musick: bears defensive coordinator hire a ‘strange’ move
Saturday, JaNuary 19, 2013
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AmERICAN PROFILE
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Board: No chair vote
County won’t have referendum on popularly electing leader
Gun rules complicate factors for mentally ill Docs: Those in fear of losing rights may not be truthful By CHelSea mcdougall
cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
(Clockwise from top left) nick Provenzano, r-mcHenry; County Board Chairwoman tina Hill, r-Woodstock; michael Walkup, r-Crystal lake; and michael Skala, r-Huntley, speak at the Friday morning special meeting of the mcHenry County Board in favor of putting a referendum on the april 9 ballot to ask voters whether they want to popularly elect the board chairman. the board narrowly defeated the proposal, 11-9. By keVin P. CraVer
kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A referendum asking voters whether they want to popularly elect the McHenry County Board chairman will not be on the April ballot. Board members at a special meeting Friday voted, 11-9, to
reject the referendum, citing a lack of information, discomfort with perceived haste and support for the current system in which the board’s 24 members elect the chairman from among themselves after each November general election. The issue has its roots in recent efforts by state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, to
try to force direct election of the chairman. Franks was behind a referendum on the November ballot that, had voters said yes, would have created a popularly elected county executive with wide-ranging powers. County Board member Nick Provenzano, R-McHenry, spearheaded Friday’s special
meeting to consider placing the County Board chairman measure on the April 9 ballot after the Management Services Committee on Monday did not act. Governments have until Tuesday to put a referendum on the ballot.
See CHairman, page a8
It sounds good: Provide easier access to mental health care. It seems right: Keep guns out of the hands of those deemed mentally ill. But what some health care professionals fear are the unintended consequences of President Barack Obama’s gun-control measures unveiled this week. Some gun violence prevention legislation, they said, may further stigmatize mental illness, and those who need treatment might not seek it. “If any time someone made an emotionally reactive comment and there was a report made, the mental health profession would become defunct,” said Dr. Larry Gelman of Northern Illinois Counseling Associates in Crystal Lake. “Because no one would feel safe enough talking in private, talking in confidence to their mental health provider.” While some patients could censor themselves, others might fear losing their rights to own a gun. “I predict that people who are hunters and people who shoot guns for sport will be
“Privacy is of paramount importance in doctorpatient relations – it’s almost sacrosanct.” Dr. Larry Gelman
of Northern Illinois Counseling Associates in Crystal Lake
See mental HealtH, page a8
Algerian army takes hard line
an ambulance enters the ain amenas hospital where people injured in a hostage situation at a nearby gas plant were taken. the hostage crisis in the remote desert of algeria is not over, Britain said Friday, after an algerian raid unleashed chaos.
Toll in militant kidnapping still unclear; 1 American man killed the aSSoCiated PreSS
ALGIERS, Algeria – The militants had filled five jeeps with hostages and begun to move when Algerian government attack helicopters opened up on them, leaving four in smoking ruins. The fifth vehicle crashed, allowing an Irish hostage inside to clamber out to safety with explosives still strapped around his neck. Three days into the crisis at a
natural gas plant deep in the Sahara, it remained unclear how many had perished in the face-off between Africa’s most uncompromising militant group and the region’s most ruthless military. By Friday, about 100 of the 135 foreign workers on the site had been freed and 18 of an estimated 30 kidnappers had been slain, according to the Algerian government, still leaving a major hostage situation at the refinery.
LOCALLY SPEAKING
The government said 12 workers were confirmed dead. But extremists have put the number at 35. And the government attack Thursday on the convoy – as pieced together from official, witness and media accounts – suggested the toll could go higher. In Washington, U.S. officials said one American – a Texan – was known to have died.
See algeria, page a8
AP photo
jOHNSbuRG
Sunday meeting on Clerk iSSue At a special meeting called for Sunday morning, the Johnsburg Village Board will vote whether to ask voters by referendum in April whether they want to elect their clerk. Johnsburg resident and village president candidate Maggie Haney wants the question put on a ballot, but the village attorney doesn’t think the board has that power. For more, see page b1.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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