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Sweet 16 trip ‘special’ for Johnsburg graduate Melissa Dixon despite Iowa’s loss against Baylor / C1
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Accused husband appears in court
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PROPOSED FAA DRONE RULES UNDER REVIEW
Huntley man charged in wife’s beating death Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The Huntley man charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of his wife appeared in court Friday. Edward Hartgraves, 64, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Carol. He will be represented by attorneys Terry Slaw and Albert Wysocki. Huntley police were called March 20, by Edward Hartgraves, to the couple’s 10505 Longfield Drive home. Once there, Edward police spoke Hartgraves to 63-year-old Carol Hartgraves, who was disoriented. She died three days later at Centegra Hospital – Woodstock. Immediately after the incident, Hartgraves was charged with multiple counts of aggravated domestic battery. His charges were enhanced to murder upon Carol’s death. McHenry County Coroner Dr. Anne Majewski was not releasing Carol Hartgraves’ cause of death, per a
request from the state’s attorney’s office. Chief of the State’s Attorney’s Criminal Division Michael Combs would not discuss the facts of the case. The Hartgraves’ son was at the court appearance Friday, but declined to comment outside the courtroom. “I feel very bad for the family and everyone involved in this case,” Slaw said after court. “The case is going to be a long process, but I’m confident that when it’s over, my client will be acquitted of murder.” “It’s obviously a sad situation for all,” he said. Slaw also represents Hartgraves in a pending misdemeanor case, in which police were called to the Hartgraves home in February because Carol reported Edward was threatening her. Edward Hartgraves had an active order of protection out of Cook County that said he could not consume alcohol around Carol. In the February incident, he was charged with violating an order of protection. Earlier this month, the McHenry County judge presiding over that case modified a condition of Edward Hartgraves’ bond to allow
Robert McClurg of Wonder Lake is reflected in the screen of his tablet as he operates his remote controlled drone Thursday at Emricson Park in Woodstock. McClurg is a recreational drone user who has been hesitant to use drones professionally with his business, TurnKey Digital. BELOW: McClurg holds the drone.
Drone users ‘on standby’ Regulations not yet in place for commercial use of aircraft By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com Excited by the rapidly developing technology, Robert McClurg bought his first drone two years ago to experiment with operating the small unmanned aircraft and give himself a new hobby. Now, he’s hearing more requests from clients about incorporating the drone and the aerial footage it captures into the digital marketing services provided by his Woodstock business, TurnKey Digital. But so far, he said he has been hesitant to use drones professionally. Likewise, McHenry resident Josh Carstens is using his friends to build his aerial videography skills as he waits to use his drone commercially and create visual
content for real estate and media companies. “We are kind of on standby,” Carstens said. “A lot of companies are interested in using my services, but they don’t want to have any legal ramifications later on.” As drone technology becomes available and affordable for civilians, federal
regulators and even state lawmakers are scrambling to create rules that would guide safe commercial drone use for the public. Both McClurg and Carstens said they are waiting to incorporate drones for business since they don’t yet have a clear understanding on the regulations to fly
commercially the unmanned aircrafts that come with addons for camera equipment and resemble remote controlled helicopters found on toy store shelves. Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed regulations that would allow real estate companies, photographers, farmers, emergency responders and thousands of other businesses to fly small drones for work. Operators could only fly drones during daylight hours and maintain the small aircrafts within their line-ofsight, under the proposed commercial rules. Drones also couldn’t fly more than 100 mph and would have to stay below an altitude of 500 feet to avoid collisions with other aircraft.
See DRONES, page A4
See COURT, page A4
Budget-patching deal dips into various state funds By NICK SWEDBERG The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – A bipartisan agreement to plug a $1.6 billion budget hole includes more than $1.3 billion in fund transfers from a variety of sources to avert shutdowns of Illinois state programs and services. The move, signed into law
by Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday, digs into some of the largest piles of money in the state, including one intended to pay for highway construction, and some lesser known funds, such as ones to promote renewable energy sources and oversee the disposal of used tires. These kinds of funds have at times in past years been raided to help close
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budget gaps. Rauner’s office said it carefully selected funds this year that have reserves of excess cash on hand. A 2.25 percent across-theboard budget cut will cover what’s left of the shortfall, which arose when the Democrat-majority Legislature passed a $35.7 billion budget last spring that didn’t allocate enough money for expenses.
A state child care program needed another $300 million to keeping going through June, while other state programs also were expected to run out of money. Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger announced Friday she would expedite payments to child care providers, some of which had gone six weeks without promised state fund-
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Report measures area’s health
Advice ................................C10 Buzz.....................................C12 Classified..........................E1-6 Comics ............................... C13 Local News......................A2-4 Lottery..................................A2 Movies................................ C11 Nation&World.................A7-8 Neighbors.........................B1-6 Obituaries ...........................A9 Opinions ............................ A11 Puzzles .............................E4, 6 Sports............................... C1-9 State .................................... A5 Stocks...................................A9 Weather ............................. A12
McHenry County ranks 13th out of 102 Illinois counties in health outcomes / A3 NATION
Season opener Jacobs girls softball’s fast start fizzles in 12-5 loss to Antioch / C1
Signs of support Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid endorses Sen. Chuck Schumer to succeed him / A7
ing. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton warned that drawing from the funds is a one-shot deal that is “not going to work in the future.” Here are a few fund sweeps, at a glance:
struction. Critics warn a hit to this and similar funds, such as a $50 million sweep from the Motor Fuel Tax, would result in less money for projects and fewer jobs for road crews.
Local Government Tax Fund, $200 million: A portion of a
Road Fund, $250 million: municipality’s sales taxes for The largest amount is coming restaurants, medicine and from this fund, which is used See DEAL, page A4 to pay for state highway con-