MONDAY
January 19, 2015 • $1.00
HEADING HOME Packers squander lead; Seahawks to face Patriots in Super Bowl / B1 NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
HIGH
LOW
35 21 Complete forecast on page A10
Facebook.com/NWHerald
@NWHerald
Missing Cary man found safe 21-year-old Kyle Cuchna found Saturday night in Wauconda homeless shelter By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com CARY – Kyle Cuchna, 21, of Cary was found in a Wauconda shelter Saturday after going missing Jan. 10. Kyle was found at 11:13 p.m. Saturday at the Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wauconda, according to a Cary Police Department news release. Kyle, who had been deemed a “high-risk missing person” by police, was found in good health and currently is with family members, Kyle’s
FRG allowing golf carts on road
father, Paul Cuchna, said. “God, I’m just so happy,” the relieved father said. “The search was a huge community effort and family effort. It was just unbelievable.” Kyle’s four siblings organized a group search Saturday morning in Crystal Lake. Paul said more than 100 people showed up to look for Kyle in abandoned homes, fast-food restaurants, parks and wooded areas. Word also spread rapidly online throughout last week, thanks in part to a “Find Kyle” Facebook group that has more
than 4,000 likes. The turnout for the search was “overwhelming,” Paul said, and he expressed special gratification to ward Wauconda residents Tina Leigh, her 7-year-old Kyle Cuchna son, and her boyfriend, Timothy Kleich, the three who found Kyle at the Wauconda church. “We saw it online on Face-
book sometime last week, found out this boy was missing and my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to help,” Leigh said. She said they decided to continue looking at area shelters even after the group search ended Saturday evening. When they got to their first stop, Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wauconda, Leigh said they were just expecting to leave a flier. “A volunteer came up, looked at the flier, looked back up at us weirdly and said, ‘I think he’s here,’ ” Leigh said.
“He went and got an ID to show me, he showed it, and I just broke down.” When she first saw Kyle, who apparently seemed disoriented, Leigh said she couldn’t help but run up and give him a hug. While Kleich called police, Leigh said she and her 7-yearold sat down with Kyle and told him how much his family missed him and loved him. Paul said Kyle, who is bipolar and had been off his medication before he went missing, was safe and with all his siblings Sunday in Crystal Lake.
Kyle had been living with a sister in Cary. He was taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Jan. 10 after a well-being check at the home. His family filed a missing persons report after finding out Kyle had checked out of the hospital later that day. The family was then told Kyle had been taken to Cary United Methodist Church on First Street in Cary, where he was last seen before being found. “I was numb all Saturday,” Paul said. “You think the worst case scenario, but we were lucky.”
OFFICIAL: FIRST JOINT INSTITUTE DAY ‘ONLY GOING TO ENHANCE OUTCOMES FOR OUR KIDS’
Excludes use on Routes 14, 22 and Algonquin Road By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com FOX RIVER GROVE – Residents looking for an alternative form of transportation around town now have golf carts as an option. The Village Board recently gave the OK for people to use golf carts on village streets. Golf carts must be able to reach at least 20 mph. They also will need to have brakes, a rearview mirror, red reflective warning devices on the front and rear, a slow moving emblem on the back of the vehicle, a headlight visible from 500 feet away, a red tail lamp visible from at least 100 Suzanne feet, brake Blohm lights, turn signals, a windshield and seatbelts. The village is allowing golf carts on any roadway within the village except for Route 14, Route 22 and most of Algonquin Road. Golf carts will be allowed on Algonquin Road between Lexington Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. A properly equipped golf cart will be allowed to cross Route 14 only at the Lincoln Avenue intersection, the ordinance says. The number of people allowed on a golf cart will be limited to the number of seatbelts on the cart, the ordinance says. People who drive the golf carts also need a valid driver’s license. Owners of the golf carts also will need to buy a $10 vehicle sticker from the village by June 30 of every year. Trustee Suzanne Blohm voted against allowing the golf carts because of safety concerns.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Jennifer Bezik (left) and Kim Militello – language arts and social studies teachers at Richard Bernotas Middle School – listen to a speaker while attending a joint institute day District 155 held with all four of its feeder districts. The goal of the day was to align curriculum and approaches across district lines.
D-155 holds institute day with its 4 feeder districts By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – About 1,500 teachers, administrators and other certified staff crowded into Crystal Lake Central High School’s auditorium, field house and library Friday. The gathering was the first time Crystal Lake-based District 155 had a joint institute day with all four of its feeder districts with the goal of aligning approaches and developing cooperation across district lines, spokesman Jeff Puma said. The idea for the institute day developed out of meetings District 155 Superintendent Johnnie Thom-
ly in isolation,” Thomas said. “We think that by having our professionals in the same room, having the same discussions about where we are as a region, it’s only going to enhance outcomes for our kids. We just thought it was a no-brainer to bring everyone together.” The day also opened up resources that smaller districts – like Fox RivTim Mahaffy, District 3’s superintendent er Grove District 3 – couldn’t afford on its own, especially in a time of changing technology, teacher evalas has with the superintendents of 26, as well as joint school board meet- uations and Common Core curricuthe districts that feed into it, which ings, the first of which was in May of lum standards, District 3’s Superininclude Fox River Grove District last year. tendent Tim Mahaffy said. “We felt like we do a lot of things 3, Crystal Lake District 47, Prairie Grove District 46 and Cary District well, but it has been done primariSee D-155, page A8
“When there are so many state and federal regulations that are handed down ... let’s not reinvent the wheel here in five districts as we prepare them for high school. ... Let’s work together so that we are coming together with a common language that we can prepare our kids with.”
See GOLF CARTS, page A8
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
STATE
WHERE IT’S AT
On the record
Girls hoops
Illinois budget
Jason Kern runs the daily operations of emergency communication / A3
Skyhawks averaging 54.5 points in 2nd stint with Big Northern Conference / B1
Business leaders’ wish list for Rauner notes revenue needs / A4
Advice ...........................C5 Classified...................C1-3 Comics ..........................C6 Local News................A2-3 Lottery...........................A2 Nation&World..... A2, 6-8 Puzzles ......................C4-5
Obituaries ....................A8 Opinion......................... A9 Sports........................ B1-8 State .........................A4, 6 Weather ......................A10 TV grid...........................C4