Time for Lawyers to Line Up for a Job Where There Is Regular Pay, No Solicitation of Business or Worrying about Paying Staff

From the 22nd Judicial Court Circuit:

TWENTY-SECOND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS TO FILL THE VACANCY OF ASSOCIATE JUDGE MICHAEL E. COPPEDGE

With the passing of Associate Judge Michael E. Coppedge on November 13, 2023, Chief Judge Michael J. Chmiel has requested that steps be taken through the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (the “AOIC”) – the administrative arm of the Supreme Court of Illinois – so that the position can be filled as soon as possible.

“It’s a challenging time for us at the courthouse, but we need to continue our work, to serve those who come to us with matters to resolve,” explains Chmiel. “The holidays and the upcoming biennial educational conference of the Illinois courts also challenge us, but we will do what we can, when we can, so we do not miss a beat.”

The request to fill the vacancy has been approved, and the AOIC has published a Notice of Vacancy on the Supreme Court’s website at www.illinoiscourts.gov/courts/supreme-court.

Applications can be submitted to the AOIC until December 27, 2023, in accordance with the details specified in the Notice.

Attorneys who practice in this Circuit will be polled on the candidates.

Public comments will be received.

The Circuit Judges of the 22nd Judicial Circuit will then review applications, interview the candidates, and ultimately select who will fill the vacancy.

Recent Lakewood Drone Use

Lakewood purchased a drone in early August.

Lakewood’s top-of-the-line drone.

I find this new tool to be interesting, so I asked the Police Department to let me know how it has been used.

Pilot Sgt. Sean McGrath provided the following information:

  • On 10-22-2023, Drone requested by CLPD to help check the area of Randall/Ackman for missing suicidal subject-Subject located at Hospital
  • On 10-24-2023 Drone deployed to look for missing child with Autism in Lakewood-Subject located by citizen in the area
  • On 11-05-2023 Drone requested by CLPD to search for missing teen who had been drinking. Subj located three miles away by concerned resident who called police.
  • On 11/12/2023, drone deployed to check the area for a possible stolen vehicle reported in the area of Rte 47/Rte 176. Unable to locate.

Marengo Police Arrest Belvidere Man for Shooting Up a House & Hitting Woman with a Gun About a Month after the Incident, Woman Arrested for Obstruction of Justice, Child Endangement

From Marengo Police:

AGGRAVATED DISCHARGE OF FIREARM (ARRESTS)

On October 26th, just prior to 9:00 p.m., the Marengo Police Department responded to a residence located in the 500 block of Kennedy Drive for a report of a subject with a gun.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department was requested to the scene as well.

Once on scene, officers discovered multiple bullet holes in the exterior of the residence and were unable to make contact with anyone there. It was found that nobody was present at the residence.

A short time later, Belvidere Police responded to an address in their jurisdiction and located a victim suffering from injuries believed to have occurred at the location in Marengo.

The injuries were determined to be non-life-threatening.

It was learned that an altercation occurred involving at least one male suspect and the female victim.

During the altercation, the male pistol-whipped the female and left the residence.

It is believed that the male suspect got into the driver seat of a vehicle, driving back past the residence, at which time the male subject fired multiple rounds at the residence and fled the scene.

At the time of the shooting, there were two juveniles present in the vehicle.

Through information developed in this investigation, the male subject was identified as 23 year old Jacob Mains of 610 McKinley Ave, Belvidere, IL.

At approximately 9:58 a.m. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at 610 McKinley Avenue, Belvidere, IL, the Marengo Police Department arrested Jacob Mains for the following alleged offenses:

  • Aggravated Discharge of Firearm (Class 1 Felony)
  • Aggravated Battery – Deadly Weapon (Class 3 Felony)
  • Unlawful Use of Weapon by Felony (Class 3 Felony)
  • Endangering Health/Life of Child (2 counts) (Class A Misdemeanor)

Additionally, a female resident from where the incident occurred was found to have been present in the car and is the mother of the two children who were present in the car at the time of the shooting.

She was identified as 36 year old Jennifer Luttrell of 530 Kennedy Drive, Marengo, IL.

At approximately 12:50 p.m. on Wednesday, November, 22, 2023, at the Marengo Police Department, Jennifer Luttrell was arrested for the following alleged offenses:

  • Obstruction of Justice (Class 4 Felony
  • Endangering Health/Life of Child (3 counts) (Class A Misdemeanor)

Jacob Mains was transferred to the custody of the McHenry County Jail at approximately 2 p.m. on 11/22/2023.

