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Woodstock holds off Woodstock North, wins 2nd straight regional title / C1
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Open Meetings Act bill advances Legislation inspired by Oakwood Hills dispute clears committee By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com A bill giving citizens a longer window to report Open Meetings Act violations is headed to the full Illinois House floor for a vote after clearing committee Thursday morning. House Bill 175, sponsored by Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, unanimously passed the House
Judiciary – Civil Committee and could come to a vote in the coming weeks. The bill, inspired by the debacle surrounding the Oakwood Hills power plant proposal, would allow people to report a possible violation of the act within 60 days of its discovery, rather than 60 days from the date of the meeting. A new provision that imposes a five-year statute of limitations helped secure the
Guilty plea in child sex assault
support of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, which had been neutral on the legislation, McSweeney David said. “I have a McSweeney lot of momentum in the House, and this helps,” McSweeney said. McSweeney filed the leg-
islation in response to what was potentially an illegal July 2013 meeting by the Oakwood Hills Village Board in which it discussed in closed session the monetary windfall that would come from the building of a 430-megawatt, $450 million power plant in the small town. The Open Meetings Act, which among other things limits what governments can debate behind closed doors, does not have an exemption
that covers such a conversation. But the meeting was not public knowledge until a year later, in July 2014, when it was discovered by the attorney hired by village residents who were opposed to the project. While the secret meeting helped contribute to the community outrage that led to the project’s scuttling and
See LEGISLATION, page A6
NO MORE EXCUSES A special report
About this series “No More Excuses” is the Northwest Herald’s ongoing series about the public’s right to know in Illinois.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE GOES MISSING?
LITH man faces prison sentence of 27 to 247 years By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A Lake in the Hills man could potentially be sentenced to more than 200 years behind bars on allegations that he carried on a pattern of sexual abuse with two young girls. Otto L. Bobadilla pleaded guilty Thursday to five counts of predatory sexual assault of a child, and a lesser sex abuse charge. Because the charges are consecutive, 48-year-old Otto L. Bobadilla is Bobadilla facing a minimum of 27 years in prison up to 247 years. He entered a blind guilty plea Thursday, meaning there was no agreement among attorneys on a possible sentence. He is scheduled to be sentenced by McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather on April 16. According to Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Zalud, Bobadilla began sexually abusing two young female family members in 2008. They were younger than 13 years old at the time and are now 11 and 15. The abuse continued through 2013 when one of the
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Tina Leigh (left), Tim Kleich and Leigh’s son, Jon, 7, pose for a portrait Feb. 11 inside their Wauconda home. The trio found a missing Cary man, Kyle Cuchna, 21, who is bipolar, at a Wauconda homeless shelter after seeing pleas for help from his family on Facebook.
NEW WAYS TO SEARCH Social media changing missing persons investigations By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com CARY – When Tina Leigh of Wauconda saw posts in January about a Cary man who had gone missing, she decided she was going to help find him. “I saw something about it on Facebook – found out this young man was
Kyle Cuchna
missing and there was going to be a big search,” Leigh said. “I thought, ‘We need to help. ... What if this was my son?’” Leigh, her boyfriend and her son became an integral part of the search, locating 21-year-old Kyle Cuchna at a Wauconda homeless shelter days after he was last seen.
Kyle, who is bipolar, is now safe, his dad, Paul Cuchna, recently said. Many times, Paul Cuchna praised overwhelming community response and social media’s role in finding Kyle. A Facebook page created during the search collected more than 4,000 likes
See INVESTIGATIONS, page A6
See PLEA, page A6
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Wal-Mart giving a raise to about 500K U.S. workers as part of a $1 billion investment / B3 STATE
Brief warm-up expected The subzero cold spell that forced most McHenry County schools to close Thursday should break by Friday afternoon / A3
Rauner ‘prepared to negotiate’ Tax hike still possible as state Democratic, Republican lawmakers tackle budget / A9
Fireplace is on Fish Fry tastes great!