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Changes encourage use of bypass New signage, traffic pattern in downtown Algonquin intend to increase pedestrian safety By CAITLIN SWIECA cswieca@shawmedia.com ALGONQUIN – Since the long-awaited Algonquin Western Bypass opened last year, one thing has become increasingly clear to Village President John Schmitt: Motorists in downtown Algonquin don’t really want to use it.
France bombs Islamic State HQ
In September, the village and police department teamed up to make changes to downtown signage and traffic regulations to try to change that. The changes eliminated right turns on red lights at northbound Route 31 at south Main Street, northbound Harrison street at Algonquin Road, and northbound Main
Street at Route 31 – common turns for residents cutting through streets near the bypass. Although the changes have drawn some c o m p l a i n t s , John Schmitt Schmitt said the village is committed to see-
ing them through in hopes of changing drivers’ behavior. “Eventually, people will understand that Main Street is not a highway and that the Western Bypass is actually faster,” Schmitt said. “If you take the Western Bypass, it really cuts your time. The Western Bypass actually works pretty well, and we’d just like
to make it work for our residents.” Algonquin Police Deputy Chief Jeff Sutrick said the changes were made after a traffic study was done in conjunction with the Downtown Streetscape Improvement Plan. They are intended to both encourage use of the bypass and increase safety, he
said. The village also put up an electronic sign encouraging drivers to use the bypass and speed limit tracking signs on both sides of Main Street. Schmitt said the village is aiming to make downtown a more pedestrian-friendly
See BYPASS, page A6
PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HIGH-END REAL ESTATE HAVE WIDE RANGE OF CHOICES LOCALLY
Nation continues to hunt attacker who got away Saturday By GREG KELLER and PHILIPPE SOTTO The Associated Press PARIS – France launched “massive” air strikes Sunday night on the Islamic State group’s de-facto capital in Syria, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in the city of Raqqa, where Iraqi intelligence officials said the attacks on Paris were planned. Twelve aircraft including 10 fighter jets dropped a total of 20 bombs in the biggest air strikes since France extended its bombing campaign against the extremist group to Syria in September, a Defense Ministry statement said. The jets launched from sites in Jordan and the Persian Gulf, in coordination with U.S. forces. Meanwhile, as police announced seven arrests and hunted for more members of the sleeper cell that carried out the Paris attacks that killed 129 people, French officials revealed to The Associated Press that several key suspects had been stopped and released by police after the attack. The arrest warrant for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old born in Brussels, calls him very dangerous and warns people not to intervene if they see him. Yet police already had him in their grasp early Saturday, when they stopped a car carrying three men near the Belgian border. By then, hours had passed since authorities identified Abdeslam as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that carried hostage takers to the Paris theater where so many died. Three French police officials and a top French security official confirmed officers let Abdeslam go after checking his ID. They spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to publicly disclose such details. Tantalizing clues about the extent of the plot have emerged from Baghdad, where senior Iraqi officials told the AP that France and other countries had been warned on Thursday of an imminent attack. An Iraqi intelligence dispatch warned that Islamic
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Real estate agent Rick Bellairs gives a tour Nov. 5 of a four-bedroom, five-bath, 5,500-square-foot home in Woodstock.
McHenry County on the market Records: Average list price is $324K; luxury homes account for 6 percent By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Bellairs views the backyard pond while giving a tour of a home in Woodstock. The home has been on the market since August and is listed at $879,000.
BARRINGTON HILLS – Walking into the secluded Hidden Ponds Estate in Barrington Hills, potential buyers will amble over Versailles pattern walnut flooring on their way to the English-style pub, one of eight bedrooms or to the collector’s-size showroom garage. And for $18.775 million, they never have to leave. “It’s probably the most expensive listing in three states,” Jameson Sotheby’s International broker associate Connie Antoniou said. Regardless of whether it’s the most expensive listing in three states, it is an expensive home for McHenry County, where Multiple Listing Service records show the average list price for a home sits just above $324,000. Luxury homes aren’t the standard in McHenry County, but they do account for almost 6 percent of the homes on the market. The defining features of a luxury home are subjective, but real estate agents tend to agree in some aspects.
See REAL ESTATE, page A6
See ATTACKS, page A4
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Harvard woman is retiring after 47 years as an area nurse / A3
Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge, Marengo begin preparing for semifinal matchups / B3
Corporate tax-break plans tighten rules, draw critics / A5
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