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Huntley concrete firm exec indicted Charged with fraud, failure to pay taxes By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
McHenry High School choir director Derek Galvicius leads students at a recent rehearsal. The group will perform Sunday at a MidAmerica Productions performance in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Carnegie Hall beckons McHenry choir to perform on New York stage By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Julia Knight was expecting to spend her spring break in Florida, but she couldn’t be happier that trip will not happen. Instead of spending her break in the Florida sunlight, the McHenry High School senior and about 75 of her peers will be in the New York City spotlight performing at the world-famous Carnegie Hall. The top-two choral choirs comprised of students from both McHenry High School campuses have been preparing all year for this weekend’s Carnegie performance after the unexpected invitation over the summer. “This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and all the choir students,” Knight said. “It’s a very rewarding experience. We’re going to be able to dive deeper into the music and learn at an elevated level.” The select McHenry High School choir students will perform at Carnegie Hall on Sunday night with the Carthage College choir led by internationally acclaimed director Eduardo Garcia-Novelli. The high-profile performance was not even considered a possibility until Garcia-Novelli heard the choirs and jumped at the chance to invite them to perform with Carthage College at Carnegie Hall.
ABOVE: McHenry High School seniors and choir members Brendan Andrew (left) and William Fish rehearse “Prayer of the Children.” LEFT: McHenry High School choir director Derek Galvicius leads students at a recent rehearsal.
Voice your opinion: Where do you sing the most? Vote online at NWHerald.com. On the Web: To watch the McHenry High School choir rehearse, visit NWHerald.com.
See CHOIR, page A5
HUNTLEY – A federal grand jury Tuesday charged the president of a Huntley concrete contractor with defrauding labor union benefit plans and failing to pay more than $600,000 in taxes, as part of a 27-count indictment. The federal indictment alleges that Thomas Manning, 58, president of T. Manning Concrete Inc., underpaid required monthly contributions for the company’s labor union employees and falsified the number of hours the employees worked. The indictment also alleges Manning failed to collect and pay nearly $600,680 in taxes for the employees’ share of the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA). Hiring cement masons and workers from labor unions in northern Illinois, Manning was required by collective bargaining agreements to report monthly to benefit plans the number of hours each union employee worked and disclose the company’s contributions to the plans. Beginning in 2006, Manning started to defraud the benefit plans and under-report the number of hours employees worked in the monthly reports and underpay the required monthly contributions for the company’s covered employees, the U.S. State’s Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said in a news release In an effort to conceal the understatements, Manning paid the covered employees for additional hours “under the table,” using checks drawn from non-payroll accounts controlled by Manning, the U.S. State’s Attorney said. Manning allegedly sent the reports and contribution checks to the benefit plans via U.S. mail. Because of the falsified reports, Manning caused the benefit plans to make false statements in annual reports required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal indictment alleges. Because he paid covered employees under the table, Manning between 2007 and 2010 also failed to collect, account and pay $600,680 in federal taxes for the employees’ share of FICA, the indictment also alleges. Manning also submitted falsified forms to the Internal Revenue Service because of the under-reported wages and withheld taxes, the indictment states. Under the 27-count indictment, Manning was charged with five counts of mail fraud, five counts of causing false statements to be made on forms required by ERISA, 16 counts of failing to collect and pay FICA taxes and one count of obstructing the IRS. Manning is scheduled for arraignment March 31 at the U.S. District Court in Rockford.
Illinois moves to plug big hole in this year’s state budget By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers moved Monday to plug a gaping $1.6 billion hole in this year’s state budget after weeks of tense negotiations between a Republican governor and Democratic-led Legislature over authority to transfer
funds as money runs out for social programs such as subsidized day care. Legislation proposed by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan and backed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner passed the House early Tuesday afternoon with bipartisan support, including 46 of the chamber’s 47 Republicans. The Senate was to discuss the proposal later
on Tuesday, with at least one key Democrat expressing optimism it would pass. The bills would authorize Rauner to transfer $1.3 billion from programs such as roads, parks and conservation to those deemed more of a priority for the last three months of the fiscal year. The rest would come from a 2.25 percent across-the-board budget cut as well
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Trout released into Lake Atwood ahead of season’s opening / A3
Gov. Bruce Rauner tells Chicago TV and movie studio to return $10M grant / B3
Getting evenly roasted Brussels sprouts is all about space / D1
as giving the governor the authority to distribute $97 million to needy schools less able to absorb the reduction. The plan also gives the governor discretion over an additional $90 million in case of unanticipated budget problems. “Some might say it’s not pretty but it
See BUDGET, page A5
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Michael Madigan