Musick: Hawks prospect adjusts to life in AHL
Sports, C1
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014
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ALSO IN PLANIT PLAY ... n ‘Robocop’ film review n Violinist to play in CL n This weekend’s events
Theater Undreground aims to boost comedy in area
Waiting for answers Problems grow for McHenry tenants displaced by fire
Committee moves to fill vacant spot Melei recommended for Mental Health Board By KEVIN P. CRAVER
How they voted
kcraver@shawmedia.com
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Cordero Johnson, 26, of McHenry takes a phone call Tuesday in his room at a Woodstock motel. Johnson was one of the 33 residents displaced by a fire at the Riverside Hotel apartment building in McHenry on Jan. 12. “It was so easy walking back and forth to work,” Johnson said of living in McHenry. “But when you spend all this money on gas, it’s killing me. My car is falling apart because it’s so cold out here every day.” By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – After his McHenry apartment complex caught fire last month, Richard Humphrey now spends most days alone in a Woodstock motel room. He and 32 other people from the Riverside Hotel apartment building were displaced by the January fire. With no car or money for the bus, Humphrey and others have found it nearly impossible to travel back to McHenry for work. And with the McHenry County Housing Authority’s emergency fund running out of money, and a still uncertain time frame for when the apartment will be repaired, some tenants might be forced to pay for their own temporary housing or become homeless. The housing authority sheltered 28 people from the Jan. 12 fire at a motel in Woodstock, which has created transportation difficulties for people like Humphrey. “I can’t get to work,” said Humphrey, 23, a diesel mechanic at an auto body shop in McCullom Lake. “I don’t have a license or a car. I’m used to walking to work every day, and now I can’t do that. … I’m
Richard Humphrey, 23, watches TV on Tuesday at the motel where he is staying after his apartment building caught fire.
“No one fills anybody in. No one comes here and says, ‘Look, here’s what’s going on. This is how long it’s going to take, and when we get back this is what’s going to happen.’ No one pulls us aside to do that at all.” Richard Humphrey Displaced from his home at the Riverside Hotel in McHenry not able to make any money.” Humphrey said he can get to work about once a week if someone in the motel can give him a ride, adding that he doesn’t have enough money
for the Pace bus. But he said the lack of communication from the housing authority and his apartment building owner, and the unknown time frame of how long he’ll remain
in Woodstock, has compounded the problem. “No one fills anybody in,” he said. “No one comes here and says, ‘Look, here’s what’s going on. This is how long it’s going to take, and when we get back this is what’s going to happen.’ No one pulls us aside to do that at all.” Housing authority Community Service Director Sue Rose said the organization has kept in contact with the fire victims, providing residents with contact information and linking some with services when needed. It’s the responsibility of the victim to reach out to the housing authority with issues and questions, she said. The housing authority can shelter the residents in the Woodstock motel for about four more weeks before it runs out of disaster funds, Rose said. She requested the Northwest Herald not disclose the name of the hotel out of privacy concerns for the residents. “The initial estimate [from the building owner] was that they would be back in their units within a week,” Rose said. “I’ve been doing disaster relief for years and I didn’t believe that.”
See DISPLACED, page A6
WOODSTOCK – A McHenry County Board committee known for contention with nominating people to the Mental Health Board avoided it in filling the last remaining vacancy by essentially advancing the first runner-up, albeit on the usual 4-3 split. The Public Health and Human Services Committee voted Wednesday to recommend Huntley business attorney Sam Melei from among a pool of five applicants to fill the vacancy on the nine-member board. Committee members were split along usual lines for their first choices, setting up yet another drawn-out fight. But in a surprise move, Anna May Miller, R-Cary, submitted a motion to nominate Melei, who was the second choice of five members and the first choice of a sixth. Miller was joined in supporting Melei by Mary McCann, R-Woodstock, Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills, and Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry. Melei was the top choice for Salgado, while the other three had favored Carlos Acosta, a DCFS child protection investigator and former
The McHenry County Board Public Health and Human Services Committee voted Wednesday, 4-3, to recommend appointing Sam Melei to the McHenry County Mental Health Board. Voting yes were Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills, Mary McCann, R-Woodstock, Anna May Miller, R-Cary, and Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry. Michael Walkup, R-Crystal Lake, John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake, and Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, voted no.
See MENTAL HEALTH, page A6
Cold takes toll on pipes, roads By DON BABWIN
Rough roads
The Associated Press CHICAGO – This merciless winter is taking a heavy toll on the nation’s pipes and pavement, breaking hundreds of water mains that turn streets into frozen rivers and opening potholes so big they snap tire rims and wheel axles like Popsicle sticks. From Iowa to New York and Michigan to Georgia, the relentless cycle of snow and bitter cold is testing the strength of the steel-and-cement skeletons on which our communities are built, the patience of the people who live there and
In the first six weeks of this year, Chicago transportation department crews have dumped some 2,000 tons of patching material into more than 125,000 potholes.
See WEATHER, page A6
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
CARY
McHENRY
ANNUAL ADDRESS LOOKS TO FUTURE
TEEN CHARGED WITH CHURCH VANDALISM
Cary Village President Mark Kownick delivered his state of the community address Wednesday and touted the municipality’s economic development efforts. He also spoke about the comprehensive plan process and upcoming capital projects, and introduced new staff members, including a new public works director. For more, see page B1.
Police have now charged a 17-year-old male with damaging a McHenry church last week, linking the juvenile to three acts of vandalism that have occurred at St. Patrick Catholic Church in McHenry since June. On Feb. 7, the teen was charged in relation to two previous incidents of vandalism on June 9 and July 3. For more, see page B1.
WOODSTOCK: Woodstock North boys hold off host Woodstock for 61-58 win. Sports, C1
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