TUESDAY
July 8, 2014 • $1.00
BATTLE OF THE BACKUPS
David Fales
Three quarterbacks compete for No. 2 spot during Bears training camp in Bourbonnais / C1 NWHerald.com
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Man pleads guilty to latest DUI Former McHenry resident previously served 12 years for crash that killed four people By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Fourteen years after a drunken driving crash killed Eva Burleson and her three children, a former McHenry man who spent more than a decade behind bars for their deaths pleaded guilty to driving under the in-
fluence. Walter J. Depner, 62, of Mount Prospect, admitted Monday he was driving intoxicated February 2013, near the site of the crash that killed the 34-year-old mother and her children: Daniel, 13; Tiffany, 11; and Dallis, 7. The family dog also was killed. Husband and father Thom-
as Burleson was seriously injured in the August 1999 crash, but survived. He said Monday he was disappointed but not surprised by Depner’s rearrest. “The tragedy has not become any less tragic based on the passage of time,” Thomas Burleson said. “The real tragedy now is that he has been ar-
rested again for basically the same crime.” “The tragedy is that he just couldn’t stay clean or stay sober and he couldn’t stop making these mistakes,” said Burleson, who has since remarried and lives in Crystal Lake with his wife, Mollie, and their two sons. Depner pleaded guilty
Monday to aggravated driving under the influence and remaining traffic offenses were dropped as part of the plea deal accepted by McHenry County Judge Gordon Graham. He entered a blind plea, meaning there was no agreement on a possible sentence
See DUI, page A5
Walter J. Depner, 62, pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence after entering a blind plea. His remaining traffic offenses were dropped as part of the deal.
Voters feeling gloomy about Illinois politics
LAKE IN THE HILLS AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION
More people want to leave state than any other in U.S. By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Lake in the Hills Airport manager Michael Peranich explains the plans for construction on a new aviation fuel system slated to start this week. The fueling station is being relocated to an area in compliance with the FAA and to help with a taxiway relocation project planned for next year. A new runway also is part of their future planning. That project is slated for 2016.
Pilots can pay at the pump Fuel farm, other upgrades will help meet FAA safety standards JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com LAKE IN THE HILLS – In the middle of the day, a charter plane, which just dropped off some passengers, prepares to leave the village airport. A truck brings fuel from an underground tank to pump into the airplane. Workers tabulate how many gallons were pumped in and run the pilot’s credit card to complete the transaction. In about two months, that process will get a little simpler. The village is in the process of building a new fuel farm, which will allow pilots to selfpump their fuel just like at a gas station. “People can swipe their credit cards, pump gas and then away they go,” said airport manager Michael Peranich. “This would be for privately owned aircraft that may not be based here, maybe they are,” Peranich added. “They appreciate the self-serve option because they don’t need me or my staff to fuel the plane, if they could save a couple of bucks.” The full-service option will
Peranich goes over a diagram of planned construction at the Lake in the Hills Airport.
By the numbers Lake in the Hills is in the process of upgrading several areas of the airport. Here are some projected costs for the projects:
$775K
$2M to $3M
$5M
for fuel farm relocation
for taxiway extension
for runway overhaul
still be available to pilots, Peranich said. The roughly $775,000 fuel farm project is part of the overall safety improvements at the
Lake in the Hills Airport. Currently, the village has fuel pumps and underground tanks toward the east end of the airport that are in the path of
a future taxiway extension. So new tanks will be built above ground at the midpoint of the airport, to the south of the runway and taxiway. The fuel pad will be 150 feet by 56 feet, Peranich said. Once the new fuel farm is built, the village will be able to move forward with a parallel taxiway extension. The current taxiway is about two-thirds the length of the 3,800-foot runway. Extending the taxiway will require relocating four hangars and the airport office, Peranich said. In 2016, the village plans to overhaul the runway, which includes widening the 50-foot runway to at least 75 feet. The village hopes to be able to widen the runway to 100 feet, if funding allows. A wider runway helps pilots when they’re landing in a crosswind. The runway is currently flat, but the Federal Aviation Administration wants the runway to have a little bit of arch to allow water to run off, Peranich said.
CHICAGO – The people of Illinois are feeling particularly gloomy about their state, with its high unemployment, billions of dollars in debt, decades-long battles against corruption – and another possible tax hike waiting for them after the November election. The bad mood surfaces in public-opinion polls that startle even the pollsters, with one survey showing that more people want to leave Illinois than anywhere else in the U.S. It’s also evident in the voting booth, where turnout in the March primary was the lowest on record. Now the cynicism is shaping one of the nation’s most competitive governor’s races, too. “People are down in the dumps,” said Rod Spears, a retired Army officer and conservative activist from southern Illinois who says he hears the same concerns from his golfing buddies, all union members and lifelong Democrats. The governor’s contest essentially boils down to the incumbent’s insistence that it’s not as bad as it used to be versus the challenger’s exhortations to throw the bums out and start over. The race pits Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who portrays himself as a reformer, against businessman Bruce Rauner, an untested multimillionaire on whom Republicans have pinned their hopes that Illinois could become the next blue state to elect a GOP governor. Rauner’s success depends on patching together the right combination of disaffected voters in a state where Republicans start at a big numerical disadvantage. He’s spending millions of dollars on campaign ads targeting blacks, Hispanics, women, undecided suburbanites and downstate Democrats. While Illinois’ struggles aren’t new – some extend back to when the last Republican governors were in charge – it has not experienced a true statewide rebellion in the ballot booth for some time. “We are a disaster,” declares Rauner, who rattles off
See AIRPORT, page A5 See GLOOM, page A5
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LITH leader retires Waiting game
Last weekend ended with 14 dead and dozens wounded / B2
Parks and Recreation Director Trudy Wakeman set to retire Aug. 31 / A3
Carmelo Anthony puts Bulls’ offseason plans on hold, for now / C1
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Voice your opinion What’s your outlook on the state of Illinois? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
By the numbers n 89 percent believe corruption is somewhat common in Illinois according to a poll of 1,001 registered Illinois voters conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University n 28 percent of residents said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in their government according to a Gallup poll. It was the lowest percentage of any state with Rhode Island as the next lowest at 40 percent.