MONDAY
November 3, 2014 • $1.00
HAIR-RAISING Daredevil Nik Wallenda conquers risky high-wire stunt in Chicago / A4
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58 47 Complete forecast on page A8
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Village wants census recount
LEGISLATION PENDING IN SPRINGFIELD
Capping the cost of a cure
Could put Huntley over 25K residents, get home-rule status By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – Village officials want U.S. Census takers to confirm population growth they think has happened since 2010, as Huntley teeters on a key population milestone that could ultimately expand its taxing powers. Based on building permits issued since 2010, village officials believe Huntley’s population will near 26,000 residents by late 2015, five Dave Johnson years after the Huntley village official 2010 manager Census pegged the village’s population at 24,291 residents. Huntley officials included $200,000 in the proposed 2015 budget that would bankroll a special census count, scheduled to be conducted in late 2015. Village Manager Dave Johnson said a special count is meant to ensure that the village receives all entitled state revenue. The village estimates it could receive an additional $231,740 annually with a population of 26,000. But in Illinois, any municipality with 25,000 or more residents automatically becomes a home-rule unit, granting a
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Ryan Thomas, 16, poses for a portrait Friday at his Crystal Lake home. Thomas has struggled with epilepsy for the past eight years. His struggle not only presents extreme health and medical issues, but is a significant financial burden because of the extremely high out-of-pocket costs of his medications.
Crystal Lake resident hopes to curb costs for specialty drugs to blow past the family’s annual $3,000 deductible because of the high copay costs for her son’s medCRYSTAL LAKE – Lisa Thomas ication. She said it’s not unusual to is hoping there is a cure for the cost hit the $10,000 out-of-pocket maxto cure. imum in copay expenses in six Thomas, whose 16-year-old son months. Ryan has epilepsy that causes seiThe Crystal Lake resident said zures, takes less than two months her son has to take six medications
By JEFF ENGELHARDT
jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
three times a day and she hit her premium in the first month of the year after a 90-day supply for one of the medications cost her $2,000. “People say why don’t you just switch medications, but you can’t do that once you find something that can control the seizures,” Thomas said, noting her son can
have multiple episodes a day. “The prices are out of control and that’s not even counting the premium.” The days of mortgage-like payments for medication could be over for the Thomases and those in similar circumstances if one of two
See COSTS, page A6 See HUNTLEY, page A6
Vote vigilance efforts intensify as Quinn-Rauner race down to the wire By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – In the run-up to what could be the closest governor race in Illinois history, Republicans and Democrats are doing all they can to ensure friendly voters cast every possible ballot and their opponents not one extra. As Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and GOP businessman Bruce Rauner mounted their last get-out-the-vote rallies, the state Republican Party began raising red flags about alleged voting irregularities – lodging complaints about everything from improperly
calibrated voting machines in Rock Island to a Chicago alderwoman offering raffle prizes as an incentive to vote. Whether those challenges spill into Tuesday, over individual ballots, could determine how quickly the governor’s race is decided. Add a legal opinion from Attorney General Lisa Madigan that election authorities can’t begin tabulating early votes until the polls close and it could be a recipe for a long night that pushes into Wednesday. Rupert Borgsmiller, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, said he’s noticed a lot more inter-
LOCAL
Gov. Pat Quinn Bruce Rauner Incumbent GOP challenger est in citizens observing the electoral process before Election Day, including in-person early voting and the processing of mailed-in ballots. “A lot of it’s being driven by the parties,” Borgsmiller said. “They pursue their constituency and they want to
ensure that people who aren’t entitled to vote don’t vote.” Republicans see Tuesday as a chance to reclaim the governor’s office for the first time in more than a decade. Democrats are worried about a less-than-enthusiastic electorate in a midterm race, keenly aware that Quinn won in 2010 by just 32,000 votes out of 3.7 million cast. That’s a margin only wider than the 5,074 votes with which former GOP Gov. James Thompson claimed victory over Democrat Adlai Stevenson III in 1982. Republicans boasted of mounting an unprecedented
WORLD
WHERE IT’S AT
Defiant amid civil war
Advice ............................C7
Assad’s Syria is truncated in size, battered and impoverished, but it carries on / A6
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Classified....................C1-8 Local News.................A2-3
“voter integrity” project this year, including recruiting 5,000 election-day judges and observers in Democrat-heavy Chicago. Election officials say the effort fell slightly short, but GOP officials believe the party balance is better than years past. “This election is too important to accept anything less than a 100 percent fair, honest, and open election,” party spokesman Andrew Wellhouse said. The GOP’s efforts continued Friday when party officials in Rock Island County
Election Central Follow local, state and national races at NWHerald.com/ election-central.
Voice your opinion Will you vote on Tuesday? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
Inside n Party leaders clash over President Barack Obama as election nears. PAGE A5
See VOTERS, page A6
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On The Record With ... McHenry County Mental Health Board’s new executive director Scott Block discusses where he’s been, plans for the board / A3
High school football Huntley O-line stuck together through the regular season despite injuries / B1
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