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YEARS IN THE MAKING Tearful Thomas inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame / B1 NWHerald.com
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Huntley tightens rules on peddlers
THE RIGHT DEGREE
By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com HUNTLEY – Solicitors wanting to sell services throughout Huntley neighborhoods will now have to undergo an in-depth background check and pay a new permit fee before visiting residents’ doorsteps. Weekly complaints from residents about solicitors and a recent uptick in door-to-door roofers after the spring thunderstorms motivated Huntley officials to tighten regulations on solicitation, said Deputy Police Chief Michael Klunk. The Huntley Police Department will enforce the new regulations after Village Board members unanimously approved the updated solicitor rules during a meeting Thursday. “The new rules are a little more strict,” Klunk said. “The big difference really is the fees involved, and the fingerprinting process that we didn’t do in the past. It’s a more in-depth background check.” Each solicitor, even ones representing the same company, will have to be fingerprinted, allowing police to thoroughly verify a salesman’s background. The solicitor will also have to cover the costs of the fingerprinting and pay a $25 permit application fee. The total costs could equal up to $60, Klunk said. Commercial canvassers, temporary merchants and peddlers selling products from public places are also included in the expanded regulations. The minimum penalty for violating the ordinance increased from $5 to $50. Huntley hadn’t updated its solicitation ordinance since
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
John Kemic, 26, of McHenry is working toward a two-year degree in Computer Numerical Controlled Machining and Robotics at McHenry County College. He currently works at Crystal Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge as a car detailer.
An associate program’s potential benefits, value can rival or exceed that of a bachelor’s
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By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com John Kemic of McHenry spends his days detailing cars at Crystal Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge, and his evenings working toward an associate degree. The 26-year-old Kemic had previously worked as a machine operator, but found he wasn’t advancing without a degree or certificate. “It takes time and money to teach somebody,” Kemic said. “There’s only so much you can teach someone during a 40-hour work week, while still doing pro-
of his CNC machining course. “It makes you think outside the box. You kind of have to think how a Did you attend community college? machine would think.” Vote online at NWHerald.com. Even though people with fouryear degrees make 98 percent more an hour than people without duction.” a degree, there is value in having a So he started looking to go back two-year degree. to school and to learn about a comPeople with associate degrees puter numerical controls. Kemic work in industries such as health said he wants to be machine pro- care, finance, and retail and wholegrammer and set up machines and sale trade industries, McHenry tools, and make sure they’re run- County College Marketing Specialning correctly, before handing it ist Paula Lauer said. over to an operator. “It’s challenging,” Kemic said See DEGREES, page A8
Voice your opinion:
I found that not all bachelor’s degrees are all they’re hyped up to be. A lot of times when you have a hands-on, applied-sciences degree or associate’s degree, ... that can [have] greater long-term benefit.”
Brock Steffen, Crystal Lake resident working on two-year degree at McHenry County College
See HUNTLEY, page A8
Plan to simplify 2015 health care plan renewals may backfire The Associated Press WASHINGTON – If you have health insurance on your job, you probably don’t give much thought to each year’s renewal. But make the same assumption in one of the new health law plans, and it could lead to costly surprises. Insurance exchange customers who opt for convenience by automatically renewing their coverage for
and inaccurate financial aid amounts from the government, say industry officials, advocates and other experts. If those amounts are too low, consumers could get sticker shock over their new premiums. Too high, and they’ll owe the tax man later. Automatic renewal was supposed to make the next open-enrollment under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul smooth for con-
LOCAL
But unless the administration changes its 2015 approach, “they’re setting people up for large and avoidable premium increases,” said Caroline r e s e a r c h e r Pearson Caroline Pearson, who follows the health law for the market analysis
firm Avalere Health. It could be a new twist on an old public relations headache for the White House: You keep the health plan you like but get billed way more. “It was our preference for [the administration] to have the capacity to update people’s subsidy information, but they haven’t been able to get that built,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans.
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Fighting in Gaza intensifies
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Israel, Hamas launched new attacks Sunday despite debating cease-fire proposals / A6 SPORTS
Fighting breast cancer Cary resident Aimee Suyko has used her experience with the disease to help other women going through the same battle / A3
International championship Japan manager Sadao Nakashiro makes final trip to MCYSA baseball tourney / B1
Here’s the issue, in a nutshell: To streamline next year’s open enrollment season, the Health and Human Services Department recently proposed offering automatic renewal to 8 million consumers who are already signed up. But the fine print of the HHS announcement said consumers who auto enroll will get the exact dollar amount” of financial aid they are receiving this year.
That’s likely to be a problem for a couple of reasons, not to mention inflation. First, financial aid is partly based on premiums for a current benchmark plan in the community where the consumer lives. Because more plans are joining the market and insurers are submitting entirely new bids for 2015, the benchmark in many communities will be different.
See HEALTH CARE, page A8
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By RICARDO ALONSO–ZALDIVAR 2015 are likely to receive dated sumers.