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Districts: Ruling clarifies process School officials use bleachers controversy to reflect on relationship with local gov’ts By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
and EMILY COLEMAN
ecoleman@shawmedia.com CARY – The meeting started with accusations of malfeasance over the Crystal Lake South High School bleachers before transitioning to a celebratory ribbon cutting with many of Cary’s notables present. Cary officials lined up,
armed with shiny silver and gold scissors alongside donors such as Sage Products’ Board of Directors Chairman Vince Foglia and the Foglia family, Cary-Grove High School staff, members of the Cary-Grove Fine Arts Foundation and Community High School District 155 administration and school board members, to celebrate the completion of the brand new fine arts center at the school.
Afghan clinic bombed, 19 dead
“Keeping options open and being open to dialogue, that is how I’ve operated. I think that is how the Board of Education has operated,” S u p e r i n t e n - Johnnie dent Johnnie Thomas Thomas said to the crowd gathered outside. “That stance has been a
stance that we’ve had the entire time I’ve been here, and we will continue to find opportunities to create the best opportunities for our kids not only in this community but in the state of Illinois.” The yearlong project has given the school a new 670seat auditorium, complete with a new lobby, multipurpose room, an orchestra pit, and a stage that stands about 47 feet high. Those behind the
project have described the new facility as a place for students to be creative and connect with one another. After the speeches filled with thank-yous and well wishes, and as the tours showing off the new facilities started, the school board filed back into the Cary-Grove library to discuss a different project, one that resulted in a lawsuit, an Illinois Supreme Court decision and a swell of animosity
against not only the district, but city officials, the property owners that filed the lawsuit and their families. The ruling that came down from Illinois’ highest court regarding the contentious football stadium bleachers confirmed that a district is subject to and must comply with local government zoning and stormwater regulations.
See DISTRICTS, page A5
COMPUTERIZED RECORDING SYSTEM STREAMLINING SERVICE IN 22ND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
Probe underway to determine if strike was from U.S. forces By LYNNE O’DONNELL The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan – Confusion reigned in the wake of the deadly bombing Saturday of a hospital compound in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens more. It remains unclear exactly who bombed the hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, and the international medical charity has demanded an investigation into the incident. Doctors Without Borders said “all indications” pointed to the international military coalition as responsible for the bombing and called for an independent investigation. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said an inquiry was underway into whether the carnage at the clinic was caused by an airstrike from an American fighter jet, while Afghan officials said helicopter gunships had returned fire from Taliban fighters hiding in the compound. Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have been battling the Taliban street-bystreet in Kunduz since Thursday to dislodge insurgents who seized the strategic city three days earlier in their biggest foray into a major urban area since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. The insurgents have had the city encircled for months, and overran it in a surprise assault that
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
A notice posted on the door of courtroom 357 alerts everyone to the use of sensitive sound recording equipment. The 22nd Judicial Circuit is not facing the court reporter shortage of other downstate circuits because of its embrace of audio recording technology.
McHenry County not troubled by court reporter shortage By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – An early embrace of recording technology helped McHenry County’s courts avoid the court reporter shortage that is hamstringing other judicial circuits. A number of Illinois’ downstate judicial circuits have had problems filling vacancies because of salary issues and a lack of available licensed court reporters. But
although McHenry County’s 22nd Judicial Circuit has more court reporters to draw from, it also needs far fewer of them because of an early decision to equip courtrooms with sophisticated computerized recording systems, Court Administrator Dan Wallis said. “We’ve used technology to streamline the process and are much more efficient, so we’re able to provide more services, and better services, using fewer people,” Wallis said.
All but one of the circuit’s 18 courtrooms have built-in recording systems, which record everything said to hard drives with backups. Signs in the courtrooms warn that all conversations are being recorded. While the two felony courtrooms always have a court reporter typing the proceedings so immediate access to a transcript can be obtained if needed, recording less serious proceedings cuts down on time and staff. Reporters instead can tran-
scribe specific parts if requested by the judge or legal counsel. The system allows McHenry County, which like other collar counties and Cook County has its own judicial circuit, to efficiently operate with a staff of seven court reporters and an electronic recording officer. “Rather than transcribing everything or taking the stenography, we’re able to identify requests
See COURTS, page A5
See CLINIC, page A5
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‘This really helped me out’ Once bullied, senior center and team captain Matt Kielbasa turned to the football field to find the place where he belonged / C1
WHERE IT’S AT Advice ................ Style 8-9 Business .................... D1-4 Classified.................... F1-5 Community ....................B1 Local News................ A2-8 Lottery............................A2 Movies...................Style 11 Nation&World...........B4-6 Obituaries .....................A9 Opinions ........................B2 Puzzles ....................... F3, 6 Sports......................... C1-8 State ...............................B3 Style..........................Inside Weather .......................A10
Youth workforce program Internship programs work to close manufacturing skills gap in McHenry County / D1
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