Bubba Watson wins another green jacket at Augusta
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MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014
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Car sales on Sunday?
Lawmakers in Illinois face tough tax votes By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Crystal Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram sales associate Craig Colby (left) remembers when his dad fought for the 1982 law that banned auto sales in Illinois on Sundays. Federal regulators say Illinois’ longstanding ban isn’t good for competition and can be harmful to the marketplace. The Federal Trade Commission says the law also makes it more difficult for drivers to shop around for the best deal.
Dealership owners support ban; report says it should go By EMILY K. COLEMAN
Voice your opinion
ecoleman@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Jack Cronan remembers when car dealerships used to be open on Sundays. “I missed the family picnics,” he said. “I missed the Little League games and all the other things on Sunday because I had to work. And on those days, we’d sell four or five cars that we would have sold on another day. It wasn’t worth it.”
Should car dealers be allowed to sell cars on Sunday? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
A 1983 state law changed that, banning the sale or longterm lease of vehicles on Sunday. A March report from the Federal Trade Commission, prepared at the request of state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar
Grove, recommends repealing the law. The ban makes it more difficult for consumers to comparison shop, raises their search costs and diminishes competition, FTC staff said in the report. “Collectively, these effects may lead to higher prices and reduced output for sales of new and used automobiles and related automobile services than would otherwise be the case,” the report said. But the ban also lowers the
overhead costs for dealerships, and the guaranteed Sunday off makes sales jobs more attractive, bringing a higher caliber of employee, said Cronan, who is the owner and president of Bull Valley Ford in Woodstock. If he had to stay open on Sundays, he’d have to pay for nearly two more months of labor, and he doesn’t expect that to translate into increased sales, which means he would have to raise prices to cover the costs.
See SALES, page A9
SPRINGFIELD – Faced with an expected $3 billion budget hole from an expiring income tax increase, Illinois lawmakers are grappling with whether to raise taxes to avoid major cuts to schools and social services next year. With six weeks left in the spring session, Democrats must weigh the political risks of extending a tax hike in a year Republicans are making streamlined government spending a focal point in their campaigns for governor and legislative seats. Lawmakers could make the 2011 temporary income tax increase permanent or change the state’s tax code from a “flat” tax, where everyone pays the same rate, to a progressive system, which taxes higher earners more. House Speaker Michael Madigan last week abandoned a third proposal that he’d floated, to boost education funding by tacking a 3 percent surcharge on all earned income over $1 million. Madigan couldn’t get enough votes to push his plan through the House, despite a Democratic supermajority of 71 members. Beyond the partisan divide, the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate face internal battles. “Outsiders think that as a Democratic majority we’re monolithic,” said state Rep. Jack Franks of Marengo, who was one Democratic vote against the millionaires tax, and is opposed to the other
Michael Madigan, Illinois House Speaker, has said he wants to “resolve” the issue of extending the tax increase before the end of the spring session May 31.
Illinois Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, was one Democratic vote against the millionaires tax, and is opposed to another two tax proposals.
See VOTES, page A9
Challenger leagues call for ‘buddies’ Need volunteers to assist players with special needs By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com McHenry County’s two avenues for special needs little leaguers are asking for a few more buddies to help in the field and along the base paths. Woodstock Challenger Little League and McHenry Baseball Association’s Challenger Baseball are seeking
volunteers interested in being paired with specific special needs players throughout the season. Challenger leagues are built to allow players with varying disabilities – physical and mental – to experience little league baseball. Their partners, termed “buddies” and ranging in age from youngsters to grandmothers, help out as much or as little as needed throughout each game. By the end of the year, buddies can end up taking away as much from the experience as the players.
LOCALLY SPEAKING Prairie Ridge’s Michael Bradshaw
“Just seeing the way that ... their attitude changes and their outlooks change working with the kids is tremendous,” said Jason Todd, Challenger VP for McHenry Baseball. McHenry started its challenger league a year ago with 19 players. Todd said that the idea, in part, was to give fullleague players an avenue to give something back from baseball that they’ve been getting for years. “Pretty much every [buddy] that we had last year has come back to do it this year,” he said.
But with enrollment already up to about 32 players this year, the league is short a few buddies. Woodstock, which started the county’s first Challenger league in 2012, is anticipating they will have a similar issue, said Rochelle Donahue, Challenger league vice president. The league has enough buddies to match the 32 players currently signed up, but a final-week push in league enrollment would leave them short. “Historically, I get five or
See BUDDIES, page A8
CRYSTAL LAKE
LOCAL TALKS ABOUT LIFE IN THE NAVY
Shaw Media file photo
Challenger Little League buddy Brogan Piunicka (right), 10, helps Marcus DeLeon, 9, put on a helmet May 29, 2012, at Merryman Fields in Woodstock. Woodstock Challenger Little League and McHenry Baseball Association’s Challenger Baseball are seeking volunteers interested in being paired with specific special needs players throughout the season.
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A “quarter-life crisis” led Andrea Wells to join the Navy, but it ended up being the best decision of her life. After two deployments that took her from Malaysia to Thailand and the United Arab Emirates among others, the 28-year-old Crystal Lake resident talks about life at sea and what she plans to do now that she has returned to civilian life. For more, see page A3. adno=0265929
Huntley’s Amanze Egekeze Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
HEBRON: Huntley’s Amanze Egekeze leads ‘Home’ All-Stars to victory, takes game’s MVP award. Sports, B1
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