The 20 best albums of 2013
In Pl@y
THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014
NWHERALD.COM
75 CENTS
CRYSTAL LAKE COUPLE HAS FIRST McHENRY COUNTY BABY OF NEW YEAR
Snow blankets county, slows holiday travel By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Erin and Jason Curtin of Crystal Lake hold their baby, Maci, who was born at 12:31 a.m. Wednesday. Maci is the first child of the New Year born to McHenry County parents. “We’re just happy to have a healthy baby,” Jason said. Maci checked in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long.
Welcome to the
world,
MACI By SHAWN SHINNEMAN
E
rin and Jason Curtin watched the televised New Year’s countdown from a hospital room during their last few minutes as a family of two.
Snowfall growing toward double-digit accumulations in parts of McHenry County made it tough on holiday revelers looking to leave the house for New Year’s Day celebrations. A snow system that moved in the afternoon of New Year’s Eve picked back up in 2014. With snow still falling but at a slower rate into the evening hours Wednesday, accumulations across the county were registering between six and 10 inches, said Charles Mott, a Chicago-area National Weather Service meteorologist. “McHenry County is basically split in half. From the central part of the county east, eight to 10 [inches],” he said. “In the western part of the county, six to eight.”
Mott didn’t expect snow Wednesday night into Thursday to add much accumulation. “It’s not looking that way because [the system] is slowly sliding south,” he said. McHenry County isn’t expected to be hit by the lake effect snow threatening parts of Cook and Lake counties. The National Weather Service extended its winter weather advisory to midnight Wednesday for McHenry County and surrounding areas. The weather service also warned about dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills expected Thursday night, and again Sunday night through Tuesday night. The forecast was calling for the temperature to dip to 13 below zero Thursday night
See SNOW, page A5
With the new year, the Crystal Lake couple welcomed Maci Joyce Curtin, 2014’s first McHenry County baby – although she was born over the Lake County border at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. Nurses told them of the milestone several times before it registered, Jason remembered. “We were kind of taken back by her and not so much the timing,” he said. “She’s really awesome. It’s an amazing experience.” Maci Joyce was born at 12:31 a.m. She weighs 6 pounds, 4 ounces, is 20 inches long and has 10 fingers and 10 toes. Friends joked with the Curtins beforehand that Maci
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
A pedestrian crosses the train tracks Tuesday in Fox River Grove. A National Weather Service winter weather advisory was in effect until midnight Wednesday for much of northern Illinois, including McHenry County.
sshinneman@shawmedia.com
See MACI, page A5
Illinois prepares for possibility of wolf population growth By MICHAEL TARM The Associated Press CHICAGO – The wolf was believed to be a lone male expelled by a pack in Wisconsin. The hunter who shot him in northwestern Illinois, allegedly keeping his skull as a trophy, was the first person in the state ever prosecuted for shooting a wolf under federal endangered species laws. The incident, resolved in 2013 when the hunter plead-
ed guilty and paid a $2,500 fine, comes amid evidence of a modest but perceptible uptick in the number of wolves roaming across the Wisconsin border into heavily populated and widely farmed Illinois. Illinois’ own once-thriving wolves were hunted to extinction by the 1860s. But since the first confirmed sighting in the state in 150 years, in 2002, wolf sightings have gone from rare to regular – with at least five in the last three years.
“We used to joke with our counterparts in Wisconsin that, ‘Yeah, one day your wolves will be coming to Illinois,’ ” said Joe Kath, the endangered species manager at Illinois’ Department of Natural Resources. “Well, we’ve reached that day.” That has state wildlife officials contemplating another day – still way off – when there are so many wolves in Illinois they’ll have to ask residents to decide if they want to en-
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Nikki Dumoulin, 16
Becky Dumoulin, 17
Tricia Dumoulin, 17 Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
courage the growth of a wolf population or strictly limit it, possibly through hunting or trapping. “It’s too early to ask the question, but it’s not too early to prepare for a time when the question might have to be asked,” said Kath. That preparation, he said, has already begun, including by drafting plans on how to manage wolf packs should they become established. The North American
wolves, known as gray or timber wolves, have proven resilient. Their numbers in the lower 48 states fell to a few dozen by 1970 but dramatically rebounded with federal protections and wildly successful reintroduction programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Wolves weren’t threatened by extinction in Alaska, which by far has the most –
DISTRICT 200
McHENRY COUNTY
SEARCH FOR LEADER MOVES FORWARD
PROGRAMS GET KIDS OUTSIDE THIS WINTER
District 200 will narrow its search to six candidates within a week and select a new superintendent within a month, if all goes as planned. The current superintendent, Ellyn Wrzeski, will retire at the end of June. The board will get its first look at the candidate pool Tuesday during the closed session of a special meeting.
A scavenger hunt and educational version of capture the flag are aimed at getting kids and families outside this January. Registration is now open for the two programs, which are organized by the McHenry County Conservation District. For information, call 815-479-5779. For more, see page
For more, see page A3.
A3.
HAMPSHIRE: Dumoulin girls share passion for basketball, continue family tradition. Sports, B1
7,000 to 11,000 wolves – of any U.S. state. Minnesota is second with 2,200 wolves. In Wisconsin, which shares a 150-mile border with Illinois, wolf numbers went from few to none in the 1970s to more than 800 today. The core of Wisconsin’s wolf population is in its forested north. But Kath noted the wolves have on their own moved south, and one
See WOLVES, page A5
WEATHER HIGH
LOW
10 -12 Complete forecast on A8
Where to find it Advice Classified Comics Local&Region Lottery
B8 D1-14 B7 A3 A2
Obituaries Opinion Puzzles Sports TV Grid
Vol. 29, Issue 2
A4 A7 D8 B1-6 D9