McHenry County Blog

The Sunday before, the Tribune syndicated Dick Tracy comic strip’s current creators Joe Staton and Mike Curtis honored Dick Locher for his time as chief cartoonist.

This is how the Dick Tracy comic strip started the day it honored Dick Locher.

Locher has retired and been honored with a statue of Dick Tracy in his hometown of Naperville.  I looked for it briefly a couple of weeks ago, but couldn’t find it.

A summary of Dick Locher's Dick Tracy accomplishments.

The text says that Locher was an assistant to originator Chester Gould, starting in 1957.  When Michael Kilian, who wrote the story, died in 2005, Locher took over those duties, too.  His relationship to the strip is longer than anyone but Gould, the description reads.

When Gould’s assistant Rick Fletcher, who took over when Gould retired, died in 1983, Locher stepped in to save the strip.

I believe it was 1999 in which Woodstock honored Locher at its Dick Tracy Days Parade, which seem to have gone by the wayside, as did the VJ (Victory over Japan) it replaced.

I remember being surprised that day at the boldness with which newly-elected Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks approached Woodstock Firemen for their votes before the parade.   He reminded those on duty of all the money he had gotten them.  (That was in the days of the big checks and photos of them, Franks and recipients in the Northwest Herald.)

Locher was better known for being the editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune.

One of my favorites was a pitch against higher income taxes run in June of 2009.

It didn’t pass until the Tribune denied him his platform.

= = = = =

I first became aware of Bull Valley’s Rick Fletcher at a Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission.  Sometime in the late 1960′s when I was County Treasurer NIPC held a hearing at the Opera House about its obviously failed finger plan.  A proposal to limit growth along rail lines under what I guess was the mistaken prediction that most people would commute to and from Chicago by rail.

“Where’s your American Flag?” he shouted at the beginning of the meeting.

Fletcher, whose daughter worked for me during the summer, would have really been in tune with the Tea Party sentiments expressed at the Lake County League of Women Voters’ debate between Joe Walsh, Melissa Bean and Bill Scheurer. The demand for the Pledge of Allegiance hit national cable news shows and may have made the difference in Walsh’s narrow defeat of Bean.

The idea of a wrist radio transmitter to help find missing people will become a reality starting April 2nd.

Soon-to-be elected (because she is unopposed) Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore re-surfaced the concept last year. Her Huntley precinct contains much of Sun City.

Twenty minutes is the average time it takes to find a lost relative using the system, which the head of Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department, Dr. Joe Giangrasso likens to a LoJack system for people.

Sponsored by Advocate’s Good Shepherd Hospital, the program was announced at the grand opening of the new Crystal Lake intermediate care facility across from the Pingree Road Metra Station. It is staffed by a Board Certified Emergency Care doctor each day from 8 to 8.

The wrist radios will allow the tracking of those with Alzheimer’s, Down’s Syndrome or Autism who are prone to wander.

Upon notification of the police in Huntley and Crystal Lake, or McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren in the rest of McHenry County, the search begins.

Here is the Good Shepherd press release:

Care Trak safety net technology for McHenry County’s Autistic, Alzheimer’s residents launches April 2nd

(Crystal Lake, IL) Care Trak®, an advanced wireless tracking technology that serves as a safety net for families and caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s, Autism and Down’s Syndrome, will roll out at a special launch event on Thursday, April 2nd. The event will be held 11:00am at the McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake.

Members of the media and interested residents are encouraged to attend. Intake professionals from the Family Alliance will be on hand to enroll family members and the Crystal Lake police and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office may be able to provide a real-time demonstration of the technology.

Last fall, a coalition of law enforcement, health care and social service agencies announced that three separate Care Trak® systems would be deployed, operational and ready to serve McHenry County residents in early 2009.

All three systems – one in Crystal Lake, another in Huntley, and a third as a county-wide system to be managed and operated by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office – were funded entirely by Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington.

The majority of patients Good Shepherd cares for are McHenry County residents.

Each participant in the program is required only to pay a one-time rental fee for a tracking bracelet and a modest monthly maintenance fee.

What is Care Trak®?

The technology employs unique radio transmitter devices that are secured on a person’s wrist or ankle, and enables law enforcement to pinpoint the precise location of an individual who may have wandered from their home or place of care. Individuals with Autism, Down’s or forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s, are prone to wander off or become disoriented.

