McHenry County Blog

Tonya Franklin, the woman who was willing to run against Jack Franks for State Representative as a Republican but was denied that opportunity by the McHenry County Republican Central Committee, sent an interesting photo of her home.

It was taken by one of the Google mapping folks.

Look at it closely and you will see an American Flag.

And, there is another flag next to it that has been deliberately blurred.

It’s a Tea Party Flag.

Draw your own conclusion.

A friend in Chicago found some of his anti-Obama bumper stickers blurred.

As if a lot of people look at these pictures.

An email from Congressman Randy Hultgren:

“From the first shots of the Revolutionary War, to the men and women serving our country today, this nation owes an immeasurable debt of gratitude to our veterans.

“We are the greatest country in the free world and I’m grateful for the freedoms we as a country have fought so hard to protect.

“On this Veterans Day, please take the time to say thank to our men and women who have served and are serving our country.

“There are so many great poems written on behalf of our veterans. I have included one of those poems today.

“In Service,

“Congressman Randy Hultgren”

Veterans Day

By Taylor Weinman

Representing the red white and blue

The colors of our flag stand out proud and true.

The white stars on blue background with red and white stripes

Remind me of these veterans, who all risked their lives.

Just so the people of the U.S. could all live in peace and be free

These are the heroes that represent you and me.

They stood up strongly, untied as one,

And kept up the fighting until they were done.

And although some have fallen, and lost their lives in war,

We pray for each one of them.

And now that their souls live on forever more,

Above in God’s hands.

They watch over our nation,

And give us strength to triumph over others with strong anticipation.

So every year, when this day comes by,

Think of all the veterans that while fighting, had to die.

And remember that they were people

With fire and passion embedded inside.

They die for this country,

So remember and honor them with pride

Decorated with blueberries and strawberries, this cake is perfect for the 4th of July.

OK. You got me.

It’s July 3rd.

And it wasn’t sweltering hot.  I found the shade most of the hour and a half 90-something entry parade.

The biggest political entry was Congressman Joe Walsh’s.

He followed Congressman Don Manzullo and his wife Freda, who rode in a convertible.

Between them was McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren.  If one did not recognize the Sheriff, one would not have known that he was in the parade.

Last year at parades there were Sheriff’s Department motorcyclists, a snow mobile, a community service vehicle, plus a convertible with identification signs on the sides in which the Sheriff rode.

There was an unmarked gray car that followed with a female officer. I’m not familiar enough with the patch she wore to know if she’s a Sheriff’s Deputy.

Can’t do a story without mentioning the Grand Marshall. After all she is the mother of McHenry County Board member Jim Heisler and Nunda Township Supervisor John Heisler.

Next came the Crystal Lake Lions huge flag. I only wish I had had a higher vantage point.

JA Frate’s Fallen Heroes semi-trailer paid appropriate honor to those who have defended our freedom.

Then the banner of Congressman Joe Walsh came down the hill.

A man with a bull horn said patriotic things.

Next came Congressman Walsh.  He was greeting people along the parade route, the only politician besides McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi to do so.

What you see below was not an isolated occurrence.  A number of people made the effort to reach out to Congressman Walsh.

Parents seemed please that Walsh did not ignore the future voters.

Marching music was playing from Joe Walsh’s parade vehicle and a line of girls were marching to its beat.

Walsh saw them and stepped over to clap in time with them.

The Congressman who has had his 8th District reapportioned out from under him did not ignore the ladies of voting age.

Some women were as enthusiastic to see him as the men above.

A blue-shirted lady nearby was not to be outdone. She also grasped Walsh’s hands and told him something.

Walsh was not the only member of the family greeting voters.

His wife Helene was pressing the flesh, too.

The truck from which the sound was coming contained that part of a mariachi band that needed a stable platform.

Ever since I heard my first mariachi band in the 1960′s, I always wished I had enough money to hire them for parades.  He hired the Ranchitos.  I hope he does it for every parade.

