Sunday, the Northwest Herald published a guest column
by Huntley School District 158 John Burkey:
Facts about D-158’s fiscal outlook
Burkey took Executive Editor Chris Krug to task.
Here’s part of what Burkey wrote:
“Mr. Krug stated that District 158 had projected a $7.1 million deficit for 2011.”In fact, a budget with such a deficit was never presented.”
I find this to be an amazing statement when you can look at the self-identifying document below—
Proposed 5 Year Summary – Operating Funds Snapshot, Presented to the Board of Education December 3, 2009
—and see an operating deficit of $7,073,813 for the column labeled “FY11 Plan.”
Will the Northwest Herald let Burkey’s comment slide or will it defend the Krug’s and the Northwest Herald’s integrity? (Click to enlarge any part of the table, its top, middle or bottom.)
That wasn’t exactly the title used by Executive Editor of the Northwest Herald, but it’s close.
In his Sunday column, mainly about opposition to turning Resurrection Center into retirement condos and the NIMBY opposition, Christ Krug comments on how McHenry County College President Walt Packard turned “off-site,” no recorded hours required work into a $200,000 per year gig through the June after next.
If he did, he might have noticed the new information about the missing computer data from McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s Office.
In his Sunday column, which popped up on a Google subject matter search engine unrelated to the name “Chris Krug,” the Northwest Herald’s General Manager and Executive Editor talks about the connection between Bianchi primary opponent Dan Regna and former Bianchi secretary Amy Dalby.
What he writes is interesting, but it does miss the fourth party in this mystery—Democratic Party candidate—Tom Cynor.
McHenry County Blog put that connection on the internet last Thursday.
When I reference the Northwest Herald, I call it the Northwest Herald.
No reciprocity with the NW Herald’s Group Editor (oops, I see the title is now “General Manager and Executive Editor”) Chris Krug.
He was pleasant enough in person when I talked with him at the McHenry Economic Development Commission’s annual dinner. Even introduced me to NW Herald’s editor Dan McCaleb, whom two days before Christmas had his name in one of my headlines.
In Sunday’s column, (note the link) however, Krug does not identify the subject of his critical comments.
He writes about how Mayor Aaron Shepley “has taken it on the grill for months over the ‘75 percent’ increase to the local sales tax in Crystal Lake to fund the Vulcan renaissance.”
Use “Crystal Lake City Council” and “75 percent” and one will see I am willing to spread the credit.
Until Krug’s column, McHenry County Blog would have been the only place to look for a relevant source.
I am pleased that the NW Herald has finally informed local shoppers that the Crystal Lake sales tax was hiked 75%.
The rate went up on July 1st, as was reported exclusively until yesterday on McHenry County Blog.
Yesterday was the first time the NW Herald has revealed that fact.
But, Krug gives other clues to McHenry County Blog’s identity:
“The hopelessly myopic, the cat bloggers and those only willing to set down the remote control for a chance to rally behind the status quo have skewered the mayor mercilessly.”
And the columnist completely forgets that the Route 14-Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing district was supposed to finance the Vulcan Lakes makeover.
I don’t want to be too critical of Krug. After all, it is a difficult time to be riding herd over a group of newspapers.
But when I write about him, I will use his name.
And, I haven’t written a lot about Keely cat since McHenry County Blog led the successful fight against the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.
Guess Krug isn’t a regular reader.
If he were, he might assign a reporter to trying to find out how now-indicted Springfield Republican powerhouse managed,
first, to find the Crystal Lake Tax Increment Financing district and,
second, to win the bid with Mayor Richard Daley’s favorite developer, to use Chicago Tribune John Kass’ description.
Now, that would be as worthy of a front page story as was the article revealing that Bill Cellini was involved in the Vulcan TIF development group back on December 15, 2006.
And one that puts the short one into context, which follows.
Finally, I would never have thought Krug would stoop so low as to refer to my visual disability in a negative way.
Yes, I am myopic.
My vision is about 20-400 before my extreme nearsightedness is corrected by trifocals to 12-20.
And, yes, that is my idea of a joke.
