Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 30

Community Northwest Herald Page 6 Tuesday, March 27, 2001 Candidates call for more resident input The McHenry Township road district employee wants to improve the roads, signage, and drainage. Clerk candidate DeWitt is married and has two children. The dental assistant has been clerk for three years. She said her experience has given her the opportunity to meet residents and become more involved in the community. Miller has three children and drives a school bus in McHenry.

She was clerk for 17 years before leaving in 1998. "I resigned because of the current president and board," she said. "The village has gone down hill the last four years, and it needs a boost." By JOSEPH LOPEZ The Northwest Herald McCULLOM LAKE Residents will elect a new village president April 3. Trustee Mary Brand faces former Police Chief Ralph Regner. President Janet Landwer is not seeking another term.

Residents also will select three trustees from five candidates and one clerk from two candidates. Incumbent Trustee Denise Suchor, former Trustee Jeanne Hansen and newcomers Terry Counley, Randy L. Murray and Jim White seek election. Incumbent Clerk Tammy DeWitt will face former Clerk Dawn Miller. the board for four years and was Finance Committee chairman.

She wants to increase communication and believes the board has not responded to resident's concerns. She also wants to re-establish the monthly newsletter. Murray is married and has one child. He is a retired small-business owner and former vice president of a company that sells construction equipment. He wants to see the community improve and help residents.

Suchor is married and has two children. A mail carrier, he has been a trustee for four years and wants to improve the village's future. Jim White is married and has one child. Brand is married and has four children. She is an outside sales representative for a McHenry firm.

She has been a village trustee for the past four years and is the Police Committee chairman. She wants to create a comprehensive plan and initiate more goal-setting. Regner is married and has two children. He is the director of maintenance and safety for Santa's Village in West Dundee. He wants to increase harmony and communication with property owners.

Trustee candidate Counley is married and has two children. The dispatcher for a trucking company believes residents do "The village has gone down hill the last four years, and it needs a boost." Dawn Miller McCullom Lake Clerk candidate not have enough input with the board. Hansen has three children and is a retired assistant vice president and manager of deposit for a Des Plaines bank. She served on Judge refuses to separate Depner trial Sheriff 's deputy at the crash scene and urinated on medical personnel and police who were attempting to obtain a specimen would inflame a jury and interfere with Depner's right to a fair trial in the reckless homicide case. McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney Robert Beaderstadt said a jury should be allowed to view the totality of the circumstances surrounding Depner's arrest Schermerhorn agreed with the state.

"The case law is very clear, as long as there is no great prejudice, that these are acts that are part of the same comprehensive transaction. There will be no severance," Schermerhorn said. In an unrelated matter, Brian Stevens, an attorney representing survivor Thomas Burleson, whose wife and three children were killed in the crash, also objected Friday to legal tactics he said were invading his client's right to privacy. By KEVIN LYONS The Northwest Herald WOODSTOCK A judge on Friday refused to separate allegations of violence against police from Walter Depner's reckless homicide charges. Depner, 48, of McHenry, could face up to 24 years in prison if convicted of driving drunk and crashing into a van.

Four members of a Crystal Lake family were killed in the crash. He also faces charges of aggravated battery and resisting arrest in connection with his actions immediately after the Aug. 21, 1999, Lakemoor crash. But Defense attorney Stephen Komie hoped to convince McHenry County Judge Thomas Schermerhorn to conduct separate trials for the different sets of charges. Komie said he feared allegations that Depner head-butted a McHenry County In court documents requesting a subpoena for Burleson's medical records, Depner's defense team wrote information about a medical condition Burleson allegedly has.

The documents said Burleson must take medication to prevent seizures. The medication identified has side effects including drowsiness and blurred vision. Schermerhorn said he would rule on that matter and several other matters, including a for a jail furlough for Depner so he may attend his daughter's first communion in May. Depner has been held in McHenry County Jail since his arrest and is being held on $1.7 million bond. In addition to the criminal proceedings, Burleson has filed a $180 million lawsuit against Depner that is pending.

Johnsburg assists high school in parking woes County officials to consider unsafe road's speed limit Richmond road may be reduced to 40 mph D-47 board hopefuls seek improvement By KRISTEN ZAMBO The Northwest Herald CRYSTAL LAKE Five candidates running for the District 47 school board hope to maintain and improve the status quo. Incumbents Diane Johnson, Jeff Mason and Thomas Meyers seek election, along with ers Ruth Scifo and David Phoenix. "I have nothing but respect for the board members. I have no intention to shake things up. The school board is doing an excellent job," said Phoenix, a Crystal Lake attorney.

