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AMERICAN PROFILE The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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CHILDREN AND CELLPHONES
What age is right?
County to state: End tax hike Board to vote on agenda item opposing increase By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Photo illustration by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Sprint is now marketing phones to 5-year-olds. How young is too young? Many companies are developing applications for children, as well as security settings that cater to their parents’ needs.
Voice your opinion
Companies offer devices designed for young kids seem like a bad idea to Maze, who besides being the mother of three, is also the owner of A Child’s Place Day Care in McHenry, Volo and Antioch. Most of the phones have a few big buttons that allow the user to call a handful of pre-programmed numbers and allow parents to monitor its usage and GPS location. One phone, sold by the company Firefly, has a built-in flashlight and can only receive texts, not send
By EMILY K. COLEMAN
What is an appropriate age for a child to have a cellphone? Vote online at NWHerald. com.
ecoleman@shawmedia.com
F
rancine Maze’s 4-year-old daughter already knows how to navigate Maze’s cellphone. She knows how to get to the smartphone’s application store, and she knows the free games are the ones she’s allowed to pick. That’s why a growing lineup of cellphones designed for kids as young as 5 years old doesn’t
them. Another, called Just5, has an emergency button that when held down, texts and calls five pre-programmed contacts continuously until someone picks up. “If a child is interested in it and it’s a good thing, a positive thing, I think the child should be exposed to it,” Maze said. “Sometimes I see children being limited by their parents: ‘Oh, he’s too young for that.’ ”
See CELLPHONES, page A4
WOODSTOCK – A sharply worded letter from a local government – like its heir apparent, the witty Twitter hashtag – usually has very little power when it comes to changing state and federal public policy. But once in a while – like when state lawmakers try to renege on a promise that a historic tax increase will sunset as scheduled – it feels good for a government like the McHenry County Board to let Springfield know it’s mad as heck. And with conventional wisdom holding that House Speaker Michael Madigan may not have the 60 votes needed before the end of session May 31 to make the “temporary” increase permanent, every little bit may help. The County Board on Thursday hastily added an agenda item for its Tuesday evening meeting to pass a resolution opposing state Democratic lawmakers’ plan to make the increase permanent. The 2011 tax increase of 67 percent on individuals and 46 percent on businesses is supposed to significantly sunset Jan. 1. Board Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, said the board assumed the tax increase would not come up until later in the year and the board would have more time to have its say. But several of the county’s representatives told the county that a vote could come as soon as next week.
At a glance The McHenry County Board will vote Tuesday on a resolution opposing state Democratic lawmakers’ plan to make the 2011 state income tax increase permanent.
Afternoon Drive Get the latest headlines emailed straight to your inbox each weekday afternoon by signing up for Afternoon Drive at NWHerald. com/newsletter.
See TAX HIKE, page A4
State budget would mean more money for schools, veterans The ASSOCIATED PRESS
By the numbers Items in the Illinois House-approved spending plan: n Education: Elementary and secondary schools would get $6.7 billion. n Veterans: The $77.6 million budget for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs would include $9 million more. n Corrections: The state’s prison system would get $9 million to reopen two facilities closed just two years ago, transforming former youth prisons into specialized treatment facilities.
SPRINGFIELD – A spending plan the Illinois House approved this week includes more money for schools, veterans’ homes and prisons. House Democrats led the way – but by narrow margins – in adopting nearly 80 appropriations measures Thursday that form the basis of a $37 billion
LOCALLY SPEAKING
budget that begins July 1. Republicans opposed the effort because they agreed earlier this year that revenues would be about $34 billion in the coming year, and the spending outstrips money to pay the bills. But Democrats are pushing – with backing from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn – to make permanent a temporary income tax increase.
If it rolls back as scheduled in January, the state would lose an estimated $1.8 billion. Here are some of the highlights of the proposed spending plan: • Education: Elementary and secondary schools would get $6.7 billion, including an increase of $132 million in general state aid – operating funds for salaries and learning materials. There would
be $25 million more for early childhood education and bilingual education would increase by $12 million. • Veterans: The $77.6 million budget for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs would include $9 million more, mostly for additional staffing at veterans homes.
See BUDGET, page A6
ALGONQUIN
STUDY TO ANALYZE FOX RIVER AREA Algonquin, along with Carpentersville, plans to participate in a Fox River corridor study with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The study, to be paid for with federal money, will examine the potential for increased access to the river and develop strategies to boost waterway recreation. The study is expected to take a year to complete. For more, see page B1.
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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McHENRY COUNTY: May snowfall blankets county, but melts quickly; warmer temps coming soon. Local, B1