SATURDAY
Ap r i l 4 , 2015 • $ 1 .0 0
FINAL FOUR
NORTHWEST
Wisconsin’s Kaminsky, Michigan State’s Trice make Big Ten look good / C1
HERALD RALD
HIGH
LOW
56 43 Complete forecast on page A8
NWHerald.com
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Dog flu not yet in county
RAGING BUFFALO BOLSTERS PROGRAMS, PLANS EXPANSION
Concern spreads as virus affects pets in Chicago By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Shaw Media file photo
Raging Buffalo Snowboard Ski Park owner Keith Duck (left) assists riders to begin descending the hill earlier this year in Algonquin.
Park owner sees hot future after cool season By JEFF ENGELHARDT
“... I would have to go back six or eight years to find the last [Christmas] great break for us. The economy is still struggling a little bit for people to spend on recreation.”
jengelhardt@shawmedia.com ALGONQUIN – Keith Duck is already dreaming of the next snowfall. Duck, owner of Raging Buffalo Snowboard Ski Park, said it was a good but not great year for his business that just completed its 23rd winter season. The winter sports complex at 19-265 Western Ave. in Algonquin opened its doors earlier than any time in its history with a mid-November opening for the winter season. While Duck said it gave his business a nearly six-week head start on other regional competitors, the crucial winter break portion of the schedule was just average as mild snowfall and
Keith Duck Owner of Raging Buffalo Snowboard Ski Park
temperatures kept some people from the park. “Christmas break is such a critical time for our industry, but I would have to go back six or
eight years to find the last great break for us,” Duck said. “The economy is still struggling a little bit for people to spend on recreation.” Duck said the park also experienced the most closed days because of bitter cold. As a lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Duck said that record was not so much a financial disappointment as an emotional disappointment. He said back when he first started at the park he would have never imagined closing for cold weather, but with so many indoor entertainment options and a societal change in the view of extreme cold, it made fiscal sense to close. “No one would have come anyway,” he said.
CRYSTAL LAKE – The canine flu virus spreading in and around Chicago has yet to hit McHenry County, but local dog experts say that hasn’t stopped concern among dog owners from advancing. Ross Oliver, the practice manager at C o m p a n i o n Voice your Animal Spec i a l t y a n d opinion Emergency Are you Hospital in Crystal Lake, concerned said his facili- about the ty has spoken spread of dog to veterinari- flu? Vote online ans in the area, at NWHerald. but has yet com. to find a confirmed case of the dog influenza virus. That’s in contrast to Chicago, where PetSmart closed a boarding center with plans to close two more to prevent the virus from spreading. “We really are not seeing what they are seeing,” Oliver said. “There’s not anything that’s being documented in McHenry County.” Dogs with the flu will have a cough, runny nose and fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 80 percent of the cases will be mild and a fraction are fatal. The virus spreads easily among dogs through direct contact or contact with contaminated objects, but can’t be transmitted
See SEASON, page A4 See VIRUS, page A4
Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin still lags nation in job growth By SCOTT BAUER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI The Associated Press MADISON, Wis. – Scott Walker has transformed Wisconsin politics, winning three elections in four years and signing laws that weaken unions, crippling a key ally of the Democratic Party. But the likely Republican presidential contender has had less success changing
Wisconsin’s economy and budget. The state lags in job growth and its budget faces a shortfall. It’s a record that complicates Walker’s path in early primary states as he sells himself as a reformer. “Most of his activity was more politically focused than economically, job-creation focused,” said John Torinus, a Milwaukee businessman and venture capitalist who nevertheless praises some
SPORTS
of Walker’s moves. “He was going to concentrate on job creation with a laser-like focus and he got distracted.” Wisconsin has added private-sector jobs at a lower rate than Scott Walker the national average since July 2011 – six months after Walker took of-
fice. Walker promised in the 2010 campaign that if elected his policies would create 250,000 private sector jobs. But only about 145,000 such jobs were created over his first four years. Wisconsin ranked 40th in private-sector job growth for the 12 months ending in September, said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Walker has called hiring in his state the “gold standard” for mea-
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Residents can offer input on proposed fiscal plan at public hearing set for Tuesday / A3 STATE
Gutsy move pays off Cary-Grove grad Eleni Polites transfers to Illinois-Chicago, where she’s making a significant impact for the 11-14 Flames / C1
Candidates enter home stretch Mayor Rahm Emanuel trying to avoid second embarrassment in Chicago race / A5
suring his performance. Still, there are positive economic signs Walker relies on to defend his record. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has dropped from 8.1 percent to 5 percent over his time in office. The state has seen a higher rate of new businesses starting than the rest of the country and income growth for Wisconsin residents has exceeded the national average. Per capita income growth
in Wisconsin exceeded per capita American income growth. Walker “wasn’t afraid to set big, bold goals to get Wisconsin back on track,” said AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for Walker’s political group, Our American Revival. “The governor is now taking his reform ideas that led to this economic success in Wisconsin
See WALKER, page A4