Only law enforcement agencies are authorized to operate these systems, and specific criteria is in place for an individual to qualify being covered using the technology:

• The individual must be clinically diagnosed with Autism, Down’s syndrome or a form of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s;
• They must have a full-time caregiver, either by a family member or clinical professional;
• The person has demonstrated being prone to wander off.

Other contributors

In addition to Good Shepherd, law enforcement partners and Family Alliance providing professionals to screen and enroll residents, other key organizations have joined the effort to bring this to their communities, including:

• McHenry County Mental Health Board
• McHenry Autism Group
• Talk About Curing Autism
• Autumn Leaves, a memory care facility in Huntley
• Bickford, a memory care facility set to open soon in Crystal Lake
• Crystal Lake Dawn Breakers Club of Rotary International

About Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois is an acute care medical facility with approximately physicians representing 50 medical specialties. It is part of Advocate Health Care, the largest, health care delivery system in Illinois, which in 2007 provided $344 million in community benefit, charity care and services for Chicago area residents. For more about Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, click on the link.

About Family Alliance

Family Alliance, Inc.’s mission is to enable seniors to remain at home by providing best-of-practice day programming, advocacy and counseling, while supplying respite, education, training and support to their caregivers. A not-for-profit, comprehensive geriatric health facility serving seniors and their caregivers Family Alliance’s programs help mentally and physically frail elderly to remain at home and in the care of loved ones, avoiding premature placement in nursing homes. Family Alliance’s services are not duplicated by another McHenry County agency, and remains the only adult day health care service in McHenry County. For more about Family Alliance, click on the link

= = = = =
McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren can be seen showing Linda Moore a wanted posted for Edward Sylvio Demers, who walked away from his home in Johnsburg on October 13, 2003. He has not been seen since.

$3,896.39, according to the latest campaign disclosure report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The only contribution the the McHenry County Young Republicans during the last six months was from the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee.

The group did not spend any money.

Looking at the organization’s web site, I see there are possible logos.

Among them are Dick Tracy, first advanced by Crystal Lake Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter.

There are also elephants, but not my hard-charging favorite from the mid-1960′s (which I will find one of these days and post).

And, no, I am not the one vote for the selection of Dick Tracy.

$3,896.39, according to the latest campaign disclosure report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The only contribution the the McHenry County Young Republicans during the last six months was from the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee.

The group did not spend any money.

Looking at the organization’s web site, I see there are possible logos.

Among them are Dick Tracy, first advanced by Crystal Lake Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter.

There are also elephants, but not my hard-charging favorite from the mid-1960′s (which I will find one of these days and post).

And, no, I am not the one vote for the selection of Dick Tracy.

As I was reflecting on the desire of the McHenry County Board’s Management Services Committee’s desire to symbolize the area on the new seal it is considering, I got two thoughts.

Why not just use the symbol of horror conjured up by the Bull Valley Courier about what will be built on the Ann Kaiser farm, if the farm were not annexed to Bull Valley Village?

Clearly Bull Valley is not like the rest of McHenry County. It has the worst roads of any municipality and it doesn’t have any subdivisions that look like the picture above, which I think is no where in McHenry County.

Somewhat close to what some people in Bull Valley fear enough to trespass and steal signs placed with permission on private property is this shot of Lake in the Hills from Randall Road.

Maybe the county board can figure out how to put a typical subdivision and or traffic lights with red light cameras on one of the quadrants its committee seems fore destined to create.

It seems to me that Dick Tracy would be a lot less controversial.

As I was reflecting on the desire of the McHenry County Board’s Management Services Committee’s desire to symbolize the area on the new seal it is considering, I got two thoughts.

Why not just use the symbol of horror conjured up by the Bull Valley Courier about what will be built on the Ann Kaiser farm, if the farm were not annexed to Bull Valley Village?

Clearly Bull Valley is not like the rest of McHenry County. It has the worst roads of any municipality and it doesn’t have any subdivisions that look like the picture above, which I think is no where in McHenry County.

Somewhat close to what some people in Bull Valley fear enough to trespass and steal signs placed with permission on private property is this shot of Lake in the Hills from Randall Road.

Maybe the county board can figure out how to put a typical subdivision and or traffic lights with red light cameras on one of the quadrants its committee seems fore destined to create.

It seems to me that Dick Tracy would be a lot less controversial.

