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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013
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PLANTING SEEDS OF COOPERATION
Upcoming road widening dominates county projects By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Henry Zierer moves farm equipment Tuesday on Frohling Road near his Huntley home. Zierer regularly moves large trailers 3 to 7 miles from his farm.
Sharing the road safely People urged to watch out for farm equipment By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com When Karl Zierer bought his farm northwest of Huntley in 1967, he only had to share the road with the school bus and the milk truck. Things are much different now with subdivisions popping up in otherwise rural areas and the suburbs spreading farther west. The farm equipment is getting bigger, too. The mix is a potentially fatal one. In 2011, of the 259 accidents across Illinois that involved farm equipment, six of them resulted in fatalities and 69 of them in injuries, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The same number of fatalities occurred the year before. It’s something John Bartman thinks about a lot, especially after his own close call in May. Bartman was headed north on Dunham Road near the intersection with Route 176 in Seneca Township, east of Marengo, about 4 p.m. when a Chevy Tahoe came up and rear-ended him, hitting the rotary hoe attached to Bartman’s 1968 tractor. The rotary hoe detached from the tractor. The wheels, which look like Chinese throwing stars and are designed to dig up the earth, went flying. Pieces of the hoe hit Bartman in the head and shoulder. The Tahoe was totaled. “I was fortunate,” he said. “I got
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
A reflective red or orange triangle means the vehicle is slow moving. away with only scratches. I’m glad I went to church that Sunday.” Mancel “Butch” Beard, a Harvard farmer with a wife of 47 years, a father of three and a grandfather of three, wasn’t as lucky. The 66-year-old was killed in May 2011 when the tractor he was riding along Route 23 in Marengo was struck by a car, causing his tractor to flip and sending Beard flying 10 feet. “There are collisions on a fairly regular basis, and a lot of that has to do with the amount of traffic and the speed people are going in comparison to the speed tractors and combines are going,” said Dan Volkers, the manager
TIPS TO AVOID ACCIDENTS • Slow down as soon as you see farm equipment or mowers. • Watch for hand signals. Veering to the right could mean the tractor is about to make a wide turn, not necessarily that it's pulling over to let you pass. • A reflective red or orange triangle means the vehicle is slow moving. • Do not speed past farm machinery, and only pass in safe, designated passing zones. Don't assume they know you're there, and leave plenty of space when you move back to the right lane.
Source: McHenry County Sheriff's Office
McHENRY COUNTY
HOME SALES UP 45 PERCENT Closed home sales in McHenry County totaled 481 last month, up 45.3 percent from 331 in May 2012, according to a market report released Thursday by the Illinois Association of Realtors. The median sales price for single-family homes increased 5.3 percent to $176,400, while condo prices fell 9.5 percent to $95,000 in May. For more, see page F1.
Luke Moore Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
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Start the workweek by making sure your commute goes smoothly. Sign up for the Northwest Herald's road construction email newsletter to stay updated on local construction projects. Sign up at NWHerald.com/ newsletter. The newsletter will be emailed Sunday evenings throughout road construction season. You also can find construction updates online at NWHerald.com/ construction.
Road and the entrance to Algonquin Commons, and building a continuous-flow intersection at Randall and Algonquin roads, on the
See RANDALL, page A6
Most committee members backed large pension cuts By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
See SAFELY, page A6
LOCALLY SPEAKING
The upcoming Randall Road widening project dominates the new five-year list of McHenry County road projects. The project, which includes a six-lane widening and a controversial continuous-flow intersection, accounts for $44.1 million of the $224.2 million in road spending proposed in the Division of Transportation’s five-year Highway Improvement Plan. The plan, updated annually, is a planning tool mandated by state law. The County Board on Tuesday accepted this year’s version, which highlights potential road spending through 2017. Plans call for improving 3½ miles from Ackman Road south to County Line
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CHICAGO – Eight of the 10 members of a committee tackling Illinois’ $97 billion pension crisis supported a proposal to unilaterally cut benefits, but members say they’re keeping an open mind as they begin working toward a compromise. Lawmakers voted Wednesday to form a bipartisan committee to try to end a stalemate between the House and Senate on how to address the nation’s worst state pension shortfall, which was caused largely
by years of legislators skipping or shorting the state’s pension payments. The four legislative leaders appointed members from their respective caucuses, and the group is expected to begin meeting next week. Gov. Pat Quinn has set a July 9 deadline for the committee to report back. The Senate members are Democrats Linda Holmes, Kwame Raoul and Daniel Biss, and Republicans Bill Brady and Matt Murphy. The House members are Democrats Elaine Nekritz,
See PENSION, page A6
Winning is no accident. Franks, Gerkin & McKenna 815.923.2107 www.fgmlaw.com