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February 1, 2015 • $1.50
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Pollution fears halt plans for water well
WOMEN ARE MINORITY IN McHENRY COUNTY MUNICIPAL VOTING BODIES
Elected imbalance
Marengo waiting on western annexation By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com MARENGO – The uncertain direction of a pollution plume near Marengo’s border is disrupting a city plan years in the making to expand its western boundaries and build a water well within the new territory. Aldermen earlier this week effectively postponed two annexations that span nearly 1 square mile west of the city limits and cover land primarily within Marengo Township. The annexations, in part, would have cleared the first hurdle for city administrators to start designing and building a new water well almost three years after engineering contractors from H.R. Green discovered a large, shallow groundwater source just west of the city. The vote to delay the acquisitions at least until late spring consequently capped off a monthslong debate within Marengo about the proposed well’s proximity to a nearby pollution plume containing cancer-causing chemicals and subject to a court order filed by the Illinois Attorney General in June 2013. City administrator Gary Boden said his staff proactively suggested to aldermen to delay approval procedures on the annexations after receiving differing survey results on the future direction of plume. “We put a stop to this. ... Right now, we think the site is fine. The question is if there is
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
City of McHenry Mayor Sue Low walks across the bridge Friday in the McHenry Riverwalk District. Women are the minority across boards and councils of the county. Low is one of only two female mayors or village presidents in McHenry County, the other being Lakewood Village President Erin Smith.
Local, state officials weigh in on gender disparity By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com Before being urged and recruited to run for public office, McHenry Mayor Susan Low said it never crossed her mind that she might end up at the head of city government. “I’m a special education teacher by design … but I ran for the Ward 3 alderman position in McHenry in 2001, and that was the first time I ever ran for public office,” Low said. “I did so at the urging of some people, plus, my dad had been an alderman and my grandfather.” A few years later, then-May-
or Pamela Althoff left for her current post as a Republican state senator, and Low accepted a nomination to take over. She finished out the term, then ran and won the 2005 election. Low is one of only two female mayors or village presidents in McHenry County, the other being Lakewood Village President Erin Smith. That, and the fact that women are the minority across boards and councils of the county, is something Low said she’s certainly aware of but doesn’t think about often. “In the whole time I’ve
See DISPARITY, page A6
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Alderman Nicole DeBoer listens Monday during a Marengo City Council meeting.
“We put a stop to this [annexation]. ... Right now, we think the site is fine. The question is if there is a long-term impact. Nobody knows.”
Gary Boden Marengo city administrator
See POLLUTION, page A6
Obama budget sets up battle with GOP-controlled Congress public works projects and child care. The plan, expected to be WASHINGTON – After dismissed by GOP lawmakers a year of relative peace in now running Capitol Hill, rolls Washington’s budget battles, out as the deficit is dropping President Barack Obama will and Obama’s poll numbers lay out a $4 trillion budget on inch higher. Though RepubliMonday that needles Republi- cans will march ahead on their cans with proposals for higher own, they ultimately must taxes on the wealthy and busi- come to terms with Obama, nesses to pay for education, whose signature is needed on
By ANDREW TAYLOR The Associated Press
SPORTS
anything that is going to become law. Big challenges loom: the need to increase the government’s borBarack Obama rowing limit; a deadline for sustaining highway funding; a bipartisan effort to ease pain-
ful, automatic cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies. Those cuts are the byproduct of Washington’s previous failures to tackle the government’s deficit woes. First on the agenda is the need to finalize the current-year budget for the Department of Homeland Security. It’s tied up over a GOP demand to reverse Obama’s
PLANIT STYLE
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November executive actions that extended work permits and temporary deportation relief to some 4 million people in the U.S. illegally. Funding for the department runs out Feb. 27. Obama planned a budget speech at the department Monday. A defiant Obama challenged the GOP in his radio and Internet address Satur-
day. “If they have ideas that will help middle-class families feel some economic security, I’m all in to work with them. But I will keep doing everything I can to help more working families make ends meet and get ahead. Not just because we want everyone to share in
See BUDGET, page A6
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