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Gliniewicz memorial funds frozen Bank spokesman: Outcome pending result of ongoing investigation after officer’s suicide By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com FOX LAKE – The main memorial bank account created for Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz’s family has been frozen pending the results of the ongoing police investigation into the officer, a bank official said. The Lt. Joe Gliniewicz Memorial Fund at BMO Harris Bank was set up in the days after Gliniewicz was found
shot to death in what investigators revealed last week was a suicide staged to look like a homicide. Bank spokesman Patrick O’Herlihy said Wednesday the funds in the account were being held, but he refused to provide information on how much had been deposited or withdrawn from the account. “For privacy reasons, and because of the ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose any further information regarding
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police request to the bank. Gliniewicz was fatally shot Sept. 1 near an abandoned conScott Reeder weighs in on how crete plant. difficult it is to fire government After a more than twoofficials PAGE A2 month investigation, Lake County Major Crimes Task Force officials announced the account,” O’Herlihy said Gliniewicz’s death was a “cleverly staged” suicide. in an email. O’Herlihy would not com- Their investigation uncovered ment on who ordered the funds Gliniewicz, 52, had been stealto be held, and Lake County ing from the Fox Lake Police Sheriff’s Detective Chris Cov- Explorer Post 300 for at least elli said he was unaware of a seven years.
Investigators said he pilfered tens of thousands of dollars from the explorer program to pay for adult websites, gym memberships and other personal expenses. He also forged former police chief Michael Behan’s signature to obtain federal surplus equipment for the explorer program, investigators said. Investigators also found text messages that suggested Gliniewicz had considered planting things or hiring
someone to “put a hit” on Fox Lake Village Administrator Anne Marrin because he feared she would discover his embezzlement. In the days after his death, the community and police hailed Gliniewicz, known affectionately as G.I. Joe, as a hero. More than 1,000 police officers from across the country attended his funeral.
See GLINIEWICZ, page A4
Progress slow to restore funding
LAWYERS SERVING LOCALLY SINCE 1915
Local disbursement not expected soon despite House vote By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
McHenry County Bar Association President Jamie Wombacher poses for a portrait Tuesday at the McHenry County Courthouse in Woodstock. The bar association is celebrating its 100th year of operation.
A CENTURY OF LEGAL WORK McHenry County Bar Association marks 100 years By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com McHenry County’s lawyers appear to have shown their grit from the very beginning. When the local bar association was established Feb. 15, 1915, a county history book from that time referred to the group as the “fighting bar of McHenry County.” Tough and smart. The book also noted its capacity for the legal profession, saying “McHenry CounCharles H. ty has an exceedingly Donnelly strong bar,” and “no McHenry better trial lawyers County Bar Association’s can be found in the first president entire state.” As the association celebrates 100 years, lawyers may be less known today for their fighting
Photo provided
Legal proceedings take place in a courtroom at the “Old Courthouse” on the Woodstock Square before the current courthouse was built in 1972. The Old Courthouse, built in 1857, was McHenry County’s third. than they are for their community outreach. A thriving pro bono program, in which lawyers donate their time and services to help the poor navigate the legal system, is a cornerstone of the association. The group also pro-
motes lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring, an attorney referral service, and the annual Law Day celebration and award presentation. “Over the past few years, the bar association has made a concerted effort to expand its community out-
reach,” President Jamie Wombacher said. “For example, we are offering a Wills for Veterans program where volunteer lawyers will provide veterans in need with a basic will. “Another area that we are continuing to grow and expand is offering low-cost continuing legal education to our members,” Wombacher said. “The goal in offering a wide variety of [continuing legal education] is that our attorneys will continue to be well-informed and some of the best lawyers in the country.” The bar association’s first president, in 1915, was Charles H. Donnelly. He led the bar association’s first members – of which there were 29. When it first organized, the bar association members would have practiced in what today is known as the “Old Courthouse” on the Woodstock Square. That was the county’s third courthouse – the first was housed in McHenry in 1838. The second courthouse was a small, 33-feetby-40-feet building in the middle of the Square. The Old Courthouse was built in 1857 and was home to the county’s legal proceedings until 1972, when the current McHenry County
See CENTURY, page A4
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Members of Color Guard visit students at North Elementary / A3
Sisters of C-G volleyball girls follow as team gets set for state semifinals / B1
Despite elimination, Semple enjoying time in the limelight / 4
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If you’re a lottery winner or local government holding an IOU for what the state owes you, don’t let Tuesday’s vote to free up your funding fool you – the checks are not in the mail. The Illinois House on Tuesday voted, 115-1, to free up more than $1.9 billion in local funding that has been withheld as the state enters a fifth month without a budget. House Bill 4305, filed by Rep. Martin Moylan, D-Des Plaines, disburses shared motor fuel tax and video gambling revenues to local municipalities, cellphone tax to emergency dispatch centers, and prizes to lottery winners. But the bill likely isn’t going anywhere soon, Rep. Barbara despite a com- Wheeler promise pledge by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign it. The Senate does not even plan to meet until the spring session begins in January. And even if it did, the rules require it to read the bill for three session days before voting on it. State Rep. Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, has told the municipalities reaching out to her to pass the bill not to get up their hopes. “I said, ‘Let’s be clear – I’m going to be voting for this because I support this, but the Senate has to come three consecutive days. … I don’t think the Senate is coming back to move this. Don’t be writing any checks anytime soon,’ ” Wheeler said. Legislative Democrats and Rauner have been at loggerheads since lawmakers in May approved a budget that spent $4 billion more than the $33 billion the state was expected to collect – Rauner vetoed it except for the portion funding public schools. Democratic leaders who
See FUNDS, page A8
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