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July 19, 2014 • $1.00
BIG BBQ FAN BASE Woodstock’s BBQ King Smokehouse is a hit / E1 NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
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Admitted serial killer seeks parole Man’s current release date set for June 2220 By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
R.N. Grace Sebastian (left) talks Wednesday with clinical psychologist Heidi Dooley about a patient at Centegra Hospital – McHenry.
McHenry County providers treat alcohol use as definitions change By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Falls, car accidents and fights will sometimes land heavy drinkers in the emergency room at Centegra Hospital – McHenry. Alcohol is “a major factor in our business after 7 p.m.,” said Dr. Joseph Keenan, the director of emergency services at Centegra Health System. The patients who come into the hospital with alcohol-related issues, though, are often there of their own volition and ask to go through detox, Keenan
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said. That’s in sharp contrast to many other care providers – like The Counseling Center in Woodstock where Linda Tansey is a certified alcohol and drug counselor – who have most of their clients come through the door because treatment has been court
See ALCOHOL, page A4
Joseph Keenan, director of emergency services, works in the emergency room Wednesday at Centegra Hospital – McHenry.
[Alcohol is] a major factor in our business after 7 p.m.” Dr. Joseph Keenan, director of emergency services at Centegra Health System
Betty Portenlanger’s heart breaks every three years. Every three years for the past 44. Every three years, Portenlanger is faced with horrific details of her sister’s murder, as the woman’s killer asks a review board to grant him parole. Every three years, Portenlanger relives the nightmare: The call in January 1970 that 27-yearold Jean Bianchi was missing. The three-day search throughout McHenry County. The details of her sister’s final moments. “It’s horrendous to think that the earth opened up and swallowed someone you loved,” said Portenlanger, of Chicago. “The whole ordeal, it’s just unimaginable.” Because of sentencing laws in Mark A. place at the time, admitted serial Smith killer Mark A. Smith is eligible for parole every three years. Portenlanger will face the Illinois Prisoner Review Board next month to argue against his release. It’s Smith’s 13th bid for freedom, and Portenlanger’s 13th request that the panel deny his request. At 69 years old, Portenlanger has outlived many of the people who once attended the triennial hearings with her. Smith, 65, was convicted of Bianchi’s murder, the death of a 17-year-old McHenry girl, Jean Ann Lingenfelter, and a woman in Cook County. Smith admitted to murdering at least 10 other women, including eight in 1969 while he was serving in the Army and stationed in Germany, and a woman in Arkansas. “We’re there to light a candle for the women who died, and who can’t go to speak for themselves,” Portenlanger said. Bianchi – who is of no relation to the McHenry County state’s attorney – was a young mother of two when she disappeared Jan. 27, 1970, from an Elm Street laundromat. She left behind her laundry and an unfinished letter. Her body was found after three days in a partially frozen creek near a bridge in town. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Portenlanger, who
See PAROLE, page A4
Republican groups target Democrats’ House supermajority The Associated Press
CHICAGO – National Republican legislative groups said eliminating Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Democratic supermajority is among the top goals in the 2014 election, and they are pledging financial assistance and other help to local party members. The Republican Legislative Campaign Committee and the Republican State Leadership Committee are holding a con-
ference in Colorado this week, and said they’re planning to highlight what they describe as top Illinois Democrats “dragging down their party” in an effort to erode that party’s control of the state House. The GOP groups cite unemployment that’s been higher than the national average and billions of dollars in unpaid state bills as evidence of mismanagement by Democratic leadership. A major reason for the GOP’s push: Getting rid of a supermajority will make it eas-
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ier for a Republican governor to push his agenda through the Democrat-heavy legislature. Gov. Pat Quinn is facing a difficult re-election battle against Republican businessman Bruce Rauner in a nationally watched race. “They believe that support in the House is extremely important for a Republican governor,” House GOP leader Jim Durkin told The Associated Press on Friday. “Taking out the speaker’s supermajority is the math that has gone into
that equation.” RSLC President Matt Walter said during a conference call Thursday afternoon that examples of evidence of withering Democratic support include “abysmal” approval ratings for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and the political apparatus in the Democratic stronghold of Cook County that he says is “fading in some degree.” The Illinois Legislature likely won’t come under Republican control in November, particularly after new political
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boundaries that were drawn by Democrats helped the party win three-fifths supermajorities in both the state House and Senate in 2012. Senate President John Cullerton currently has a comfortable cushion with 40 of the chamber’s 59 members, but Madigan’s veto-proof majority of 71 members is hanging on by a single vote. But there are up to 7 House seats that Republicans hope to pick up, Durkin said Friday, including seats currently held by state Democratic Reps.
Marty Moylan of Des Plaines; Sam Yingling of Grayslake; Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg; Katherine Cloonen of Kankakee; Sue Scherer of Decatur and Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale. House Republican Organization spokesman Joe Woodward said the organization hopes the committees will assist with targeted ads and mailers, and has been working with Illinois Republicans about outreach efforts for women and minorities.
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By KERRY LESTER