But that wasn’t all I noticed in the Joe Walsh contingent.

One of the rejected applicants to replace State Rep. Mark Beaubien, Nick Sauer, introduced himself. Since I didn’t have a picture of him, you can bet I pushed the button.

The Barrington School Board member was waving an American Flag at the end of the Walsh group.

I also spotted past Crystal Lake City Council candidate Mike Shorten.  He is now a  Nunda Township precinct committeeman.

The next political entry was a bicycle ridden by a man displaying signs for McHenry County Board member Donna Kurtz. (She tells me she and her mother, former State Rep. Rosemary Kurtz, were in the parade, but my eyes must have been elsewhere.)

The only County Board member I saw at the parade was Nunda Township’s District 3 member Mary Donner.

Looking very much as if he will be a candidate in the 2012 elections was McHenry County State’s attorney Lou Bianchi.

The political entry was the PTLAG contingent.

The acronym is short for “Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.”  The group is a member of the coalition that convinced the Illinois General Assembly to enact the civil union legislation that took effect June 1st.

The next political group was the Jesse White Tumblers.

Before you get all bent out of shape, do remember that Secretary of State Jesse White did accompany his tumblers in one 4th of July Parade.

Coming near the end of the parade were the McHenry County Young Republicans.

McHenry County State Rep. and GOP Chairman Mike Tryon walked with the Young Republicans.

While State Rep. Mike Tryon marched with the Young Republicans, I didn’t see State Sen. Pam Althoff.

If newly picked State Rep. Kent Gaffney was in the contingent, I did not recognize him.

His new district will contain more votes in McHenry County than anywhere else.  About a third of Crystal Lake is in it.

A surprise addition was West Dundee Village Trustee Allen Skillicorn.

As I look at the contents of the photos, I see a delightful tee shirt.

It says,

“Honk if you hate red light cameras.“

That is relevant to McHenry County because Democrat Jack Franks was one of the sponsors of the bill to legalize this form of highway robbery.

And, although it has no political implications, the South Shore Drill Team brought up the rear of the parade.

The team was worth waiting for.

Almost forgot Crystal Lake’s politicians.

Mayor Aaron Shepley was not present, but City Clerk Nick Kachiroubas was.

So were two of the three women on the City Council, Ellen Brady Mueller and Cathy Ferguson.

And, finally, Councilman Ralph Dawson was seated comfortably in the back of a pickup truck.

In a synergistic arrangement, the City of Crystal Lake allowed T-Mobile to build a very, very tall mobile phone tower on its sewage plant property.

This is the kind of tower that T-Mobile wanted to erect in the middle of Crystal Lake’s Ken Bird Park. (Read about the uprising at the Park Board meeting here.)

This is such a much better location for all sorts of reasons.

It can similarly be seen by cars coming west on Rakow Road.

Appropriate for Memorial Day, don’t you think?

The American flag in front of the Administrative Building of Huntley School District 158 is flying at half mast in honor of United States Senator Ted Kennedy.

Just south of the Dixie Truck Stop on Interstate 55 we found a flag flying on the middle of an overpass.

It was just south of Atlanta.

Hard to miss.

This banner can be found in Mary Collins’ front yard across from Gate 3 Beach (sic) in Lakewood.

It says,

There’s a flag painted on the side of a home below.

In the “Are You Nuts?” category is Northwest Herald reporter Brett Rowland’s story about last night MCC Board meeting.

McHenry County College folks get quite irritated when I call it a “junior” college.

Of course, that’s what it was created to be, this witness remembers. When discussions were going on to determine its name, however, the board decided to leave that word out.

Somewhere along the way, college folks decided they wanted to be called a “community” college. I guess it sounded more prestigious.

But, the McHenry County College board acts like a “junior” college much too often.

Community input is only wanted under tightly controlled circumstances under the $137,750 guidance of tax hike experts Unicom-ARC out of St. Louis. The community is held in such disdain by the board that the subject of public comments at board meetings is not even recorded in the minutes.

