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VOLUME 101 NUMBER 47 . FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1977 1 SECTION 20 PAGES 20* *111 THIS* (ty i>\ THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875" Use For *81,432 Everybody wants a piece of the pie-or at least a piece of the $81,432 the city has as its portion of revenue-sharing funds for this period, which ends Sept. 30. As required by law, there was a public hearing Monday night, where the City Council heard citizens make suggestions on how the money should best be used. Revenue-sharing represents allocations the federal government gives to the city to ease the city's tax burden. The funds are to be used to aid the finances of the city. The money can be used anywhere in the city budget. The present allocation is McHenry s share for the eighth entitlement period. All money from the first seven allocation periods went toward the new bridge. However, the city has now garnered enough funds to pay their portion of th& new structure, and as required hy a new law, the public hearing was held Monday to find out the citizens view on how and where the money should be spent. Squeezing into the Council room for the hearing were approximately ninety persons, most of whom were senior citizens asking for their share of the money. Marge Jones, executive director of the McHenry County Senior Citizens council, ad­ dressed the aldermen with her proposal. "A few months ago, the McHenry senior citizens presented a petition to us (the county Senior Citizens council) asking for a walk-in center for senior citizens," Ms. Jones began. "They asked us for funding, but we don't have it. "We're asking not for a storefront, but perhaps for a service club to rent us their hall during the day at cost." she explained "The total we're asking for is $10,000, 'which would include a phone in the building, and a salaried, senior citizen, who is responsible, to supervise the facility." What the senior citizens are asking for is a place where they can gather and meet, eajt lunch, have coffee, and play cards, games, etc. Presently, there is a storefront building in Wood­ stock devoted to the senior citizens, and Crystal Lake also has a facility. "The senior citizens make up almost one-third of the city's population," Ms. Brown said. "This would be a place for food, fun, and friendship." Alderman George Harker, a resident of Whispering Oaks, stated, "This meeting is, in the essence, exploratory. We'll* have to determine, after* reading the citizens' minds,* where the money should go." There was little doubt in the senior citizens' minds where the money should go. "We've paid our dues, put the kids through school, and bought toys for not only our children, but others," Mrs. Sylvia Grayson, Griswold Lake, ex­ plained. "Let them take a back seat for a change ~ "Consider the older people now," Mrs. Grayson added? "Forget the kids." Her'remarks drew applause from the crowd in attendance* and Mrs. Grayson also signed a petition from the senior citizens requesting funding for the senior citizens center. Close scrutiny of the petitions showed, however, that almost half of the signatures come (Continued on page 16) Wanted: were requesting funding for a senior citizen center, which would serve the needs of the many elderly persons in the McHenry area. STAFF PHOTO-JEFF BONATO Mayor Joseph Stanek addresses huge crowd which attended the public hearing Monday night on the distribution of the city's portion of revenue-sharing funds. Senior citizens made up a great majority of the ninety persons in attendance. The senior citizens McHenry Police Air Money Grievances "Alarmed" By Annexations Rural Area Expresses Concerns Residents concerned about preserving the countryside between McHenry, Woodstock and Crystal Lake will meet in Building "D", McHenry county fairgrounds at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. tl Home owners in the predominantly rural area are alarmed by recent annexations arflTfequelts for^annexation, and numerous applications for zoning changes which could bring high-density, multiple- family development and commercial enterprises into the unincorporated coun­ tryside. The meeting will be chaired by William Kimball, newly elected president of the Bull Valley association, and ad­ dressed by Louis Ancel, an authority on municipal law, who will discuss the pros and cons of incorporation as one method by which residents could plan and control future development. Forming a new village between the existing towns would require a population survey and other legal steps under Illinois law. Ancel will explain the costs of- such action as well as the ex­ pected effects of establishing a village government for the area. The meeting is open to the public. Kimball will report on the status of current an­ nexation and development projects about which adjoining property owners should be informed. * Officers Wrestle For Gun; Arrest Offender A.note from State Rep. Cal Skinner, Jr., along with a copy of a response to his letter to the Illinois Department of Tran­ sportation, indicates the legislator read of our recent concerns, expressed in this column, for the improvement of the Rt. 31 bridge, north of McHenry. While , earlier indications were that the bridge was in no timetable of the state in the foreseeable future, the Skinner response was more en­ couraging According to Sigmund C. Ziejewski, district engineer, "this structure rates as a high priority project and we hope to have it on our tentative FY-79 program." He is hopeful of advising Skinner in more