TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2013
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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MEDICAL TESTS • PLANIT STYLE, D1
Egekeze hopes to be Huntley’s best Sports, C1
Health screenings’ usefulness questioned
FAMILY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP CLINIC
New CL facility opens
Hobson tapped to fill county RTA seat County Board set to vote on nomination Dec. 3 By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Registered nurse Pat Montemurro (right) examines prescriptions for Angelica Bernal of Hebron on Monday at Family Health Partnership Clinic in Crystal Lake. Family Health Partnership, a nonprofit clinic that serves the uninsured and underinsured, now is seeing patients at its $3.2 million, 10,000-square-foot facility in Crystal Lake. It has double the square footage and number of exam rooms of the old Woodstock location. BELOW: Nurse practitioner Martha Siomos (left) examines Michael Meyer of Richmond at the new Family Health Partnership Clinic location.
Expanded space allows clinic to accept more patients By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Snow flying past the window of her new Crystal Lake office, Suzanne Hoban sat down with a hot cup of tea and tried to explain how this day she’d never seen coming was here. Hoban and the staff of Family Health Partnership Clinic completed their move Monday to a $3.2 million facility at 401 E. Congress Parkway, Crystal Lake, opening the doors in the morning to the new center’s first patients. The clinic, which provides health care to the uninsured and underinsured, now has
twice as many exam rooms and more than double the space of the previous building
in Woodstock. The small clinic Hoban originally opened in Harvard in the mid-1990s has
expanded to a reach she’d never envisioned. “We’ve now been operating for 17 years,” said Hoban, the clinic’s executive director. “I thought, well, surely we’re not going to need to be around for long because things will change and everybody will have access to health care.” Instead, the clinic continued to grow through the years, jumping to new buildings as the needs increased. When it moved in 2003 to a 4,000-square-foot space at 13707 W. Jackson St., Woodstock, the clinic gained three exam rooms for a total of six.
See CLINIC, page A6
WOODSTOCK – McHenry County Board Chairwoman Tina Hill has nominated Lakewood business owner and former County Board member Blake Hobson as her choice to fill the county’s seat on the Regional Transportation Board. Hill, R-Woodstock, announced Monday that she chose Hobson over Dennis Adams of McHenry. A panel of four County Board members chose the two finalists Friday after interviewing the 10 residents who applied for the job. If approved by the full County Board on Dec. 3, Hobson as of Jan. 1 would replace GOP insider Al Jourdan, who is not seeking another fiveyear term. Jourdan’s term expired back in April, but he has continued to serve at Hill’s behest until a successor is put in place. Hill cited Hobson’s background as a business owner and community leader in picking him over Adams, who has similar credentials. She also pointed out that Hobson has made the time for months to attend RTA meetings to become more familiar with the issues. The 16-member RTA Board has financial oversight of the three Chicago mass-transit boards of Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority. “Blake has been attending the [RTA] meetings for the past five months, so he’s ready to hit the ground running,” Hill said. Hobson, who owns Huntley manufacturing company Image Industries, said Monday
Blake Hobson
What it means McHenry County Board Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, has nominated Lakewood business owner and former County Board member Blake Hobson to represent the county on the Regional Transportation Authority Board.
What’s next The County Board will vote to approve Hobson at its next meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. Dec. 3 at the county Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock.
See RTA SEAT, page A6
Hundreds file petitions for March primary election Inside A list of local candidates who have filed to run in the March primary election. PAGE B3
Governor, a Senate seat among races By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Political battle lines were officially drawn Monday in the race for Illinois’ chief executive as Democratic incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn and four Republican challengers
were among nearly 400 politicians who offered nominating petitions on the first day of filing. Hoping to replace Quinn as the first GOP governor in more than a decade are state senators Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and state Treasurer Dan Ruther-
LOCALLY SPEAKING
CL Central’s Jon Ryberg (center) Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
ford. Tio Hardiman of Hillside, the former head of anti-violence nonprofit CeaseFire, also filed to run in the Democratic primary against Quinn, who’s been governor since 2009. In the race to take on U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat who is seeking his fourth term, state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, and businessman Doug Truax of Down-
ers Grove submitted nominating petitions. All nine candidates for the top-of-the-ticket races were represented at the head of the line when the doors of the State Board of Elections in Springfield opened at 8 a.m. That means they qualify for a lottery drawing to determine who, in their respective primaries, will be listed first on the ballot, said Rupert
LAKE IN THE HILLS
McHENRY COUNTY
PLANS IN WORKS FOR HOUSING COMPLEX
HOLIDAY TRAVEL FORECAST IS BRIGHT
Developers in Lake in the Hills plan to build a $19 million affordable housing apartment complex south of Harvest Gate. The Villas of Lake in the Hills is planned to have 60 units and is set to be built by the developers of a nearby senior affordable living complex. Construction is expected to start in the spring. For
Even though some snow accumulated Monday in McHenry County, the weather outlook for Thanksgiving is much brighter. The National Weather Service is forecasting sunny skies for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, making travel on those days much easier. On Tuesday, there is a 30 percent chance of snow. For
more, see page B1.
more, see page B1.
CRYSTAL LAKE: CL Central boys fall in opener to Antioch at Coaches vs. Cancer tourney. Sports, C1
Borgsmiller, elections board executive director. Of the roughly 380 candidates who filed Monday, most had the same idea, lining up in the early morning hours to get a crack at the top ballot listing, considered a prime spot because some voters choose the first name they see.
See PRIMARY, page A5
WEATHER HIGH
LOW
30 17 Complete forecast on A8
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