WEDNESDAY
BIG-GAME BITES
Jan ua r y 21, 201 5 • $1 . 0 0
Mini-burritos, personal pizzas are perfect Super Bowl snacks / Planit Taste, D1 HIGH
LOW
33 21 Complete forecast on page A8
NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
Facebook.com/NWHerald
@NWHerald
Patrol Obama pushes tax shift pick has record STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Sheriff hires former campaign boss with convictions in past By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
AP photo
Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio applaud President Barack Obama on Tuesday on Capitol Hill during his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
President calls for higher rates on wealthy to help middle class By JULIE PACE The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Refusing to bend to the new Republican Congress, President Barack Obama unveiled Tuesday night an ambitious State of the Union agenda steeped in Democratic priorities, including tax increases on the wealthy, education and child care help for the middle class and a torrent of veto threats for the GOP’s own plans. In a shift from tradition, Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress was less a laundry list of new proposals and more an attempt to sell a story of a national economy emerging from the “shadow of crisis.” He appealed for “better politics” Voice your in Washington and pledged to work with opinion Republicans, but he How would you showed few signs of curtailing or tweakgrade Presiing his own plans to dent Obama’s meet the GOP’s platState of the form. Union address? Instead, the presVote online at ident vowed to use NWHerald.com. his veto pen to strike down the Republican Inside leadership’s efforts to dismantle his sigIowa Sen. Ernst nature accomplishpromises GOP ments, including his focus on Amerihealth care and ficans’ concerns. nancial reform laws. PAGE A4 “We can’t put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street or refighting past battles on immigration when we’ve got a system to fix,” Obama said in his hourlong address. “And if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, I will veto it.” The president sought out more common ground on foreign policy, pledging to work with Congress on a new authorization for military action against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as legislation to guard against cyberattacks. In a rare move away from his own party, Obama also renewed his call for fast-tracking free trade agreements with Asia and Europe, generating more applause from pro-trade Repub-
licans than skeptical Democrats. Obama’s address marked the first time in his presidency that he stood before a Republican-controlled Congress. Yet the shift in the political landscape also has been accompanied by a burst of economic growth and hiring, as well as a slight increase in Obama’s once-sagging approval ratings – leaving the White House to see little incentive in acquiescing to Republicans. After ticking through signs of the rising economy, the president turned toward Republicans sitting in the chamber and said with a wink, “This is good news, people.” The centerpiece of Obama’s economic proposals marked a shift away from the focus on austerity and deficit reduction that has dominated his fiscal fights with Republicans. In a direct challenge to GOP economic ideology, Obama called for increasing the capital gains rate to 28 percent on couples making more than $500,000 annually. The president’s tax plan also would require estates to pay capital gains taxes on securities at the time they’re inherited and slap a fee on the roughly 100 U.S. financial firms with assets of more than $50 billion. Much of the $320 billion in new taxes and fees would be used for measures aimed at helping the middle class, including a $500 tax credit for some families with two spouses working, expansion of the child care tax credit and a $60 billion program to make community college free. He also has called for expanding paid leave for workers and moved on his own to lower a mortgage insurance premium rate that could attract new homebuyers. “Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?” Obama asked. “Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” The president’s proposals seemed more about giving his party a platform in the 2016 election than outlining a realistic legislative agenda. Even before the president’s address, Republicans were balking at his proposals and painting a far less rosy picture of the economy.
See STATE OF UNION, page A4
“I came into tonight’s speech expecting what the State of the Union has been historically: an opportunity for the president to chart a brighter course for future generations and to enlist Congress to work together to solve our nation’s challenges. That didn’t happen. Tonight, he showcased a wish list of items that in large part were intended to divide the country, rather than bring us together.” U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Winfield “Unfortunately, the speech we heard tonight reflects a president whose focus is squarely on a political legacy and not on the common-sense policies that will strengthen families, grow our economy, and build on the common ground we all have as Americans. Our country deserves so much better.” U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton “Few people can make the case for strengthening America’s middle class like President Obama. Tonight, the president laid out a vision for our country that puts working families first, and I couldn’t agree more.” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “Illinois is right to want a bridge-builder in the Senate, and I approach every day with that goal in mind. Through new ways to save for college and keeping kids off gang-ridden streets and in school, we can make real progress that directly benefits Illinois families.” U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.
WOODSTOCK – McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim has given a supervisory position to a man whose criminal background became a target during Prim’s bid for sheriff. Matt McNamara started Monday as deputy chief of patrol at the sheriff’s office. McNamara’s criminal history became a campaign issue for Prim’s challenger during the sheriff’s election this past fall. Prim claimed McNamara was just an unpaid volunteer, after McNamara resigned as his campaign manager in 2012. McNamara – who also is a Republican precinct committeeman in Grafton Township – has prior convictions for misdemeanor assault and driving under the influence. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in 2012 in Jerome, Arizona. According to a police report from the time, McNamara blew more than twice the legal limit and told police that he was a Chicago police officer, but he was not. A 2001 assault charge stems from a bar fight in Iowa in which McNamara is said to have choked a man, punched two women and dragged another by her hair across the parking lot in separate incidents,
Matt McNamara Recently hired as deputy chief of patrol at the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office
Bill Prim McHenry County sheriff
See PATROL HIRE, page A6
Homeowners object to sports complex plans By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com LAKEWOOD – Traffic and light pollution were among the concerns raised about a proposed sports complex at Route 47 and Pleasant Valley Road. The majority of people who gathered Tuesday evening for an information session hosted by the village of Lakewood were not residents of the village. They live in the homes south and southwest of the proposed 162-acre complex, a sprawling facility that would include multiple sports fields, as well as an approximately 130,000-square-foot indoor facility and a 30,000-squarefoot fabric dome for cold weather sports, according to preliminary plans submitted
See COMPLEX, page A2
SPORTS
LOCAL NEWS
STATE
WHERE IT’S AT
Lucky bounce
Making plans
Ill. initiatives
Hampshire boys hoops beats Woodstock on OT putback / C1
Cary Village Board adopts comprehensive plan to cover next 20 years / A3
Rauner’s wife to focus on children, Executive Mansion fixes / B3
Advice ................................ D3 Business Snapshot ......... A7 Buzz.....................................C6 Classified....................... D6-8 Comics ...............................D4 Community ........................B1 Local News.....................A1-6 Lottery................................ A2
Nation&World............... B3-5 Obituaries ......................A6-7 Opinion...............................B2 Planit Taste .................... D1-2 Puzzles ...........................D3, 5 Sports..............................C1-5 State ................................... B3 Weather .............................A8
If you go The Lakewood Planning and Zoning Commission and the Lakewood Village Board will meet on the proposed development starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Turnberry Country Club, 9600 Turnberry Trail.