I readily admit to being pretty single-minded, but not shortsighted, when someone is trying to raise my taxes, whether it be through a TIF tax shift, a property tax hike with or without a referendum (as was the case with the Krug-supported McHenry County College minor league baseball stadium) or a 75% sales tax hike where we do most of our shopping.
Having said that, I have and shall reiterate another way to finance the making of Vulcan Lakes a recreational area Tuesday night at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting.
Every improvement in Crystal Lake does not require a new tax hike.
When I reference the Northwest Herald, I call it the Northwest Herald.
No reciprocity with the NW Herald’s Group Editor (oops, I see the title is now “General Manager and Executive Editor”) Chris Krug.
He was pleasant enough in person when I talked with him at the McHenry Economic Development Commission’s annual dinner. Even introduced me to NW Herald’s editor Dan McCaleb, whom two days before Christmas had his name in one of my headlines.
In Sunday’s column, (note the link) however, Krug does not identify the subject of his critical comments.
He writes about how Mayor Aaron Shepley “has taken it on the grill for months over the ‘75 percent’ increase to the local sales tax in Crystal Lake to fund the Vulcan renaissance.”
Use “Crystal Lake City Council” and “75 percent” and one will see I am willing to spread the credit.
Until Krug’s column, McHenry County Blog would have been the only place to look for a relevant source.
I am pleased that the NW Herald has finally informed local shoppers that the Crystal Lake sales tax was hiked 75%.
The rate went up on July 1st, as was reported exclusively until yesterday on McHenry County Blog.
Yesterday was the first time the NW Herald has revealed that fact.
But, Krug gives other clues to McHenry County Blog’s identity:
“The hopelessly myopic, the cat bloggers and those only willing to set down the remote control for a chance to rally behind the status quo have skewered the mayor mercilessly.”
And the columnist completely forgets that the Route 14-Vulcan Lakes Tax Increment Financing district was supposed to finance the Vulcan Lakes makeover.
I don’t want to be too critical of Krug. After all, it is a difficult time to be riding herd over a group of newspapers.
But when I write about him, I will use his name.
And, I haven’t written a lot about Keely cat since McHenry County Blog led the successful fight against the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.
Guess Krug isn’t a regular reader.
If he were, he might assign a reporter to trying to find out how now-indicted Springfield Republican powerhouse managed,
first, to find the Crystal Lake Tax Increment Financing district and,
second, to win the bid with Mayor Richard Daley’s favorite developer, to use Chicago Tribune John Kass’ description.
Now, that would be as worthy of a front page story as was the article revealing that Bill Cellini was involved in the Vulcan TIF development group back on December 15, 2006.
And one that puts the short one into context, which follows.
Finally, I would never have thought Krug would stoop so low as to refer to my visual disability in a negative way.
Yes, I am myopic.
My vision is about 20-400 before my extreme nearsightedness is corrected by trifocals to 12-20.
And, yes, that is my idea of a joke.
I readily admit to being pretty single-minded, but not shortsighted, when someone is trying to raise my taxes, whether it be through a TIF tax shift, a property tax hike with or without a referendum (as was the case with the Krug-supported McHenry County College minor league baseball stadium) or a 75% sales tax hike where we do most of our shopping.
Having said that, I have and shall reiterate another way to finance the making of Vulcan Lakes a recreational area Tuesday night at the Crystal Lake City Council meeting.
Every improvement in Crystal Lake does not require a new tax hike.
I searched for the Northwest Herald’s Chris Krug’s column online last Sunday and was disappointed. I guess he and his family were on vacation. Maybe at a water park. (Reading old NW Heralds at my in-laws’ house on Sunday, I see that Krug did write a column for last Sunday.)
Jack Franks, who is a union Democrat, offered these comments to McCaleb:
“I respectfully disagree, because the teachers are put in a very awkward situation because the state is not doing what it needs to do.
“If the state would pay [teacher] pension and insurance uniformly across the state, that would take away 99 percent of what teachers and school boards fight about.”
Franks has a point.
Some have said this strike is really all about the Illinois Education Association’s wanting no teacher to have to pay anything toward their retirement.
