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Man accused of posing as attorney Charged with stealing upward of $75K from McHenry County residents By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A man with prior felony charges alleging that he stole thousands of dollars from a marginalized population is back in McHenry County Jail on new, similar allegations. Victor M. Moreno, 42, is charged with nine counts of theft and other felonies in six
separate bills of indictment from three different communities. He remains in custody in lieu of $400,000 bond. According to court documents, Moreno falsely represented himself to be an attorney, and offered to help his clients on a host of matters such as immigration cases, mortgage refinancing and real estate taxes. The indictments are based on al-
legations from Harvard, Woodstock and Crystal Lake. In total, he’s accused of – between October 2012 and February 2013 – stealing upward of $75,000 from about six alleged victims who each believed that Moreno was a licensed attorney, court documents reveal. Falsely impersonating an attorney also is a felony, a charge for which Moreno is accused in
two instances. The most serious charge against him – financial exploitation of an elderly person because one of the alleged victims was 70 years old – is punishable by three to seven years in prison. Moreno was charged September 2013, and later posted bond to be released. He was subsequently charged this year with indictments coming out of Har-
vard. Last week, McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather increased Moreno’s bond in light of DUI and drug charges he picked up in Cook County in February while out on bond for the earlier cases. His last known address is in Chicago, although previous records indicate he has lived in several locations in Woodstock.
Victor M. Moreno
Record requests pricey for Ferguson Faced criticism over hefty fees in wake of shooting By JIM SALTER and DAVID A. LIEB The Associated Press FERGUSON, Mo. – Ferguson officials were inundated with thousands of open-records requests from media outlets and the public following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer. In response, the St. Louis suburb sought payments of thousands of dollars before even beginning to fulfill some of those requests, and Ferguson’s city attorney has defended that decision. Some media outlets complained to the Missouri attorney general that Ferguson was violating the state’s Sunshine Law, which is intended to ensure public access to records at a reasonable cost. The situation highlights the challenges local governments can face when they suddenly become the focus of intense public interest, and the growing threat of high costs to expanding openness at all levels of government – a cornerstone of Sunshine Week. The open government initiative is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. “I’m sure being in this kind of a spotlight can seem overwhelming to them,” said Jean Maneke, a Kansas City attorney who specializes in Sunshine Law issues. But she added: “The public has a right to ask questions about how its government works, and it’s in Ferguson’s best interest to be as transparent as it can.” Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, was shot by Darren Wilson, who is white, during an Aug. 9 confrontation. A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department both declined to charge Wilson, though a separate federal report found evidence of racial profiling and other problems in Ferguson’s police department and court system. The shooting spurred an influx of open-record requests seeking information on Brown and Wilson. Concerns about how the mostly white police
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Instructor Bill Stockwell gets ready to fly his drone Wednesday while teaching his introduction to unmanned aerial systems class at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. The class provides students with a basic understanding of what a drone is and how it operates, along with the rules and guidelines for safe operations, maintenance, information on each component and how a drone is constructed.
A LESSON IN FLYING McHenry County College rolls out introductory class on drones On the Web
By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Bill Stockwell’s hands barely moved as the drone rose straight up into the air, the four horizontal propellers whirring. The four men in his class – Stockwell’s introduction to drones course is in its first semester at McHenry County College and Elgin Community College – moved in closer to watch the screen on Stockwell’s remote control. “We have smaller ones, not like that. Bill’s is a little intense,” said Brian Monte of Crystal Lake, the owner of Barrington-based GadgetBar who is taking the course along with his employee, Taylor Wadlington of Cary. The two plan on expanding the business – primarily focused on repairing cellphones, cameras, tablets and computers – into this new territory, repairing the unmanned aerial systems and building them from scratch. The course, which meets over six Wednesdays this spring, gives
To view accompanying video, visit NWHerald.com.
Stockwell shows students what the camera on the drone is capturing Wednesday at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. students a basic understanding of what a drone is and how it operates along with a lowdown on the rules and regulations. They’ll also get a primer on pre- and post-flight inspections, basic maintenance and how a drone is constructed.
While all the students in this course already have a drone at home, the course focuses on using a simulator to get them used to the systems – without all the crashes and repairs, Stockwell said. “The simulator is definitely a
good tool,” he said. “It’s, I’d say, 70 percent realistic. It teaches you how to use your hands and what the machine’s doing, so if you practice enough on a simulator, you can go out and figure it out.” The biggest difference is the lack of environment, the sounds of the machine, the wind and the wildlife that like to attack the drones, Stockwell said. “The biggest thing is they’ve become incredibly easy to fly,” said Jim McCarthy, a Cary resident who’s been playing around with model airplanes for the past 20 years and decided to learn more about drones. “We could go outside, and I could show you some basics, and you’d be able to fly it. I learned the hard way, which was fly, crash, rebuild it, crash, rebuild it, crash.”
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See FERGUSON, page A4
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