County’s unemployment rate falls to 6.9 percent
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SATURDAY, DEC ECEMBER 28, 2013
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AMERICAN PROFILE • INSIDE
Jacobs falls to Carmel, will face Larkin next
America’s grandest New Year’s Day parade
Jacobs’ Ben Murray (right) and Carmel’s Billy Kirby
McHENRY TENANT ELUDES EVICTION
“It’s lies upon lies. It’s wasting taxpayer money. … She’s causing people to lose all their money, but she has a place to stay. She tries to destroy lives. She’s trying to destroy my life. If it wasn’t for my faith, I’d be balled up in a corner.” Anja Hertel, McHenry resident on tenant Marion F. Berntsen
Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Two years ago, Anja Hertel began to rent out a room in her home to provide supplemental income. After several normal tenants, she is now in a legal dispute with a current tenant. Hertel is seen posing for a portrait Dec. 5 at her home in McHenry.
Abused by the system ‘Sovereign citizen’ creates havoc for unsuspecting landlords By JIM DALLKE // jdallke@shawmedia.com
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nja Hertel is willing to forgive the smell of rotting food and the mice in the kitchen. She can look past the pile of boxes that filled her garage. She can even dismiss the rude tone and hateful name-calling if she could remove – and end the legal battle with – her tenant, Jamie Pryce. At least she thought her name was Jamie Pryce. Hertel, who lives alone, posted an ad on Craigslist in August to rent out her spare bedroom. A 73-year-old woman who called herself Jamie Pryce agreed to rent the room. Hertel described the ensuing months as the most difficult time of her life as she quickly realized she was dealing with more than just a combative and messy tenant, and was instead faced with a woman who has a warrant for her arrest in Wisconsin, is defiant of many U.S. laws and has a history of using frivolous lawsuits to rack up thousands in legal fees for her unsuspecting landlords.
‘She tries to destroy lives’ In mid-August, Pryce showed up with a semitruck full of boxes when she moved into Hertel’s McHenry home. Pryce filled Hertel’s freezer with old meat. Her boxes piled in her room and the rest overflowed into the garage, many of which contained old food that attracted mice. Pryce, who rarely came out of her room, didn’t re-
spond to requests to remove the rotting food and became agitated when Hertel moved items from the freezer. But it wasn’t until Pryce called the police on Hertel that her real identity became clear, and when Hertel realized how big of a problem she really had. Pryce’s real name is Marion F. Berntsen, and in the four months since she has lived with Hertel, she has called the police roughly 10 times. Berntsen accused Hertel of stealing her belongMarion F. ings, which Hertel denies. Berntsen also known as She called the police when Hertel cut off the InterJamie Pryce net access after Berntsen failed to pay rent. She called the police and accused Hertel of putting glue in her door lock, and she told police Hertel should be “tarred and feathered.” Police were able to open the door without a problem, Hertel said. Berntsen then filed suit against Hertel claiming $15,000 in damages for stolen
LOCALLY SPEAKING
items, filed an order of protection against Hertel, and will likely ask for a jury trial, all of which – court records show – are tactics Berntsen has used to tie past landlords up in court. “It’s lies upon lies,” said Hertel, who already has paid more than $4,000 in legal fees fighting the frivolous lawsuit and expects to likely accrue more as she files to evict Berntsen. “It’s wasting taxpayer money. … She’s causing people to lose all their money, but she has a place to stay. “She tries to destroy lives. She’s trying to destroy my life. If it wasn’t for my faith, I’d be balled up in a corner.”
A pattern of behavior Hertel quickly found out she wasn’t the only one to wind up in court with Berntsen. Berntsen had almost identical encounters with at least three other landlords in McHenry and Cook counties. Spring Grove resident John Hosta rented a room to Berntsen in 2012, and after she failed to pay rent, Hosta cut off Berntsen’s cable and Internet. She in turn sued him for leaving her “in the dark,” and she was “fearful for her safety,” according to court records. She also filed an order of protection and sued him in a separate case for money damages in excess of $50,000 for items she said Hosta stole.
See TENANT, page A9
CRYSTAL LAKE
STUDENTS’ APP GOES NATIONWIDE Prairie Ridge High School seniors Calvin Breseman, Tanishq Dubey and Gustavo Farias – without so much as a homework assignment or a teacher’s request – decided to create Snow Day Calculator, an Android app that predicts whether a snow day will occur by analyzing information plugged in by the user. For more, see page B1.
Ron Fuhler (left) and Rich Phannenstill Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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McHENRY: City Council approves plans for a memorial to McHenry High School graduates killed in Vietnam. Local, B1
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Controversial state laws set to take effect Progress slow in implementing concealed carry, medicinal pot By NATHAN LURZ nlurz@shawmedia.com Two of Illinois’ biggest and most controversial laws passed in 2013 – concealedcarry gun permits and medicinal marijuana – officially take effect Wednesday. However, their impact won’t be seen for months, according to government agencies. Illinois State Police will accept online applications to carry a concealed handgun starting Jan. 5, and recently announced the acceptance of paper applications beginning July 1. More than 2,000 registered concealed-carry instructors already are listed on the State Police website, spokeswoman Monique Bond said, but the first permits won’t be issued until early April. “It could be sooner, but we are going to use the full 90 days to give us enough time to make sure we do it right,”
At a glance Common medical conditions eligible for medicinal marijuana: n Cancer n Glaucoma n HIV/AIDS n Hepatitis C n Multiple sclerosis n Crohn’s n Alzheimer’s n Muscular dystrophy n Fibromyalgia n Spinal cord disease n Rheumatoid arthritis n Fibrous dysplasia n Brain or spinal chord injury n Parkinson’s n Tourette’s
Bond said. To obtain a standard fiveyear concealed-carry permit, Illinois residents must already have a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card, pay a $150 fee, submit to a
See NEW LAWS, page A9
Retired teachers sue state over pension law By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press CHICAGO – A group of Illinois school administrators and retired teachers filed a class-action lawsuit Friday seeking to have the new law aimed at eliminating Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation pension shortfall thrown out, a long-anticipated move that is expected to delay implementation of the sweeping measure. Lawyers for the eight plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of administrators and retired teachers who are not members of labor unions. It argues the pension bill approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this month violates a clause of the state constitution that says pen-
sion benefits may not be cut. It also asks the court to void the law, which is scheduled to take effect June 1. “That guarantee, perhaps more so than anything else in the Illinois Constitution, was used by countless families across Illinois to plan careers, retirements and financial futures,” the 12-page lawsuit says. “Many of them know that constitutional guarantee by heart.” The suit names as defendants Quinn, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and the board of the Teachers’ Retirement System, the pension system for educators and school administrators. The Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers, as well as other public-employee
See PENSIONS, page A9