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Fire in Woodstock destroys barn No injuries, but investigation expected to be a ‘challenge’ By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – There were no injuries in a large barn fire Tuesday in unincorporated Woodstock. A call came in around 11:37 a.m. for a structure fire at 308 N. Hughes Road, according to Capt. Scott Nieman of the Woodstock Fire Rescue District. Capt. Brendan Parker said the barn, owned by Carl and Rose Schnulle, was a “total loss,” but there were no live-
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For more photos and video from the fire that destroyed a barn in unincorporated Woodstock, visit NWHerald.com.
stock in the barn at the time of the fire. “It’s all the memories from the barn that are gone,” Carl Schnulle said, watching as firefighters continued to put out small flames more than two hours later.
On the scene were responders from Woodstock, the Nunda Rural Fire Protection District, the Marengo Fire Protection District and several other departments. In total, 23 departments assisted from McHenry County, Lake Coun-
ty and a department from southern Wisconsin, Parker said, adding they ended up activating a fifth alarm for water. The water flow toward the beginning of the process was lacking in comparison to the size of the fire, Woodstock Fire Chief Ralph Webster said. He estimated the barn was already 30 to 40 percent of the barn was on fire by the time responders got there. “We needed to be flowing
See FIRE, page A4
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Firefighters work the scene of a large barn fire in unincorporated Woodstock. The call came in around 11:37 a.m. Tuesday for the fire on the 300 block of North Hughes Road.
County will keep Nunda grant audit under wraps
IMPROVING 56-YEAR-OLD STRUCTURE
Report details issues in senior bus program By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
piers and expansion joints intended to better protect the forested fen and waterway below the bridge. Given the size and location of the bridge, the Tollway worked with officials from Elgin, Kane County, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, and a variety of state and federal environmental agencies on the $95 million project. An innovative bridge design, Tollway officials have said, should require less maintenance work in future years and extend the bridge’s lifespan beyond the traditional length. But the making of those traffic improvements likely will mean some traffic delays until the new Fox River Bridge opens in 2016. At least in the early part of construction, motorists should see minimal interruptions, Tollway officials said.
WOODSTOCK – A private county audit that revealed problems with how the Nunda Township Road District spent $15,000 for its senior bus program will stay sealed. After more than an hour of sometimes heated debate, the McHenry County Board voted Tuesday, 8-14, against making the audit public. The 2013 audit of the Senior Services Grant Commission funds the township received in 2012 showed “a weakness in the documentation of how the funds were expended,” according to the board pack“How we et. And in dis- choose to vote cussing an au- today will send dit the McHenr y C o u n t y a loud and clear State’s Attormessage to our ney’s Office opined is excommunity.” empt from the Illinois Free- Nick Provenzano R-McHenry dom of Information Act, the County Board came close to illegally discussing the audit’s release in closed session, against the office’s explicit advice. Although a small amount of money by county government standards, the $15,000 identified in the audit does have a political dimension. The Nunda Township Highway Commissioner in 2012 was Don Kopsell, who is a Republican candidate for McHenry County Board after winning the March primary for its District 3. Supporters of releasing the audit called it a plain and simple transparency issue. Finance and Audit Committee member Nick Provenzano, R-McHenry, said he has fought for months to get the audit to a vote. “How we choose to vote today will send a loud and clear message to our community,” Provenzano said. Member John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake, argued that because the county has no authority over a township government, release of the audit is its sole remedy short of cutting off its funding, which already has happened.
See BRIDGE, page A4
See AUDIT, page A4
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Work continues on a $95 million Fox River Bridge reconstruction project July 25 over the Illinois Tollway in Elgin.
Fox River Bridge rebuild underway $95 million project along I-90 in Elgin expected to be finished in 2016 By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com ELGIN – A $95 million makeover of the Fox River Bridge in Elgin could mean fewer traffic disruptions along Interstate 90 and stronger environmental protections once the rebuild project concludes in late 2016. The largest construction project to date in the Illinois Tollway Authority’s $2.5 billion plan to widen I-90 from Chicago to Rockford began last month with initial utility work. The work will intensify in the coming months, when crews start tackling the lengthy list of improvements to the 56-year-old I-90 bridge that carries 101,300 vehicles daily across the Fox River. “Although we call it the Fox River Bridge, we’re actually building two new, wider bridge structures, incorporating drainage improvements that will benefit residents
Work on the $95 million Fox River Bridge project is expected to be finished in 2016. and protect the sensitive environmental areas adjacent to the bridge, as well as building a new, wider bicycle and pedestrian path under the
bridge,” Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said. Aside from wider bridges, the Tollway project also includes fewer
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