SATURDAY
Ma rch 21, 2015 • $1 .0 0
‘WE DIDN’T GIVE UP’
NORTHWEST
Crystal Lake South rally falls short in 6-5 loss to Boylan / C1
HERALD RALD
NWHerald.com
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Entrepreneurial spirit thriving in boomers
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Digital billboard permit approved First since county ended moratorium By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Mathnasium franchisee Mike Ammer of Huntley congratulates a student recently during a tutoring session at his South Elgin location. In the automotive industry for 32 years, Ammer had been managing two different car dealerships, one in Chicago and one in Merrillville, Indiana. “I was good at what I did, and I did have a passion for it, but I felt myself losing that passion, and when that happened, I knew it was time for me to move on.”
McHenry County business owners 50 and older describe experiences By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com In November 2013, 51-year-old Mike Ammer of Huntley found himself feeling burned out in an industry he’d been part of for 32 years. In the automotive industry, Ammer had been managing two different car dealerships, one in Chicago and one in Merrillville, Indiana.
“I was gone from the house 14 hours a day,” he said. “I was good at what I did, and I did have a passion for it, but I felt myself losing that passion, and when that happened, I knew it was time for me to move on.” So in April 2014, he, along with his wife, set out to start their own business, a Mathnasium learning center in Crystal Lake. In the process, Ammer became part of a more widely recognized and growing group of entrepreneurs older than 50.
Baby boomers, generally people born between 1946 and 1964, are twice as likely as millennials to plan their own businesses, according to January Gallup Poll findings. The poll, from a study of nearly 2,000 American baby boomers, observed the reasons why they tended to set out on these business endeavors at the time they did. Thirty-two percent of the boomers said
WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board approved, but just barely, its first request to erect an electronic billboard since approving new and tougher regulations. Board members voted Tuesday, 11-10, to grant a conditional use permit to Hinz Mixed Media LLC to put up a 242-square-foot, back-to-back electronic billboard on a half-acre at the northeast corner of Route 31 and Oakwood Court. The parcel, zoned for neighborhood business, is just outside Algonquin village limits and is bordered by unincorporated homes. The only County Board member to speak before the vote was Vice Chairwoman Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary, who opposed the idea. She cited the county planning staff report concluding that the use was inconsistent with the neighboring residential zoning and the board’s land use map. “I disagree that there is commercial development in the area that is consistent with the proposed use,” Barnes said. The proposal passed the Zoning Board of Appeals in January on a 5-2 vote. The governments of both Algonquin and Crystal Lake opposed granting the permit. The County Board’s approval of its new Unified Development Ordinance last October ended a two-year moratorium on the placing of electronic billboards, which was enacted at the request of those municipalities, along with Lake in the Hills and Lakewood. Municipal officials asked for the ban as the county updated and overhauled its development-related ordinances. They made the request out of frustration after the county
See BOOMERS, page A4 See BILLBOARD, page A4
Justice Dept. opens criminal probe into Schock’s spending By JACK GILLUM and STEPHEN BRAUN The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is investigating the congressional expenses and business deals of Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, and FBI agents have begun issuing subpoenas to witnesses, a person familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday. Investigators were focusing on Schock’s House office expense ac-
count, expenditures by his re-election campaign and his personal investments with longtime political donors, the person said. Schock, 33, a young, media-savvy Republican, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after weeks of mounting media reports about questionable expenditures and personal finances. The government was convening a federal grand jury in Springfield, Illinois, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case. The person also
LOCAL NEWS
said FBI agents were visiting people close to the Republican congressman who were being compelled by subpoena to testify. The grand jury was hearing testimony in early April, according to the subpoenas. A spokesman and lawyers for Schock Aaron Schock did not respond to repeated phone calls and emails Friday from AP.
LOCAL NEWS
WHERE IT’S AT
Vote on budget April 7
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Cary Village Board reviews proposed budget, which aims to offset state cuts / A3 STATE
Gates swing open at sites Conservation areas across McHenry County are opening earlier than normal this spring because of rapid snow melt / A3
Schock’s sudden resignation followed revelations over six weeks about his business deals and lavish spending on travel, personal mileage reimbursements and office redecorating in the style of “Downton Abbey.” Congressional ethics investigators had begun probing Schock’s conduct in the days before his announcement, but that probe was expected to shut down because of the federal investigation. Questions have included Associated Press investigations of Schock’s
real estate transactions, air travel and entertainment expenses – including some events that Schock documented in photographs on his Instagram account. On Monday, the AP confirmed the Office of Congressional Ethics had reached out to Schock’s associates as it apparently began an investigation. The owner of an air charter service in Peoria confirmed Friday that he had been contacted by an ethics
See SCHOCK, page A2
Keeping kids out of lockups Rauner’s administration unveils the outlines of a plan to improve juvenile justice system / A6
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