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February 8, 2015 • $1.50
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Funding for roads joins list of goals
GOVERNOR REVIEWING ALL MAJOR IDOT PROJECTS
Huntley Amtrak on hold
Local gov’t group sets out priorities for Ill. lawmakers By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
nesses and ship it to intermediaries in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to fighters in Syria and Iraq. One of the suspects, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, a 34-year-old mother of four from Schiller Park, appeared Saturday in federal court in Chicago. Wearing an orange jail uniform, she spoke only to confirm that she understood the charges. She appeared calm and smiled occasionally while consulting with her attorney.
Calling for transportation infrastructure investment is among the legislative priorities set forth by the McHenry County Council of Governments. The legislative priority and transportation priority agendas were approved last month by the group that includes representatives from McHenry County municipalities, such as Crystal Lake, McHenry, Algonquin and Cary. “We want everyone on the same page,” said Chalen Daigle, the executive director for the McHenry County Council of Governments. “It’s making sure we’re on the same page and advocating for the same things.” Daigle said the priority list is what the organization will take down to Springfield, and refer to when speaking with legislators. The group’s legislative committee expanded upon priorities it listed last year, and added a new one: Investing in transportation infrastructure. “Local and regional transportation projects are a top priority for the county, townships and municipalities,” the document says. “Dedicated transportation dollars and programs for local and state projects need to be consistent and funded.” The organization calls for the end of the 55/45 split, where 55 percent of federal transportation dollars go to downstate regions and 45 percent goes to the Chicago area, Daigle said. With most of the state’s population in the northeast corner of the state, Daigle said a shift toward allocating road dollars based on need could be a better approach. “It’s not necessarily leaving out the downstate communities,” Daigle said. MCCG also is calling for a fully funded capital program for the state to help construct projects being engineered and provide engineering and construction money for projects being planned. The 2009 Illinois Jobs Now Program has expired. “Investment in a capital bill for the state is important for the region,” Daigle said. Specific projects also were listed by the McHenry County Council of Governments. Among the projects listed are improvements on Route 47 from
See INDICTMENT, page A7
See PRIORITIES, page A7
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Charles Nordman, director of development services for the village of Huntley, and Lisa Armour, assistant village manager, talk Friday near the proposed location of the Amtrak route through Huntley. Village officials are saying the route has been put on hold until the new governor completes a review of IDOT’s major projects.
Rauner’s executive order means plan for line must wait By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO
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sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – A $223 million plan that puts Huntley along a revived Amtrak passenger rail line has been derailed until Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner completes his review of all major state construction projects. The executive order Rauner signed during his first day in office freezing discretionary state spending and barring agencies from awarding contracts without his administration’s approval indefinitely delays the Illinois Department of Transportation’s agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to restart Amtrak service between Chicago and Rockford. Although construction hasn’t started on the rail line, state transportation officials spent $3
Would you take an Amtrak train to Rockford or Chicago from Huntley? Vote at NWHerald.com. million on engineering before Rauner signed the order, said IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell. Huntley officials also spent $50,000 on engineering plans, as they worked to build a train platform in downtown Huntley before Amtrak service was planned to start in December with one daily round trip from a temporary station in Rockford to Union Station in Chicago. “We believe in this project,” said Village Manager Dave Johnson. “We believe it’s an important part of providing transportation to
this region. We believe it makes sense, and we expect that it will proceed.” The project delay, Johnson said, threatens the village’s ability to meet the construction deadline on its downtown platform, nearly three months after Huntley inked a $3.55 million agreement with IDOT that kicked off the local project. For decades, Huntley had tried to secure a passenger rail line – originally planning for a downtown Metra stop in the 1990s. Former Gov. Pat Quinn bolstered the effort after announcing last spring a $223 million plan to restart passenger rail service between Chicago and Rockford for the first time since the early 1980s.
See AMTRAK, page A7
Ill. women among group accused of aiding ISIS Residents of Rockford, Schiller Park named in federal indictment By JASON KEYSER The Associated Press CHICAGO – Six Bosnian immigrants accused of sending money and military equipment to extremist groups in Syria used Facebook, PayPal and other readily available
services to communicate and transfer funds, according to a federal indictment. The six, including two women from northern Illinois, are charged with conspiring to provide and providing material support to groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Islamic State group and an al-Qaida-affiliated group called the Nusra Front. The indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis alleges they plotted by phone, Facebook and email; shared videos and
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photos related to their plans on social media sites; sent money via PayPal and Western Union; and shipped boxes of military gear through the U.S. Postal Service. The defendants are accused of donating money themselves and, in some cases, collecting funds from others in the U.S. and sending the donations overseas. It says two of the defendants, a husband and wife in St. Louis, used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment from local busi-
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