District 47 officials communicate the district's needs well with the public, Phoenix said. However, Scifo said she wants to increase communication with parents, staff and board members. If elected, much of her first year on the board would be spent learning the ropes, but Scifo said she is committed to ensuring that what was promised in the district's school referendums is achieved. In an April 1999 referendum, voters approved selling and refinancing bonds to build Glacier Ridge Elementary School, add classrooms and make improvements to the district's other schools. Voters also approved waiving the state-imposed tax cap for one year, thereby creating a new baseline from which District 47 can tax.

Johnson, school board president, said she wants to implement a way to measure how well the district is doing and the quality of the schools and education afforded students. Also on Johnson's to-do list is developing another way to assess children's knowledge besides the current state standardized tests. "We can't just teach to the test We have to educate for a lifetime. Kids needs to show mastery of a skill and understand how to use it," she said. In the next five to six years, teachers and staff from the baby boomer generation will approach the state mandated retirement, Meyers said.

Preparing for the age and experience drain and hiring younger, less experienced teachers and administrators will be one challenge facing school board members, he said. If re-elected, Meyers said he seeks to improve the dissemination of information to parents and residents. Technological advancements also should be added to the district's schools, he said. But enhancing technology used in the schools also comes with a price. Mason said he wants to remain on budget when upgrading technology.

He predicts-District 47 will be in a financial crisis in five to six years. "We have to do it wisely. We can't spend the farm," he said. Referendum in D-50 asks for $24.5 million The NORTHWEST HERALD HARVARD District 50 will receive more state funding for its proposed high school if the referendum is approved. The district will receive $8.8 million from the Capital Development Board, a state agency that gives grants to school districts for construction projects.

Architects proposed a square-foot high school at a cost of $32 million. The building includes 47 classrooms, a 350-seat auditorium and two gymnasiums. The design still must be finalized. The April 3 ballot will ask residents whether the district should issue about $24.5 million in construction bonds to pay for a high school. The state grant is more than expected.

Initial estimates had the district receiving about $8 million. The amount increased when renovations at Harvard High and Central schools were added to the project. The extra grant money only will cover 35 percent of those projects. But the total price will not increase. The extra funding will come from rnoney budgeted for construction contingencies.

Newcomers compete for Harvard clerk The NORTHWEST HERALD HARVARD There will be a new person compiling city records this year. Because incumbent Clerk Chris Ferguson launched a mayoral bid, voters will choose between Mary LeBlanc and Andy Wells on April 3. The winner will serve a four-year term. LeBlanc, 61, a retired civil-service worker, said she would like to modernize the clerk's office to make city records more accessible. "I would try to expedite the purchase of a scanner so documents could be retrieved on a computer," she said.

"I have no one big pressing thing aside from making the office more up to date." Wells, 39, is co-owner of Bopp's Grille Saloon in Harvard. He said he expects to make minor changes if elected. "It seems like it runs pretty smooth," Wells said. "There is pretty decent communication going on. I would see if there are ways to help out even more," he said.

LeBlanc does not view the clerk's job as a policymaking position but rather as a servant of other elected officials. "I would like to see open government where the issues are presented so everyone has an opportunity to give their point of view and a decision is made at that she said. Wells agreed, saying the clerk should be an unbiased observer and recorder of city business. "I look at it like a business," he said. "They need someone that is just going to record everything and make sure when group A makes a decision, group knows about it You need someone neutral to keep the paperwork flowing," Wells said.

of car burglaries and 8 a.m. Friday, March 23. Power and construction tools valued at $1,825 were reported stolen Friday, March 23, from a vehicle in the first block; of Appletree Court. The items were taken between 4:40 a.m. Thursday, March 22, and 7:50 a.m.

Friday, March 23. A digital camera and CD player valued at $550 were reported stolen from a vehicle in the 300 block of Council Trail. The items were taken between 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 23, and 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 24.

By ERIC J. CLARK The Northwest Herald JOHNSBURG Students having trouble finding a spot in the high school's overcrowded parking lot now can park on Skyhawk Drive. The village board recently agreed to continue the arrangement until a possible parking lot expansion is complete. "We're trying to help out in the interim," Village Trustee Harry May said. "It's an issue we'll look at again after the school is finished with its project" Parking at the high school has been harder and harder to come by during the last year and a half, leading school officials to push for a larger lot.