The Ladies of the McHenry County Management Services Committee’s rejection of Dick Tracy for the post of county seal has brought Dick Tracy to tears.

That’s what Allan Showalter, author of Heck of a Guy blog, is my contact with Dick Tracy.

Showalter headlines his article,

Dick Tracy Defends County’s Right To Make Bad Choices

Here’s how Showalter describes Dick Tracy’s reaction to his rejection:

“An obviously saddened but unbowed Dick Tracy reports he is still steadfastly loyal, despite the apparent lack of reciprocation, to the County where his creator, Chester Gould, made his home for many years.

“Tracy, in fact, remains unhesitant in his support of the powers that be, pointing out that the capacity to make the wrong decision is the bedrock of local government.2

“Tracy goes on to explain that he is disappointed but unsurprised by the result.

“When they said they wanted a seal that was unique, easily identifiable, and not boring, I felt I fit that description and so, I had a responsibility to volunteer to serve.

“Somewhere along the line, it began to look as though those qualities weren’t really what was wanted – or maybe someone changed their mind.

“I can’t say it didn’t hurt, but I still have my day job righting wrongs, protecting the weak, bringing treacherous villains to justice, and whatnot so I’ll be all right.”

Dick Tracy also has his park in Woodstock, where

If you want to know Showalter’s answer to the ladies’ negative take on Dick Tracy for County Seal, you can read it on his blog today or wait for me to get to it.

If you want to read about the meeting:

“Dick Tracy Fails to Get the Ladies‘ Vote: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.”

The Ladies of the McHenry County Management Services Committee’s rejection of Dick Tracy for the post of county seal has brought Dick Tracy to tears.

That’s what Allan Showalter, author of Heck of a Guy blog, is my contact with Dick Tracy.

Showalter headlines his article,

Dick Tracy Defends County’s Right To Make Bad Choices

Here’s how Showalter describes Dick Tracy’s reaction to his rejection:

“An obviously saddened but unbowed Dick Tracy reports he is still steadfastly loyal, despite the apparent lack of reciprocation, to the County where his creator, Chester Gould, made his home for many years.

“Tracy, in fact, remains unhesitant in his support of the powers that be, pointing out that the capacity to make the wrong decision is the bedrock of local government.2

“Tracy goes on to explain that he is disappointed but unsurprised by the result.

“When they said they wanted a seal that was unique, easily identifiable, and not boring, I felt I fit that description and so, I had a responsibility to volunteer to serve.

“Somewhere along the line, it began to look as though those qualities weren’t really what was wanted – or maybe someone changed their mind.

“I can’t say it didn’t hurt, but I still have my day job righting wrongs, protecting the weak, bringing treacherous villains to justice, and whatnot so I’ll be all right.”

Dick Tracy also has his park in Woodstock, where

If you want to know Showalter’s answer to the ladies’ negative take on Dick Tracy for County Seal, you can read it on his blog today or wait for me to get to it.

If you want to read about the meeting:

“Dick Tracy Fails to Get the Ladies‘ Vote: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.”

Shortly before the Dick Tracy Museum closed at the Old Courthouse (that’s the place this OLD county treasurer served his four years), the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau bought yellow fedoras for members of the American Bus Association.

There were used as a marketing tool.

Cort Carlson, the group’s Executive Director explained that he got a lot of positive feedback from the hat promotion. He reported that the Dick Tracy tie-in seemed to have the biggest interest among the group tour market.

I guess that’s folks who take bus tours various places.

And, maybe that includes old folks like me who remember Dick Tracy as a comic strip that they read every day.

I wonder how we could get the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum open again.

And, the fact that it would be most appropriately placed in Woodstock bothers me not one little bit.

Shortly before the Dick Tracy Museum closed at the Old Courthouse (that’s the place this OLD county treasurer served his four years), the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau bought yellow fedoras for members of the American Bus Association.

There were used as a marketing tool.

Cort Carlson, the group’s Executive Director explained that he got a lot of positive feedback from the hat promotion. He reported that the Dick Tracy tie-in seemed to have the biggest interest among the group tour market.

I guess that’s folks who take bus tours various places.

And, maybe that includes old folks like me who remember Dick Tracy as a comic strip that they read every day.

I wonder how we could get the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum open again.

And, the fact that it would be most appropriately placed in Woodstock bothers me not one little bit.