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District 156 Rejects In Study For New High School ation C/f/zen Advisory Members Study Educational Concerns After considering the matter of entering into a feasibility study with Johnsburg Distrct 12 concerning a new high school in that Area, the board of High School District 156 Tuesday night decided against par­ ticipation. Members admitted they would have liked to take part in such a study but several factors prompted a negative decision. One of the most important is the fact that District 12 has already employed a consultant to seek out information which will guide them in future planning. The high school board, in general, expressed a feeling that since the study is already under way and guidelines outlined, there is no point in becoming involved. Members also said they would have liked to see a broader study un­ dertaken which would include alternatives. The Long Range Citizen Advisory committee on Monday night took two votes on the matter. The secotfd vote, recommencing cooperation, was approved. During the discussion, Supt. Richard Swantz disclosed figures which indicate that about 28 per cent of the high school enrollment is from the Johnsburg area, and that about 25 per cent of the high school district's assessed valuation lies in this same area. Swantz later said he had heard many rumors, and felt better communication is needed. He asserted that District 156 was always in­ terested in building to the north of 4he city, but a study un­ dertaken a few years ago failed to list this as the best location at that time Member Edward Neumann remarked that because of the way the matter is being han­ dled, he wouldn't care to take pari in a feasibility study, but felt the board should offer in­ formation if asked for it. The board gave approval for submitting a Title III proposal The project would result in (Continued on page 4) The Citizen Advisory com­ mittee's Long Range Planning Task force began a detailed study Monday night of present and future concerns in an­ ticipating District 156 growth. Commucee member, Dave Benrud, opened the meeting with a report on the McHenry business community's reaction to plans and needs. Generally, Benrud reported that any large expenditure of money would be difficult to sell within the community, especially in the present economic situation. He also suggested that there was some concern about putting more money into the East campus building. In another direction, it was noted that a real effort should be made to keep the public informed of the committee's actions and findings. Assistant Supt. Thomas Joynt, reviewed recent population projection studies. He noted that the State Office of Public Instruction had studied the two McHenry high school buildings and had determined the combined capacity of these two facilities at 2,143 students. All projection figures reviewed for District 156 suggest that student enrollment will exceed the combined building capacities even before 1980. For example, the McHenry County Planning commission projects high school enrollment by 1980 at 3,000 students. It was also suggested that area growth is difficult to predict in terms of a specific figure because of changing economic conditions and a declining national birth rate. However, a committee (Continued on page 4) 15° 0 THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE C H A I N - O - L A K E S REGION SINCE 1875 VOLUME 99 - NUMBER 36 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1974 16 PAGES - FIFTEEN CENTS RESULTS OF TRAPPING SPREE - County Investigator Jack Rehorst is shown beside a pile of between fifty and 100 carcasses - minks and muskrats -- found last Thursday on Flanders road, near min* and Meanderin The trapping season is in progress, and for a $3.25 fee, so- called sportsmen can have a field day. This slaughter of small animals promises to continue until Jan. 31 :- if not longer. Last Thursday, the latest of several complaints reached county authorities. This time it was a pile of between fifty and 100 carcasses of muskrats and minks on the west side of McCullom Lake, near the Spojnia camp. Evidently the trappers had long before padded their pockets with money derived from the sale of the pelts. While trapping is now legal, the complaints started many weeks ago. In early October there were reports of traps set at Mc­ Cullom Lake, in the same area where the carcasses were found last week. Another time a child was bitten while trying to release a raccoon A third time an investigator released an animal that was able to hobble away on three legs. The fourth bloody appendage was still in the trap This is all in the name of a sporting activity! Unless real proof can be obtained of early trapping, the only charge that can be made is for littering if the culprits are apprehended Somehow we find it hard in this case to get excited about the ecological factor of lit tering We are much more concerned with the manner in which these furry members of the animal world lost their lives -- these and the thousands more that are trapped annually. > The steel jaw trap, which is {.Still the popular way of trap ping, is described by the -Humane Society as "one of the 1 crudest devices invented by man. It is popular because it is inexpensive. We saw one ad­ vertised for as low as $.85. A lure in the same catalog is advertised to "lake all those old trap-shy fa.'d