SATURDAY
July 12, 2014 • $1.00 *
MEN’S GOLF Riley Bauman has lead entering final round of McHenry County Men’s Amateur / C1
HIGH
LOW
81 65 Complete forecast on page A8
Riley Bauman
NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
Facebook.com/NWHerald
@NWHerald
Village could get power plant $450M state-of-the-art facility proposed in Oakwood Hills; water usage concerns raised By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com OAKWOOD HILLS – A $450 million state-of-the-art power plant could be headed to Oakwood Hills, potentially bringing millions of dollars into the small village but also raising concerns about water usage. The 430-megawatt, natural gas plant would be located along Valley View Road near the village hall, which project engineer Conrad Anderson called an ideal location be-
cleanest and fastest in the state and a crucial component to providing power to northDo you support the development eastern Illinois as more coal of a power plant in Oakwood Hills? plants shut down. Vote online at NWHerald.com. “These coal plants that were formed before the EPA either have to put in a lot of cause of the power and natu- expensive pollution controls ral gas lines already installed or shut down,” Anderson said. for the plant to make a connec- “And three [of six] have already shut down.” tion. The plant would be a Anderson, senior director of engineering for Enventure load-following power plant, Partners, said the proposed meaning the electricity it proplant would be one of the vides would fluctuate with the
Voice your opinion
demand. Anderson said that allows for faster startup times, which is necessary in case wind and solar energy drop off. It also means no storage of flammable material on site is necessary as the natural gas will flow through as needed, which greatly reduces any possibility of explosions, he said. Plant operations will require roughly 1.5 million gallons of water a day, concerning some residents and local leaders.
Anderson said developers are working on a plan to draw water from existing water treatment facilities, bringing in roughly 350,000 to 400,000 gallons a day from the sewage treatment plant on Route 31 and 600,000 a day from a Crystal Lake plant. The water would otherwise be dumped into the Fox River. The remaining 35 percent would be drawn from a deep-water aquifer that Joliet also uses as its water source. As the capacity of the water
Engineering a ‘Fruit Salad’
treatment facilities increases, Anderson said the ratio would go up with the hope of eventually reaching 100 percent water usage from treatment plants, eliminating the need for any groundwater. “Because we don’t need to invest in any transition lines since they are already here, we can invest in water conservation,” he said. The massive project has residents concerned about
See POWER PLANT, page A5
Lamb to face three additional charges By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader- snader@shawmedia.com
Members of the robotics team, Fruit Salad, Julie Freund (left) 14, Audrey Godsell, 14, and Kristen Anderson, 13, all of Crystal Lake, demonstrates how their robot vehicle performs a mission Wednesday during a robotics program at Crystal Lake Public Library. Fruit Salad members built and programmed their robot and will be competing in FIRST Tech Challenge next school year.
Team of six CL girls to participate in FIRST Tech Challenge By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – During a group project three years ago, then-sixth-grader Audrey Godsell of Crystal Lake bestowed upon two friends some simple yet unorthodox nicknames – Honeyduke and Papaya. “And the first fruit nicknames were born,” Godsell said, laughing and looking toward friends Julie Freund and Caroline Rausch – Honeyduke and Papaya, respectively.
Freund, Rausch and Godsell, or Blackberry, were soon joined by three others. Theresa Grivas became Watermelon; Sidney Dickinson was designated Banana; and Kristen Anderson took on the name Grape. United by a mutual love of science, technology, engineering and math, the six friends make up the inseparable, high-achieving and internationally recognized robotics team, Fruit Salad. As a competing team in the FIRST LEGO League – a com-
BUSINESS
petition program meant to boost youth interest in STEM – Fruit Salad’s achievements have stretched beyond continental boundaries. They’ve won awards in Illinois, but also a third-place standing in Spain out of 96 international teams. They’re all headed to Crystal Lake South High School this year, where they’ll participate in FIRST Tech Challenge, a similar robotics program for older youths. When it came time to pick a team name for the FIRST LEGO
WHERE IT’S AT
Emergency response plan
Advice ..................................C8 Business .........................E3-10 Buzz.................................... C10 Classified........................E3-10 Comics ................................C11 Community ......................... B1 Local News......................A3-6 Lottery..................................A2 Movies................................. C9 Nation&World.................B4-7 Obituaries ...........................A6 Opinions ............................. A7 Planit ..............................Inside Puzzles ................................. E5 Sports................................C1-7 State .................................... B2 Weather ...............................A8
NATION
Weber-Stephen Products breaks ground Friday on a global distribution center in Huntley; project could bring nearly 500 jobs to area when finished in fall 2015 / E1
See ROBOTICS, page A5
LOCAL
The village of Wonder Lake has created an Emergency Management Agency with the police chief as its head / A3
Weber expansion underway
League, “ ’Fruit Salad’ just made sense, Godsell said. And whether or not the fruit blend works in a real fruit salad, the girls work together as perfectly as the robots they program. As they stood around the table operating a robot, the girls didn’t even need to speak. Communicating through nothing but knowing side glances to one another, they’re hands took turns moving items off and around the
WOODSTOCK – New charges carrying serious prison time were levied against Shane Lamb, a five-time felon accused of residential burglary, and the man believed to be closely involved with the death of a Johnsburg teen. Prosecutors amended Lamb’s bill of indictment to include charges of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, armed habitual criminal and aggravated possession of a stolen firearm. Each charge is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison. The charges were added to an earlier indictment, accusing him of residential burglary and theft of more than $500 for an April break-in at a McHenry condominium. Shane Lamb For that incident, Lamb’s former friend John Farenzena said he returned from Las Vegas with his girlfriend to find his front door broken down and an 800-pound gun safe, valuables and 12 guns – many of them family heirlooms – missing from his home. Though the guns have not been recovered, authorities believe Lamb broke into the condo and stole the safe containing the guns, so he must have – at some point – been in possession of the guns, prosecutors said. Lamb on Friday pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos, also requested that his case appear before any judge other than McHenry County
See CHARGES, page A5
Afternoon Drive: Get the latest headlines emailed straight to your inbox each weekday afternoon by signing up for Afternoon Drive at NWHerald.com/newsletter.
Immigration policies U.S. authorities insist the Alien Transfer Exit Program has contributed to overall achievements in border security / B4
adno=0285140