Residents: Winter no reason to stay indoors
SuNday, JaNuary 13, 2013
www.NwHerald.com
Musick: Cutler needs to prove critics wrong
Judge who dismissed cancer case reassigned
$1.50
USA WeeKend
Bears • sports, C1 The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
Inside
Jay Cutler
Nine new features that will rev your engine Inside
The other side of addiction
Tereshko heads to family court; sides await ruling By KEVIN P. CRAVER
kcraver@shawmedia.com
nO MORe eXCUSeS
“Coincidence or Cluster?” is the Northwest Herald’s ongoing investigative coverage of the McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuits.
The Philadelphia judge who dismissed the first McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuit has been reassigned to family court and a new judge has been assigned to the case as both sides await an appeal ruling. A Jan. 3 order by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court approves the transfer of Judge Allan Tereshko from the civil court’s trial division, more than two months after he resigned as its supervising judge under criticism for his handling of an unrelated case. A state appellate court that last October overturned his 2011 ruling in favor of a defendant insurance company chastised him for not disclosing his wife’s employment with the law firm representing it. A separate panel of judges on the appellate court, which in Pennsylvania is called the Superior Court, is in the process of deciding whether Tereshko overstepped his bounds when he dismissed the first of 33 lawsuits alleging that pollution from the Rohm and Haas chemical plant in Ringwood caused a cluster of brain and pituitary tumors in and around McCullom Lake.
See JUDGE, page A8
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Dennis, whose last name has been kept anonymous, paints the edge of a half wall thursday in the living room area of the PADS transitional house. Dennis used to work for a cabinetry company because of heart problems and alcoholism now is living at PADS. He acts as the house’s handyman, fixing whatever needs fixed.
Addiction played with time, now 2 addicts take recovery slowly By SHAWN SHINNEMAN
sshinneman@shawmedia.com
O
f the men and women who enter and exit the doors of McHenry County PADS Homeless Services, 80 percent are dealing with addiction, mental illness or both. Some are drawn to addiction because of a genetic predisposition, said Kevin Lesniewski, who works with substance abuse at Pioneer Center for Human Services.
For others, it’s a form of masking something deeper. “It keeps your mind off of things,” Lesniewski said. “That’s self-medication. You’re killing pain is what you’re trying to do.” The Northwest Herald met with two recovering addicts as they prepare to leave PADS in Woodstock, where they’ve received counseling and support. They told their stories in a locked upper room of the PADS transitional home in front of case manager Melissa
O’Donnell, and on the condition that their last names would be withheld to maintain a level of anonymity. PADS, a division of Pioneer Center, provides referrals and offers in-house counseling services in an effort to treat the root problems of substance abuse and, ultimately, homelessness. They administer breathalyzers at the door and random drug tests, yet they know only those most committed to recovery will find sustained so-
briety on the other side of addiction.
Renee
Life is short, but for Renee, it was nearly far too short. She’d always said that no matter how bad it got, she’d never take heroin. Yet here she was, pumping the drug through her veins, this time once and for all. April 25, 2007, she decided, would be the last day of her
See RECoVERY, page A9
Critics complain Sandy aid tied to other projects Funding lawmakers considering to go toward recovery efforts for past disasters By ANDREW MIGA
The Associated Press
AP photo
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., (right) accompanied by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y, enter a news conference Jan. 4 on Capitol Hill in Washington, to discuss superstorm Sandy aid.
WASHINGTON – Conservatives and watchdog groups are mounting a “not-so-fast” campaign against a $50.7 billion superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this coming week. Their complaint is that lots
LOCALLY SPeAKInG
Josh Peckler – jpeckler@shawmedia.com
LOW
28 12
Complete forecast on A12
be brought to the floor by the House Appropriations Committee, and Northeast lawmakers will have a chance to add $33.7 billion more. House Speaker John Boehner intends to let the House vote on both measures. He’s responding both to conservatives who are opposed to more deficit spending,
See SANDY, page A4
McHenRY COUnTY
BoARD to tALK CHAIRMAN ELECtIoN
McHenRY: Community shows support for grieving family at Twisted Moose fundraiser. Local&Region, B1
Where to find it Advice Planit, 6 Business D1-6 Classified F1-6 Crossword F5
lion in subsidies for replanting trees on private land damaged by wildfires. The objections have led senior House Republicans to assemble their own $17 billion proposal, that when combined with already approved money for flood insurance claims, is less than half what President Barack Obama sought and the Senate passed in December That $17 billion package will
A McHenry County Board committee on Monday will discuss whether voters should decide whether they want to directly elect the County Board chairman. If committee members decide it should go to referendum, they have some choices to make, which are further complicated by ambiguities in state law. For more, see page B1.
Jimmy Miller holds his son Koby on his shoulders during a live auction benefit.
HIGH
of the money that lawmakers are considering will actually go toward recovery efforts for past disasters and other projects unrelated to the late-October storm. A Senate-passed version from the end of the last Congress included $150 million for what the Commerce Department described as fisheries disasters in Alaska, Mississippi and the Northeast, and $50 mil-
Vol. 27, Issue 13 Local&Region B1-6 Lottery A2 Movies Planit, 15 Obituaries B4-5
Opinion Puzzles Sports TV Grid
A11 F5 C1-10 F5
BRING SUPERIOR SERVICE TO YOUR HOME 24/7
815-455-7000 ALTHOFF INDUSTRIES, INC. HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL Lic #058-194325