McHenry County Blog

A couple of decades ago when Will County’s Ed Petka was in the Illinois General Assembly, he passed a bill to create a new tort.

His law would cover crimes committed that were inspired by movies, TV shows and probably other entertainment.

If one inspired violence, the company putting out the entertainment would be liable for damages.

Jake Evans in court.

Now comes such a crime, but not in Illinois.

17-year old Jake Evans of Toledo, Ohio, confessed that he watched the movie “Halloween” three times that week.  It’s  movie about a teen who killed his family.

Evans murdered his mother and his sister.

Prior to being elected State Representative and Senator, Petka has served as Will County State’s Attorney.

Subsequently, he served as a Circuit Court Judge.

We live at a location where not a lot of kids come trick or treating.

One couple brought their little girl around.

An early trick or treater.

Look at the picture carefully.

The mother is pregnant.

And has another child searching for treats.

The second trick or treater.

Thinking a side view might give you a better idea of this plea from the womb, I provide it below:

Trick or treat.

This rabid, foaming at the mouth jack-o-lantern appeared in the bathroom soap dish this week.

A press release from the Crystal Lake Police Department:

October 31st, 2011 Halloween Sex Offender Address Compliance Verification

This Halloween the Crystal Lake Police Department’s Targeted Response Unit will be conducting Sex Offender and Violent Offender Against Youth address verification compliance checks on all registered offenders residing within the City of Crystal Lake.

The Crystal Lake Police Department conducts these “knock & talks” periodically throughout the year to confirm that offenders are actually residing at their registered addresses.

Under current state law, registered sex offenders are prohibited from distributing candy or other items to anyone under the age of 18 years old, only if they are on a parole or probation status.

The City of Crystal Lake currently has 25 offenders required to register under Illinois State Law, 18 of which are listed on the public adult Sex Offender/Violent Offender Against Youth registry.

Juvenile offenders are not listed.

The Crystal Lake Police Department recognizes the importance of Illinois’ sex offender registration law, and is making every effort to ensure compliance with all aspects of the legislation.

In early October 2011, Crystal Lake Police Chief David Linder announced the implementation of OffenderWatch to manage registered sex offenders in the community. OffenderWatch enables Illinois law enforcement agencies to collaborate and share information with law enforcement partners statewide. This collaboration provides law enforcement agencies information concerning sex offender movements, history and activities anywhere in the county, state or country.

With Halloween approaching, this is a great resource for parents to identify which houses are safe and which houses to avoid while trick or treating.

Citizens may access the Crystal Lake Police Department OffenderWatch Community Web Page 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the Crystal Lake Police Department’s web site or access the Illinois State Police web site on-line at www.isp.state.il.us/sor.
The Crystal Lake Police will continue to randomly check sex offender’s who reside in the City of Crystal Lake to ensure they are in compliance with all requirements under state law.

The Crystal Lake Police Department’s Targeted Response Unit can be reached at 815-356-3768 regarding registered sex offenders and non-compliance information.

This is for those who don’t like to dress up on Halloween.

A McHenry Marlins Mom was wearing this Wednesday.

THIS IS MY COSTUME!

The following email came from a Lakewood resident to my computer last night.  All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

A local (Lakewood), Crystal Lake family is thinking about canceling Halloween at their house because thieves stole all their animation and extensive decorations on the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

And all of it was caught on their security cameras.

Lakewood Police were called on Wednesday morning.

Officer tells 10 year girl,

“Don’t expect to see those decorations again”.

What do we now tell our kids?

And why aren’t these police even interested in trying to catch these thieves.

When asked if they wanted a copy of the security disc, he says, sure you can drop it off at the police station, but then stops talking.

And then to top it all off, my wife calls for a copy of the police report, she is informed that it will take 5-7 days for it to be ready and it will cost her $5.00 for a copy.

We pay $22,000 a year in property taxes and they want to charge me $5.00 for a report, what do they need lunch money now!

= = = = =

So we have a really unhappy taxpayer.

Do you recognize the adult and two teens?

As you go trick or treating, be on the lookout for decorations that look like these.

With moral lessons like this, I would not be at all surprised to see the three arrested for some more serious crime.

Keely Cat has been “bagged.”

“Who says I even want a Halloween costume?” he asks. “And nobody but you has those tasty fish-flavored treats anyway.”

Whose imagination should I write of today?

My son’s with his insistence that he wanted to be a yellow airport rescue truck just like he saw on the fire truck video?

Or my wife’s, who put together this Halloween costume when our now 12-year old was 3?

You will notice that the Styrofoam bumpers, spray painted black, come from a computer box and the hose is a clothes dryer hose.

My son loved it.

In Wonder Lake yesterday, I found a front yard full of signs on the street side of a lakefront property.

They were to promote McHenry’s Peterson Park’s Haunted Hayride.

I see dates of October 10th, 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, as well as October 30th.

7-10:30 PM.

Volunteers were repainting parts.

After South Elementary School’s annual Halloween Parade, one of the grownups pretended to be chasing some girls who appeared to be junior high school.

He was dressed as the chain saw massacre guy, fake heads hanging from his belt.

He turned on the motor of his fake chain saw and started to run after the girls.

You see the photo I got.

Click the photo and enlarge it to get the full impact.

This 20-month old giraffe was fascinated with the Kaiser’s greyhound before Crystal Lake South Elementary School’s Halloween Parade yesterday.

There were so many cute costumes.

Here’s a boy dressed as a gladiator. He was also enchanted by the dog with her witch hat.

And, how about the cute little black cat?

Superman and a girl clad in a kimono passed by next.

Our little alien made an appearance.