District 12 Assistant Superintendent Pat Bingman is looking at estimates for the project, which would add 70 to 90 spots west of the current lot, but the school board has not authorized construction. "We're hoping to be able to do it," Bingman said. "But a lot of factors still have to be determined." Cost and size are two of those factors, she said. If the project is approved, the parking lot would be open by the start of the fall semester. Principal Chuck Dill said much of the project could be funded through parking fees at the school.

Students pay $35 annually to park in the lot From a public works perspective, May said the village wants to help with the school's parking problem but not at the cost of problems on Skyhawk Drive. Students will be informed of shoulder work on the road the day before it happens, if it is needed before classes are completed this summer. power and construction tools were reported stolen Friday, March 23, from a vehicle in the first block of Flowerfield Court The vehicle's passenger-side window was reported shattered and the tools stolen between 11:46 p.m. Thursday, March 22, and 6:45 a.m Friday, March 23. A purse and 1 00 in cash were reported stolen Friday, March 23, in the first block of Manchester Court after someone shattered the passenger-side window of a vehicle.

The items were taken between 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22, Lake in the Hills hit with rash posted limit. And that was the finding of a study done last summer, he said. However, Cousin said he could not locate the study when asked for details, such as the prevailing speed the study deter mined. County officials conducted a second study earlier this month, he said.

They will reveal those findings at a county Transportation Committee meeting April 4. The Transportation Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in the highway department conference room, 12104 Country Club Road, Woodstock. Meetings are public. "We have looked at it again," Cousin said.

"We're still reviewing it, but we have (conducted the study)." Brusek said the county should reduce the limit regardless of study findings. "What I can't comprehend is if this is an entrance where you have young adults going in and7 out of school, why a speed study even needs to be done," he said. "Fifty-five miles per hour is just too fast for cars to be going around those turns." But Cousin said reducing a limit where motorists already violate a higher limit does no good. "Traffic will generally travel at the speed with which they feel comfortable regardless of what speed limit is posted," he said. "It all comes back to enforcement" Sczewczyk said his department has stepped up patrols in the area.

in youth magazine "That's exactly what I didn't want, but that's what I got," the 20-year-old college sophomore said. An article in the magazine tells about her high school kicking days. Photos show her kicking a football on the turf and sitting in her college dorm room. She graduated from Cary-Grove High School in 1999 and is studying communications at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. Her goal is to coach college or high school soccer.

In high school, Fletcher played midfield for the girls soccer team that competed at the state level. 1 By CYNDI KLAPPERICH Herald News Service RICHMOND County officials are reconsidering reducing the speed limit on Tryon Grove Road near the high school entrance where a student was struck by a car. Richmond Village President Kevin Brusek said he began asking for a limit reduction to 40 mph from 55 mph months before the new school opened last fall. The entrance at Holian Drive and Tryon Grove Road is just east of a sloping S-curve. A female student who was attempting to cross Tryon Grove Road on foot suffered facial injuries after a car struck her in January, Assistant Principal Larry Jones said.

"It's kind of a blind intersection," Jones said. "I think that the driver probably didn't have much of a chance to see anything. You come right over a hill and then there's our entrance." The girl's injuries, while serious, could have been far worse, Jones said, adding that a lower speed limit might have allowed a driver more time to stop. "She had quite a few stitches, and I think she had a broken nose," he said. "It could have been a lot worse.

She was very lucky." Brusek, Police Chief Roger Sczewczyk and Jones said the limit should be lowered. But McHenry County highway engineer Bradley Cousin said his department generally will not reduce a speed limit where most motorists exceed the Cary girl featured The NORTHWEST HERALD CARY Tonya Fletcher hit newsstands with a splash in the inaugural issue of mary-katean-dashley magazine. Known locally as a the first female kicker for the Trojan football team, Fletcher is featured in the March issue of the new 'tween girl publication. Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen starred in the TV House." Publicity, like Fletcher's accuracy for placing footballs between the goal posts, cannot stay away from the former homecoming queen. The NORTHWEST HERALD LAKE IN THE HILLS Tools, cash, a digital camera and a CD player were among the items taken from five vehicles burglarized last week, police said.

About 1 ,850 worth of power tools were reported stolen from a vehicle Friday, March 23, parked in the first block of Barririgton Court The tools were taken from a unlocked vehicle between 11 p.m. Thursday, March 22, and 5:35 a.m. Friday. About $3,236.71 worth of mm) i..