LOCAL NEWS 5
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Section A • Thursday, September 24, 2015 •
House Bill 303 carried by Sindberg inherited brother’s documents; Althoff in Senate this year some journals donated to Texas university Continued from page A1 packages given to former MCC President Walt Packard and former Metra CEO Alex Clifford. While the legislation passed the House without a single opposing vote, Senate leadership could not be convinced at the time to move it forward. Althoff, who successfully carried House Bill 303 in the Senate this year, said she is happy the reform is now law. Republican Rep. Margo Sen. Pam McDermed filed Althoff it in the House – McDermed, R-Mokena, was elected to replace retired Rep. Renee Kosel, R-New Lenox, who made the 2013 attempt. “Attempts to try to determine how much, or why, were kept confidential, and I don’t think that’s in the best interest of the people you represent,” Althoff said. The MCC Board of Trustees in 2009 announced Packard would retire, but it soon was revealed they, in fact, ousted him. Members would not release the separation contract to the Northwest Herald under FOIA, citing its personal privacy exemption. Trustees were forced to release it after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in an unrelated case that public-employee contracts are public record. Packard under the contract was hired for one year as president emeritus – a position with no defined duties or work hours – and the same $188,564 salary plus benefits he was making as president. What’s more, the contract contained no information that is defined as personal under the law. The severance package given to Clifford, which was valued up to $718,000, sparked the
On the Web You can read the texts of House Bills 303 and 3593 at www.ilga.gov. 2013 attempt to pass reform laws. Lawmakers outraged at the amount were told at first the agreement was confidential, but Clifford later testified that he was forced out because he would not agree to political patronage hiring and contract requests from some Metra Board members. Clifford had been hired to clean up Metra after former CEO Phil Pagano killed himself in 2010 by stepping in front of a Metra train near his rural Crystal Lake home hours before the Metra Board was set to fire him over alleged financial improprieties. Investigations later revealed Pagano took at least $475,000 in unauthorized vacation payouts he was not entitled to, on several occasions by forging the former board chairwoman’s signature. Breuder’s sizable buyout is only one of the many troubles College of DuPage is facing, including ongoing federal and state criminal investigations into ongoing reports of lavish spending. A new majority on its board of trustees, elected earlier this year in the wake of reports of questionable decisions and taxpayer-funded excess, is now trying to fire him and void the severance agreement. House Bill 3593, filed by Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, would not have affected Packard’s buyout because it fell within the one-year limitation, but Althoff said the bills will help prevent future abuses. “It’s taxpayer dollars, and most individuals had absolutely no inkling that these types of accommodations were made. Most people didn’t understand that this went on,” Althoff said.
• LIFE-SAVING
Continued from page A1 government found his relatives, including Bernhard’s niece, Mariann Arp Stenvig. In 2005, 60 years after the end of World War II, Mariann, Ole and other family members were invited to China and given the VIP treatment as Bernhard was honored by the government. “We met some of the people that he sheltered,” Ole said. “They’re quite adamant that if it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t be around.” Since then, the family members have made it their business to keep their broth-
er’s story alive. Mariann has made several trips back to China. Ole inherited his half-brother’s documents, and, although he donated some of the original journals and photos to the University of Texas at Austin, he has dozens of documents and books that mention his brother’s life in his Trout Valley home. He even has a 1954 motorcycle from the same company his half-brother once worked for, which he occasionally rides around town. Ole spent three hours being interviewed by the documentary crew in Denmark this summer, then spent
Brass band to play at MCC’s concert series
– Allison Goodrich
McHenry • Eucogia Hernandez, 49, 411 Glenwood Drive, Round Lake Beach, was charged Wednesday, June 17, with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving without a license. • William K. Hermes, 56, 8786 Bentley Lane, Spring Grove, was charged Saturday, June 20, with obstructing justice and possession of a fake ID. He also was arrested on a McHenry County warrant issued for drug possession.
Summer Sale!
LOCAL BRIEF CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry County College’s upcoming second Sunday Concerts Series will again feature the Chicago Brass Band Players. The band is returning by popular demand, according to a news release from the college. They will perform at 3 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Luecht Conference Center, 8900 Route 14, Crystal Lake. Performing from a broad range of musical eras, the specialized 10-member ensemble of Chicago Brass Band members will feature sounds of the cornet, flugelhorn, tenor horn, baritone horn, trombone, euphonium, bass, and percussion, the release said. The concert is free and open to the public. Visit www.mchenry. edu/artevents for a complete schedule of MCC concerts planned for the season. For information about the Second Sunday concerts, contact Michael Hillstrom at 815-479-7814.
Information in police reports is obtained from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and municipal police departments. Individuals listed in police reports who have been charged with a crime have not been proven guilty in court.
three more hours on camera telling the story to six of his grandchildren in his Trout Valley home, involving the whole family. The desire to spread the story has reached younger generations. Sonya is planning to use her great-uncle’s story as the basis of her undergraduate thesis at Lake Forest College. “My plan is to eventually write something about this, because obviously it had such a huge impact upon me,” Sonya said. “I knew it was an opportunity to have other people tell that story and have it have that same positive impact on them as it had on me.”
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