who said this about the latest plan: “It’s not soup yet. Just because people feel beaten down and they’re tired of the issue they should not be making a vote out of expediency.”
See BULLYING, page A4 See PENSION, page A4
Concrete blocks punctuate Island Lake neighbors’ property dispute By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com ISLAND LAKE – A property dispute in Island Lake has escalated to giant concrete blocks left along a driveway, a threatened lawsuit and calls to end a city contract. The dispute centers on a driveway. The driveway connects Betty and Glenn Reckwerdt’s home to Bassler
Drive, cutting through a property that used to be owned by Glenn Reckwerdt and his family but is now owned by Mike Johnson and his son. The Reckwerdts have an easement for the driveway, but Johnson would like to move the driveway, Betty Reckwerdt said. Johnson had hoped to develop the property and move his company,
“[Johnson] asked us frequently. It’s like what part of ‘no’ do you not understand. He says there’s another place we could put the driveway, but with the slopes, it’s not safe.”
See EASEMENT, page A4
Island Lake resident
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Cathy Behof (left) with her son, Andrew (center) and daughter, Heather Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Betty Reckwerdt
Photo provided
A property dispute on Bassler Drive between Betty and Glenn Reckwerdt and Mike Johnson has escalated over the last few weeks to involve several Island Lake families, village officials and the police department.
PRAIRIE GROVE
McHENRY
LOCAL ENGINEERING COMPANY SOLD
RESIDENTIAL PROJECT RAISES CONCERNS
Prestress Engineering Co. LLC warned the state that it will lay off 97 employees after selling to a larger Wisconsin company, but the workers are expected to be rehired. It was sold to Marathon, Wis.based County Materials Corp. for an undisclosed price, Prestress Engineering President Chris Newkirk said. For more, see page E1.
The proposed demolition of a house in the Country Club Estates subdivision has some residents wondering if and how McHenry needs to consider the character of neighborhoods in approving projects. The Landmark Commission approved the demolition in a 6-2 vote Tuesday, Chairman Pat Wirtz said. For more, see page B1.
CARY: Fundraising effort helps Cary family get a van to assist son who has cerebral palsy. Local, B1
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