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Committee examines its options McHenry County officials want action taken after dental audit finds fiscal blunders By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A McHenry County Board committee frustrated with the likelihood that prosecuting several dentists accused of double-billing at the taxpayers expense would not succeed instead wants action taken against the dentists’ licenses. The Finance and Audit
Committee recommended the course of action after representatives from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office explained to committee members why it did not intend to go after the dentists named in a scathing 2014 audit of a now-discontinued grant program to give low-income veterans access to dental care. Several committee members had asked at a previous meet-
ing for a more detailed explanation of why charges would not be filed. Committee Chairman Mike Skala, R-Huntley, said the committee was satisfied with Mike Skala the reasoning. The conflicting testimony
in the audit between the dentists and their former boss, retired Public Health Administrator Patrick McNulty, would prove a difficult problem to overcome, committee members were told. And while cost is not a factor the state’s attorney’s office weighs when considering pressing charges, the committee had to confront reality: The cost to take the dentists to court would far ex-
ceed the total amount of grant money in question. “I’m still just as frustrated as I was before. It’s still very frustrating, but I feel that … at least reporting [the dentists] to whatever the state agency is, that maybe we’ll get some justice in the end. Maybe not. But we shouldn’t spend good taxpayer money to go after someone and spend two, three, four times what was inappro-
priately spent,” Skala said. The internal audit made public by the County Board in June uncovered systemic problems with how the McHenry County Cooperative Dental Clinic administered the five-year program, which was funded through a state grant and the county Veterans Assistance Commission.
See COMMITTEE, page A4
Rauner eyes Ill. museum closure
McHENRY COUNTY STUDENTS, PARENTS, SCHOOLS WEIGH IN ON HOMEWORK LOAD
Latest in a series of cuts amid crisis By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
Photos by Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Roy Rios (from left), 8, Caitlin Hewett, 8, and her sister, Casey Hewett, 9, study Aug. 25 during a homework group with the Before and After School Program at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in McHenry.
Study: Young students get too much homework By HANNAH PROKOP
Voice your opinion How much time did you spend on elementary school homework each day? Vote online at NWHerald. com.
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Program Assistant Director Lori Galloway helps Roy Rios, 8, with his homework Aug. 25 at the church in McHenry.
hprokop@shawmedia.com
McHENRY – When Casey Hewett was in third grade, she said her homework could take up to an hour sometimes. “It stressed me out, and it also stressed my mom out,” Casey, 9, now a fourth-grader at Chauncey H. Duker School in McHenry said. Casey said the Common Core math homework is what took her the longest to finish, and she’s not alone in having received more homework than is recommended by the National Parent Teacher Association. The recommended 10-minute rule gives guidelines for the amount of time students should spend on homework, starting with 10 minutes in first grade,
See HOMEWORK, page A4
The impact on these little kids is very dramatic because this is the time in their life that they need to be learning social skills.”
SPRINGFIELD – The skeleton of a massive mastodon, thousands of Native American artifacts and a giant shark could be the next casualties in an increasingly ugly fight over Illinois’ state budget that has dragged on for months with no sign of ending. The pieces are among millions held by the Illinois State Museum, a favorite stop for school groups and scientists looking to learn the history of a state that, millions of years before it went broke, was literally underwater. Now Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner Bruce Rauner is targeting the 138-yearold museum and four satellite sites for closure, the latest in a series of cuts the former businessman said are needed to manage Illinois’ finances as he battles with Democrats who run the Legislature. The move also is designed to put pressure on lawmakers by ensuring more voters feel the impact of having no state budget. Among the first items to get the governor’s ax were the state airplanes that lawmakers often used to make the 200-mile trip between Chicago and Springfield. Then low-income parents and seniors took a hit through cuts to subsidized child care and inhome care. Now the museum is on the chopping block, in a highly visible step that could either force lawmakers to the table or backfire on the rookie governor. Rauner’s decision comes even as other states spend millions to expand museums to lure more visitors. The locations that could be closed by the end of September include an archaeological site where Native American remains were unearthed and later reburied. “We are so sad,” said Twila Cline, whose 7-year-old
Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, contributing editor on the study on the effect of spending more than the recommended time on homework See MUSEUM, page A4
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Cubs give up 4 runs to Cincinnati in 6th inning, lose 13-6 / C1
Algonquin man charged after allegedly lighting wife’s closet on fire / A3
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