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June 17, 2014 • $1.00
SATISFIED WITH STATE WIN Jacobs’ Van Vlierbergen is the Northwest Herald Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year after a season capped by a state title / C1 NWHerald.com
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Housing plan vote set in Cary Residents voice concerns over apartment proposal By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Fans including Nolan Szot (from left), 8, Wendy Veugler and her husband, George, watch as Ghana attempts a shot on goal Monday during the first half of the World Cup match between Ghana and the U.S. at The Cottage in Crystal Lake. The U.S. beat Ghana, 2-1.
CARY – A proposed 60unit apartment complex has received the endorsement of business groups, while drawing objections from nearby residents. Tuesday, the Cary Village Board is scheduled to vote on whether the proposed lowrise apartments on 4.5 acres of vacant land at First and Pearl streets can move forward. Pedcor Investments, which is based in Carmel, Indiana, wants to build a workforce housing apartment complex, but needs the village to approve a zoning change from manufacturing to multifamily to allow the project to move forward. The complex is designed for people who work as teachers, firefighters and police officers, as well as entry-level and service-sector workers, Pedcor has said. According to Pedcor, 87.8 percent of the people employed in Cary live outside of town, and 57.7 percent of the workers earn less than $40,000 a year. The company wants to target people who have a moderate income, but can’t afford the average-priced house in the area. Representatives from Pedcor said the $18 million project would generate more than $80,000 in property taxes a year. The project has received support from the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, the CaryGrove Area Chamber of Commerce and Aptar. In a letter supporting the project, Aptar Human
Fans turn out for first U.S. World Cup game Some believe increased interest a sign of soccer’s growing popularity in county By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – It’s a bar sprayed with international flavor, punctuated by the flags pinned flat to its ceilings and accented by its English owner. But Monday, The Cottage was all U.S. of A. The more dedicated among them dressed in American jerseys and scarves. Others made their allegiances known early, not through their attire but their conduct. A Clint Dempsey goal just 29 seconds into the first U.S. game of the 2014 World Cup – a game they would ultimately win, 2-1, defeating Ghana – brought many of those who weren’t already standing in the crowded Crystal Lake bar to their feet. A half hour later, shortly after a key first-half save by goalkeeper Tim Howard, a young man turned toward his semicircle of friends, clapped three thunderous claps and bellowed, “USA, BABY!” It could be viewed as a simple display of American pride. But, as the bar’s owner and others believe, Monday’s showing flashed a sign of soccer’s growing following in McHenry County, a hint that the world’s favorite sport is breaking into mainstream American culture and becoming a spectator sport to be reckoned with – economically and otherwise. Ask Kristian Rockall – who coaches the club soccer team the Crystal Lake Force and formerly
Kris Kilpatrick of Woodstock exits The Cottage in Crystal Lake on Monday after the U.S. beat Ghana in the World Cup, 2-1. coached varsity soccer at Marian Central Catholic High School – and the sport’s presence in McHenry County has grown significantly even since the last World Cup in 2010. “A huge amount,” said Rockall, a McHenry resident who watched the game with friends at The Cottage Monday. “[You see it in] the amount of people playing the sport, the amount of people coming out to watch the games.” Growing interest comes from several factors, Rockall said. Major network television deals to bring European League soccer to the U.S. has fueled interest from viewers, he said.
And the level of competition is rising in Major League Soccer, the American soccer league once thought of as talent deficient. Dempsey shocked fans last summer when he signed a deal that brought him back to the U.S. with Seattle Sounders FC, of MLS. Earlier this year, a Pew Research Center study found that 40 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds were looking forward to the World Cup. The prospect of soccer finding mainstream culture in the U.S. excites Rockall, who is originally from London, England. “It’s good the game is growing,
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Official: Waiting list lengthy for housing choice vouchers CARY – With Pedcor Investments proposing to build a low-rise workforce housing apartment complex at First and Pearl streets, some people have been asking whether the complex would become “Section 8 housing.” One resident, William Morgan, in an email to Cary Village Administrator Chris Clark, called the proposed project Section 8 Housing and said the project would have negative effects on the village. “This is detrimental to the community [as] there is already low-income housing right next door to where they are looking to build this,” Morgan wrote. Julie Biel Claussen, the executive director of McHenry County Housing Authority, said there are misconceptions when it comes to publicly assisted housing. Many people think of the high-rise apartments such as the former Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor Homes ran by the Chicago Housing Authority when they hear of Section 8 housing, Claussen said. “We’ve never seen anything like that in McHenry County,” Claussen said. There are two types of public housing: the type owned by the housing authority, and housing subsidized by a housing choice voucher. The McHenry County Housing Authority does own 23 single-family houses around the county that See WAIT LIST, page A6
Quinn signs Illinois Medicaid cuts restoration State could gain access to $2.4 billion in federal money in next few years By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law Monday that would restore some Medicaid cuts the state made in 2012 and could give Illinois access to about $2.4 billion in federal money over the next few years. The new law seeks about
$400 million in federal matching funds for the approximately 349,000 new Medicaid sign-ups in Illinois under the Affordable Care Act expansion. The other money would come from extending the state’s hospital assessment programs over four years. Illinois hospitals pay a tax to the state for federal Medicaid matching funds and that mon-
ey gets redistributed to health care providers. Proponents hailed the new law as a way capitalize on federal money and improve the state’s safety net for the most vulnerable residents. About 3 million Illinois residents receive Medicaid, the state and federal program that pays medical expenses for the poor and disabled. Illinois re-
formed its program in 2012, with major cuts. The new law restores the cuts to adult dental and podiatry services. State Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said cutting those services led to more emergency room visits, which cost the state more in the end.
See MEDICAID, page A6
AP Photo/Sun-Times Media, Al Podgorski
Gov. Pat Quinn stands Monday after signing legislation to restore Medicaid cuts made two years ago along with other changes that will modernize the program during a news conference at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
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Aid to Iraq
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Iran general helping Iraq military to stave off insurgency / B5
Crystal Lake City Council examines rules for medical marijuana centers / A3
Miss. sues Experian, alleges errors in the company’s data / B6
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