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December 15, 2014 • $1.00
BOWL BOUND Illinois’ Jake Howe, Tim Clary looking forward to Heart of Dallas Bowl / B1 NWHerald.com
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MCC mulls student space
’Tis the season for charitable giving
Considers temporary site for club activities By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County College is one of the few community colleges without a dedicated space for Student Life activities and clubs, its student trustee said. The college’s Board of Trustees was discussing a proposed temporary building that would be leased for the Crystal Lake campus for three years. McHenry County College has submitted an application for the project with the Vicky Smith city of Crystal Lake but later asked for it If you go to be placed on hold so they could do some The McHenry additional research County College and due diligence, Board of said the city’s planning and economic Trustees meets development manag- at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in er, James Richter. Some trustees had the board room raised concerns at a at the college, 8900 Route 14. recent meeting. Board Secretary Molly Walsh wondered whether it made sense to wait for the space utilization study approved in November to be finished. The first phase of the study is expected to be presented at the April meeting, about a month – perhaps less – after the temporary building would have gone up. If the college had proceeded with its application with the city of Crystal Lake, it was set to be on the Planning and Zoning Commission’s agenda in December with the council possibly considering it in January, College President Vicky Smith said Tuesday. That meant final approval on the project could have come before the Board of Trustees in January or February, she said. Williams Scotsman – one of three quotes staff considered – could then have the building on-site within 45 days, according to board documents. Regardless of what the space utilization study recommends, the temporary building could serve many purposes over the three-year lease, Trustee Cynthia Kisser said. If departments are relocated or an expansion made to the campus buildings,
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Michael Brandt of Huntley (from left) donates to The Salvation Army while Crystal Lake firefighters Darrell Cook and Chris Bedore ring bells Saturday outside of Jewel-Osco in Crystal Lake. The Crystal Lake Fire Department has been volunteering with The Salvation Army for the past nine years and raises thousands of dollars for the organization each year. By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com The end is near for area nonprofits. The end of the year, that is. And as many charity organizations know, the holiday season is the time to capitalize – whether it’s on the generosity brought on by this time of year, or simply on those who are motivated by another season: tax season. “What you find at most nonprofits is once the end of the year comes about, people tend to think of giving at that time of year more than they do typically in the rest of the year,” said Steve Otten, executive director for the United Way of McHenry County. Before that, Otten led the Challenger Learning Center in Woodstock, another nonprofit. “A lot of it has to do with tax incentives, and people trying to get it in by the end of the year,” Otten said, adding, “Folks here are pretty generous all year round with the United Way.” Crystal Lake based financial planner Mike Piershale said his most important piece of advice is this: Don’t forget. “It sounds really elementary,” said Piershale, president of Piershale Financial Group. “Unless there’s a compelling reason to wait until next year, and usually that’s only if you’re
“There are more people in need than you can imagine. ... The amount of money that is out there is sliced up thinner and thinner so people have to operate on less and less.” Steve Otten Executive director for the United Way of McHenry County going to be in a higher tax bracket in 2015. “If you know you’re giving money to charity, make sure you get it in before Dec. 31. After that, it’s too late to claim for 2014.” Perhaps the most unforgettable campaign out there this time of year is The Salvation Army’s iconic Red Kettle campaign. Although funds last the agency throughout the year, much of their fundraising is done right now. Locally, The Salvation Army has a goal this year of $400,000, with $150,000 targeted to come from the red kettles manned by the all-volunteer bell ringers. The remaining $250,000 is expected from in-kind donations. “The year-end giving is so important to The Salvation Army to make sure we can continue
what we do all year long,” spokeswoman Linda West said. “…The fundraising we do right now, this carries us into the next year. … We will do other fundraising throughout the year, but this is the biggest portion of what we do, and probably the most critical. If we meet our goal we know we’re going to be able to continue at the same level we did last year.” And for all area nonprofits – be it large scale like The Salvation Army or the United Way, or any of the scores of smaller organizations both locally and beyond – any little donation goes a long way. “There are more people in need than you can imagine,” Otten said. “... The amount of money that is out there is sliced up thinner and thinner so people have to operate on less and less.” As for Piershale, he couldn’t say it enough. If you want to take advantage of the tax deductions this year, write it down, set an alarm, tie a string around your finger – do what you must, just don’t forget. “The biggest problem people have, sometimes, is they just flat forget,” he said. “And they get to Jan. 1, and they can’t get that deduction. They meant to donate but, now they can’t get it.” And surely area nonprofits will thank you, Piershale said.
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CIA report revives legal debate on harsh interrogation methods By ERIC TUCKER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – When the CIA sought permission to use harsh interrogation methods on a captured al-Qaida operative, the response from Bush administration lawyers was encouraging, even clinical. In one of several memos forming the legal underpinnings for brutal interrogation techniques, the CIA was told Abu Zubaydah could lawfully be placed in a box with an insect, kept awake for days at a time and
slapped multiple times in the face. newing calls to prosecute those who Waterboarding, too, was acceptable relied on techniques that President because it didn’t cause the lengthy Barack Obama has mental anguish needed to meet the called torture. legal standard of torture, the 2002 “How can we seriJustice Department memo says. ously use the phrase The release last week of a Senate ‘rule of law’ if crimes report cataloging years of such interof this magnitude go rogation tactics has revived debate uninvestigated and about legal opinions since discreditunprosecuted?” said ed and withdrawn and about the deJameel Jaffer, depcision to not prosecute the program’s Abu Zubaydah uty legal director at architects or officers who used the the American Civil methods. Civil rights groups in the Liberties Union. United States and abroad are reThe Justice Department, which
spent years looking into the matter, says it lacks sufficient evidence to convict anyone and found no new information in the report. It also is far from clear that any international case could be brought. Department officials said they will not revisit their 2012 decision to close the investigation, citing among other challenges the passage of time and the difficulty of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that crimes were committed, especially in light of government memos that gave interrogators extraordinary latitude.
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“Our inquiry was limited to a determination of whether prosecutable offenses were committed. Importantly, our investigation was not intended to answer the broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct,” the department said in a statement after the report was released. That conclusion followed an investigation led by special prosecutor John Durham that began in 2009 as an outgrowth of a probe into the
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