Jennifer Luttrell was arrested and released from Marengo PD.

This is still an active investigation.

If anyone has any information that may pertain to this case, they are asked to contact this agency.

The Marengo Police would like to thank the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department and the Belvidere Police Department for their assistance with this case.

The Marengo Police Department wishes to remind the public that a charge is merely an accusation and all those charged are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Session on Subsidies for Energy Efficiency and Electrification Monday in Johnsburg

From the McHenry County Environmental Defenders:

On Monday Nov. 27, Environmental Defenders of McHenry County Host Last Public Session of 2023 to Inform Residents of State & Federal Incentives Available for Energy Efficiency & Electrification 

Already Spent A lot on Holiday Gifts?

Save Money Everyday by Becoming More Energy Efficient!

Becoming energy efficient, or using less energy for the same services, is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to reduce energy use. And right now, there are tremendous federal and state incentives to help homeowners and renters to cut their energy footprints.

On Tuesday November 27th, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County will host a free in-person informational session on tax credits and rebates available to residents for improving the energy efficiency of their homes and switching their appliances and cars to electricity.

Marina Minic from the Citizen Utility Board (CUB) will lead the session from 6-7 pm at the McHenry Township Recreation Center, Bldg B, 3519 N Richmond Rd, Johnsburg.

Between the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), federal legislation passed in 2022, and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), a state act passed in 2021, several tax credits and rebates are available for energy efficiency and electrification for residents in our county.

Low and Medium Income (LMI) residents can often receive higher incentives.

This includes tax credits for weatherization, renewable energy, battery systems, electric vehicles, and rebates for electric appliances. 

According to CUB’s Guide to the Inflation Reduction Act, here are two examples of what is available:

  • Starting in 2023 and for each year for the next decade, all consumers can claim a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of qualified projects that improve efficiency, up to $1,200 annually.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act includes $263.6 million to help low and moderate-income Illinoisans transition away from natural gas over the next 10 years. The funding should become available in spring or summer 2024 and consumers with income below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) can claim a rebate covering the full cost of electric appliances, up to a $14,000 cap. Consumers with income below 150% of the AMI can get 50% off the cost of appliances up to $14,000.

To learn more, visit the Defenders resources page at https://tinyurl.com/4energysavings. To stay updated on future in-person and virtual informational sessions, sign up at https://tinyurl.com/signup4energysavings

The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is the recipient of a grant from McHenry County’s Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program to inform and educate McHenry County residents about the various incentives and rebates they can utilize to improve their energy efficiency and transition to cleaner forms of energy. The Defenders can be reached at 815-338-0393 or envirodefmc@gmail.com.

Thanksgiving Letter from Johnsburg Village President

From Johnsburg Village President Ed Hettermann:

Holiday Letter from Village President

As the holiday season approaches, I would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  The holiday season is a busy and exciting time for us all as we look forward to holiday events and gatherings with friends and family.   Make time in your busy holiday schedule to come out and enjoy this year’s Holiday Magic Parade and Event, which will be held on Saturday, December 9th beginning at 5:30 p.m.  This year’s parade will take a more extended route beginning at Johnsburg High School and ending at the Johnsburg Community Club (Click Here for the Parade Route).

The unexpected snowfall we experienced on Halloween is a harsh reminder to us that winter will soon be upon on us.  Our Public Works and Parks Department employees are busy closing up facilities for the season and preparing trucks and equipment for the inevitable winter weather ahead.  Take time to prepare by making sure your vehicle is in good working order and equipped with blankets and warm apparel.

A new Christmas tree has been placed in the lobby at the David G. Dominguez Municipal Center in celebration of the holiday season and we need your help decorating it.  We invite you to donate a special ornament or use your imagination and create an ornament for the tree.  Ornaments can be dropped off at the Municipal Center, 1515 Channel Beach Avenue, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Village staff will place the ornaments on the tree for all to enjoy.  Ornaments will be kept and displayed each year.

With the New Year quickly approaching I wanted to take a moment to reinforce a code enforcement matter that is regularly violated.  The “No Left Turn” off of Fairview Avenue onto Chapel Hill Road has been in effect since the Chapel Hill Road bridge repairs were done in 2018 yet we continue to see travelers completely disregard the many signs instructing them not to turn left.  The site distance at the intersection is limited and the restriction was put into place to avoid accidents.  In the interest of public safety, our police department will be actively enforcing this regulation and citations will be issued so please adhere to the restriction.  