Consider the baseball stadium fiasco. Secret meetings, of course. The public was not allowed to see the details of the deal and an insider non-bid contract forbade competitive bids or contracts the public could examine. And there was a competitor out there.

Months went by before the public was informed of the college’s plans. And months more before more or less meaningful details were released to the public.

Little wonder why.

For almost the entire debate prior to the city council vote, the public was led to believe that the baseball stadium would bring in 64% of the project revenues. That’s what the Northwest Herald reported MCC President Walt Packard said in early June, 2007.

But, he admitted to me in March, 2008, that he misspoke in that interview. No correction was ever run in the Northwest Herald.

64% is significantly more than what the baseball stadium expansion would cost, it was argued. The baseball team would subsidize the nursing program.

But that was false.

The first ERA report seemed to say the answer provided these figures for the baseball part of the proposal:

Does anyone think the fact that the baseball stadium would not even pay its own way would have been a deal-breaker, if made public?

And consider the top secret, hush, hush, almost 12-month process of considering selling a 400 foot by 400 foot corner of MCC to BMB Communications Management on which to build the tallest free standing radio-TV broadcast tower (1,500 feet) in the country.

Still no meaningful details about the college’s consideration of the project have been released. Just the proposed contract and information that the prospective buyer wishes the public to see.

We ordinary citizens, you see, are not smart enough to evaluate any such due diligence on our own…assuming there was any due diligence…of which there is no evidence on the public record except for insurance concerns.

The first night BMB came to a board meeting way back in February 2008, I and others were illegally threatened with arrest while standing outside the college’s secret meeting and kicked out of the building.

That was after a college security guard got a cell phone call from within the board meeting room.

Before that, Packard’s moving the American flag to block my view of the meeting ranks as one of the most bizarre events in my 42 years of interaction with McHenry County officials. (That’s his head behind the flag.)

If the tower is built, the public will remember Packard as the man who led the way to the landmark that will identify the college’s location from 30 miles out. The bright white and red strobe lights will be impossible to miss.

But, there still is nothing anyone can look at to see what it will look like that is anything close to reality.

MCC board members apparently acting like a junior college board again last night.

And, I considered attending the meeting, but thought it would be boring. Guess I should have read the revised agenda.

Brett Rowland’s article reports the board, which had strangely named Walt Packard, “President Emeritus,” when he resigned at February’s meeting to take care of his ailing wife

It seemed strange at the time.

Here’s what the press release said:

“The Board of Trustees of McHenry County College and Dr. Walt Packard wish to mutually announce that Dr. Packard will be stepping down as the College’s President and assuming the position of President Emeritus effective February 26,2009.

“The Board greatly appreciates Dr. Packard’s service, and acknowledges his contributions, to the College and the College community as President.

“The College will continue to move forward on initiatives begun under Dr. Packard including the Academic Quality Improvement Program, implementation of the new ERP system, and the McHenry County College Promise.”

Included in the press release was a statement from Packard, which concluded with

“I look forward to serving in my new role as President Emeritus.”

I image so.

Over $200,000 in cash benefits, plus health insurance for him and his wife.

Quite a golden parachute.

The best comment below the Northwest Herald article came from MohawkChieftain:

Oops.

Wrong Tower.

Another commenter “ohmygosh” notes:

“Speaking of wasted tax dollars, is it really necessary to hold tonight’s President’s Reception at Boulder Ridge Country Club with hors d’oeuvres beginning at 4:30? Don’t we already spend our tax dollars on the campus buildings which will, most likely, have empty conference rooms at the same time?”

Interim college President Brian Segar announced he was retiring at the end of June.

This American Flag reminds me of the one that I featured from the Crystal Lake Plaza.

Not quite as bad though.

Certainly worse than the frayed one I took a photo of outside the Huntley School District 158 administrative building a year ago.

Please let me know if you see a new flag has replaced this one.

I could say more, but why?

The shape of District 15′s says so much already.