NWH-1-4-2015

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PREMIUM BLENDS

January 4, 2015 • $1.50

New owner Sandra Knight ready to take Spring Grove-based Coffee Masters to next level / D1 NWHerald.com

THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY

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Ill. Supreme Court to hear pension reform bill

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Complete forecast on page A8

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MCCD looks to diversify revenue Financial scare gave it motivation to seek new funding ideas By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com

AP file photo

Police officers, teachers, caregivers and other rank-and-file public servants join Illinois AFL-CIO members Oct. 26, 2011, at the Illinois State Capitol to protest the state’s pension situation and Gov. Pat Quinn’s opposition to arbitrators ruling on AFSCME pay raises and closing facilities.

Voice your opinion Do you think state pension reform will be resolved in 2015? Vote online at NWHerald.com.

By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com How the Illinois Supreme Court rules on the pension reform law will have profound effects on the troubled state budget and the taxpayers who fund it.

Justices will hear oral arguments this March on the constitutionality of the law, which was challenged by the state’s powerful public sector unions. The unions argue that the law, passed to rein in skyrocketing pension obligations that are eating an ev-

er-growing percentage of the state budget, clearly violates the provision of the Illinois Constitution that protects pension benefits. The five state-run pension systems for teachers, rank-and-file

WOODSTOCK – The worst-case scenario envisioned by the McHenry County Conservation District was avoided – somewhat narrowly and through a law change pushed through without the district even knowing about it. The district’s Board of Trustees already had passed a flat tax levy with the full expectation that it would lose out on about $300,000 on top of the drop of $140,000 the year before when it heard about the law change. The board later adjusted its level, returning property tax revenues to 2012 levels, but the scare had triggered internal reviews that the district continues to move forward with. The Board of Trustees has OK’d a series of staff recommendations designed to update current policies and diversify the district’s revenue streams, Executive Director Elizabeth Kessler said. The district has already conducted similar analysis on the expenditure side and continues to do so. Among the recommendations that moved ahead last month are reviewing the district’s agricultural lease policy; increasing or restructuring fees for education and recreation programs, day camps and special events; collaborating more closely with the McHenry County Conservation Foundation to create partnerships, encourage crowdfunding and establish an annual benefit event; and investigating fees for profit-generating ventures that use district sites. The revenue these changes will bring in will be minimal this year,

See PENSIONS, page A2 See MCCD, page A4

Girl, 7, survives Ky. plane crash that kills 4 in her family By BRUCE SCHREINER The Associated Press KUTTAWA, Ky. – Bleeding and alone, 7-year-old Sailor Gutzler had just survived a plane crash that killed her family. She walked through about a mile of woods and thick briar patches, wearing a short-sleeve shirt, shorts and no shoes in near-freezing temperatures when she saw a light in the distance. The beacon led her to Larry

Federal Aviation Administration Wilkins’ home, police said, and she officials arrived at knocked on the door. Wilkins anthe crash scene Satswered to find a thin, black-haired urday to try to detergirl, whimpering and trembling. mine why the small “I come to the door and there’s a Piper PA-34 crashed little girl, 7 years old, bloody nose, on Friday evening, bloody arms, bloody legs, one sock, killing four people, no shoes, crying,” Wilkins, 71, told including the girl’s The Associated Press on Saturday. parents, Marty Gut“She told me that her mom and dad Larry Wilkins zler, 48, and his wife, were dead, and she had been in a Kimberly Gutzler, 46, plane crash, and the plane was upauthorities said. side down.”

SPORTS

PLANIT STYLE

McHenry County history lesson Historian: Japanese-Americans, German POWs during WWII found work at area farms / 6-7 SPORTS

High school wrestling Woodstock goes 1-1 at own triangular meet, defeating Richmond-Burton and narrowly losing to Mundelein; R-B finishes 0-2 / C1

Also killed were Sailor’s sister Piper Gutzler, 9; and cousin Sierra Wilder, 14. All were from Nashville, Illinois. The bodies have been sent to Louisville for autopsies. The plane reported engine trouble and lost contact with air traffic controllers around 5:55 p.m. CST, authorities said. Controllers had been trying to direct the pilot to an airport about 5 to 7 miles from the crash scene, authorities said. About 40 minutes later, 911

dispatchers received a call from Wilkins, who reported that a girl who had been involved in a plane crash had walked to his home. Wilkins told the AP he brought the girl inside, got a washcloth and “washed her little face off and her legs.” “Brave little girl, outstanding little girl,” he said. “I feel real bad for her.”

See PLANE, page A2

WHERE IT’S AT Advice ................. Planit 10 Business .................... D1-4 Classified.................... F1-6 Community ....................B1 Local News................ A2-4 Lottery............................A2 Movies..................Planit 11 Nation&World...........B4-6 Obituaries ..................A5-7 Opinions ........................B2 Planit Style..............Inside Puzzles ....................... F3, 6 Sports......................... C1-6 State ...............................B3 Weather .........................A8

Oceans of Hope Crystal Lake woman with multiple sclerosis to participate on global sailing trip / A3

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