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January 26, 2015 • $1.00
TAKING NOTICE R-B shooting guard Allie Hogan threat to opponents, turning around games in a hurry / B1 NWHerald.com
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Woodstock completes work on Old Courthouse
110TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SKI JUMP TOURNAMENT AT NORGE SKI CLUB
Cost of roof project exceeds $1 million By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
Photos by Michael Smart for Shaw Media
ABOVE: Norge Ski Club’s Casey Larson flies above the crowd during a trial run Sunday at the 110th annual International Ski Jump Tournament at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove. BELOW LEFT: A ski jumper prepares to launch during a trial run Sunday at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove. The competition was cut short before the main event because of high winds. BELOW MIDDLE: Nate Mattoon takes a trial run. BELOW RIGHT: Morgan Sebring , 11, joined kids and adults alike with a makeshift sled.
WOODSTOCK – The city completed its restoration of the roof and dome at the Old Courthouse but not before decrepit gutters added unexpected costs, pushing the project total to more than $1.05 million. The Woodstock City Council recently approved the project’s 15th change order, which covered work earlier this winter to design and replace the Old Courthouse’s original gutters that city officials said had deteriorated. The gutters represent the numerous unexpected costs city officials encountered during the restoration of the historic Square property. Beginning in October 2013, the work to the roof and dome ul- Roscoe timately exceeded the original Stelford $775,250 contract by $283,562. Cost overruns were necessary to ensure the Old Courthouse could last decades into the future, said City Manager Roscoe Stelford, who wouldn’t say whether the city had any buyer’s remorse with the property after officials acquired it in 2011. “I’m just happy that the roof is done and should last well beyond my lifetime, and protect the building,” Stelford said. “You don’t want to start engaging in a project of this magnitude and not do it right.”
See COURTHOUSE, page A6
Ski jumpers back out as winds whip through area Crowd keeps party going despite weather delays By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com FOX RIVER GROVE – For one day at least, everyone’s Norwegian at Norge’s annual ski jump event. Or at least they hugged one. The red-nosed and stocking capped crowds flocked to the towering hill, as skiers from Canada, Finland, Norway, Slovenia and the United States were set to tackle the historic jump. But atop Norge’s 150-foot tower, the winds whipped at 35 mph. It proved too dangerous for skiers. A majority had dropped out before the event officially began, and eventually – for the first time in 110 years – the competition was scrapped. Still, event organizers made one thing clear, they did not cancel the event. Sunday’s international competition followed one for children the day before, and some skiers were able to get in one trial run before the event was scratched. Norge can hold its claim to fame as the only North American club to never cancel an event. “It’s not a cancellation, it’s an alteration,” Norge Ski Club spokesman Charlie Sedvic said. A smaller jump was moved downhill. Instead of taking off from the tower, about 25 skiers flew down the hill, but not for a judged competition. “You can’t fight Mother Nature,” Sedvic
said after the event. “We’re disappointed, but we tried to put on something for people. I think people had a good time today.” The weather delays didn’t appear to dampen the spirits of the boisterous crowd, who often were seen dancing to music from the DJ booth – anything from Neil Diamond, to the Blackhawks anthem “Chelsea Dagger” and even the Rick Astley hit “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Then there’s Marty Knapp, a 75-yearold first generation Norwegian and crowd favorite who dresses as a Viking to get the crowd energized and loosened up. But if the beers in hand and shots guzzled were any indication, the crowd didn’t need much help. The event is family-friendly, too. Children were running up and down the small sledding hills on either side of the hill or huddled around campfires. Or they were being chased by Knapp. Marty the Viking was immortalized on the event’s button designed this year by Bill Martenson. Martenson wore a vest with 50 buttons from Norge competitions of years past – one for each year he’s attended. “They only do this in a handful of places, and it’s right here in Fox River Grove,” said Martenson of Woodstock, who arrived at 8 a.m. Sunday to tailgate. “People don’t realize how legendary this is, and it’s right here in our backyard.”
Brok Kellogg of Chicago joins the large crowd gathered Sunday for the 110th annual International Ski Jump Tournament at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove.
On the Web: To view photos from the junior ski competition Saturday at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove, visit NWHerald.com.
‘Fracking’ starts slow in Illinois amid oil slump By JIM SUHR The Associated Press ST. LOUIS – The oil and gas drilling technique known as “fracking,” once trumpeted as a job-creating boon for southern Illinois, is off to a feeble start in the state as slumping oil prices and the rigors of Illinois’ new regulations have energy interests cautiously waiting on the sidelines. Two months after a legislative panel approved long-awaited rules for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said only Denver-based Strata-X has registered with the state to pursue such drilling. No one has applied for a permit yet. The lack of immediate movement contrasts sharply with a land rush in recent years in southern Illinois, where energy interests spent millions snapping up oil and mineral leases spanning hundreds of thousands of acres in anticipation of a shot at the area’s oil and natural gas deposits. Fracking proponents were banking on the industry producing tens of thousands of jobs in a region that long has had some of the state’s highest jobless rates. But a downdraft on oil prices has left investors fidgety. Compounding matters is the need to sort through the state’s new regulations – which the industry and environmental groups helped negotiate – as well as threats of lawsuits by Illinois fracking foes hoping to block or at least modify the drilling practice, which they consider risky to humans and the environment. While winter conditions complicate any actual drilling, it wouldn’t normally slow down planning or seeking permits. “We got through one hurdle [the regulatory process], and now we have more,” said David
See FRACKING, page A6
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Ricardo Pagán discusses his role in the county sheriff’s office / A3
Cary-Grove graduate Josh Freeman has big goals at Southern Illinois / B1
Agency taking walk-ins in McHenry for mental health services / A3
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