The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Veto Second Vote For Career Center A referendum for a tax pported McHenry county reer center was nixed by a oup of businessmen, in- strialists, Chamber of mmerce representatives and hool officials at a special eeting to decide future irections held at Woodstock onday, April 30. This omnlendation is subject to cceptance or rejection by the board of control" appointed om the administration and ards of 10 member high hool districts in McHenry aunty. After three hours of in- ormation and discussion mong the 40 or more people resent, Arlene Kern, manager the Crystal Lake Chamber of ommerce, along with John lark, personnel director at Oak Manufacturing, submitted a motion not to consider a referendum at this time, but to have the advisory committee continue to look into the needs of the students and employers in order to improve vocational education in the county. Ron Dale, director of vocational education at McHenry high school, who as advisory committee chairman was seeking direction for the board of control on the career center proposal, said this satisfied questions raised by the board. It will give them (the business community) a chance to show support. He said there was a need for other than educators to be involved in the career center or vocational education concept, specifically industry, commerce and the community, to give them a broader base. Dale explained that at an earlier meeting the board of control had almost decided to disband and return to member districts the $32,000 funds on hand. But looking down the road they foresaw a time when some people might again see the need for a countywide vocational education program and wonder why it was given up without a fight at this time. Referring to the 4 to 1 defeat of the center referendum in Oc­ tober of 1976, Dale said the question could be asked," Did they really mean no?" or was it the conditions at the time. Dale and Dixie O'Hara, assistant regional superin­ tendent of education, noted that the business community must show sustained interest in vocational area by serving on the advisory committee if called on to do so, and by working in their community for the facilities they want. Should the support fail, the board of control would undoubtedly decide to disband, it was in­ dicated. Present at the meeting were Charles Windhorst, ad­ ministrator for area career center planning of the Illinois Office of Education, Division of Adult, Vocational and Technical Education (IOE, DAVTE), and Robert Wolanin, regional vocational ad­ ministrator, IOE, DAVTE, who outlined the background of vocational education in the state and the status of, the proposal in McHenry county, ublic Lashes Out At TA City Hearing and the Qptions open for such a program locally. Windhorst said the problem with vocational education, especially at smaller schools is numbers resulting in high cost, low incidence program and too few students in classes. By pooling with other schools, enough students can be found to justify holding classes and buying the equipment to train them. Even larger schools benefit if equipment is used for only one or two classes a day By spreading the use to more) students, the per capita cost of the programs can be reached. Counties and communities benefit from the economic stimulation cause by a trained work force attracting industry. McHenry county is one of the few counties where many of the education and community boundaries are still in existence and vocational programs starting from the exploratory at elementary level to the skills teaching at the high school level can be sustained. » Windhorst noted nearby centers in operation with the Lake county program on the east and the Rockford center on the west with enrollments ranging from 800 to l.J00. He also advised of tuition^costs trending upwards anoreim- bursements (mostly federally) headed down as center enrollments increased from 1,000 in 1967 to 21,000 in 1977, and available grant money declined. Windhorst said it was ex­ pected that student par­ ticipation in the vocational programs would reach 65 percent of grades 11 and 12 the portion which does not com- ?te college. But it was found th^even.after setting a goal of 35 percent for vocational center enrollment it didn't quite reach 19 percent. The goal of the program, he stated, is to provide all secondary students access to vocational or career training. Windhorst added if McHenry county was to pursue its area career center the committee would have to update, reevaluate or make a new needs assessment study to determine employment needs and student interest and then to set new goals based on these needs. The committee would then evaluate current programs to see if the needs were being met, determine what would be dropped, what needed changing, what should be the level of training, what new programs would be needed, and to look at the facilities available. Windhorst said that from 1977 figures, which may be out of date now. there were 4.499 students in public schools and 347 in parochial schools who would be eligible for the vocational program Based on the 25 percent who could be expected to enroll. 