detail by next July Although Fiscal Year 1979 doesn't begin for more than two years -July to be exact- Skinner believes there is a possibility of action before that time. Persistence seems to be the keynote. Hopefully, accidents at that point will not need to be the impetus that will assure a widened thoroughfare in the near future. Non-smokers will be happy to learn that in the near future they may be accorded the same rights in public places as they now are on airlines. A new proposed bill insures that when utilizing five designated public places a non- smoker will have an area to sit in reserved for him and others who don't puff. The five are (Continued on page 16) A McHenry man was arrested and charged with several offenses following a potentially tragic incident early Saturday morning in the McHenry hospital parking lot Christopher S. Stiller, 614 Rejgner road, was arrested and charged with unlawful use of weapons, aggravated assault, possession of firearms without a- requisite firearms iden­ tification card, and driving while intoxicated, following his apprehension by McHenry Police Officer John Langdon. At approximately 1:40 Wednesday morning, while on routine patrol, Langdon ob­ served a car parked on the south side of Front street, near Main street, facing north. The officer also heard loud music coming from the car, and felt it might be disturbing Ed Lescher Named Student Achievement Winner At MCC A young McHenry man, Ed Lescher, and Grace Cook of Woodstock have won the 1976-77 S t u d e n t A c h i e v e m e n t Recognition program com­ petition at McHenry County college. Ms. Cook a Special Education major, and Lescher, a music major, were selected from among seventeen entrants in the MCC competition as the two students who have made the most noteworthy progress toward their career goals and have shown outstanding leadership qualities through participation in campus and community activities. The student program aims to focus more public attention on the Illinois community college system by giving local, regional, and statewide recognition to deserving students and their colleges. Continental Bank in Chicago is sponsoring and administering the program for the eighth successive year and is providing $15,300 in award money. The MCC winners, who will be honored during cer­ emonies on April 29, each will receive a $100 cash award and a certificate of merit. Their names will be inscribed on a school plaque. In March, they will compete for $250 cash awards in one of seven district competitions with winners from the other forty-nine community colleges in the state. Fourteen finalists will be chosen-one man and one woman from each district - to compete in the state finals in April for two $1,000 cash awards. (Continued on page 14) Study Liquor License Case Richard C. Jager's quest for a liquor license renewal for his tavern, Jake's Dead End lounge, took him to Chicago Monday, with the Illinois State Liquor commission listening to testimony, but not deciding the fate of the tavern. The commission expects to reach a decision within two weeks, if legal technicalities are complied with. In the meantime, Jake's remains open for business, awaiting a decision on his license, which was not renewed by the liquor commissioner, Mayor Joseph Stanek, in April. Since the original denial, there has been a fruitless previous journey to the Liquor commission, as well as a public hearing in which numerous witnesses testified of incidents which occurred at Jake's over the years. A If the State Liqiifcr com­ mission decides 'not to authorize a license, the owner then has the prerogative to appeal that decision to the Appellate court, and even- tuallj^l^the Supreme court if he sdfflPires. The original decision not to grant Jagsr a liquor license for his taverircame after lively debate among the aldermen and the mayor. At that time, Stanek told the Council that he would abide by any decision the Council made concerning the license renewal. The Council however, balked at the proposition, choosing to allow the mayor, as liquor commissioner, to make the final decision Stanek denied the license at that time, and again after a (Continued on page 14) some of the area residents. As he approached the vehicle by foot, the driver pulled away at a high rate of speed. Langdon radioed for assistance and pursued the Stiller vehicle in his patrol car. Stiller drove into the hospital parking lot, followed by two squad units. Then he allegedly opened his door and came out with what later was discovered to be a loaded, sawed-off shotgun. The gun had been modified to a length of less than twenty-six inches The officers were able to wrestle the gun out of Stiller's hands without shots being fired. Stiller was then taken into the hospital emergency room, complaining of illness. Upon his release, he was taken to the police station, where the charges were made. Bond for all the charges was set at $3,000, and Stiller's initial court appearance will be Feb. 24. Second Gun Theft In Week Is Investigated For the second consecutive week, McHenry County Sheriff's police have responded to a call of a gun theft from a McHenry home. At 6:20 p.m. Monday, Gregory Pickrum and David Scheid, both of 3114 Clearview, McHenry, reported to police that sometime during the day, while they were both at work, someone entered their home and stole a blue, steel revolver and a lever-action 30-30 rifle. There was no evidence of forced entry, and the offender may^have discovered a door unlocked. Last week, someone broke into a home and stole a total of seven pieces of firearms. Philip