Also in the New Year, non-highway vehicle registrations must be renewed.  Your current registration expires on December 31st so please plan ahead and take steps to renew your non-highway vehicle plates to avoid costly fines. 

Communication in today’s world has changed significantly and people have come to rely on e-blasts and other social media as a means of communication.  In response to those changes, the Village increased its use of eblasts and Facebook and eliminated the mailing of a quarterly newsletters.  Our e-blasts are helpful and informative but many residents have expressed that they miss my articles in the quarterly newsletter.  With that in mind, I will resume writing letters to share information and updates on projects and event which will be distributed via email.  Additionally, over the holidays, I will be writing a letter summarizing our year in review, which will be mailed to each home and business in the New Year.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to serve as your Village President.  I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year!  I hope to see you and your family at the Holiday Magic Event!

Crystal Lake First Methodist Church Minister Delivers Coats, Hats & Gloves for Chicago Migrants

The First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake at the corner of West Crystal Lake and Dole Avenues.

The Wednesday Bible Class on the Book of Exodus at First Chruch in Crystal Lake collected winter clothing for migrants in Chicago.

Pastor Lisa Kruse-Safford drove them to a drop-off place.

There were “42 coats and a bag of hats and gloves,” she wrote.

Virtually No One Has Signed Up for Pritzker’s Red Dawn Registry

From Guns Save Life:

99.83% NON-COMPLIANCE: ISP release Week 7 gun registration compliance numbers

Byjboch

The Illinois State Police posted the Week 7 number from the so-called “Protect Illinois Communities Act” a couple of days late. 

Frankly, we expected they were going to start burying the very worrisome numbers. 

Why? 

They represent a giant embarrassment for the Governor and his merry band of gun grabbing jihadists.

“How dare they not comply with our edicts passed in the middle of the night at the last minute!”

An additional 650 Land of Lincoln gun owners took the plunge and registered at least one of their now banned self-defense firearms, bringing the total number to 4089 who have “complied.” 

Considering there are 2,415,481 FOID holders, that brings the total compliance rate to, brace yourself:  .1692%.

In other words, 99.83% of Illinois gun owners have declined to comply at this point in time.

Lakewood Seeks New Village Trustee

From the Village of Lakewood:

Village of Lakewood Board of Trustees Open Position term ending 04/30/2025

The Village operates under the Trustee-Village form of government, in which an elected Village Board President and six Trustees set policy, a Village Manager and staff oversee the day-to-day operations of government services and programs.

When a Trustee position opens prior to an election the position is appointed by the Village President with the advice and consent of the Village Trustees.

The Village Board meets at 7:00PM on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the place specified on the agenda for the meeting.

Currently being held at:

Crosspoint Lutheran Church, 8505 Redtail Drive

Trustee Responsibilities & Qualifications

Trustees are expected to:

·      Be a resident of the Village of Lakewood.

·      Attend all scheduled meetings.

·      Come prepared to contribute to the discussions of issues and business

to be addressed at scheduled meetings, having read the agenda and

all background material.

Each Trustee shall perform the duties and exercise the powers conferred by the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS) and shall perform all duties provided, prescribed and permitted by the laws of the State of Illinois, this Code and the other ordinances of the Village.

Suggested Qualifications

Objectivity is important. You should have an ability to listen to opposing views and still keep a clear focus on where the real public interest lies, what is not only within the law but also fair, and the ability to distinguish between fact and opinion.

Trustees shall each receive the sum of $2,400.00 payable in monthly installments.

Please email resume to

jheckman@village.lakewood.il.us

by Monday, December 18, 2023

Crystal Lake’s Latest Tax Increment Financing District’s Expenditures

From a Friend of McHenry County Blog:

For the Water’s Edge

The TIF was created on July 19, 2022 and for fiscal year 2023, which I assume ended on September 30, 2023 the city had expenditures of $181,190.  The breakdown is

$        117 Shaw Media – Publishing Services

          500 Speer – Financial Analysis

       5,000 PMA Securities – Financial Analysis

     35,280 Teska Associates – TIF Consultant

   140,293 Filippini Law Firm – Legal Fees____

$ 181,190 Total Expenses

Kenneally Pot Offensive, Marijuana Moms’ Rebuttal Make Tribune Front Page

Mchenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kennelly faces off against the “Marijuana Moms” in a front page Chicago Tribune story today.

The question is the safety of the use of marijuana and its mental health effects.

