FRIDAY
May 15, 2015 • $ 1. 00
ROAD MAP TO FUN
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Guide to cruise nights, car shows planned throughout McHenry County / D1, 8
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Housing plans for CL raise concerns
FINDING FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS
62-home subdivision proposed near school By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
First-grade students complete laps May 7 at South Elementary School in Crystal Lake while participating in a run with Apex Fun Run, a company that helps schools fundraise for a certain percentage of the donations raised.
Fundraising dilemmas Schools can stay in house or go with commercial companies On the Web
By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – The week following the Apex Fun Run has been a bit of a letdown, one South Elementary School teacher said. The Crystal Lake school brought the company in for the first time this year to coordinate a fun run that would raise money primarily for books for the school’s library and perhaps heart rate monitors for the physical education classes and supplies for a new tiered behavior intervention system, Assistant Principal Kristen Cannon said. About $40,000 has been pledged to the 428-student school, 10 percent of which will go to the teach-
View video from the South Elementary School Apex Fun Run at NWHerald.com.
er whose classroom raised the money, but 48 percent of those dollars will go to Apex, a for-profit company. Commercial companies aren’t completely new to the school fundraising landscape. Some schools ask students to sell wrapping paper or frozen food from companies such as
See FUNDRAISING, page A4
Ryliegh Donohue, 7, stretches before running laps May 7 at South Elementary School in Crystal Lake while participating in a run with Apex Fun Run.
CRYSTAL LAKE – A proposed subdivision may have too many lots or homes that are too big, the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission chairman said. The country’s largest home builder, D.R. Horton, is looking to build a new 62-home subdivision southwest of Hannah Beardsley Middle School on about 21 acres surrounded by other homes, a church and railroad tracks, according to city documents. “We tried hard to design this in a way that it will be compatible with the neighbors,” said Jim Truesdell, a land acquisition manager with the firm. But those plans didn’t measure up for several of the commission’s members, and instead of voting on the proposal, the commission voted to revisit the project later this month after the developer has a chance to look at some of the concerns identified. “I like the idea of single-family homes there, so I’m excited about that,” Commissioner Jim Batastini said. “Truthfully, that’s where my excitement kind of ends.” Batastini described the homes as “boxes,” a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Jim Jouron who described them as “very, very plain houses.” Several commissioners questioned whether the type of residential zoning requested – one that allows for single-family homes on smaller lots – was right for the area, especially considering the developer was requesting variations so that one of the ranch-style homes could cut into the side yard and the street could have a tighter curve than is allowed. Because the property is not annexed into the city and doesn’t have a zoning already attached to it, the developers have a “blank canvas” to work with, Chairman Thomas Hayden said. “The question on my mind is, are the lots in this particular rendering
See HOUSING, page A4
Illinois House Democrats reject right-to-work legislation By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Democrats Thursday voted down a right-to-work plan closely mirroring Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal to allow local governments to permit workers to opt out of unions, in an attempt to pressure the Republican governor in contentious budget ne-
gotiations. The party that holds a veto-proof supermajority unanimously voted against the legislation that would allow local governments to establish “employee empowerment zones” where it would be unlawful to require union membership at workplaces within those areas. The zones, according to the bill, can apply to both private and public
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sector employee unions. It’s part of a set of pro-business reforms Rauner, a former private equity executive, wants passed in exchange for agreeing to new revenue to help close a $6 billion budget gap in the fiscal year starting in July. The almost two-hour debate included boos, jeers and emotional pleadings from both sides as Democrats praised the merits of unions and
their importance to the middle class, while Republicans billed the vote as political grandstanding. At one point, state Rep. Esther Golar of Chicago used her time on the floor to sing the African-American spiritual, “We shall not be moved,” to signify Democrats’ opposition to reducing the power of labor in the union-friendly state. Rauner campaigned on a theme of taking on “government union
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DUI charge dropped against new Woodstock city councilman, D.C. Cobbs owner / A3 NATION
Disappointing end
Acceleration in question
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Investigators look at why Amtrak train sped up before derailment / B3
bosses,” and has called for reducing spending on state employees’ salaries and benefits in the first months of his term. Unions praised Democrats’ vote. “The working men and women in Illinois have sent a clear message,” AFLCIO President Michael Carrigan said. “Right to Work is wrong for Illinois.”
See LEGISLATION, page A4
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