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Crystal Lake South overcomes sluggish shooting to pull off 44-41 win against Prairie Ridge / C1
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By DEB RIECHMANN and ARON HELLER The Associated Press
Member’s remote attendance at issue WOODSTOCK – A fictional town on the Illinois Open Meetings Act test required of all state elected officials is the latest backdrop for the ongoing debate over whether McHenry County Board member John Hammerand can attend meetings by phone from Florida during his annual winter trip. A question on the online test asks whether a trustee who broke her leg on a skiing vacation and wants to attend the monthly Shady Village Board meeting by videophone can do so. The correct answer is no, which newly elected County Board Chairman Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, told members Tuesday morning. Gottemoller is required John to take the test after beHammerand ing elected board chairman in December. The debate has become something of a ritual at the start of full board meetings since January, with board members voting whether Hammerand’s Joe stated reason for his Gottemoller annual three-month absence – his suscepOn the tibility to respiratory illnesses in cold weathWeb er – is allowed under You can take board rules. Board members the online have gone both ways open-govern– they voted Jan. 6 ment training against allowing required of Hammerand, R-Wonstate elected der Lake, to phone in, officials at foia. but allowed him to ilattorneydo so in subsequent general.net/ meetings. The penduelectronic_ lum swung back on foia_training. Tuesday, with a 14-7 aspx. vote against allowing him to remotely attend a meeting that lasted an uncharacteristically short 40 minutes. Gottemoller told board members that he talked to someone at the Illinois Public Access Counselor’s Office, who Gottemoller said advised that Hammerand’s absence does not qualify as a “physical illness or disability” that would allow him under the Open Meetings Act to remotely attend. Therefore, he said, voting in favor of allowing him to attend by phone would violate the law. “The question we are asked to answer is, was the physical illness preventing our board member from attending? If he’s not gone because of a physical illness, under the state statute, he’s not allowed to call in because he’s on vacation,” Gottemoller said. Hammerand, who said he would have been back by now had it not been for the most recent cold snap, said he has a valid medical reason and long ago gave a note from his doctor to county staff.
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Netanyahu warns deal will lead to Iran nukes
Ill. test adds to board debate kcraver@shawmedia.com
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Complete forecast on page A8
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
By KEVIN P. CRAVER
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Photos by H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Crystal Lake Brewing brewmaster Ryan Clooney checks a pour of Lakesider American Marzen. Local breweries and homebrewers are not concerned about reports of a bad barley crop devastated by heavy rains in the northwest.
don’t CRY in your beer
By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
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Poor barley crop likely won’t affect local supply
barley shortage caused by rotten weather last year likely won’t have locals crying in their beer over the price or availability of a locally brewed cold one, according to McHenry County’s fledgling craft beer industry. Despite reports to the contrary since heavy fall rains caused millions of dollars in damage to the barley crop in Idaho and Montana, area microbrewers and homebrewing enthusiasts don’t anticipate an inability to find the needed ingredients or any significant increases to pass on to consumers. In his 15 years in the craft beer business, Crystal Lake Brewing brewmaster Ryan Clooney says he’s “been through it all.” He said that while reports of a bad barley crop last year concerned the business, which opened in downtown Crystal Lake last August, he does not believe the microbrewery will have any trouble receiving what it needs. “We can absorb X amount of cost before passing it on, but I don’t foresee us doing that,” Clooney said. Because barley tends to like cooler weather and altitude, much of the U.S. supply is grown in the northwest through the upper Midwest. But heavy rains before the August harvest caused much of the barley to sprout in the field – rendering it worthless for brewing – or resulted in smaller kernels. Even though local brewers aren’t terribly concerned, trade organizations are. The Brewers Association, a Boulder,
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“We can absorb X amount of cost before passing it on, but I don’t foresee us doing that.” Ryan Clooney Crystal Lake Brewing brewmaster
Colorado-based craft brewing organization, warned members that “with some exceptions, this next year is going to be a very bumpy ride with respect to our malt supply.” Barley is one of the four traditional ingredients of beer, providing the malt sugar that the yeast converts into both alcohol and the carbon dioxide that makes the bubbles. Malted barley or wheat also gives beer its color, the proteins needed to form a good head and the sweetness that is offset by the bitterness of the hops. Because barley is more expensive, large-scale “mega-breweries” often adulterate with cheaper adjunct grains such as corn and rice, and use other artificial ingredients to make sure their beer has some kind of a head. But a significant number of craft brewers abide by what’s commonly called the German Purity Law, a 1516 edict in what was then the Holy Roman Empire that limited the ingredients in beer and is today interpreted to forbid any artificial ingredients or junk fillers. Historical principles aside, beer is like any other food or drink – it will look and taste different if you alter the recipe or if the ingredients are not up to their usual standards. Curt Ames, owner of Chain O’ Lakes Brewing Co. in McHenry, said he has heard nothing from his two providers See BEER, page A2
See BOARD, page A6
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3-point record
Probe ongoing
Election forum
Marengo’s Knobloch sets state record in 50-32 win over Harvard / C1
Search for Crystal Lake Central senior, 18, continues, police say / A3
District 156 candidates discuss finances and teachers union / A3
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WASHINGTON – In a direct challenge to the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood before Congress on Tuesday and bluntly warned the U.S. that an emerging nuclear agreement with Iran “paves Iran’s path to the bomb.” President Barack Obama pushed back sternly, saying the U.S. would never sign such a deal and Netanyahu was offering no useful alternative. In the U.S. spotlight for a day, the Israeli leader showed no uncertainty. “This is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it,” he declared in an emotionally charged speech that was arranged by Republicans, aggravated his already-strained relations with Obama and gambled with the long-standing bipartisan congressional support for Israel. Two weeks ahead of voting in his own re-election back home, Netanyahu took the podium of the U.S. House where presidents often make major addresses, contending that any nuclear deal with Iran could threaten his nation’s survival. In a tone of disbelief, he said that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, “tweets that Israel must be annihilatBarack Obama ed – he tweets.” Republicans loudly cheered Netanyahu in the packed chamber, repeatedly standing. Democrats were more restrained, frustrated with the effort to undercut Obama’s negotiations. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did little to Benjamin hide her unease and later Netanyahu issued a blistering statement criticizing what she called Netanyahu’s condescension. At the White House, Obama said there was value in the current economic sanctions against Iran and also in the negotiations in Switzerland aimed at restraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “Sanctions alone are not sufficient,” Obama said. “If Iran does not have some sense that sanctions will be removed, it will not have an interest in avoiding the path that it’s currently on.” The administration says there is no deal yet, but Netanyahu insists he is privy to what is being put forth. “If the deal now being negotiated is accepted by Iran, that deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons – lots of them,” he declared. He acknowledged that any deal would likely include strict inspections, but he said “inspectors document violations; they don’t stop them.” Obama declined to meet with the leader of Israel, a key U.S. ally, during this visit. Vice President Joe Biden was on a trip to Central America and so his seat as president of the Senate was filled by Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah, the Senate president pro tempore. As Netanyahu spoke, Secretary of State John Kerry was holding a threehour negotiating session with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Swiss resort of Montreux in hopes of completing an international framework agreement later this month to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. According to Netanyahu, the deal on the table offers two major concessions: Iran would be left with a vast nuclear infrastructure and restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program would be lifted in about a decade. “It doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb,” Netanyahu thundered. “It paves Iran’s path to the bomb.”
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