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March 15, 2015 • $1.50
Huntley’s Ali Andrews named Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year / C4
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THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com The entrenched tradition of the Illinois county fair, which a study says is still a big draw and lucrative, is also approaching a crossroads. A study released earlier this year concluded that spending at the more than 100 fairs in Illinois totaled more than $170 mil-
lion last year – $90 million at the events themselves and $80 million in surrounding businesses. But that same study points out changing times. Conducted by the University of Illinois Extension for the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs, the study points out changing demographics, a decline in the
See FAIRS, page A9
Complete forecast on page A12
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Experts: To deter suicide, speak up
Shaw Media file photos
McHenry County fair, along with others in state, looking to change with times
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Riley Colwell, 9, of Woodstock walks his reserve grand champion jersey cow, Robin, during the 2014 McHenry County Fair in Woodstock.
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On the Web n You can read the Illinois county fair economic impact report at http:// shawurl.com/1s9l. n To learn more about the McHenry County Fair, visit www.mchenrycountyfair.com.
Young men seen to have higher risk
Voice your opinion
CRYSTAL LAKE – On a Web page to raise money for the funeral of her 18-year-old brother, who she very recently lost to suicide, Liz Salazar included a pleading call-to-action. “If you or anyone you know is suffering from depression please help them,” Liz Salazar wrote on a GoFundMe page that has since been deleted after meeting its goal. “If anyone ever [confides] in you that they want to harm themselves, please speak up!!!” Her brother, Adrian Salazar of Crystal Lake, recently died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found Monday in Canterbury Park in Crystal Lake after he went missing several days earlier. On Thursday, a teenage girl died after being struck by a Metra train in an apparent suicide near Woodstock. Suicide is a devastating event, not only for the people losing their lives, but for all those connected with them, local experts said. They all reiterated Liz Salazar’s message: The best way to help a youth at risk is to speak up. “If a peer has that information about one of their friends, by all means they should do whatever they can to make sure they’re having a conversation with that friend, and say, ‘We should go talk to someone together,’” said Dr. Paul Berkowitz, director of behavioral health services at Centegra Health System. “They should promote communication to a counselor, parent or teacher so the person can get the support they need.” Nationally, suicide is the
By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
Is state funding for county fairs a good use of taxpayer money? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
The midway at the McHenry County Fair. A study by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Association of Agriculture Fairs found that spending at fairs totaled more than $170 million in 2014. Officials say half was spent in surrounding communities. One challenge for county fairs is a drop in state and local funding.
See SUICIDE, page A9
Social Security numbers active for millions of deceased By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Americans are getting older, but not this old: Social Security records show that 6.5 million people in the U.S. have reached the ripe old age of 112. In reality, only few could possibly be alive. As of last fall, there were only 42 people known to be that old in the entire world. But Social Security does not have death records for millions of these people, with the oldest born in 1869,
according to a report by the agency’s inspector general. Only 13 of the people are still getting Social Security benefits, the report said. But for others, their Social Security numbers are still active, so a number could be used to report wages, open bank accounts, obtain credit cards or claim fraudulent tax refunds. “That is a real problem,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. “When you have a fake Social Security number, that’s what allows you to fraudulently do all kinds of things, claim things
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like the earned income tax credit or other tax benefits.” Johnson is chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which plans a hearing Monday on problems with death records maintained Ron Johnson by the Social Security Administration. The agency said it is working to improve the accuracy of its death
LOCAL NEWS
Dedication at St. Patrick’s McHenry church gets replacement statue for one destroyed by vandal in 2014 / A3 SPORTS
World Series of dog shows Ken Murray of Island Lake tapped to judge competition at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last month / Planit 6-7
‘It just fell apart at the end’ No. 7 Cary-Grove starts off strong, but can’t sustain the pressure against No. 2 Loyola / C5
records. But it would be costly and time-consuming to update 6.5 million files that were generated decades ago, when the agency used paper records, said Sean Brune, a senior adviser to the agency’s deputy commissioner for budget, finance, quality and management. “The records in this review are extremely old, decades-old, and unreliable,” Brune said. The internal watchdog’s report does not document any fraudulent or improper payments to people using these Social Security numbers.
But it raises red flags that it could be happening. For example, nearly 67,000 of the Social Security numbers were used to report more than $3 billion in wages, tips and self-employment income from 2006 to 2011, according to the report. One Social Security number was used 613 different times. An additional 194 numbers were used at least 50 times each. People in the country illegally often use fake or stolen Social Security
See DECEASED, page A2
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