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CONTRACT EXTENSION • SPORTS, C1
HIGH-PRICED ACQUISITION • BUSINESS, B5
Bears receiver gets three-year, $30M deal
High expectations, scrutiny after AT&T’s $48.5B purchase of DirecTV
Man admits to impregnating 12-year-old girl McCullom Lake resident pleads guilty to sexual assault of child Rafael RodriguezSanchez, 41, pleaded guilty to predatory sexual assault of a child.
By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Photos by H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Youth soccer coach Andy Hanson instructs his players during a recent practice at Matthews Middle School in Island Lake. Hanson, who grew up in Crystal Lake, is celebrating his 20th year as a leukemia survivor and all the things he’s gotten to do over the past 20 years, including having his three kids. He hopes to raise $20,000 for leukemia research in honor of his 20 years.
Story of survival Former CL man continues raising money for research, celebrates 20 years of life since his leukemia diagnosis By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
B
eing able to coach his daughters’ soccer teams was not something Andy Hanson was sure he’d ever get to do. The former Crystal Lake man had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 22, and doctors weren’t sure whether the treatment would wipe out his ability to have children. But 20 years later, the cancer is still gone, and Hanson and his wife, Cher, have three girls, Macie, 10; McKenna, 8; and Norah, 6. “Anyone that goes through that type of diagnosis always has a different attitude on life afterward,” Cher Hanson said. “He’s always the one trying to get me to calm down. With three kids, it gets a little crazy sometimes, but [he reminds me] not to worry about the small stuff.” Hanson, who now lives in Wauconda, goes in for his 20th annual exam in a couple of weeks, and he’s not nervous – not at this point. “After years, those got easier and easier and more like a little bit of a celebration almost, seeing my doctor and some of the nurses and all of the people that supported me,” he said.
"From that point on, after the shock wore off and the tears stopped, it was kind of like being in sports and being competitive: This is the plan. While it was scary, at least we knew the path, and two years did seem like an extremely long time to survive this." Andy Hanson on how he prepared to deal with his leukemia diagnosis
‘Really bad sinus infection’ Hanson was staying with his parents in Crystal Lake, home from college on an internship. He was just wrapping up a degree in criminal justice at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. He wasn’t feeling well. He had lost some weight. The doctor thought perhaps it was just a really bad sinus
infection and sent him home with medicine and instructions to call if things didn’t get better. They didn’t. “I literally couldn’t walk up even a couple of stairs without getting so out of breath that I thought I was going to pass out,” he said. “One night my parents got home, and my heart felt it was going to beat out of my chest.”
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Helping ‘families that really need him’ Being able to step back from the ups and downs of treatment is some of the advice that Hanson passes along to other cancer patients and their families. Hanson served on the Leukemia Research Foundation’s Board of Directors for nearly 20 years and was its president from 2009 to 2012. He stepped down from the board this past year to take a breather. Hanson and his parents, Charles and Ellen Hanson,
See LEUKEMIA, page A4
ed and DNA evidence would have shown, Zalud said, with 99.9 percent probability that the child was Rodriguez-Sanchez’s. Rodriguez-Sanchez was not related to, but had lived with the girl in McCullom Lake when the sexual encounter occurred, attorneys said. Outside the courtroom, Rodriguez-Sanchez’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos, said the sex was not forced. In exchange for his guilty plea, a remaining domestic battery charge was dropped. His plea was accepted by McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather.
Quinn addresses Dems on tax vote Attempts to persuade lawmakers on extension of temporary hike By KERRY LESTER and SARA BURNETT
By the numbers
The Associated Press
$1.8 billion
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn tried Monday to persuade House Democrats to extend the state’s temporary income tax increase to avoid what he says would be “savage” budget cuts, but emerged from a roughly three-hour meeting with lawmakers still well short of the votes he needs for approval. “We’re doing our best to get to that majority,” the Chicago Democrat said following the closed-door meeting. “Obviously we have to keep on working till we get there.” With two weeks to go in the spring legislative session, Democrats – who hold 71 seats in the 118-member House – don’t have the 60 votes needed to make the 2011 tax hike permanent, largely because of reluc-
PRAIRIE GROVE
ALGONQUIN
STUDENTS LEARN OF HOLOCAUST VICTIMS
VILLAGE EYES PLAN TO UPGRADE FACILITY
Prairie Grove students have been building memorials to the victims of the Holocaust to be part of a Holocaust memorial museum in the school’s library. Other students in the district will tour the museum Tuesday and Wednesday, and the museum will open to the public from 5:30 to 8 p.m. both days. For more,
Algonquin is looking to update its facility plan to help with planning for wastewater treatment plant upgrades in the future. Updating the plan is expected to cost about $148,000, according to village documents. The update will look at the village’s collection system, lift stations and current wastewater treatment facility. For more, see page B1.
see page B1. Jacobs’ Matt Kozlak (left) and Cary-Grove’s Dean Christakes
They ended up at the Good Shepherd emergency room, and eventually he was diagnosed at Northwest Community Hospital. He still has the single double-sided sheet of paper his doctor at Northwest gave him that outlined the next two years of his life. “From that point on, after the shock wore off and the tears stopped, it was kind of like being in sports and being competitive: This is the plan,” Hanson said. “While it was scary, at least we knew the path, and two years did seem like an extremely long time to survive this.”
WOODSTOCK – A 41-year-old McCullom Lake man faces between six and 30 years in prison after admitting that he impregnated a 12-year-old girl. Rafael Rodriguez-Sanchez on Monday entered a blind guilty plea – meaning there was no agreement between attorneys on a possible sentence – to predatory sexual assault of a child. He will be sentenced July 10. Any sentence the judge imposes would be followed by a parole term of anywhere from three years to life. Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Zalud said the young girl became pregnant after having sexual contact with Rodriguez-Sanchez sometime between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012. The girl eventually miscarried. The fetus was test-
CARY: Jacobs tops Cary-Grove, 3-1, to stay atop Fox Valley Conference Valley Division. Sports, C1
reduction in state revenue next year if the temporary tax hike rolls back
5 percent current income tax rate for individuals
3.75 percent income tax rate if extension rolls back tance among lawmakers facing re-election this fall. All House Republicans oppose the increase. House Speaker Michael Madigan said after Monday’s meeting they remained “significantly away” from the 60 votes, with opposition from all sectors of his caucus.
See TAX HIKE, page A4
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