Huntley police officer receives Lifesaving Award
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014
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FEBRUARY 23-M ARCH 1, 2014
4 incredible estates you can visit Inside HAPPENINGS What’s coming up in your state
Two ballot issues face opposition SPORTS
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America’s Millionaire
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Four awesome estates that you can visit
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HEROES IN PRINT
hat makes a great neighborhood? What about a great community, town or even county? Great schools are important. Active churches and civic organizations are vital as are engaged leaders. But individuals are the bedrock of any strong community, and fortunately, we have many in the communities who make up the Northwest Herald’s coverage area. Some you know, and some you might not. This year, we again are pleased to honor those whom nominators and the Northwest Herald have selected as Everyday Heroes. They volunteer for churches and veterans organizations. They work with those struggling with illnesses and disabilities. They are Everyday Heroes who walk among us every day. Enjoy celebrating them with us.
sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
HEROES ONLINE Access all the interviews with our heroes at NWHerald. com/heroes-2014. Also online is a photo gallery of this year’s Everyday Heroes.
RECIPE
Orzo comfort dish John D. Rockefeller’s Kykuit castle near Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
MIDWEST EDITION
Group urges voters to reject referenda in Huntley, J’burg By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO
A 60-page special section with stories celebrating McHenry County’s Everyday Heroes.
Blind athlete skis for the gold
A Chicago-based taxpayer group with a national reach is working to defeat two referenda in Huntley and Johnsburg that the group’s president says enrich local bureaucrats and increase property taxes on residents. Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America, said his group is supplying current and former members in both Jim Tobin M c H e n r y Taxpayers County towns United of with fliers and America information meant to drum up resistance against referenda proposed by the Huntley Park District and Johnsburg District 12 on the March 18 primary ballot. Johnsburg school officials, meanwhile, have said the criticisms levied by Tax-
payers United are off base. “They should vote against them if they want to save on property taxes,” Tobin said. “If they want property tax increases, they should vote yes to benefit the bureaucrats.” Huntley Park District has proposed an $18.75 million construction bond referendum that would allow officials to expand district services and create a new indoor turf facility. District 12 has proposed a referendum that would allow officials to issue up to $41 million in new bonds to finance building improvements and maintenance needs. If voters approved both proposals, their property tax bills would remain at their current levels. Property tax bills would decrease slightly, if voters in both towns rejected the referenda and allowed existing bonds to retire. Along with Huntley and
See BALLOT, page A10
GOP hopefuls agree prisons overcrowded, but fixes elusive Election Central
By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – The four Republican candidates for governor are in agreement when it comes to Illinois prisons: There are too many inmates, not enough cells and quick action is needed to address what they say is a public safety threat. “The population in our correctional facilities is dramatically overcrowded,” state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who’s in the running for Illinois’ top office, said in responding to a questionnaire from The Associated Press. “There are 49,000 inmates in a system designed for 32,000. This is not safe for the employees or those incarcerated.” But none of the candidates – Rutherford, Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner – offers a clear-cut, short-term plan for fixing the overcrowding situation, short of reopening recently shuttered facilities.
Follow the local, state and national races at NWHerald. com/election.
They are all at least skeptical of building new prisons, with most suggesting long-term strategic planning to determine the best way to house a population the Illinois Department of Corrections predicts will top 49,700 by September. In a departure from Republicans’ traditional lock-’em-up philosophy, the GOP candidates are open to the idea of alternative sentencing for low-level offenders. They would use programs such as Adult Redeploy Illinois, which diverts nonviolent offenders in several counties from prison by offering drug treatment, therapy or other services. And all but Rauner would at least consider reopening Tamms, a super-maxi-
LOCALLY SPEAKING
mum security lockup in far southern Illinois that was closed in 2012. The questionnaire answers left little to distinguish between the candidates, right down to criticizing incumbent Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. “I disagree with the governor’s decision to close Tamms; our worst criminals are now in other prisons and endangering the lives of guards,” said Dillard, of Hinsdale, who wants to reopen the facility. “The governor is now trying to control the population with excessive ‘early release’ which also threatens public safety.” The Corrections Department has said it continually assesses short- and longterm facility needs based on the number of prisoners coming into the system. But it has faced blistering criticism over its handling of prisons since Quinn took office in 2009. His razor-thin election victory in 2010
See PRISONS, page A10
MARENGO
LAWYER MOVES ON AFTER DEC. FIRE It’s a work in progress but divorce attorney Paula Rieghns has settled into her new office space inside a 150-year-old house on State Street in Marengo. Even as she and business manager Jennifer Drendel have moved and set up the new office, working with clients has continued. The attorney’s former office was destroyed in a fire Christmas night. For more, see page E1.
Hollie Savage (left) and her husband, Rob Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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AP file photo
The four candidates vying for the 2014 Illinois Republican gubernatorial nomination, (from left) state Sens. Kirk Dillard and Bill Brady, state Treasurer Dan Rutherford and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner, take part in a debate Feb. 4 in Naperville. When it comes to the state’s prisons, the four candidates agree they’re overcrowded, but none has a clear, short-term solution.