GIRLS HOOPS Gators 4-0 in the FVC Valley after beating Cary-Grove, 54-48 / C1
January 11, 2015 • $1.50
NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
CUBA: A NEW MARKET?
HIGH
LOW
25 12
Facebook.com/NWHerald
Complete forecast on page A10
@NWHerald
Huntley donates land for memorial Nonprofit aims to honor local vets By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
AP photo
Children’s shadows are cast on a Cuban national flag as they take part in a caravan tribute Thursday in Regla, Cuba, marking the 56th anniversary of the original street party that greeted a triumphant Fidel Castro and his rebel army. Castro and his rebels arrived in Havana via caravan on the first week of January 1959 after toppling dictator Fulgencio Batista. The revolutionary leader and former president has not spoken publicly on the historic Dec. 17 U.S.-Cuba detente.
Normalizing relations could lead to more Ill. goods sold to island nation By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com For years, Illinois farmers have dreamed of making it easier to sell corn and soybeans to Cuba. But with trade restrictions in place on the communist country, selling goods has been difficult. Easing of those rules potentially could happen after President Barack Obama’s announcement of normalizing relations with Cuba. The president also announced reforms that would make it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba, allow Americans to use credit and debit cards on the island, allowed for higher
remittance amounts, and for U.S. financial institutions to be able to open accounts in Cuban banks. Obama also authorized increased telecommunications connections between the two countries. There is a U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, which requires an act of Congress to be lifted. The Illinois Farm Bureau has been pushing for the U.S. to allow for easier trade with Cuba and was pleased with Obama’s announcement. The farm bureau estimates agricultural exports, such as corn and soybeans, from Illinois
See CUBA, page A4
“The argument that we shouldn’t trade with a communist country falls flat when our largest trading partner is China. The best way to open up a closed country is to trade with them.” State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who
HUNTLEY – With $18,000 raised, a Huntley nonprofit’s effort to build the village’s first veterans memorial received a boost from village officials, who donated the group land in the downtown square. A solidified location for the memorial – adjacent to the gazebo in downtown Huntley – builds momentum for the Huntley Area Veterans Foundation, which also has a couple of fundraisers planned for later this year, President Dawn Ellison said. “We are in the starting stages of the memorial,” she said. “Our donations are coming in, and we are starting to gain a bit more steam.” The proposed memorial would feature seven granite slabs, detailing the different U.S. military branches. Residents also can buy bricks and engrave them with the names of veterans in their families. The bricks would create the pathways to the memorial, which also would feature the American flag and the different flags of each military branch. With $18,000 so far collected, the foundation needs to raise about $17,000 more to order the granite slabs – a key piece to the memorial that would inch the foundation closer to construction, Ellison said. In May, the Huntley American Legion post will host a raffle and fundraiser for the veterans foundation. The volunteer group also is organizing a Christmas concert fundraiser for winter 2015, Ellison said. The location of memorial had been in question since the foundation
visited Cuba twice in 2011 See HUNTLEY, page A4
Rauner faces expectations he raised or banning legislators from having other jobs. Here’s a checklist of some of RaunCHICAGO – Bruce Rauner made er’s biggest promises, and the outlook a lot of promises as he campaigned for them: to be Illinois’ next governor. Starting with his inauguration Monday, he’ll LOWER TAXES be expected to start keeping them. What he said: Rauner repeatedIt won’t be easy. Critics said some ly railed against the income tax inof the Republican’s pledges – such as crease Democrats passed in 2011, increasing money for schools while saying it took money out of working cutting taxes – defy mathematical families’ pockets and led businesses logic. to flee the state. He said he would reRauner, a multimillionaire busi- duce the rates to their pre-2011 level nessman who’s never held public within four years. office, will no doubt meet resistance Rauner has said he’d make up for from majority Democrats on many the lost revenue in part by “growing goals. And even some of his fellow the economy” and making state govRepublicans are likely to oppose mea- ernment more efficient, though econsures, such as imposing term limits omists have been skeptical.
By SARA BURNETT
The Associated Press
BUSINESS
Outlook: By statute, the rates automatically fell on Jan. 1, so Rauner is already closer to his goal. But state revenues are billions short of what agencies said they need this year, and they’re already asking for more money. Next fiscal year will be even worse. Rauner has left open the possibility that he may have to increase the income tax again, at least temporarily. He’s also talked about “modernizing” the tax code – a euphemism for imposing a tax on some services. Previous efforts to do so have failed in Illinois. “BEST SCHOOLS IN AMERICA” What he said: Rauner and his wife See RAUNER, page A4
LOCAL NEWS
Change ‘cleans up language’ CL Planning Commission OKs clarification on where e-cig products can be sampled / A3 PLANIT STYLE
Realtors rebound Overall improved housing market nationally, locally has renewed interest in returning to, or starting, real estate careers / D1
Woodstock Fine Art Association Creative Living Series speaker spent year photographing bur oak / Planit 6-7
AP photo
Illinois Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner visits with people Friday at the Pearce Community Center in Chillicothe on the first of a two-day tour of smaller and midsized communities ahead of his inauguration Monday in Springfield.
WHERE IT’S AT Advice ...................Planit 8 Business .................... D1-4 Classified.................... F1-6 Community ....................B1 Local News................ A2-5 Lottery............................A2 Movies..................Planit 11 Nation&World...........B4-5 Obituaries .................A8-9 Opinions ........................B2 Planit Style..............Inside Puzzles ....................... F3, 6 Sports........................C1-12 State ...............................B3 Weather .......................A10
EXCEEDINGLY SKILLED AT OUTSMARTING
EXTREME WEATHER