three-legged mink". , Every year several million American wild animals are killed for their fur by trappers. Most of them die slowly and painfully after having a leg or paw caught in a powerful steel jaw (or leghold) trap. And they don't always catch the animal for which they are intended. The trap is not selective. It will spring shut on a non-target animal just as quickly and as painfully as on the animal sought. Thanksgiving day we saw three men checking traps off Barreville road where a duck decoy had attracted a large assortment of his kind. They were only a few feet away from muskrat homes in the slough area where the traps were set. The Conservation depart­ ment of McHenry county is of the impression that sportsmen are not big lobbyists for trapping in our state capitol. A spokesman said he would tend to think farm people are more interested in encouraging trapping because some of these animals are a nuisance. It would seem to us that our rural population has more serious problems to take to Springfield than muskrats and raccoons. Yet only two of our fifty states do not permit this barbaric method of catching animals. It was back in the opening of the 19th century that the steel jaw trap was introduced as an expedient method of obtaining food and building a base for commercial trading. This practice is as unjustified in the 1970's as the use of a torture chamber or a guillotine. Then why have our state legislatures been so slow to take action? Our furry friends aren't really^interested whether the legislator who represents them is a Republican or a Democrat. They have no way to get their message across^xcept through those of us who abhor trapping as it is allowed today. If the small animals can't communicate to their legislator (Continued on page 4) the Spojnia camp, McCullom Xake. Some of the animals are believed to have been trapped before the opening of the season, which runs Nov. 9 to Jan. 31. STAFF PHOTO Judge Home Lighting Competition Dec. 22 After an absence of a year in which no holiday lighting contest was held in McHenry because of the energy shortage, the Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring competition this year. James Wegener, who heads the program, has announced that judging will take place Sunday, Dec. 22, from 5 to 9 p.m. A coupon appears in this issue, which should be returned to the Plaindealer office no later than Friday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. There will be first and second prizes awarded in three categories. They are original, colorful, and amusing. For Women Offer Cancer Defection Program At Hospital To Reinstate Lange Dn r» f min n f O • t V\/\ n r/4 A r\ni) Q T* 1 M CT rollDl/oH QflH \7i>P V 1/ r>l 1 •> o/vtf Arm/1 n A/\rrt By a vote of 2 to 1, the board of Police and Fire Com­ missioners decided to drop its appeal and moved to reinstate Duane Lange in the McHenry Police department. The an­ nouncement was made following an hour long executive session at the board's regular.meeting Tuesday night. Conferring during that session were commission members, James Blum, Anthony Pintozzi, chairman Earl Murray and City Attorney Bernard Narusis. On a voice vote, Murray and Pintozzi voted "aye" and Blum voted "nay". The board explained that it had based its decision on the following considerations: "1- We do not agree with the judge's reasons for rein­ statement; 2-We feel that the appeal would take ap­ proximately 24 months, an extremely long time to continue the present civic disturbance which the case has already caused; 3-We feel that the lack of absolute certainty of the outcome and the possible added cost to the city, in terms of the added cost of salary, do not justify the appeal; 4-Public sentiment as expressed by the petition which was signed by one alderman along with some 200 other citizens and the verbal expressions of two other aldermen to the commission were considered and weighed as part of our decision." Upon hearing the decision, Duane Lange who was present at the meeting, was asked if he had any comments to make. Appearing relieved and very happy, Lange stated, "All I can say right now is thank you gentlemen, very much." Lange was tried by the Police commission board on formal charges filed by his command officer in December, 1973. After listening to much testimony by many witnesses, the com­ mission decided unanimously there were sufficient grounds proven for discharge and the commission discharged Lange in January, 1974. Lange appealed this decision to the Circuit court in McHenry county asking for an ad­ ministrative review of the charges, trial and order of discharge. In October, Judge Richard Kelly reversed the com­ mission's order and ruled that Lange be reinstated and paid back salary. The commission, in turn, filed an appeal of Judge Kelly's ruling with the next higher court, the Appellate court in Elgin. Murray explained in an earlier meeting why this was done. Murray said Judge Kelly notified City Attorney Narusis verbally in October of his decision. A written order was not given to Narusis at that time. Therefore the com­ mission didn't know the reasons upon which the judge had based his decision or what it was being ordered to do. The commission had nothing concrete upon which to base its next decision, either to abide by the order or file an appeal. When the written order was not received three weeks after verbal notification and since there is a