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THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
GRADUATIONS 2015
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Marian Central Catholic, Johnsburg
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AP source: Case linked to sex abuse Hastert allegedly paid to hide decades-old claims By ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL TARM The Associated Press
Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Senior choir members (from left) Erin McCoy, Gloria Kranenburg, Michael Morphew, Shea Pivnicka, Cristina Tompkins and Connor Hull (not shown) practice singing the national anthem in the spare gym Friday before the start of commencement at Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock.
Marian Central ‘family’ bids farewell to grads By SARAH STRZALKA editorial@nwherald.com WOODSTOCK – Just before her graduation Friday, Abbey McClain posed for a photo with her teacher, a flower crown with long ribbon tails she made for him tucked underneath his doctoral cap. As a senior at Marian Central Catholic High School, McClain often wore flower
crowns, and Dr. Glenn Pinnau noticed. “He told me one day, ‘How does it feel to know that you can brighten someone’s day by wearing flowers?’ ” McClain said. Government wasn’t a subject she was particularly interested in, but having a teacher like Pinnau helped, she said. It was that kind of small-school interaction that made her happy to attend Marian as part of the 183 graduates in the Class of
2015. For many, attending Marian is family tradition. Larry Herff’s three children graduated from Marian, as have four of his grandchildren. Two more grandkids, Jacquelyn Simmons and Anna Herff, walked across
See MARIAN CENTRAL, page A6
J’burg grads reflect on their achievements By CYNTHIA WOLF editorial@nwherald.com JOHNSBURG – Eighteen-year-old James Cheesman approached classmate Alexa Duenas on Friday evening, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and hugged her. “My heart hurts,” Duenas had said a moment earlier, eyes welling with tears as she walked out of the north side of Johnsburg High School to take her place
Daryl Quitalig for Shaw Media
Ericsson Hoffman, 18, of Johnsburg adjusts his cap Friday while waiting to walk onto the football field for the graduation ceremony at Johnsburg High School.
See JOHNSBURG, page A6
LOCAL NEWS
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Police ID victim in Volo rollover crash Friday as Fernando Suarez III of Lakemoor / A4 SPORTS
Community support Local officers stake out Dunkin’ Donuts for Cop on a Rooftop to fundraise for Torch Run, which benefits Ill. Special Olympics / A3
Toughest of lessons Joy, heartbreak for Johnsburg in Class 2A state track and field meet / C1
CHICAGO – Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert paid hush money to conceal claims the Illinois Republican sexually molested someone decades ago, a person familiar with the allegations said Friday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing and the allegations are not contained in an indictment issued Thursday. The specific nature of the claims was not immediately clear. The federal indictment accused Hastert of agreeing to pay $3.5 million to keep a person from Yorkville, where he was a longtime high school teacher and wrestling coach, silent about “prior misconduct,” but
the court papers did not detail the wrongdoing. Several media outlets reported similar details Friday, citing unnamed federal officials. The Los Angeles Times, which was the first to report the specifics, cited two federal law enforcem e n t officials, one of w h o m s a i d Dennis Hastert H a s t e r t paid a male to keep quiet about allegations the former speaker molested him back in his coaching days. The official said the case had nothing to do with public corruption or Hastert’s time in elected office. The indictment
See HASTERT, page A6
Open meetings reform one step from gov’s desk By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com A formality vote by the House this weekend will get an Open Meetings Act reform inspired by the Oakwood Hills power plant debacle sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. The Illinois Senate voted, 57-0, Friday afternoon to approve House Bill 175, which extends the amount of time people have to report possible violations of the act to the attorney general’s public access counselor. But the bill has to return to the House for a concurrence vote because the Senate strengthened language clarifying the new time limit cannot be applied to meetings that took place before the law takes effect.
The change extends the reporting time for alleged violations to 60 days after they are discovered, rather than 60 days from the date of the meeting in question. It has a two-year statute of limitations. State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, filed the legislation in response to what was poten tially an illegal July 2013 meeting by the Oakwood Hills Village Board in which members privately discussed the monetary windfall that would come from building a 430-megawatt, $450 million power plant in the small town. The Open Meetings Act, which among other things limits what governments can debate
See REFORM, page A2