NWH-5-31-2013

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CL teen earns top-20 finish at national spelling bee

Jacobs’ Ben Murray

013 FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2013

WWW.NWHERALD.COM

The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.

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Pioneer Center seeks more space Social service agency considers buying former Family Service building By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com McHenry County’s largest social service agency is looking to buy the building left behind when a longtime mental health provider collapsed last year. Pioneer Center for Human Services is interested in buying

the 41,493-square-foot former home of Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, Pioneer President and CEO Patrick Maynard confirmed Thursday. The three-story building at 4100 Veterans Parkway in McHenry, now owned in a trust, is largely vacant except for first-

House’s pension plan fails in Senate

floor space rented out by a Rockford-based mental health agency that Pioneer has objected to helping fill the void left by Family Service. Maynard said the building is just one of several options, but he declined to comment further. “Pioneer Center has a responsibility to meet the increased

needs of the community, and subsequently, we have an immediate need for space. We are moving forward with the exploration of how to meet that need,” Maynard said. Family Service closed its doors June 30 after 50 years because of financial issues. The McHenry County Mental Health

Board spent almost $1.8 million last year to try to keep it afloat through loans and through a failed last-ditch effort to merge it with North Central Behavioral Health Systems. Rockford-based Rosecrance Health Network now rents space

See PIONEER, page A9

By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com

Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com

Gina Baird, an employee at Centegra Health System, tests a prosthetic hand as her co-worker Valarie Chudzinski watches during a training meeting Thursday in Crystal Lake. Employees put together the prosthetic hands to be donated to the LN-4 Foundation. They will be given to amputees who need them in countries worldwide.

Lending a ‘helping hand’ Centegra employees build prosthetics for Third World residents By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com

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RYSTAL LAKE – Employees at Centegra Health System lent a hand Thursday – both figuratively and literally – to disabled Third World residents. Around 150 Centegra employees assembled more than 40 prosthetic hands for land mine survivors and other amputees during a leadership training session, with only a few of the participants knowing about the exercise ahead of time.

The session provided Centegra employees with a chance to improve leadership and collaboration skills, while also helping someone in need. The supplies and training were provided by Odyssey Teams Inc., whose “Helping Hands” program has distributed 13,000 prosthetic hands to people in 67 countries around the world. “It’s a real powerful metaphor for the health care industry,” said Bill John, president of Odyssey. “They touch patients lives every day. So by giving them this expe-

rience of touching a person’s life from a health-related standpoint, it allows us to anchor some of these concepts we’ve been taking about.” Following step-by-step instructions, teams of three spent roughly an hour building the prosthetics. The end product was a small, childlike hand with three rigid digits and two geared digits that will allow the recipient to clasp items such as a pen, phone or steering wheel.

See PENSIONS, page A9

See HAND, page A9

WOODSTOCK – A one-time youth mentor faces a maximum of seven years in prison after a McHenry County judge found him guilty of sexually abusing a young boy. Prosecutors said Leonard Puccini, 53, formerly of the Woodstock-area, spanked the bare butt of a then-12-year-old boy whom he met through Big Brothers Big Sisters of McHenry County. The victim, now 16, testified during the twoday bench trial Leonard in front of Judge Puccini Michael Feetterer that Puccini was wearing boxer shorts at the time and was sexually aroused during the incident. The victim said he then heard Puccini masturbating. The Northwest Herald does not identify victims of sexual abuse. Before the summer 2009 incident, Puccini was the boy’s mentor and bought him gifts, and sent him text messages that said he loved him, testimony revealed. In emails to the boy’s mother, Puccini offered to adopt the child, she said. The prosecution called two witnesses, now adults, who

See ABUSE, page A9

LOCALLY SPEAKING

WOODSTOCK

TWO RECEIVE LIFE SAVING AWARD Randall Ho and Daniel Hibbeler, who pulled Harvard resident Deb Furstenau from her burning vehicle after it struck a bus, were honored Thursday with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office highest citizen commendation – the life saving award. “It was a blur. I just said, ‘We have to get her out, the car’s on fire,’ ” Ho recalled of the rescue. For more, see page B1.

H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com

HIGH

Pioneer Center may buy the former headquarters of Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, which closed in June.

Puccini guilty of sex abuse

LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROJECT

The ASSOCIATED PRESS SPRINGFIELD – A pension reform plan pushed by the Illinois House speaker failed miserably in the Senate on Thursday night, one of two messages Senate President John Cullerton’s backers sent to his fellow Chicago Democrat on the eve of the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment. The Senate’s overwhelming rejection of House Speaker Michael MadiInside gan’s fix for a $97 billion reSenator says tirement-plan compromise crisis leaves lawmakers reached on heading into concealed their final day carry; House in the Capitol OKs bill on on Friday with “fracking.” the state’s most PAGE A3 pressing crisis continuing to stare them in the face. The 16-42 vote came hours after a group of public-employee unions tried to swing support behind a labor-endorsed proposal that has Senate support. They pointed to a report that touted the discovery of $26 billion of additional savings in the Cullerton plan – counting health care cost reductions – that they say put it ahead of the Madigan proposal in terms of money saved. Despite knowing there weren’t enough votes to pass the Madigan measure, Cullerton emerged from a meeting of his Democrats and moved to the floor for a roll call.

What it means

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CARY: Congressman Roskam discusses technology, copyright issues in visit to Cary public library. Local&Region, B1 Vol. 28, Issue 151

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