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July 11, 2014 • $1.00
CL TEENAGER TOURNEY-BOUND 15-year-old Ethan Farnam is headed to Texas for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship / C1 NWHerald.com
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Ex-officer charged, posts bail Accused of stealing weapons from Hebron Police Department By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
and SHAWN SHINNENMAN sshinnenman@shawmedia.com
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Melissa Groza holds on to her son, Alexander, 1 month, on Tuesday while checking the blood glucose levels on her son, Brent, 7, while the family was playing outside its Antioch home. Along with having diabetes, Brent has been diagnosed with a rare, usually fatal autoimmune disorder called IPEX syndrome. An old neighbor from Spring Grove has planned a fundraiser to help with accumulating medical bills from noon to 5 p.m. July 20 at The Shores of Turtle Creek in Spring Grove.
Struggle with their son’s illness Treatments, bankruptcy take toll on Spring Grove family EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com SPRING GROVE – On New Year’s Eve when he was just six months old, Brent Groza nearly died. He had been born diabetic, which required his parents to check him every 15 minutes and to poke him with a needle to check his blood sugar levels, but when he was about five months old, he started to get really sick, projectile vomiting and suffering from eczema. The diagnosis was a rare and potentially fatal autoimmune disorder called IPEX syndrome, which means a recessive gene is causing his immune system to attack multiple organs and areas of his bodies. Without aggressively suppressing the immune system or a bone marrow transplant, most children with this syndrome die within the first year or two of life, according to the National Institutes of Health. A few with a milder version of the syndrome have survived into their 20s or 30s. Brent will be 8 years old July 25, and his parents, Pete and Melissa Groza, hope he’ll be the first long-term survivor. “I remember thinking, ‘He can’t die,’ ” his mother said, recalling the doctor’s grim news that most children with IPEX syndrome didn’t make
Brent Groza (left), 7, plays outside with his sister, Charlotte, 9, on Tuesday at their Antioch home.
If you go n What: A fundraiser to help the Groza family cover the medical costs associated with 7-year-old Brent Groza's rare autoimmune disorder. The event will include live music, food, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. n When: Noon to 5 p.m. July 20 n Where: The Shores of Turtle Creek, 7908 Winn Road in Spring Grove n Cost: $20 for adults, $7 for children 6 to 12 years old, and free for children ages 5 and under n More info: Contact Wendy Rinda at 847-812-3136. it past two years. “He’d only have 19 months. He wouldn’t get to drive a car, have his first kiss or go to school.” Brent underwent bone marrow and stem cell transplants, both of which didn’t take, and then eventually had a donor’s lymphocyte – or white blood cells – injected into his body. It appears to be working. Brent has had “one real-
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ly good year,” Melissa Groza said. He still needs insulin injections to manage his diabetes and hormone supplements to replace the hormones no longer produced by his destroyed thyroid, and the chemotherapy he underwent to suppress his immune system affected his brain development. Math is difficult; he reads
at a kindergarten to first-grade level, even though age-wise he should be in third grade; and he has only 2 to 4 percent of the working memory that he should. But all the years of medical treatment and hospital visits have exacted another toll on the Groza family. The couple lost cars, their house and jobs over the years. The medical bills – the parts not covered by insurance – reached $30,000 forcing them to pick between paying those bills or putting food on the table. The family had to split up, Melissa and Brent staying with her parents in her native Minnesota and Pete raising their daughter, Charlotte, who is almost exactly two years older than Brent. Four years after filing for bankruptcy, the family is trying again. “We’re clawing and pushing,” Pete Groza said. “We’re trying to turn it around.” Last week they moved to a new home in Antioch and one of their old neighbors from the four years they spent in Spring Grove has planned a fundraiser to help with the medical bills that continue to pile up. Melissa Groza hopes to raise $5,000, the cost of the annual barrage of tests Brent has to go through.
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The appellate court hearing continues over legality of the $1.18 million expansion / A3 NATION&WORLD
Phase 2 at Harvard High
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Committee nixes slew of referendums No voting on measures from Anderson, Franks By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Three advisory referendums proposed by a local state lawmaker and a longtime anti-township activist were squashed by a McHenry County Board committee on Thursday. The Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee soundly rejected one by a 1-4 margin, and declined to vote on the other two. But the one voted upon – asking whether the County Board should shrink to
16 single-member districts – will still go before the board next week for debate and possibly a vote. It is one of two referendums that state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, proposed in a letter to board Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock. Committee members declined to vote on the other, which would have asked whether governments should be allowed to collect more in property taxes in years when overall assessed value declines. Committee members likewise declined to vote on a request by township opponent Bob Anderson to ask voters in six townships predominantly covered by municipalities whether they
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Newest proposal would speed up deportations, but some officials voiced opposition / B3
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After more than 20 years without significant work, District 50 officials are excited for new additions to the school / A3
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RICHMOND – A former nine-year veteran of the Hebron Police Department has been charged with official misconduct, possession of a stolen firearm and burglary, only three days after he was fired from the Richmond Police Department for failing to show up for Ryszard T. work. Kopacz Ryszard T. Kopacz, 30, of Wauconda was charged by the Illinois State Police as a result of an ongoing investigation and was released from the McHenry County Jail on Thursday after posting $10,000 bail. The Richmond Police Department also is conducting an investigation into a resident complaint that Kopacz was going door to door on July 4 in a Richmond
neighborhood, asking for prescription drugs while in full uniform and on duty as a village police officer, the department said in a news release. Kopacz was fired from his position as a part-time officer July 6 after failing to show up to work on July 5 without calling in, department spokesman Sgt. David Byrnes said. The department also notified the State Police at that time of the July 4 incident. Under department policy, internal department matters like this are referred to the State Police to avoid any conflicts of interest, he said. Additional charges may be filed as a part of that investigation. Kopacz, according to charging documents, was in possession of stolen weapons – a Winchester Model 94 and a .30 caliber U.S. Carbine – which he allegedly stole from the Hebron Police Department.