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November 2, 2015 • $1.00
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Arkush: During rebuild, Bears staying competitive against good teams despite losses / B1 NWHerald.com
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Street work coming to end
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MEET THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR RECYCLING McHENRY COUNTY’S ELECTRONICS
Huntley expected to finish construction by end of November By CAITLIN SWIECA cswieca@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – Although the deadline for the end of downtown street construction was extended recently into mid-November, village officials said the end of major renovations is in sight. Huntley Village Manager Dave Johnson said the project, which began in March, saw a slight delay because of issues coordinating utility work. The last project that will afDave fect the streets Johnson and surrounding businesses, Johnson said, will be laying the final asphalt surface. A release from the village said pavement grinding and asphalt binder paving on Church Street began Oct. 29, and asphalt surface course paving will continue through Wednesday. Pavement markings are scheduled for Wednesday as well. Johnson also said the construction of brick crosswalks would begin soon, and landscaping work is well underway. “The landscaper has been out there most of this week putting the landscaping in,” Johnson said. “It’s starting to come together. The majority of the businesses now have landscaping in front of them.” Construction originally was slated to conclude at the end of October. Johnson said the construction contract could be extended one more time before the winter months, but the work should be finished by the end of November at the latest. Johnson said communication between the village and downtown businesses and homeowners had been key to the success of the project. “They communicated well with us,” Johnson said. “They’ve had concerns, and rightfully so. They deserve all the credit in the world. ... We started that project in March. Pretty much this entire year they put up with that. I give them credit for seeing, ultimately, the big picture.”
Photos by Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: Ken Santowski discusses concerns regarding the closing of certain McHenry County recycling centers, while at Chicago Logistic Service in Elgin on Oct. 21. Santowski has been helping the village of Lakewood with recycling services and wants to help set in place a new method for recycling for surrounding towns. BELOW: Recycled electronic items sit at Chicago Logistic Service.
Local municipalities running out of options
Large electronics more difficult to get rid of By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com Recycling those old electronics is a bit of a one-man show in McHenry County these days. Many municipalities in McHenry County were using a Spring Grove vendor to recycle their electronic waste, and when they went belly up, many places that once offered the service found themselves left in a lurch. At one time, virtually every village, town or township in McHenry County offered a program to recycle electronics. Not anymore. These days, it’s Ken Santowski. A member of both the Lakewood Village Board and the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, he is running the county’s two programs for recycling electronics. Lakewood has a drop-off site for its residents, and the Defenders run bimonthly drives in Woodstock and McHenry.
In 2012, legislators approved a statewide ban on electronics in landfills. At the same time, electronics manufacturers were given a quota of the number of pounds of electronics they must recycle each year. Manufacturers met that quota pretty quickly, and they stopped paying recycling companies, leaving municipalities to foot the bill. But they can’t charge residents for using the service. Recently passed legislation increases the amount of items electronics manufacturers have to pay to recycle each year by about 10 million pounds. The killers are TVs, which have very few useful parts to scrap and, because of their weight, are more expensive to recycle. Many companies recycle electronics for a set dollar amount a pound, usually between 12 and 17 cents.
See ELECTRONICS, page A3
Prices, politics challenge health law By CARLA K. JOHNSON and RICARDO ALONSO–ZALDIVAR The Associated Press
AP file photo
The HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed in October on a laptop screen in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON – The government’s insurance website is faster and easier to use, but as a third sign-up season gets underway, President Barack Obama’s health care law is approaching limits. Enrollment on the federal and state exchanges began Sunday. While the law’s ex-
panded coverage has reduced the uninsured rate to a historic low of about 9 percent, the gains will be harder in 2016. Supporters may feel they’re running to stay in place, rather than taking a victory lap during the president’s last full year in office. The reasons have to do with the structure of the complicated law, the effects of a major change introduced by the Supreme Court, and political di-
visions likely to be magnified in an election year. The fate of the Affordable Care Act – known as “Obamacare” to its detractors – is very much in the hands of the next president. A weak sign-up season could embolden opponents who so far are unwilling to relent. The law’s two major engines of coverage expansion face challenges simultaneously.
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
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WHERE IT’S AT
Setting goals
Royals crowned
Budget woes
Police sergeant aims to run half marathon in every state / A3
Team rallies in 9th, beats Mets in 12 innings in Game 5 of World Series / B3
4-month stalemate affecting services in Pennsylvania / A4
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Costs are going up on the private, taxpayer-subsidized coverage sold through HealthCare.gov and state insurance exchanges. And many of the more than 10 million eligible uninsured Americans are skeptics. They tend to be younger people on tight budgets, with other priorities for spending their money. A sharp increase in fines
See HEALTH, page A6
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