PR football advances to play Boylan in Class 6A quarterfinals
WWW.NWH
Sports, C1
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2013
COM
$1.50
CHURCH CHOIR • LOCAL, B1
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL • SPORTS, C1
Mother, daughter to sing at Vatican
CL South headed to state after supersectional win
Beth Widhalm
ON THEIR OWN
County renews D.C. lobbying firm contract Board members disagree on merits of retaining lobbyists By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Vincent Romandine (right), a corporal in the Marine Corps Reserves, started his own personal training business called All American Training. Romandine works with Ben Boesiger of McHenry on Wednesday inside the Team Curran MMA building.
Local military veterans find success opening businesses By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
V
incent Romandine always wanted to work on his own. The corporal in the Marine Corps Reserves said he wanted to try to start his own personal training business, rather than working for another gym after his former strength and conditioning coach decided to close her business. “I wanted to run things my own way,” the 23-yearold Romandine said. The trained mixed martial arts fighter now runs his own gym, All American Training in Crystal Lake. People who served in the military tend be driven and prefer to work for themselves rather than have a job. And many of them have learned to manage other people and how to work around risks. Being in the military helped Romandine, of Crystal Lake, to develop his work ethic and to be persistent. “I’m a firm believer in hard work and dedication,”
More inside For a full Veterans Day event schedule, see PAGE B2.
WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board has renewed its eight-year relationship with a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, over the objection of a handful of members. The County Board voted last week, 14-5, to enter into another contract with Ferguson Group to augment county government’s D.C. presence on top of working with the county’s two U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators. Under the deal, Ferguson gets a one-year, $82,000 contract with the option to extend an additional two years with annual increases not to exceed 6 percent. Ferguson received $93,000 in the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years, and $82,000 in 2011 and 2012, according to county lobbying records. The contract barely squeaked through the Finance and Audit Committee last month on a 4-3 vote. Member Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary, repeated her “no” vote on the board floor, first citing
See LOBBYISTS, page A9
Romandine said. “Starting a business takes time and effort.” Mary Margaret Maule is an instructor at McHenry County College, where she teaches business and marketing. She has veterans in her classes who have entrepreneurial ideas. “A lot get frustrated,” Maule said. “The opportunities they are able to secure are not challenging. ... They realize they want to control their own destiny. It’s not that they can’t find a job.” Maule added that many veterans want be in business for themselves. “Entrepreneurs figure out where risks are and figure out how to get around them,” Maule said. “[Veterans] have gained more confidence in themselves, are able to think on the fly, have great situational awareness.”
See WORKING, page A8
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Veteran Robert Lopez wears one of his T-shirts from his business “Kilo Clothing” on Friday while posing for a portrait at his Chicago apartment.
The Associated Press
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
CHICAGO – For Shonn Hild, a landscaper from Sullivan, Ill., the controversy over Americans losing their health insurance plans, despite a promise by President Barack Obama, is frustrating and personal. For Jon Gabel, a University of Chicago health care researcher, the surprise is not the mass cancellations, but any nostalgia for the individual insurance market before the president’s overhaul. The policy cancellations are the latest issue dogging the president’s signature domestic policy achievement, leading to anger and finger-pointing. Millions of Americans who buy their own
See HEALTH CARE, page A9
LOCALLY SPEAKING
The McHenry County Board voted, 14-5, to renew its contract with Ferguson Group, its Washington, D.C., lobbying group. Voting “no”: n Michael Walkup, R-Crystal Lake n Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills n Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary n Diane Evertsen, R-Harvard n John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake Absent: n Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry n Anna May Miller, R-Caryn n Sue Draffkorn, R-Wonder Lake n Mary McCann, R-Woodstock n Mary McClellan, R-Holiday Hills
Intimate views on health care issues By CARLA K. JOHNSON
“Two years ago I decided I was going to start my own company and not necessarily work for somebody else to build their name,” Romandine said. “If I do a great job, I’m building my brand now, to me that makes more sense.”
How they voted
At a glance Two different views on health care cancellations Shonn Hild is a landscaper from Sullivan, Ill. Jon Gabel is a senior fellow in the Health Care Research Department at NORC at the University of Chicago in Bethesda
CRYSTAL LAKE
CANCER SURVIVOR HEADS TO D.C. Randy Layne, 54, is taking his story of survival to Capitol Hill next week to urge lawmakers to increase funding for and awareness of bladder cancer, a disease that advocates say is lacking in research dollars compared with other types of cancers. For more, see page B1.
Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
HIGH
LOW
47 33 Complete forecast on A12
McHENRY: Shana Matheson creates ‘Hope Totes’ in an effort to help the homeless in Chicago. Planit Style, 5
Where to find it Business D1-6 Classified C1-6 Local&Region B1-8
Vol. 28, Issue 314 Lottery Obituaries Opinion
A2 B7 A11
Planit Style Inside Puzzles C5 Sports C1-12
BRING SUPERIOR SERVICE TO YOUR HOME 24/7
815-455-7000 ALTHOFF INDUSTRIES, INC. HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL Lic #058-194325