He threatened consumuer fraud suits unless certain warnings were posted.

Kenneally pointed to fifty-three studieslinking cannabis with increased risk of suicide and mental health problems including schizophrenia and other psychoses,’ as Tribune reporter Bob McCoppin summarizes them.

The “Marijuana Moms” are

  • State Rep. Kelly Cassidy,
  • Speaker Pro Tempore Jehan Gordon-Booth,
  • former State Sen. Toi Hutchinson and
  • former State Sen. Heather Steans

Kenneally sees conflicts (or convergence) of interest with two of the Moms, whioh the Tribune explains this way;

He points to what he characterizes as “soft corrpution” in over “$600,000 in campaign donations to lawmakers from the cannabis industry.”

It’s a long article with both sides getting their photos in the Tribune.

The article notes,

“The state’s Adult Use Cannabis Health Advisory Committee this year noted the potential benefits of cannabis for chemotherapy, insomnia and pain. But it raised concerns about the findings of a Dutch study that found a strong association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia,”

as well as

“the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two components of cannabis — synthetic THC to treat nausea and anorexia from cancer or AIDS, and CBD to treat seizures — while many countries have approved a THC/CBD mix to treat muscle tightness in multiple sclerosis.”

“300 Beady Little Eyes Looking at Me. What Was I To Do?”

Those were the words of Decatur State Rep. Weber Borchers while presenting his bill to make the monarch butterfly the state insect in 1973.

This monarch butterfly was attracted to my front yard’s milkweed.

He had been invited to a third grade elementary school class assembly in which students made the case for naming the monarch the state insect.

“There were 300 beady little eyes looking at me. What was I to do?”

So, he committed to introducing the bill to accomplish that.

The day of the vote, students came to State Representative offices with the tops of cottage cheese containers containing a colored monarch butterfly with a string attached.

To understand the totally unexpected nature of Borchers’ sponsorsing such a bill, one needs to know he was probably the most conservative member of the Illinois General Assembly.

A World War I Veteran, he was the University of Illinois first Chief Illiniwek.

His large home had suits of armor.

I remember the Middletown High School playt “Harvey” when I think of Weber…especially the parts where the Veteran charges up the stairs.

He had someone video a Woodstock-style music festival near Peoria and used private rooms to share the X-rated results.

But, he had a compassionate side.

He had his legislative assistant visit nursing homes.

She would find the manager and ask to inspect the home.

If she was told she had no right to do so, the woman would say, “Alright, I’ll have the Representative send a Public Health Department inspector.’

That was enough for her to gain access.

She had a ten-point check list, which I have been unable to find.

Two items, however, provide an idea of the common sense information sought:

  • Can urine be smelled?
  • Is there water within reach of the patients?
Illinois Monarch License Plate.

Now comes the Illinois Environmental Council with a post about the Secretary of State issuing a monarch license plate.

Particulate from Coal-Fired Electric Plants Deadly, Same Problem with Canadian Forest Fire Smoke

The Chicago Tribune piggybacked on a study published in “Science.”

Here’s the part about Canadian soot:

“…the spread of smoke from Canadian wildfires during the summer provided a vivid example of how soot pollution can make the air so dirty that even healthy people have trouble breathing, said Francesca Dominici, a Harvard biostatistics professor who contributed to the study and previously linked soot exposure to COVID-19 deaths.”

CPAP super filter after five months in Crystal Lake, originally white.

Durbin Set to End Credit Card Rewards

From Stephen Moore’s Unleash Prosperity Hotline #903 – THANKSGIVING 2023 EDITION:

Republicans Have Been Duped by Durbin’s Bill To Impose Credit Card Price Controls 

One universal rule of economics is that government wage and price controls are ALWAYS a bad idea. CTUP senior fellow and University of Chicago ace economist Casey Mulligan in the Washington Examiner laments that so many Republicans who signed on to this awful price controls bill were tricked by Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin:

Earlier versions of the act simply capped the credit card fee — an obvious price control. As explained in the Wall Street Journal, previous price controls like this have proven “a disaster for consumers [and] a windfall for mega-retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Target.”

But Durbin has convinced some Republicans to sign on to a new version of the bill by disguising the price control as a “routing mandate.” The mandate would allow merchants to select the network, rather than the issuer. Networks would have no choice but to cater to merchants, who would rather not grant consumer discounts. This would begin the death spiral for the reward programs and fraud protections that consumers love and have passed the market test.

We recently published a white paper on the dangers of credit card price controls. Click here to read it!