F. Schoen, 3815 W. Grove street, McHenry, reported to McHenry police Sunday that someone took his camera and other camera/ equipment, valued at more than $150, from his truck, which was locked. Schoen also stated that he could not find any signs of forced entry and that nothing else was missing He explained that the stolen (Continued on page 16) Police officers of the McHenry Police department have asked the City Council Finance committee for a 7 percent across the board in­ crease in pay for the next fiscal year, beginning May 1. The department, represented by Sgt. Dan Kinnerk, gave its proposal Monday night at a meeting the Finance com­ mittee called to listen to the city employees express their feelings on wage and benefit structures for the coming year. At an earlier committee meeting, Police Chief Ken Espey gave his recom­ mendations for what he felt would be fair pay increases. The patrolmen's demands were similar to the chief's recom­ mendations, but with a few important changes. Prior to Kinnerk giving the officers' proposal, committee chairman, Alderman Jack Pepping, explained the purpose of the meeting. "The purpose of this meeting is for the employees to provide some input to the Finance committee for when the committee starts hashing out the recommendations for the budget," Pepping explained. "The Finance committee is not in position tonight to give a definite answer," he added. "This is strictly a fact-finding meeting. Our next meeting will be a budgetary input," Pepping concluded. "That is, how much does the city have? Then, we will try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and come up with something that is fair to the city and also fair to the employees." Kinnerk stated that the patrolmen are asking for a 7 percent pay increase across the board, which would raise the starting salary of a patrolman from $10,972 per year, to $$11,752. C o m m i t t e e m e m b e r , Alderman William Bolger, asked Kinnerk why the officers selected the 7 percent figure for a pay increase. "We wanted to give you people a ballpark figure to (Continued on page 16) McHenry Police Sergeant Dan Kinnerk, representing the police officers and sergeants, explains salary requests to the City Council Finance committee at a meeting Monday night. The patrolmen are dissatisfied with present salary scales, and are requesting a 7 percent pay increase for all officers. STAFF PHOTO-JEFF BONATO Jailbreak Committee Speaks Out A highlight of the February meeting of the county board of supervisors was a report of the Blue Ribbon Jailbreak com­ mittee, formed following the escape of three inmates of the McHenry county jail last Dec. 14. The report indicated that while the inefficiency was unintentional, it existed on the part of individuals employed in the Sheriff's department at the time of the jailbreak. It referred to them as "jailers not fully trained for jail duties and not clear or precise orders for jailers to follow while on duty." Two jail guards were later fired and another suspended as the result of the break. The report noted that some changes and improvements nave been made within the Sheriff's department since the break. Members of the committee include Ron Morris, chairman, Bill Hubbard and three board members from McHenry, Walter Dean, Chuck Weingart and Edward Buss. Recommendations were follows: 1 -Jail training,school for fell jailers through Police Trainjjlg institute. 2-Chairman Klemm should appoint the Courthouse Operations committee to review and change locks and doors in the jail division to (Continued on page 14) Area Drivers Face Charges At 11:05 p.m. Friday, county police observed a v&n south­ bound on Riverside drive, McHenry. cross into the op­ posite lane of traffic, nearly colliding with an approaching vehicle. Police stopped the van, and discovered the driver, Ervin Gall, 2916 N. Wooded lane, McHenry, was intoxicated. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated, with bond set at $500 for a March 1 court appearance. At 2:15 a.m. Saturday, while on routine patrol. McHenry County Sheriff's police ob­ served an eastbound vehicle on Rt. 120 near Lily Lake road with no license plate light, and stopped it to inspect. When the driver, Charles Cheever. Chicago, was unable to produce a license, it was learned his license had been suspended. He was arrested for that offense, and also for tran­ sporting open liquor in a motor vehicle. * Bond was set at $1,000 for a Feb 24 couri appearance. At 8 p.m. Friday, while on routine patrol, police observed a van northbound on Terra Cotta road at Hillside road. Crystal Lake, with no license plate light displayed, and plates wired on Police stopped the vehicle, and discovered the driver to be Randy Wienrich, 2820 Hickory, McHenry, and found that his (Continued on page 14) History Essay Contest Winner A happy Lucinda Bushell, eighth grade student at Harrison school, Wonder Lake, is shown with h^r collection of coins minted in 1976. The collection wai assembled by Fred Reed, pictured above, eighth gra<fe Social Studies teacher, to present to the winner of the American History essay contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lucinda also received a $5 check from Kishwaukee Trail chapter, tti* sponsor. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD Proud Harrison school at Wonder Lake held an honor assembly this past week to announce eighth grader, Lucinda Bushell, as winner of the DAR-sponsored American History essay contest. At the assembly, Miss Alice Clarkv one of the judges fqr Kishwaukee chapter, spok^ (Continued on page 16) >;