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Jacobs’ wide receiver Meland practices difficult catches / C1
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Board to hear final report Task force set to show township consolidation plan By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
filibuster the disapproval resolution and settle for the 34 needed to sustain Obama’s veto, which was the original goal. Durbin declines to predict the outcome. But for the 70-year-old four-term senator, the Iran deal has been a welcome opportunity to shine after the unsavory palace intrigue with Schumer, Durbin’s former longtime roommate in a row house on Capitol Hill. It’s allowed him to prove his vote-counting chops as the Democratic
WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board on Tuesday will hear the limited final report of a task force convened to examine referendums to consolidate the county’s townships. While the McHenry County Township Consolidation Task Force was tasked in June with developing a proposed consolidation map and advancing a resolution to the full board, its members only could agree on proposing two consolidations out of the eight sought by the group pushing the issue. Questions of true cost-ef- If you go fectiveness and WHAT: benefits, hamMcHenry pered by significant pushback County Board from township meeting WHEN: 9 officials, dogged t h e t a s k f o r c e a.m. Tuesday throughout its WHERE: three meetings. McHenry A t i t s t h i r d County Adand final meet- ministration ing Tuesday, the Building, 667 five-member task Ware Road, force agreed to Woodstock recommend voter referendums to merge Richmond and Burton townships in the county’s northeast corner, and Chemung and Dunham townships in the northwest corner. Besides the two proposed consolidations, task force chairwoman and County Board member Carolyn Schofield, R-Crystal Lake, will submit a proposed consolidation map for the board’s consideration that, if approved, would spare no township from consolidation and for the most part pairs off the more heavily populated and urbanized ones with each other. However, the map is informational because the task force could not reach consensus on it, or the other two proposed consolidation maps it created. Any proposed consolidations the County Board agrees to will be put on the March primary ballot. The voters in each proposed new township would have to approve their consolidation by referendum – townships would
See DURBIN, page A7
See CONSOLIDATION, page A7
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
English teacher Sonya Wadlington (left) and newly hired English teacher Eric Chandler meet before school Friday at Cary-Grove High School. Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 is one of many districts across McHenry County that offer mentorships and training for new teachers.
New teachers in county get mentorship, training
Instructions focus on collaboration, technology, critical thinking By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – School started a little early across McHenry County for many new teachers, both just out of school and new hires from other districts. The 12 new hires who joined Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 spent two days before school started last week going over logistics, such as where to go with technology problems and
how to process grades, as well as the district’s goals and initiatives, said Matthew Timmerman, the district’s director of instructional technology and staff development. Most area school districts have programs like this, designed to ease the transition into a new district and expose teachers to the district’s values and culture. The 146 new hires at Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300, 85 of them first-year teachers, also spent 2½ days at an
Number of teachers retained
induction academy before school started, attending interactive training sessions on safety, ethics and technology and hearing from second-year teachers, building principals and district leadership, spokesman Anthony McGinn said. Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 also spent two days making sure teachers had everything they needed to get going on the first day, said Dana Smith, the
State average: 85.7 percent Community High School District 155: 87.5 percent Community Unit School District 300: 88.2 percent Woodstock School District 200: 86.3 percent
Source: Illinois State Board of Education
See TEACHERS, page A7
Dick Durbin gets a shot at political redemption By ERICA WERNER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – For all its fraught politics and geopolitical import, the Iran nuclear agreement offers something very personal for Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois: a chance at political redemption. Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, is leading the effort to round up Senate support for the international deal that aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from economic sanctions. On the
other side is Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, who outmaneuvered Durbin earlier this year to win retiring Minority Leader Harry Reid’s blessing to be Democrats’ next leader – a very public embarrassment for Durbin. This time, however, Durbin is on the win- Dick Durbin ning side. And to the surprise of many, supporters of the Iran deal are piling up enough votes that they may even be able to block a
LOCAL NEWS
resolution of disapproval in the Senate next month, meaning President Barack Obama wouldn’t have to use his veto pen – an outcome that looked all but inconceivable in the days after the deal was signed July 14. “Dick stepped up in a big way when the caucus and the president and those of us who support the agreement needed him,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “And his effort has really been critical to the momentum heading in the right direction.” It’s still possible that Democrats will fall short of the 41 votes needed to
STYLE
Sticking together New moms find camaraderie among others for Breastfeeding Promotion Month / Style BUSINESS
New gastropub in town Woods Creek Tavern to open its doors Monday in Lake in the Hills; set to serve comfort food, high-end craft beer / A3
From dream to reality Elgin-based Dream Kitchen set to open Lake in the Hills location for chefs, bakers / D1
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