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Opposition group hopes to stay together Could turn focus to other needs in Oakwood Hills community By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com OAKWOOD HILLS – Less than 24 hours after the proposed power plant for Oakwood Hills was withdrawn, Ryan Noonan found himself still fighting against the project. Noonan, one of the leaders of the Power Plant Opposition Group, started his Thursday by picking up $200 worth of printed copies of the expert report the group planned to distribute to residents and Oakwood Hills officials to study the potential dangers of the plant. The report was one of
the many tools the group used in the fight against the power plant, in addition to substantial support from residents and surrounding communities. The opposition group raised $30,897 in its effort, and Noonan expects anywhere between $8,000 and $10,000 to be left over after all legal fees and other expenses are paid. “We made a commitment that the money would go to good cause in the local areas,” Noonan said of using the remaining money. “But we’re not going to start writing checks to charities quite yet until we make
Photos by Kyle Grillot - kgrillot@shawmedia.com
John Cwiklik of Lake in the Hills picks raspberries Sept. 19 at Heider’s Berry Farm in Woodstock. Heider’s Berry Farm provides pick your own and prepicked strawberries and raspberries until the first frost.
Smaller yields limit area orchards
See OAKWOOD HILLS, page A9
Agritourism numbers may be down after harsh winter By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
Photo provided
David Haapoja, an Oakwood Hills resident on Greenview Road, said he no longer needs the power plant protest sign now in the recycle bin on trash day.
Comptroller rivals clash on backlog Handling pile of unpaid bills focus of race By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – With Illinois battling the nation’s worst unfunded pension liability, the two outspoken statewide office holders vying for its check-writing job are sparring over whether the incumbent has been open enough about how she prioritizes the multibillion-dollar backlog of unpaid bills. Democratic challenger
Judy Baar Topinka
Sheila Simon
Sheila Simon, the lieutenant governor, is trying to paint Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka as an oldstyle politician using clout to push various agencies to the head of the line. But Topinka said she has a better understanding of the intricacies of the office. Topinka, a former state treasurer and Illinois GOP
See ELECTION, page A9
SPORTS
On Heider’s Berry Farm, there are enough berries that the bushes are so heavy, they sag. John Heider has to use strings to hold them up and to give people enough room to walk down the rows of berries. “Look at the berries here, they’re just falling off the bushes,” Heider said. However, the attendance numbers aren’t as high as Heider would want them to be. “This makes me sick that they’re not getting picked,” Heider said, referring to his rows of raspberries. His crops weren’t affected by the harsh winter in the same way apple orchards took a hit this year. And apple orchards that are traditionally busy with agritourism during the fall harvest find themselves limiting when people could come to pick fruit. Don Burda, who owns Homestead Orchard outside Woodstock with his wife, Barb, is in his 14th year in the agritourism business. They start the season in May, selling spring vegetables, such as rhubarb and asparagus. The couple usually allows for people to pick apples from July through October. This year, because of last winter’s deep freeze, Burda’s orchard lost about 70 percent of its usual harvest, he said. Some varieties didn’t make it, he said. “It was horrible cold, snow and freezing for months,” Burda said. He usually has “U-pick” seven days a week. Now his orchard is scheduling U-pick for only certain dates. That is leading some customers who come out to his orchard to be a little disappointed, he said.
Voice your opinion What’s your favorite agritourism draw? Vote online at NWHerald.com. Apple trees produce fruit buds before the end of the season. If those buds survive the winter, they would blossom and be pollinated by bees, to eventually produce apples. Still, coming to the area’s open spaces and corn and soybean fields from Chicago
WHERE IT’S AT
County unemployment falls
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or other suburbs offers an experience you can’t get in the city, Burda said. “It’s a nice drive when you get to the country,” Burda said. “It has a calming effect on most people when they come here.”
See AGRITOURISM, page A9
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The Chargers girls volleyball team comeback from Game 1 loss to beat Golden Eagles, 2-1, for second time this season / C1
LEFT: Priest holds recently picked strawberries Sept. 19 at Heider’s Berry Farm.
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Department of Labor study reveals the unemployment rate is down to 5 percent / A3
Dundee-Crown tops Jacobs
ABOVE: Sue Heider and her granddaughter, Kaylie Priest, pick raspberries Sept. 19 at Heider’s Berry Farm in Woodstock.