MONDAY
May 18, 2 015 • $ 1.0 0
SHAKY PERFORMANCE
NORTHWEST
Rundblad looks rusty as Hawks drop Game 1 of conference final to Ducks / B1
HERALD RALD
NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
Facebook.com/NWHerald
CL SO AS F2 5 01
FUTURE AWAITS
LOW
75 38 Complete forecast on page A10
@NWHerald
Road work set to begin
GRADUATIONS 2015 Alden-Hebron, Woodstock
HIGH
Huntley to start $915K in repairs by early June By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – Construction crews in June will start resurfacing nearly three miles of combined roads throughout Huntley, as part of $915,000 in local road repairs this summer. Hoffman Estates-based Plote Construction will grind about two inches of asphalt and then resurface the western half of the Wing Pointe subdivision in Huntley, along with North Street, east of Route 47 to Woodstock Street, said village engineer Tim Farrell. Third Street, between Woodstock and Church streets, near downtown Huntley will be reconstructed, Farrell said. Plote crews also will extend a sidewalk along Sun City Boulevard to Vineyard Drive, as part of the village’s annual road maintenance program this year. “In the neighborhood areas, it will improve the character of the neighborhood with newer-looking roads,” Farrell said. “It will extend the life of the pavement and infrastructure.” Since the late 2000s, village officials have worked to repair older roads in the village’s control. The roads slated for construction this year haven’t been resurfaced in the last 12 to 15 years, Farrell said. Village trustees approved Plote’s $816,350 construction bid late last week. Along with engineering costs, the maintenance program this year totals $915,000. The road work should begin in early June and conclude by early August, Farrell said. Minor traffic disruptions also are expected during the summertime construction. Residents who live in the western portion of Wing Pointe won’t be able to park along the street during daytime hours, Farrell said. Traffic flaggers also will assist motorists through the roads slated for resurfacing work, since construction will reduce the roads to one lane, he said.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
John Marty Becker takes a selfie with the graduating senior class before the Woodstock High School commencement ceremony Sunday.
Woodstock graduates look back, look forward By CYNTHIA WOLF editorial@nwherald.com
W
OODSTOCK – Rachel and Kyle Sherman settled into a spot along the east-side bleachers in the James M. Shipley Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday. “He’s my only sibling,” Mrs. Sherman said of her younger brother, Timothy Piquette, who was moments away from filing by with 233 other members of the Woodstock High School Class of 2015. “It’s bittersweet,” she added. “But I’m really proud of him.” A couple of rows behind the Shermans, Denise Ziszik kept her eyes peeled for her 17-year-old son, Colton Ratkovic. Ziszik said she couldn’t be more proud of Colton, who attended early-morning EMT training while also completing his senior year requirements and holding down a job. “He’s the youngest cadet to apply to the Woodstock Fire Department,” she said. Soon the warm gym was standing-room only, and attendees pressed their commencement day programs into service as paper fans. Class president Amanda Marie Jandernoa thanked parents, teachers, friends and family for supporting the graduates, while also touching on themes of perseverance and trial by fire.
Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Students Matthew Winter (left) and David Talbert laugh inside the computer lab before their commencement ceremony Sunday at Alden-Hebron High School in Hebron.
INSIDE: Alden-Hebron holds commencement for Class of 2015. PAGE A3 MORE PHOTOS: View commencement ceremony photo galleries at NWHerald.com. MORE COVERAGE: Read more stories of local graduations at NWHerald.com.
See WOODSTOCK, page A4
States saying ‘no’ to cities seeking to regulate businesses Legislators say patchwork rules hurt economy, while local governments argue for autonomy By DAVID A. LIEB The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Alarmed about cities trying to outlaw plastic bags, the director of the Missouri Grocers Association decided to do something about it. So Dan Shaul turned to his state legislator – himself – and guided a bill to passage barring local governments from banning the bags. Shaul’s dual role in state government and business may be a bit out of the norm. Yet his actions are not.
In capitols across the country, businesses are increasingly using their clout to back laws prohibiting cities and counties from doing things that might affect their ability to make money. In the past five years, roughly a dozen states have enacted laws barring local governments from requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees. The number of states banning local minimum wages has grown to 15. And while oil-rich states such as Texas and Oklahoma are pursuing bills banning local re-
strictions on drilling, other states where agriculture is big business have been banning local limitations on the types of seeds sown for crops. It seems no issue is too small for businesses to take to capitol halls. Wisconsin has banned local bans on sugary drinks. Arizona and Florida have barred local governments from forbidding toys in fast-food meals. And Utah has barred cities from requiring bicyclists to be served in drive-thru lanes. In each case, states have stepped in after city officials somewhere in the nation proposed local policies that business leaders didn’t like. Businesses have warned lawmakers that a potential patchwork of local regulations could be bad for the
economy. “We need to give companies and businesses some predictability and some consistency in their operations so that they can grow,” said Shaul, a freshman Republican representative from the St. Louis suburb of Imperial, whose anti-bag ban measure is pending before Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. Environmental activists in Columbia, who pushed for the ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores, were jolted by the state intervention. “I was horrified, just really demoralized,” when the legislation passed, said Sierra Club member Jan Dye. “They just want to remove local control.”
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
NATION
WHERE IT’S AT
Education roles
New chances
Biker shootout
Bob Birchfield on his 20 years serving on the D-200 board / A3
Start of girls soccer playoffs provides tests, plenty of intrigue / B1
Police: 9 killed were all members of rival motorcycle gangs / A6
Advice ................................ C6 Classified........................C1-5 Comics ...............................C8 Local News.....................A2-5 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World...............A6-8 Obituaries .........................A8
The Missouri bill goes beyond plastic bags. It also would also prohibit local governments from requiring businesses to provide employees paid sick leave, vacation or health, disability and retirement benefits. And it would block cities and counties from adopting their own “living wage” requirements. States have pre-empted some local policies for decades. A movement to restrict local gun ordinances began in 1971, for example, and has been enacted as law in 45 states, according to the National Rifle Association. State lawmakers in Oklahoma and Michigan this year are pushing similar measures for knives.
See REGULATIONS, page A8
Opinion...............................A9 Puzzles ............................... C7 Sports..............................B1-6 State ............................... A5-6 TV listings ......................... C7 Weather ........................... A10