McHenry County Blog

One of the more prolific commenters on McHenry County Blog is “Earth Mother.”

Today, she posted the following:

You gotta love that Northwest Herald. They had new article in yesterday’s paper about the MCC Forum.

Nygren makes a stupid comment (that they would not print).

The biggest problem the Sheriff’s Dept faces is TRAFFIC, according to Keith Nygren. Mahon got it right by answering, heroin.

Lots of negative comments yesterday and time left on the article.

Today, I challenge you to find the article.

Not even listed on “More Local Headlines” by date.

It must be great running for office and having your own personal news paper.

As Earth Mother points out the article can still be found, if you search for it.

And comments (43 so far) can still be made.

But, the title “Candidates find common ground at MCC forum” cannot be found on the list of yesterday’s articles.

When I went to the dentist’s office yesterday to get my teeth cleaned, I told the dental hygienist that Nygren said that “traffic” was his number one priority.

She laughed.

Such reactions are probably why the “What’s your top priority, if elected Sheriff?” answers didn’t make the NWH article.

And negative comments about Nygren’s answer may be the reason the article has virtually disappeared.

One of the substantive comments defending Sheriff Keith Nygren’s priority below my article on the meeting is worth sharing more broadly.

“Earth Father” wrote,

The greater threat to our citizens are DUI and traffic accidents. Traffic fatalities in 2006 = 23 2007 = 24 2008 = 18 2009 = 8.

Thankfully, Sheriff Nygren recognized the disturbing traffic fatality rate and aggresively pursued traffic safety in partnership with municipal police agencies. [This press release from the Sheriff's Office is referenced.]

I looked up the heroin statistics in “Heroin Use in McHenry County Skyrockets,” the article I ran July 7th, so people could compare the two problems:

“In just three years, heroin deaths in McHenry County increased by 150 percent, from 6 heroin overdoses in 2006 to 15 in 2009.”

Traffic deaths are down, but heroin deaths are up.

If you were running for Sheriff, what would be your biggest priority?

Another candidates’ forum for the office of Sheriff (and County Clerk) will be held on October 25 at the McHenry County College’s Conference Center.  It will be sponsored by the League of Women Voters.  Perhaps someone will ask the priority question again.

Thanks to a Roosevelt University study by The Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy’s
Stephanie Schmitz and Kathleen Kane-Willis, we learn that McHenry County and the rest of suburbia has a serious heroin problem.

Deaths in McHenry County have almost tripled from 6 to 15 from 2006-2009.

Heroin Treatment by Race and Age in 2008

Here’s the report’s summary mentioning our area that a CBS TV story pointed me to.

Suburban counties have experienced significant increases in heroin deaths:

• Lake County deaths attributable to heroin have increased 130 percent, from 13 in 2000 to 30 in 2009.
• In just three years, heroin deaths in McHenry County increased by 150 percent, from 6 heroin overdoses in 2006 to 15 in 2009.
• In Will County, heroin deaths increased by 93 percent in just two years, from 17 in 2008 to 29 in 2009. Nearly all of those who have died have been male, and 83 percent were white. Nearly 60 percent of the deaths occurred among those aged 34 or younger.

The CBS story quoted co-author Kane-Williams as saying,

“Chicago has one of the worst – if not the worst – heroin problems in the nation.”

And, Chicago includes us.

And catch this quote Kate Mahoney, executive director of PEER Services, in the WBBM-TV story:

“It’s cheaper to buy heroin than to go to the movies, to buy a movie ticket. That’s really frightening.”

What to do about the problem?

Here’s a suggestion I haven’t run across before:

“Several states have passed laws that have provided partial or full immunity from prosecution for selected drug offenses in the event that an individual calls 911 to report a drug overdose and request emergency assistance.

“The State of Washington recently passed such a law.

“To protect Illinois residents from an unnecessary overdose death, the state must create a law that provides protection for those who call 911 to report an overdose event.”

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office:

AMANDA COOTS SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR
DRUG INDUCED HOMICIDE

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that Amanda Coots of Wauconda was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for the offense of Drug Induced Homicide, a Class X Felony.  [Judge Sharon Prather handed down the sentence.]

A McHenry County jury previously found her guilty of the offense on April 14, 2010.

At trial, prosecutors presented a videotaped police interview of the defendant.

In that interview, the defendant admitted to giving heroin to the victim who subsequently lost consciousness.

While the victim was visibly struggling to breathe, the defendant called a taxi cab and left the scene without calling 911.  The victim died later that night.

Coots faced a potential range of 6 to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for this offense.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors argued for a sentence of 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and noted that the defendant had three prior felony convictions.

Assistant State’s Attorneys Philip Hiscock and David Johnston prosecuted the case on behalf of the State’s Attorney’s Office.