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Public hearing set for project
ILLINOIS BUDGET WOES
Commission to take up revised plan for CL South bleachers By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Replaced floor tile is seen in a first-grade classroom Thursday at Dundee Highlands Elementary School in West Dundee. Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300 has been patching the tiles at Dundee Highlands on an as-needed basis since a $35 million capital development grant from the state failed to materialized. The district hopes to finish up the projects identified in that grant through a new low-interest bond program being funded with federal stimulus dollars.
Aging school infrastructure Uncertainty makes planning for capital projects difficult, district officials say By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com ALGONQUIN – The floor tiles at Dundee Highlands Elementary School look like a poorly designed patchwork quilt. The bathrooms need to be updated, and the roof needs to be repaired. Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300 had planned to complete these projects about a decade ago when it applied for, and was picked to
receive, a $35 million state grant that never came. Some of the work has been completed as needed over the years, but the district still has a lengthy list of projects, many that date back to 2004, but some that are new, estimated to cost a total of $31 million, said Susan Harkin, the district’s chief operating officer. The list also includes additions to four of its buildings, 10 classrooms at Carpentersville Middle
See INFRASTRUCTURE, page A8
An old ceiling tile is seen Thursday in a classroom at Dundee Highlands Elementary School in West Dundee.
CRYSTAL LAKE – The controversial bleachers issue at Crystal Lake South High School is set to return to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday. The last proposal submitted by Crys- If you go tal Lake-based Community High School WHAT: District 155, which Crystal Lake would have mainPlanning tained much of the and Zoning bleacher expansion Commisundertaken in 2013 sion public but with the press hearing on box relocated to the proposed east side, was rejectchanges ed by the Planning WHEN: and Zoning Commis7:30 p.m. sion in April and the Wednesday City Council in June. WHERE: This time – with Crystal Lake the lawsuit filed by City Hall, 100 neighboring properW. Woodty owners winding stock St. down, an Illinois Supreme Court ruling in the city and neighbors’ favor, and the west-side bleachers much diminished in size – things are different. District officials now are asking to return the home side to the east bleachers through the addition of nearly 80 more feet in length and eight rows for a total of 22 rows, two more than existed before the renovation. They also want to keep the west bleachers at their current height of nine rows, five fewer rows than existed before the renovation and about a third fewer than what the new bleachers had, according to city documents.
See HEARING, page A8
ANALYSIS
Prisoner release leaves Republicans in tough spot on Iran By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Iran’s release of five Americans gives President Barack Obama the opportunity to deliver a harsh reminder to the Republicans wanting to succeed him: You can promise to pull back the hand I’ve extended to Iran and Cuba – nations the U.S. once cut off – but it
Inside U.S., EU lift sanctions against Iran amid landmark nuke deal. PAGE B6
won’t be easy and it may be lonely. As Republican candidates vow to rewind Obama’s rapprochements on their first day in office, many U.S.
BUSINESS
allies and business interests have pressed forward with outreach to Iran. The next president may find Iran has established itself as world player, a useful diplomatic power broker and a potential market for U.S. businesses. Vowing to isolate Tehran may only isolate the U.S. from many of its allies. Similarly, in Cuba, where Obama
LOCAL NEWS
On the agenda McHenry County Board to abate property taxes of slain sheriff’s deputy’s spouse / A3 STYLE
Second novel
‘Privileged’ experience Lakemoor man among several textile cleaners given opportunity to clean the carpets at the White House / D1
Crystal Lake native and young author Sarah Natale returns to Barnes & Noble for encore author event to promote ‘Kiss of Death’ /Style 10
reversed decades of Cold War policy, American businesses are eyeing a new market while U.S. tourism is on the rise. Reversing the tide may prove as difficult as un-ringing a bell. “It’s easy to reverse the policies, it’s hard not to be isolated in the process,” said Jon Alterman, Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Can
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you force the rest of the world to see things the way you do? That’s a big question.” The diplomacy with Iran after decades of a divide fulfills Obama’s first inaugural promise “to extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” But Republicans argue Obama reached out well before
See REPUBLICANS, page A2
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