Area St. Baldrick’s Day events raise more than $250K
SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2013
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U of I holds off Colorado, moves on to play Miami
Some frustrated by Rihanna’s late arrival in Barrington
D.J. Richardson
Can Assembly agree on pensions? Ill. House, Senate both pass reform bills, but reaching consensus far from certain By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com Both houses of the General Assembly over the past several days have approved pension reform plans – one bold and one small. All but one of McHenry County’s representatives in the House voted for their pro-
posal. All three of its Senate members voted against theirs. So the question is, what kind of bill, if any, will make it to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk in an attempt to reduce the state’s $96.7 billion unfunded pension liability? House Bill 1165, approved Thursday on a 66-50 vote, caps the 3 percent annual cost-of-
Tax cap reform advances again
More inside Schaumburg: Wake me up when we have term limits. PAGE A2
living adjustment for existing retirees to only the first $25,000 of income for four of the five state-run pension sys-
tems, excluding judges. It also pushes back the eligibility for COLA increases to age 67 or five years after retirement. Senate Bill 1, which passed Wednesday on a 30-22 vote, would force downstate and suburban teachers to choose between getting a 3 percent COLA or state health insurance once they retire.
Rep. Mike Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, was the sole county legislator who voted “no” on the House bill on the grounds that it would not survive an inevitable court challenge by the state’s powerful public sector unions. The Illinois Constitution says that public sector pension benefits cannot be dimin-
ished or impaired, and Tryon pointed out that judges in Arizona and Colorado have recently tossed out their states’ attempts to lower COLAs for existing employees. “The major component piece, the COLAs, has already lost in two other states
See PENSIONS, page A7
Schools squeeze library services
Bill would forbid increases when values decrease By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com An effort to limit local government’s power to tax when property values decline again is heading for a vote in the Illinois House. House Bill 89, filed by state Rep. Jack Franks, forbids governments under the tax cap from collecting an automatic increase if their overall On the Net assessed value declines, You can read except by House Bill 89 on voter referendum. It the General Aspassed the sembly website at www.ilga.gov. House Revenue and Finance Committee on a 10-0 vote Thursday. Franks, D-Marengo, tried to get the bill passed in the previous session of the General Assembly. It cleared the House on the second try but stalled in the Senate, and was heavily resisted by local government lobbying groups. “Government needs to be a reflection of its citizens, and when citizens have less, governments should have less. Many governments need to learn that, and some have,” Franks said.
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Library Media Specialist Jodie Scott helps fourth-grade students Leah Gritzner and Faizan Ahmed as they work on their poetry and figurative speech in the library at Mary Endres Elementary School in Woodstock.
When districts must cut costs, media resource staffing gets trimmed By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
T
he library at Mary Endres Elementary School in Woodstock is always open, but that’s not true for all the schools in District 200. Like several districts across McHenry County, when faced
with cuts, District 200 has tried to shave its libraries’ budgets. Illinois school codes do not mandate the need for a school librarian. “When the economy is going bad, the library is the No. 1 place where you should be pouring resources,” McHenry High School West Campus library media specialist Kurt Pearson said. “[The li-
Voice your opinion How often do you go to a library? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
brary] creates a level playing field. Everyone can check out books.” District 200’s method was to
See TAX REFORM, page A7
LOCALLY SPEAKING
WOODSTOCK
TASK FORCE TARGETS HEROIN USE The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office will seek community input in devising ways to curb heroin use in the county under a new task force. The new Heroin Education/Enforcement Action Taskforce will combine county agencies such as the Coroner’s and State’s Attorney’s offices with area police departments and health service providers. For more, see page B1.
Chris Schoenhoft of Cary works on a piece of furniture at Elite Furniture in McHenry. Sarah Nader - snader@shawmedia.com
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McHENRY: In business since 1996, Elite Furniture Service refinishes, restores classic pieces. Business, E1 Vol. 28, Issue 80
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keep a trained library media specialist at every school but cut the number of hours of each building’s library aide depending on the school’s size, Endres’ media specialist Jodie Scott said. Although Scott is lucky enough to have a full-time aide, other
See LIBRARY, page A7