statutory period of 30 days time within which such an appeal must be filed, the commission instructed At­ torney Narusis to file an appeal solely to protect the com­ mission's right to so appeal if this were its decision after reviewing all the facts in the case. The formal court order was not received by the commission until twenty-eight days» had elapsed from the verbal notification. „ • (Continued on page 13) County Takes New Step To Assure Bridge Construction Another step toward con­ struction of a new bridge over Fox River won approval Monday at the first of two December meetings of the McHenrv County board. Members approved an agreement for preliminary engineering services between Collins & Rice, Inc., Springfield, and McHenry county for the preparation of plans, specifications and estimates of cost for the new bridge. It will connect Pearl street in the city with Lincoln road (Ann street) in the township. Questioned as to why the Springfield firm was employed rather than one in the area, Highway Commissioner James Rakow said the county had employed Collins & Rice for the last twenty years and always received good service. A survey revealed that 4,000 cars use the old bridge daily and that it is unsafe for this heavy travel. County funds will pay for 50 per cent of the bridge con­ struction, 99 per cent of which lies outside the city of McHenry. The city of McHenry will pay 25 per cent, and the remaining 25 per cent will be shared equally by the McHenry Township Road district and Revenue Sharing funds. Cal Skinner, Sr., a new board member, asked if a study had been made of other areas in which bridges are needed. He pointed especially to Rawson bridge near Cary. He was in­ formed that there is not suf­ ficient money at this time for the project, but Rakow said it will be budgeted for a number of years. As the result of a report by the Public Safety committee, (Continued on page 4> DR. ROBERT KESSLER A program of instruction in self-examination for the detection of breast cancer will be presented to women of this area by the auxiliary to McHenry hospital at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, at the hospital. The film, "Breast Cancer - Where We Are," will explain the technique of self- examination, and a breast model which contains simulated tumors will enable women to discover how a suspect lump would feel. Dr Robert Kessler, a surgeon at McHenry hospital, will be present to answer questions. "We are promoting the self- e x a m i n a t i o n p r o g r a m vigorously because it has (Continued on page 4) Hanahan New Approaches To Learning Indicted By Grand Jury State Rep. Thomas J. Hanahan (D) of McHenry was y i '%gHjj B m one of eighteen persons, ten BLyw** jW| present or former members of TWrjH I i the Illinois State Legislature, to J be indicted Wednesday as the B i i l r result of a long investigation of H L.J ' jjjfl corruption in state politics. ^ Hanahan, former Rep. Louis • HHRBgATvvV Markert Mount were <*£. by ,4, '<&•% "~~" ^i "Aw ^ money from the \ car industry through spoil sorshipof legislation adverse to the industry. The Plaindealer office placed was . Council Enters Into Animal Control Service With County At Monday night's meeting, the Council entered into a one- year contract with McHenry County Department of Health, Division of Veterinary Public Health, for cooperative animal control service, effective Jan 1, 1975 Instead of paying a county and a city fee as in the past, McHenry residents may now purchase just one license at City Clerk Earl Walsh's office. All fees collected will be sent to the county, Which will in turn handle all animal complaints in the city including costs of impoundment or confinement ol strays, biters and other animals. The contract states, "registration fees to residents of the city shall not exceed $4 for all male and female dogs and applications for licenses shall be accompanied by a current rabies vaccination certificate executed by a licensed Illinois veterinarian " The city will receive all fines collected for violations of city animal ordinances These fines range from $25 to $250. This contract relieves city police from handling any animal complaints. The Council adopted a resolution indicating its intent (Continued on page 13) Fifty local secondary teachers, counselors and administrators participated in a graduate course, "New Approaches to Individualized Learning" offered late last month at West campus. Above are Dr. Walter Armistead, assistant superintendent, Cherry Creek schools, Knglewood. Colo., Mr*. Marie Conion, teacher and team leader, and Jerry Gudauskas. District 156 counselor and president of the McHenrv High School Teachers association. ' * PHOTO BY THOMAS EICKENBKRG Over fifty local secondary teachers, counselors and ad ministrators recently par­ ticipated in a graduate course entitled, "New Approaches to Individualized Learning <7- 12)." This course was offered cooperatively by McHenry High School District 156 and the International Graduate School of Education at McHenry high school - West Campus. The International Graduate School of Education is an unique institution offering educators professional growth and learning in a fully sc credited graduate course by bringing nationally known educational authorities to in­ struct the local teachers on their home ground This course was designed to creatt (Continued on page 4) Settle Police Problem Commission Votes i