McHenry County Blog

Big doings locally Monday and Tuesday as Sister City representatives from Mexico’s Guadalupe and its state government, Zacatecas visit Woodstock, Carpentersville and Marengo.

President of Guadalupe Rafael Flores Mendoza and Zacatecas Governor Miguel Alejandro Alonso Reyes head a delegation that will land at O’Hare and then travel to the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn.

Monday, according to the schedule from Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager’s office, they will eat breakfast at Woodstock North High School with the Culinary Arts students and faculty doing the honors.

From 10-10:20 they will view a bus donated by Chuck and Helen Ruth and District 200 where photographs will be taken.

Mary Endres Middle School is the next stop.  A tour and a stop at the dual language classrooms is on the schedule before heading off to the McHenry County Courthouse.

There, they will be too late to see the McHenry County Board members swore in and organize, but they will visit Sheriff Keith Nygren for an hour.

Centegra CEO Mike Eesley will provide lunch and show them around the hospital.

After freshening up at the Holiday Inn, a reception is being given by Seasons by Peg and Cobblestones on the Woodstock Square.

Dinner is being held at La Patite Creperi.

Breakfast Tuesday will be at Carpentersville’s La Alcancia Resturant.

Afterward, the group will travel to Chicago to meet with Federal Judge Manuel Barbarsa, who is Rockford-based.

A long lunch is scheduled at Nuevo Leon Restaurant.

After returning to the Crystal Lake hotel, the group will be hosted for drinks, socialization and dinner by Marengo’s Manny and Gina Figueroa.

Wednesday the group flies back to Mexico.

Click to enlarge the images.

The Daily Herald was stiffed by Sheriff Keith Nygren when he revealed his intention to re-start his Mexican Sister City program exclusively in the Northwest Herald on Sunday.

Comments under the article were not what a neutral observer would consider favorable.

Not with the chaos caused by the Mexican drug gangs, which is forcing honest businessmen and their families to flee the county seeking political asylum.

Now Daily Herald courthouse reporter Chuck Keeshan has written an article combining the incumbent’s announcement and his Democratic and Green Party opponents’ reactions. Democrat Mike Mahon, you may remember, sent out a press release giving Keeshan the hook he needed.

As you might imagine, it is more balanced than the Northwest Herald’s main story on Sunday.

And, it starts with the obvious problem with going to Mexico, the one that cause the suspension of the program two years ago:

“As drug-related violence soared to unprecedented levels…”

Of course, the violence is much, much worse now.

The comments under the Daily Herald article are comparable to those in the NW Herald. One bitingly suggests Sheriff Nygren take his officers to Elgin.

The article notes that taxpayers have not paid for transportation and expenses for deputies who have gone to Zacatecas for up to 30 days.

Mahon pointed out that taxpayers do pick up the tab for salaries.

And, stating the obvious, Mahon says,

“I believe there is a political angle. He’s going after the Mexican vote on this.”

Nygren’s response:

“Absolutely not. It has nothing to do with currying favor with anyone.”

Green Party candidate Gus Philpott had this reaction:

“This is the wrong time to re-kindle this program.

“There is little to be learned in Mexico about its culture that cannot be learned right here in McHenry County.

“Effective, efficient training can be conducted right here in McHenry County. Deputies and corrections officers should learn Spanish, as should many civilians. Being mono-lingual in the U.S. is insanity personified. All drivers in the U.S. need to learn and obey U.S. driving laws.

“Nygren is a cop; he should not be dealing with the governor of a state of a foreign country.”

Previously I have written of this.

In neither the Northwest nor the Daily Herald article is any mention that Nygren has joined the Homeland Security Department’s Secure Communities program.  He joined in April.  In the first three months, the Sheriff’s Department detained 116 illegal aliens who fit the Secure Communities’ profile “to identify and remove criminal aliens from the United States.”

The Northwest Herald continued its love affair (“Nygren re-election propaganda” is the way one article commenter describes NW Herald coverage) with McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren Monday by featuring his regeneration of the sister cities program with Mexico’s Zacatecas.

That’s just as the FBI is featuring

“Corruption, Drugs, Gangs, and More”

The NW Herald article says exchange trips have been canceled for the last two years because of “potential violence.”

It also quotes businessman Jose Rivera.

Wasn’t there a recent NW Herald article about him that was not referenced in the Nygren piece?

Not mentioned in the article is how Nygren has joined the Secure Communities program of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program.  Under it he agrees to detain illegals who are criminals.

Since this is a reversal of previous policy, I’d think the two local Heralds might consider it news.

And I wonder why this State Department “Travel Warning” didn’t make the story.

Just noticed that Dave Bachmann, who has considerably more experience in Mexico than Sheriff Nygren, strongly advises parents not to allow any children who are band members to accompany Nygren on his Sister Cities trip.

One final thought.

Remember the movie, “Wag, the Dog”?

It was about a president who started a foreign war to improve his popularity.