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Plan revived for sports complex Proposal for Lakewood site differs from original By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com LAKEWOOD – A revived plan to put a sports complex at the intersection of Route 47 and Pleasant Valley Road has a few changes from the original plan laid out four years ago. Chicagoland Sportsplex, led by CEO and Executive Director Lou Tenore, has submitted a petition to develop 162 acres south of Pleasant Valley Road and west of Route 47 on the northwest end of Lakewood plus a request to annex one of the
Online To view documents showing renderings of the plans for the Chicagoland Sportsplex in Lakewood, visit NWHerald.com.
To learn more An information session on the project will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Turnberry Country Club, 9600 Turnberry Trail, Lakewood. parcels involved. The sprawling facility would include multiple baseball, softball,
soccer, basketball, volleyball, football and lacrosse fields, as well as an approximately 130,000-square-foot indoor facility and a 30,000-squarefoot fabric dome for cold weather sports. There also would be a pro shop, concession stands, cafes and an ice cream shop. Most of the uses laid out in the petition mirror the proposal originally laid out by McHenry County SportsPlex LLC, also run by Tenore, in 2010. There are some differences this Rendering provided
See SPORTS COMPLEX, page A4
Proposed plan to build a sports complex in Lakewood.
Medical alert led to pot bust, police say
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS ADD EXTRA TASKS TO SCHOOLS’ PLATES
Managing more mandates
CL man charged with several drug offenses By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Huntley High School students Dakota Ferguson (left) and Jillian Jenkins demonstrate automated external defibrillators during Renae St. Clair’s sports medicine class on Tuesday. State records show schools in Illinois started the academic year having to comply with new mandates, including training students how to use automatic external defibrillators. By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com With state funding in question each year, some area school officials want to see lawmakers better prioritize unfunded mandates, an annual list of educational requirements for school districts created without state dollars. Although often with good intentions, mandates require school districts around McHenry County to juggle local tax dollars, staff
Districts in McHenry County juggle unfunded requirements from state and instructional time to ensure they comply with the new laws and regulations, school administrators from Woodstock, Huntley and Algonquin said. One example lies within a new requirement this school year that resulted from the tornado that
ripped through downstate Washington in 2013, said Susan Harkin, chief financial officer for Algonquin-based School District 300. Districts now have to create storm shelters on any new school building. District 300 would have to spend between $625,000 to $750,000
for each building to comply with the mandate – a cost that ultimately would be passed on to residents, Harkin said. “The only person who is going to pay for that is the local taxpayers,” Harkin said. “We have overly burdened ourselves with mandates that we don’t realize have become costly.” The nearly 24 new mandates this school year range from student
CRYSTAL LAKE – An unintentional medical alert led police to a Crystal Lake home where they found, not a resident in distress, but rather 300 grams of marijuana, along with two marijuana plants, police said. A resident of the home, Jonathon B. Ernst, 35, has been charged with several drug-related offenses: unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, a Class 3 felony; unlawful possession of mar- Jonathon ijuana, a Class 4 B. Ernst felony; unlawful 35, of possession of drug Crystal Lake paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor; unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle, a Class A misdemeanor; and unlawful production of marijuana sativa plants, a Crystal Lake Police Department news release said. Officers responded about 2 p.m. Tuesday to 171 W. Crystal Lake Ave. after receiving a report of a medical emergency in the home, but when they arrived, nobody came to the door, Cmdr. Dan Dziewior said. “Given the nature of the call, officers made entry into the home,” Dziewior said. “They didn’t find anyone with a medical problem, but instead, ended up finding Mr. Ernst.” Two potted marijuana plants, about 4 feet in height, were visible
See MANDATES, page A4 See POT BUST, page A4
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Democratic leaders in Ill. General Assembly urge bipartisanship, set priorities / B3 LOCAL NEWS
Professional aspirations Texas A&M kicker Josh Lambo, who showed soccer promise while growing up in CL, now hoping for shot at NFL / C1
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Centralized education location Algonquin School District 300 unveils new, larger administration building / A3
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