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Harrison eligible for ballot Files enough signatures to join race for sheriff By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia. com WOODSTOCK – Independent candidate for McHenry County sheriff Jim Harrison is slated to give Bill Prim a general election challenge after he filed more than 9,000 signatures Monday afternoon. Harrison and Prim are vying to replace longtime Sheriff Keith Nygren, who has held the post since 1997 and will not seek re-election. Harrison, a Woodstock-based attorney and former sheriff’s deputy, had 90 days to circulate nominating peti- Jim Harrison tions and needed a minimum of 6,728 signatures, but no m o r e Bill Prim t h a n 10,764, to appear on the Nov. 4 ballot. He turned in his petitions with the county clerk less than an hour before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline. Though the signatures weren’t hand counted or poured over, the clerk’s office reported that Harrison filed 954 papers and with up to 10 signatures to a page. It could be as many as 9,540 signatures. Harrison didn’t have an exact count, saying only that it was more than 9,000. When contacted Monday evening, Prim said he hadn’t ruled out a challenge to Harrison’s petitions, but needed to review the signatures first. He has one week to file any ob-
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jection. Prim needed 517 signatures to be on the Republican ballot in April, when he netted a narrow 97-vote victory over Undersheriff Andrew Zinke. Those candidates needed only a small percentage of ballots cast in the preceding primary election. The disparity between the ballot requirements of each candidate is a commentary on state election laws making it difficult to run as an independent candidate, Harrison said. He needed signatures from between 5 and 8 percent of those who cast votes in the November 2012 general election. That race featured a high-profile presidential contest, which traditionally translates to higher voter turnout. In McHenry County, 134,000 people voted in that election. Voter turnout in April was just under 17 percent. Harrison required more signatures than those running for governor of Illinois, who needed about 5,000 to 10,000, Schultz said. Independent candidates for governor needed 25,000. “It makes it hard for people who are independent candidates to come in and be involved in the government process,” Harrison said. “I’m hoping we can break some ground here.”
See HARRISON, page A5
Illustration: R. Scott Helmchen - shelmchen@shawmedia.com
CURBING KIDS’ ALLERGIES Study: Children have one-year window to prevent future problems By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com
Parents who want to keep their kids allergy- and asthma-free down the road might want to ease up on protecting them from natural elements – even germs – in the first year of life, a study has found. But it can be a bit of a fine line, local doctors say, between getting exposure and risking sickness. The study, released this month by Johns Hopkins Medicine, shows that infants who come in contact with household germs, pet and rodent dander and roach allergens appear to be at a lower risk for developing allergies and asthma later in life. The evidence continues to support a belief that children have a one-year window at the beginnings of their lives to let their bodies learn how to deal with certain elements, said Dr. John Beckerman, a community pediatrician and chair of the pediatrics department at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. “They’ve been exposed to it all along, so their body is less likely to say, ‘Hey, this is something foreign. We have to respond to this. We have to develop an allergy to protect ourselves,’” Beckerman said.
They’ve been exposed to it all along, so their body is less likely to say, ‘Hey, this is something foreign. We have to respond to this. We have to develop an allergy to protect ourselves.’ ” John Beckerman Community pediatrician and chair of the pediatrics department at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington
Past studies have linked an increased risk for asthma to kids who grow up in inner-city homes where allergens and pollutants are more abundant. But that exposure – if it comes by age 1 – could end up benefiting children later in life, according to the new study by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and a handful of other institutions across the country. The findings could shape how doctors view preventative strategies for allergies and wheezing, which can lead to asthma, the study says.
Beckerman doesn’t advocate a drastic shift in thinking, as exposure to bacteria out in the environment can, of course, cause children to get sick. But he said there’s value in not going overboard with sanitizing. Taking the newborn outside or around pets and plants will get them that early exposure, he said. “If you’re avoiding all these things completely, you might have some problems down the road,” he said. Dr. Baby Than, a family practitioner at Centegra Hospital – Woodstock, takes a similar proceed-with-caution approach to the new findings. And she said the study’s results are no surprise, given her background. Than, who’s from the Southeast-Asian country Myanmar, said allergies were not an issue back home – a fact she attributes to early exposure. “I came from an underdeveloped country, so I used to see all the kids there,” she said. “We were exposed to everything.” But getting parents – and in particular, first-time parents – to use that knowledge can be a difficult task, Than added. “It’s hard to convince parents,” she said. “They will be very cautious about it. But on the other hand, how much is too cautious?”
INSIDE: Area doctor says seasonal allergens are on track as far as what is considered normal in June. Page A4
7 called to testify on Governor Quinn’s anti-violence program By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – A legislative subcommittee voted Monday to subpoena seven former state officials connected to Gov. Pat Quinn’s troubled anti-violence initiative that’s also under federal and Cook County probes. The rare move – the Legislative Audit Commission last issued subpoenas in the early 1980s – would mean the former state officials would be compelled to turn in doc-
uments and testify next month over two days about the 2010 Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, which was blasted in a state audit earlier this year for mismanagement and mis spending. The subGov. Pat poenas still required a sign off from state Quinn Rep. Frank Mautino, a Democratic co-chair of the commission that reviews state audits. The subcommittee was initially
going to take up one subpoena for Barbara Shaw, former director of an agency that was responsible for running the $55 million anti-violence program. But Democrats said they wanted a more complete list to speed up the process. “It’s about trying to put closure to this,” said state Rep. Bob Rita, a Blue Island Democrat. “What we could do is end these two-day hearings, not drag this out.” The other individuals committee members approved subpoenas for include Jack Lavin, Quinn’s former
chief of staff; Malcolm Weems, the former chief of the Department of Central Management Services; and Toni Irving, a former deputy chief of staff. They could not be immediately reached for comment. Shaw’s attorney has said she’ll respond if subpoenaed. Mautino was expected to sign off on the Shaw subpoena, but the fate of the six others was unclear. He didn’t immediately return a message.
See TESTIFY, page A5
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At a glance Earlier this year, a state auditor’s report outlined “pervasive deficiencies” in implementing the anti-violence program and questioned expenditures by service providers. The program, which included job training in violence-plagued Chicago neighborhoods, was created weeks ahead of the 2010 election where Gov. Pat Quinn won by a thin margin. Quinn has said no money was issued ahead of the election and that he worked to address problems.
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