McHenry County Blog

Zane Seipler, the man challenging almost 11-year incumbent Republican McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren has issues a press release challenging the incumbent’s credentials as a Republican. The statement follows:

Republican Sheriff Keith Nygren’s Support of the Democratic Party

Woodstock, IL, September 30, 2009- In the latter part of the 1970’s, Keith Nygren embarked on a political career.

Record states that Mr. Nygren was a Democratic committeeman in Algonquin Township.

At the age of 32, Keith Nygren was endorsed as the candidate for the appointment of sheriff by the McHenry County Democratic Central Committee. He did not get the appointment but his career as a politician began.

Keith Nygren was appointed Sheriff of McHenry County in 1997, this time as a Republican.

Prior to 1997, Mr. Nygren never participated in Republican Party politics.

According to recent record, Sheriff Nygren has not completely left his Democratic ideologies behind.

At a time when the Republican Party struggles to rebuild, Sheriff Nygren gives financial aid to a local Democratic leader.

Not just once but several times over the past couple of years.

When the Republican Party is in need of cohesiveness, leadership and support, Sheriff Nygren openly undermines the party that appointed him to office.

By providing campaign contributions to members of the Democratic Party, Keith Nygren turns his back on the Republican campaign donors that have helped solidify his tenure over the past 12 years.

Bi-partisan relationships are necessary in all aspects of government, including law enforcement.

Financing the other team crosses the line.

If Mr. Nygren has formed personal relationships with members of the opposing party, those relationships are to be respected.

Party unity and loyalty should also be respected.

Republican campaign contributions should not end up in Democratic coffers.

County Republican leaders should not be attending breakfast fundraisers for any member of the Democratic Party.

I am asking Republican Sheriff Keith Nygren to publically withdraw his support for any and all Democrats running for office, or to resign from the Republican Party.

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I presume Seipler is referring to Keith Nygren’s name being listed as a member of State Rep. Jack Franks’ “Host Committee” for his October 3, 2009, fund raiser.

He is not the only Republican whose name was published–a couple of letters at a time–over the last two weeks on McHenry County Blog.

If don’t want to go down on the blog to find the article you seek, just click on the image you wish to enlarge.

Zane Seipler is the head shot on top of the article. Keith Nygren’s is just below.

The big news in the Northwest Herald Sunday was that State Representative Jack Franks was not going to run for governor.

He had been teasing the media that he might make such a run for a long time, gathering about a million dollars of mainly family money into his campaign fund to generate a July publicity push.

He was getting mentioned into late August. But not so much after State Comptroller Dan Hynes entered the race against appointed Governor Pat Quinn.

He said he would decide by Labor Day.

But didn’t.

Instead he went to Ireland with the two guys who will have the most to say about reapportionment for Congress for the 2012 election.

And, Sunday the big news was Franks’ congressional ambitions, about how he’d like to have McHenry County all be in one congressional district, which, I would point out, it would come close to dominating.

And, in order to wait for that, he would run for state representative again.

Which brings us to the question about his run for governor:

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?“

So, I anxiously watched to see if any of the statewide media would report that Franks was not running for governor.

Last night, I typed “Jack Franks, governor” into Google’s news search engine and set it to be from newest to oldest story.

I discovered that only one paper had written a story besides the Northwest Herald. That was the Galesburg Register-Mail. The story appeared on its web site Tuesday night at about 6 P.M.

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The cartoon of Jack Franks wearing a cook’s hat is from his invitation to his Bull Valley Country Club breakfast on October 3rd.

We’re to the point on the list of names on the invitation of State Rep. Jack Franks’ fund raiser where we see the P’s and Q’s. For your edification, they follow:

Tim and Debbie Pace
Dennis Palys
Jack and Sue Peleck
Mario J. Perez
Claudett Peters
Edward Peters
Fred Pflueger
John and Jennifer Phil
Craig and Myra Pleva
Ted and Penny Poehlmann
Lloyd and Sharon Pohlman
Michael and Debbie Poper

Joseph and Sharon Porebski
Kathryn Porep
Kathy Posner
Virginia Povidas
Ron Powell
Kim Presbrey
Alan and Joanne Prihoda
The Prindiville Family
Paul and Dawn Psilos
Elizabeth Puchmetter
Kim and Darnell Quails

Take a look at this May 1st article I found in Elgin’s Courier-News.

It tells of how the head of the State Police Merit Board got “a 2006 Dodge Charger, boasting a ‘Hemi” V-8 engine that blasts from zero to 60 in 5 seconds.”

Fewer than 12,000 miles.

So, why didn’t State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias just cozy up to the State Police and ask for a fancy vehicle instead of buying a Ford Escape hybrid SUV, instead of buying it with Bright Start college savings money?

You remember reading about the $85 million lost in that investment program, right?

Ray Hanania asks in his SWNewsHerald online column,

“Why is the Bright Star controversy so important in all of this? It’s such a small breach of ethics. Yet that small breach of ethics is symbolic of the problem Giannoulias presents to this state.

“If he will take money from a fund set up to help little kids one day have the money to go to college so he can buy an SUV, then he would surely look you straight in the eye and tell you he is the champion of the public and quietly pat the bankers on the bank as they continue to pillage the consumer.”

For additional context, please read the column.

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Editorial cartoonist Chris Britt of the State Journal-Register drew the cartoon from which this image is extracted. Entitled “A NOT SO BRIGHT START,” he has Giannoulias saying, “This shows ya what a college education can buy.”

The State Journal-Register’s cartoonist Christ Britt has penned an empathetic cartoon concerning Governor Pat Quinn’s income tax hike efforts.

It is not demeaning like Chicago Sun-Times’ editorial cartoonist Jack Higgins’.

This cartoon has a big wave about to crash on Quinn, why is holding an umbrella labeled “TAXES” above his head.

Not only is Quinn about to be inundated, but the sand castle that he has just built with his bucket will be washed away.

The wave is labeled “DEFICIT.”

It seems to me that the sand castles should be labeled “ILLINOIS ECONOMY.”

What do you think business will do when they figure out that 9.7% of their income will be extracted by state taxes?

Will they want to move here?

Only Iowa at 12%, Minnesota at 9.8%, Pennsylvania at 9.99%, and DC at 9.975% have higher tax rates for business.

If you owned a business that did not have to be in Illinois, would you stay?

In a “Dumb and Dumber” take off, yesterday Chicago Sun-Times cartoonist took off on the re-naming of the Sears Tower and Governor Pat Quinn’s 50% income tax proposal.

Higgins has stuck an arrow through Quinn’s head.

Here is what appeared in Jack Higgins’ editorial cartoon in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday.

I don’t have a key for a lightning bolt or a cent sign, but the rest is

I wonder if he will use my wife’s

on Friday after the impeachment vote.

Here is what appeared in Jack Higgins’ editorial cartoon in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday.

I don’t have a key for a lightning bolt or a cent sign, but the rest is

I wonder if he will use my wife’s

on Friday after the impeachment vote.

“Hey, Dad. Barack Obama’s on Cartoon Network.”

I ran in with my camera, but missed it.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be on again. Obama is on between every program.”

“Call me the next time,” I said.

It was Inauguration Day and between every program this was what our kids saw.

“Hey, Dad. Barack Obama’s on Cartoon Network.”

I ran in with my camera, but missed it.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be on again. Obama is on between every program.”

“Call me the next time,” I said.

It was Inauguration Day and between every program this was what our kids saw.