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Se pt e mbe r 11 , 2014 • $1 .0 0
PLAYING AND PONDERING Woodstock native Dag Juhlin joins Poi Dog Pondering to play at Ravinia festival / Planit Pl@y NWHerald.com
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FUNK RESIGNS Oakwood Hills leader says abuse pushed her out Village attorney, trustee also step down amid residents’ criticism
Joe Shuman for Shaw Media
McHenry police investigate a crash that killed a pedestrian Tuesday night at Crystal Lake Road and Hanley Street in McHenry.
McHenry teen killed in crash ID’d Wonder Lake driver charged with DUI; investigation ongoing By STEPHEN DI BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
and ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Village President Melanie Funk speaks to residents Sept. 4 during the Oakwood Hills Village Board meeting at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. Funk resigned Wednesday. By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com OAKWOOD HILLS – Oakwood Hills Village President Melanie Funk announced her resignation late Wednesday, citing the toll the reaction to a proposed power plant has taken on her and her family. In a letter addressed to the residents of Oakwood Hills, Funk said she could no longer take the abuse she has felt in the past few months. She was joined in resignation by village attorney John Cowlin and Trustee Beth Gorr, who also stepped down. “It is with much sadness in my heart that I am resigning,” Funk wrote. “After giving almost 20 years of service to this village ... I no longer feel that I can continue to take the abuse that I have been subject to over these last few months.” Funk had been under heavy criticism for voting for a hosting agreement with other trustees to allow power plant developers to present a $450 million facility that would be located in the community. Residents in the community and surrounding area were angered by what
The twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Feb. 26, 1993, after an explosion earlier in the day that killed six. Some analysts said the U.S.’s conflict with factions of Islamist militants and terrorists dates back further than 2001, citing such incidents as the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 1983 bombing that killed over 240 U.S. servicemen at a barracks in Lebanon. AP file photo
they said was a lack of information on the project and the harm the plant could do to the environment and residents. Funk said in the letter she and the trustees did nothing wrong and were doing their due diligence by at least allowing developers to propose a plan. “That agreement gave the village full control over the entire progress of the project,” Funk wrote about the hosting agreement. “Not doing one would have been negligent on our part.” She also responded to accusations some residents have made toward her such as ordering police to remove signs opposing the power plant from private yards. She said she never ordered officers and instructed Chief Peter Goldman to correct the situation immediately. Funk also said it became nearly impossible to defend herself from accusations. Some people criticized Funk for hugging power plant engineer Conrad Anderson at a July zoning hearing and said it showed she was already supporting the project.
CRYSTAL LAKE – Robert Abboud told Oakwood Hills residents Wednesday to envision 150,000 cars driving 11,000 miles each over the course of a year in their community. That, he said, is what the emissions of a proposed 430-megawatt, natural gas power plant would produce. “I would not want to have my family living next to this facility,” said Abboud, a former ComEd nuclear engineer and member of the California Energy Commission. “This is not a good site for this facility.” Abboud, who has prepared an independent research report on the effects
See RESIGNATION, page A4
See MEETING, page A6
Power plant expert paints bleak picture at opposition rally By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
McHENRY – A 17-yearold McHenry boy died Tuesday night in McHenry after he was hit by a pickup truck in the 4200 block of West Crystal Lake Road, according to a release from the McHenry County coroner. Upon arrival, responders confirmed a collision between a white 2011 Ford F250 pickup truck and a pedestrian. A news release from Coroner Dr. Anne Majewski identified the teen as Nicholas S. Kilpatrick, 17, of McHenry. The release states Kilpatrick died of multiple injuries to his head, spine, chest and abdomen. Preliminary investigations indicate driver Justin A. Raven, 21, of 7707 Orchard Road in Wonder Lake, was headed northbound on Crystal Lake Road when the pickup struck the teen, according to McHenry Deputy Chief John Birk. Birk also said it appears the victim was riding a skateboard, as parts of one were found at the scene. McHenry police charged Raven with one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence over the legal limit, .08, both Class A
misdemeanors. The driver also was charged with one count of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony. Raven hired Donahue and Walsh to represent him. Attorney Mark Facchini from that firm filed his appearance in rights court Justin A. Wednesday Raven, 21, morning. of Wonder R a v e n Lake was posted $10,000 charged with bond and was two Class A released from misdemeancustody of ors and a the McHenry Class 2 felony County Jail after his truck a r o u n d 1 0 collided with a a.m. pedestrian Police were dispatched to the area at 9:08 p.m. McHenry firefighters also responded to provide treatment. Crystal Lake Road, between Hanley Street and Mill Street, was closed between 9:15 p.m. Tuesday and about 2 a.m. Wednesday while the scene was processed. The Critical Accident Investigation Team, which includes police from McHenry, Johnsburg and Spring Grove, is assisting with the investigation.
No end in sight for Mideast war duties U.S. braces for more military action in region 13 years after Sept. 11 attacks By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this was supposed to be a season of relief, with Iraq managing on its own and most U.S. troops finally ending their combat duty in Afghanistan. Instead, Americans are bracing for another upsurge of military engagement in a region where one war blurs into another. Across the world, a generation has now grown up amid this continuous conflict, and
there’s no end in sight. “The Cold War took 45 years,” said Elliott Abrams, a longtime diplomat who was top Middle East adviser to President George W. Bush. “It’s certainly plausible that this could be the same. ... It’s harder to see how this ends.” For now, President Barack Obama seemed to have bipartisan support as he outlined his plans Wednesday for expanded operations against militants of the so-called Islamic State who have overrun large swaths of Iraq. His administration has
cautioned that the effort could take several years. Short-term, Obama has public opinion with him; a new Washington Post-ABC News poll found 71 percent of Americans supporting airstrikes against the Islamic State fighters, compared to 45 percent in June. Longer-term, a Pew Research Center-USA Today poll last month suggested that most Americans view the world as becoming more dangerous and expect militant forms of Islam to grow in influence rather than subside. Since the autumn of 2001, America, with its allies, has been at war against factions of Islamic militants and terror-
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ists, including the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as offshoots in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. Indeed, some analysts say the conflict dates back further, citing such incidents as the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York and the 1983 bombing that killed 241 U.S. servicemen at a barracks in Lebanon. Military historian Max Boot suggests the starting point was the Iranian revolution of 1979, when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized and its staff held hostage for 444 days. “For the first time, we understood the threat by armed
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See TERROR, page A4