Former County Board Candidates Orville Brettman & Ersel Schuster Sue Jack Franks, Illinois Integrity Fund, Breaker Press, Michael Noonan, Sean Renner & Associated Firms. plus Persons Unknown

Tuesday was a terrible, horrible, no good, exceedingly humiliating, very bad day for McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks. First Franks faced an uprising from County Board members for his role in State Rep. David McSweeney’s bill to make him … Continue reading

Algonquin Township May Have Violated the Open Meetings Act

Illinois Leaks’John Kraft filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office contending that the agenda of the last regular meeting of Algonquin Township was inadequate. Kraft contended that “Reconfiguration of Office Space” did not adequately inform the public that … Continue reading

D155 Citizens Think Poorly of Bonus for Superintendent, Bleacher Suit Cited

Seven citizens delivered messages to the Crystal Lake District 155 High School Board Tuesday night before it went behind closed doors to evaluate the year’s performance of Superintendent Johnnie Thomas. A suggestion for more transparency came from McHenry County Board … Continue reading

Walsh Broadcasts from CL’s Pablo’s

WIND radio talk show host Joe Walsh broadcast from the sidewalk at Pablo’s Mexican Family Restaurant on Wednesday afternoon. The former congressman talked of how dangerous the job of being a policeman has become since Ferguson. He cited case after … Continue reading

Slot Machine Win for Rural Bar Owners, Electronic Billboards Delayed Again

Two issues were considered for the second time at Tuesday night’s: slot machines at bars and restaurants in unincorporated McHenry County electronic billboards outside of municipalities Also called video poker machines, the electronic devices will be allowed after a 15-9 … Continue reading

Lakewood Red(Ink)Tail Golf Club Alternative Revenue Bond Failure Featured in Chicago Tribune – Part 2

Part 2 of the Chicago Tribune said about Lakewood’s alternative revenue bond purchase of what is not called RedTail Golf Club: Lakewood is featured as one of the villages “where bets backfired on taxpayers…where taxpayers should have been protected form … Continue reading

Lakewood Red(Ink)Tail Golf Club Alternative Revenue Bond Failure Featured in Chicago Tribune – Part 1

On January 6, 2013, right on the top of the Sunday Chicago Tribune, there was an expose that should send warning flares up about the alternative revenue bonds that the majority of the McHenry County College Board seem set to … Continue reading

Jim Bishop Cut My Property Taxes

I cut my political teeth while McHenry County Treasurer in 1959-70 by challenging real estate assessments before the McHenry County Board of Review (a fool’s errand in those days) and, then, appealing them to the newly-former Illinois Property Tax Appeals … Continue reading

School Board Members, Past & Present Call for Abolition of Regional Supt. of Education Post

If you don’t read the comments under articles, you are often missing some good information. Under yesterday’s story containing the application withdrawal letter for appointment to the elected office office of Regional Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeffrey Schleff, there were … Continue reading

Joe Walsh Summarizes Child Support Filing, Claims Media “Fixated on the Case”

A press release from Congressman Joe Walsh. If you wish to read the entire pleading, you can find it here. Rep. Walsh on Latest Development in Court Case “Yesterday’s pleading proves that I have been a loving, supportive, involved Dad … Continue reading

The Taxman Cometh

When my Crystal Lake Community High School Class of 1960 held its tenth reunion, I was on the committee. We put together a questionnaire and one question this then-late twenty-something guy came up with was “What do you want on … Continue reading

Ancel Glink’s March Bill to Grafton Township – Part 9

We have been looking at the details in the Ancel Glink invoice to Grafton Township for the month of March, 2010. So far, we have finished what Ancel Glink calls the “Corporate” and “Linda Moore v. Grafton Township” portions of … Continue reading

"Town Hall" Litigation over in Grafton Township, 2010 Fall Elections Will Settle the Issue

The following has been received from the office of Jim Bishop, attorney for Dan Ziller, Jr., et al, in their successful case against the Grafton Township Board’s attempt to build a new township hall without voter approval: The Illinois Appellate … Continue reading

Appellate Court Upholds Judge Michael Caldwell’s Decision Stopping the Non-Voter Approved Grafton Township Hall

An all-female panel of Illinois’ Second Appellate Court ruled today that McHenry County Circuit Court Judge Michael Caldwell was right when he stopped the building of a new Grafton Township Hall which was approved without public notice or vote by … Continue reading

“My Bad,” Grafton Township Trustees Tell the Judge

Sometimes my almost 12-year old uses the term “My bad.” That’s supposed to make it all better. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn’t. While Jim Kelly, the attorney for Grafton Township Trustees, used more lawyerly like language, that was his … Continue reading

Judge Michael Caldwell Slaps Down Grafton Township Hall Officials Again

We last left the Grafton Township melodrama the court hearing on Dan Ziller, Jr.’s request for an injunction to halt the building of a Grafton Township Hall. The weekend before Judge Michael Caldwell ruled against the township, my computer’s hard … Continue reading

New $3.5 Million Grafton Township Hall Up to Judge Michael Caldwell

I ventured into the courtroom of McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell yesterday to hear arguments over whether the Grafton Township Board should be allowed to build a new $3.5 million (plus over $1.5 million in interest) township hall and garage … Continue reading