Consistent Sweeney claims McHenry County tennis title Sports, C1
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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McHENRY COUNTY GOLF AMATEUR
Former owner watches horse in ‘The Lone Ranger’ Planit Style, 6
Langland Jr. needs playoff hole to win title Sports, C1
Assessment appeal clock winds down
RESIDENCY RULES DISCUSSED
READY TO
RESPOND
Deadlines approaching for three townships in county By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Crystal Lake firefighter Rich Kreher exits a truck Wednesday at the Crystal Lake Fire Department. Some firefighters in the nation are required by their department to live within certain boundaries. TOP: Tom Linneman (left) and Mike Geyman check the critical care and medicine bags inside an ambulance at the Crystal Lake Fire Department.
Residency rules vary for area police, fire departments By LAWERENCE SYNETT lsynett@shawmedia.com Firefighter Gabriel Williams logs a lot of miles to and from work. The drive from his Racine, Wis., home
to the fire station in Huntley – a more than 140-mile round-trip commute – takes him about 90 minutes each way. He thought about moving closer to his full-time job at the Huntley Fire Protection District, but his wife wanted to
remain near her family, which lives in Kenosha, Wis. His commute avoids the morning and afternoon rush hours, and his shifts
Assessments for about half of McHenry County’s townships will have been published by month’s end. Residents of Grafton, Hartland and Seneca townships received their assessments in recent weeks, meaning they have until early August to appeal if they so choose. Appeal deadlines already have passed for Richmond and Greenwood townships, which published in early June. And property owners in three more townships – McHenry, Dunham and Alden – should be getting their assessments later this month, county Supervisor of Assessments Robert Ross said. Township assessors have moved up their timetables for publishing the assessments by which property taxes are calculated, citing skyrocketing appeals by property owners frustrated that taxes are increasing despite the fact that values have decreased. It was not until late July that the first townships published last year for this year’s tax bills. And Grafton last year did not publish until November and was the last of the county’s 17 townships to do so. Property owners have 30 days from when their township’s assessments are published in a newspaper of record to appeal. Residents of Seneca and Hartland townships have until Aug. 2, and Grafton Township residents have until Aug. 5. McHenry County last year
See RESIDENCY, page A9
Tax appeal deadlines Deadlines are approaching for property owners in several McHenry County townships to appeal their assessments. n Residents of Seneca and Hartland townships have until Aug. 2. n Grafton Township residents have until Aug. 5. Assessments are expected to be published later this month for McHenry, Dunham and Alden townships. Property owners have 30 days from the publication date to file an appeal. The deadlines for property owners in Richmond and Greenwood townships have passed.
See ASSESSMENT, page A9
Jury finds George Zimmerman not guilty in shooting death By KYLE HIGHTOWER and MIKE SCHNEIDER The Associated Press SANFORD, Fla. – Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing un-
not guilty after deliberating well into the night Saturday. Martin’s mother and father were not in the courtroom when the verdict was read; supporters of his family who had gathered outside yelled “No! No!” upon learning of the not guilty verdict. The jurors considered nearly three weeks of conflicting testi-
leashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice. Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled when the verdict was announced. He could have been convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter. But the jury of six women, all but one of them white, reached a verdict of
LOCALLY SPEAKING
mony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was staying. Defense attorneys said the case was classic self-defense, claiming Martin knocked Zimmerman down and was slamming the older man’s head against the
McHENRY
FIESTA DAYS CONTINUES THIS WEEK
concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun. “We’re ecstatic with the results,” defense attorney Mark O’Mara said after the verdict. “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense.”
George Zimmerman
See ZIMMERMAN, page A9
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McHenry Fiesta Days attracted thousands this weekend with musical acts such as Firehouse, Great White and Queensryche. The band Libido Funk Circus rounds out the live music events Sunday night. A river run and ice cream social also are planned for this week before the festival closes on July 21 with a parade. For more, see page B1.
Sylvan Steinberg Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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HARVARD: Local retirement home, owners give resident piano man reason to live. Planit Style, Inside
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