Sort of a “No Teacher Left Behind” approach.
The state union wants state taxpayers to pay the state share of teacher pensions and local taxpayers to pay the teachers’ share.
Franks says he supports a countywide school district. That would remove any possibility of local control.
During this rainy weekend, Krug, having perhaps learned from Democratic Party Presidential candidate Barack Obama, avoids using any pig analogies.
While he avoids that pitfall, this week he is more bitingly satirical than usual.
He start out,
“If someone offered you a 5.3 percent raise this morning, you’d take it.
“You’d be as happy as a kid in a puddle.”
Then, gets better:
“…we are living at a time when a 5.3-percent raise can be found only in online alternative reality communities, stories about olden times, or in today’s public education sector.”
I guess he is talking about all the comments by teachers below the “we are going to strike” article the night the Huntley Education Association official delivered the written notice of Monday’s strike.
I did not see a reporter from the NW Herald at this fairly important meeting, probably a function of declining times for the industry as a whole.
The rest of Krug’s column are worth reading. Join the teachers who undoubtedly will comment on the piece.
I have a couple of questions, the first four spurred by the title of Krug’s column:
Will the Huntley teachers’ strike morph from a news story into a reality TV show?
If so, what will be the plot?
Will it follow the teacher replacement story line suggested earlier by the NW Herald?
What will be the reaction to such a strategy?
And, finally,
Do you think Northwest Herald employees got a 5.4% raise during these trying times for newspapers?
= = = = = Chris Krug is seen on top. (And, yes, I used the redeye function.) Below are Huntley teachers walking out of last Thursday’s meeting. More photos here. Huntley Homecoming pictures here. Huntley District 158 School Superintendent John Burkey as seen on TV at the bottom.
I searched for the Northwest Herald’s Chris Krug’s column online last Sunday and was disappointed. I guess he and his family were on vacation. Maybe at a water park. (Reading old NW Heralds at my in-laws’ house on Sunday, I see that Krug did write a column for last Sunday.)
Jack Franks, who is a union Democrat, offered these comments to McCaleb:
“I respectfully disagree, because the teachers are put in a very awkward situation because the state is not doing what it needs to do.
“If the state would pay [teacher] pension and insurance uniformly across the state, that would take away 99 percent of what teachers and school boards fight about.”
Franks has a point.
Some have said this strike is really all about the Illinois Education Association’s wanting no teacher to have to pay anything toward their retirement.
Sort of a “No Teacher Left Behind” approach.
The state union wants state taxpayers to pay the state share of teacher pensions and local taxpayers to pay the teachers’ share.
Franks says he supports a countywide school district. That would remove any possibility of local control.
During this rainy weekend, Krug, having perhaps learned from Democratic Party Presidential candidate Barack Obama, avoids using any pig analogies.
While he avoids that pitfall, this week he is more bitingly satirical than usual.
He start out,
“If someone offered you a 5.3 percent raise this morning, you’d take it.
“You’d be as happy as a kid in a puddle.”
Then, gets better:
“…we are living at a time when a 5.3-percent raise can be found only in online alternative reality communities, stories about olden times, or in today’s public education sector.”
I guess he is talking about all the comments by teachers below the “we are going to strike” article the night the Huntley Education Association official delivered the written notice of Monday’s strike.
I did not see a reporter from the NW Herald at this fairly important meeting, probably a function of declining times for the industry as a whole.
The rest of Krug’s column are worth reading. Join the teachers who undoubtedly will comment on the piece.
I have a couple of questions, the first four spurred by the title of Krug’s column:
Will the Huntley teachers’ strike morph from a news story into a reality TV show?
If so, what will be the plot?
Will it follow the teacher replacement story line suggested earlier by the NW Herald?
What will be the reaction to such a strategy?
And, finally,
Do you think Northwest Herald employees got a 5.4% raise during these trying times for newspapers?
= = = = = Chris Krug is seen on top. (And, yes, I used the redeye function.) Below are Huntley teachers walking out of last Thursday’s meeting. More photos here. Huntley Homecoming pictures here. Huntley District 158 School Superintendent John Burkey as seen on TV at the bottom.
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