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County’s Metra rep steps down Munaretto resigns with three years left in four-year term, cites time conflicts What it means
By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com McHenry County’s new representative on the Metra Board is stepping down only a year into his four-year term, citing schedule conflicts. Former McHenry County Board member Marc Munaretto got the appointment in June 2014 to represent the county’s suburban commuter rail interests. But the time required has
Marc Munaretto, McHenry County’s representative on the Metra Board, is stepping down effective Aug. 31 over time conflicts with his work and travel. increasingly conflicted with his work and travel schedule, he said in a Monday resignation letter to County Board
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Chairman Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake. His resignation takes effect at the end of the month. “I decided, since there are three years left in my term, that it would be appropriate to step down and give someone with more time to devote to Metra the ability to fill that appointment,” Munaretto said Wednesday morning. Munaretto, of Algonquin, owns a commercial real estate
and brokerage company. He served on the County Board from 1998 to 2012, when he did not seek re-election. Board members appointed him to the job in 2014 after two-term Metra representative Jack Schaffer announced he would not seek reappointment to a third four-year term. McHenry County has representatives on the boards of Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority
who oversee them along with the Chicago Transit Authority. Munaretto’s appointment came after back-to-back corruption scandals at Metra that tarnished the agency’s credibility, outraged lawmakers and prompted several reforms. Former Metra CEO Phil Pagano killed himself in 2010 near his rural Crystal Lake home by stepping in front of a Metra train hours before his board was set to fire him
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We’re trying to protect those kids by cutting down on the number of unvaccinated people that are in schools. Mike Hill, McHenry County public health administrator
Laws expand immunization requirements for Ill. students Rules tightened for exemptions from vaccines
See METRA REP, page A6
Rauner signs law for police cameras Illinois becomes one of 1st states with guidelines By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press
By HANNAH PROKOP hprokop@shawmedia.com New state laws have expanded the immunization requirements for students and changed the way they get exemptions from immunizations for religious reasons. One law being implemented for the first time this year requires students entering sixth grade and 12th grade to get meningitis shots. McHenry County Public Health Administrator Mike Hill said the idea behind the Voice your meningitis immunization requireopinion ments is to protect children who have Should all medical condistudents be tions that prevent required to be them from getting immunized? certain immunizaVote online at tions. “We’re trying to NWHerald.com. protect those kids by cutting down on the number of unvaccinated people that are in schools,” Hill said. He said if a student doesn’t have the vaccine and there is a disease outbreak, he or she could be excluded from school. Patti Secrest, school nurse at Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, said “There’s been a lot of communication” with parents regarding the new immunization requirements. “[The] meningitis immunization is an easy law for me to get behind because it definitely will save lives,” Secrest said. Michele Knaizer, Consolidated School District 158 nurse team leader, said many students already have the meningitis vaccine. She said the district also will let people know the new requirements regarding religious exemptions. Illinois law allows people to be exempt from immunizations for medical or religious reasons. Before Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the new legislation into law Aug. 3, parents simply could write to their
for collecting $475,000 in unauthorized vacation payouts and other fiscal irregularities. Pagano, who it turns out was supporting two other households besides his own and had a number of extramarital affairs, borrowed so much against his executive compensation package that he died owing Metra at least $127,000. The Metra Board in 2011
Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Hunter Smith, 5, of Capron feels the quick sting of a school vaccination administered by public health nurse Kim Myers during the 25th annual Children’s Health and Safety Fair on July 29 at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. To see a photo gallery and videos from the event, visit NWHerald.com. local school officials explaining the vaccines were contrary to their religious beliefs. Now that Senate Bill 1410 is law, parents who want to cite religious belief as a reason not to vaccinate will have to complete a Certificate of Religious Exemption and have it signed by a health care provider.
Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said a health care provider’s signature indicates he or she has informed the client about the risks of not being vaccinated, as well as the benefits of being vaccinated. Arnold said immunizations are “the most cost-effective way to pre-
vent vaccine-preventable illness,” and the health department encourages as many people to get the shots as possible. She said officials are in the process of creating a religious exemption certificate, and the form should
See IMMUNIZATIONS, page A6
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CHICAGO – Illinois has become one of the first states nationwide to establish wide-ranging law enforcement rules for body cameras, bias-free policing and more data collection on arrests under a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The plan beefs up reporting guidelines for officers making pedestrian stops and arrests, largely prohibits chokeholds and adds guidelines for training to help officers become aware of bias and cultural competency. The new law doesn’t mandate body cameras, but does specify how they should be worn, when they have to be turned on and how long recorded videos should be kept. Illinois would help departments pay for the cameras and training for officers with grants funded by a $5 increase in traffic tickets. “We are taking steps to strengthen the relationship between our law enforcement officers and the public they protect,” Rauner, who signed the bill in private, said in a statement. “It will have a lasting and positive impact on the people of Illinois.” Dozens of U.S. states have passed police reform measures in the wake of two fatal police encounters last year: the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of a black man in New York who died after being placed in a white officer’s chokehold. But only three states – Illinois, Colorado and Connecticut – have approved comprehensive plans, according to a recent Associated Press analysis. Supporters said the Illinois law could be a model for other states as police practices come
See CAMERAS, page A6
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