1.124 students would be possible, and based on the 18 percent probable figure 809 students could be expected for the center For a minimum 15-course program with 20 students per course for three shifts, they would need 900 students or for two shifts. 600 students Win­ dhorst said the county has the financial ability to support such a program if each school does not go its own way O'Hara claimed that McHenry county does not have a declining student enrollment and employment is holding steady and even increasing, as testified to bv several local indus t r i a l i s t s p resen t a t the mee t ing Wolamin no ted tha t s t a t i s t i cs ind ica ted some dec l ine s ta tewide in enro l lments a t ca reer cen te rs , bu ; he be l ieved tha t th i s was the resu l t o f some d i s t r i c t s ho ld ing back in o rder to use such s ta te a id money in the i r own schools and the emphas i s on co l lege-or ien ted t each ing Wolamin po in ted ou t tha t a co l lege degree does no t a lways mean jobs and some gradua tes l a te r have to go to voca t iona l e 'duca t ion to f i l l t he nap S teve Pol lock voca t iona l d i rec tor fo r . lohnsbug , main ta ined tha t schools t aught on l \ two th ings . voca t iona l educa t ion and th ings tha t a rc n ice to 'know Every th ing in school i s ' d i rec ted toward even tua l jobs fo r s tuden ts . I re sa id What schools and government tunc done i s to segrega te ou t some th ings for funding , he no ted Mrs Kern repor ted what Crys ta l Lake t i r ins had repor ted to the loca l Chamber for th i s mee t ing , which she unders tood was to dec ide if t he ca reer cen te r was to l ive o r d ie (Cont inued on ;>a"e ID) C THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION S INCE 1875 VOLUME 103 NUMBER 80 FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1979 2 SECTIONS 30 PAGES 20 Representing the RTA at Wednesday night's meeting were: (from left to right) Gene Leonard, Jerry D. Boose, Van Sells, regional affairs officer; Lewis W. Hill, chairman; Patrick L. O'Malley and William Dart. Not shown was Richard D. Newland. STAFF PHOTO-ANTHONY OLIVER Pol ice Disappointed Over Share Of Budget "I can't see where the bus service is doing the people of McHenry any good. All the RTA is doing is taking our money," said Frank Szc- zodrowski, 906 Hampton court, McHenry. This was the dominant sentiment of the approximately 75 people who attended the two- hour RTA public meeting Wednesday night at McHenry Community high school's West campus The RTA board is required to hold public meetings to describe what kinds of public transportation services and improvements will be provided and their costs, and to provide for "public input^' before both the proposed budget and the five-year program are adopted. Musin And Meanderin Newspapers have been known to hit their highs (when they are read in the govern­ ment office of a high official) and their lows (when they keep Fido's untidy eating habits from resulting in a dirty floor, or when they are used as trainers for pups). Somewhere in between are the hometown newspapers that are assessed by school classes. A surprise package of letters arrived in the mail the other day, all expressing the thanks » of Johnsburg Middle school (fourth, fifth and sixth graders > for receiving old papers to be used in classroom work. There is no doubt, these youngsters regard anything but today's edition as "left over" and "used". They told us so, one after another, along with their thanks. Denise Poteracki left us wondering just how much help we had been when she wrote: "Thank you very much for the leftover newspapers They helped our class a lot. I wouldn't do any better without them". And Mike Toussaint made us look for the issue that gave him so many laughs when he con­ cluded his appreciative note with, "Now we have something fun in reading!"' Samantha Scolaro combined a business approach with her thanks. She put it this way: "I give my very thanks for giving us the extra newspapers. We all enjoy it. and it is helping us to learn how to read the newspaper. Oh, could you write back and tell me how I did on my letter (first business let­ ter)". Just fine, Samantha! Steve Kunzweiler finds his enjoyment in a different way than most readers. Steve commented: "I think you put in some interesting articles, especially deaths". A sports fan, Carrie Kraus suggests. "You need Cubs' plays": Marc Katz .wishes we had stpqre 8pott^4>ut Jeff Carder thinks the sports section is very good. It's recipes that Cindy Gorman wants to see as a homemaker of tomorrow. Theresa McKeehan said her choice was the story about the queen contest. And Wendy Arkus asks for more social events. Three young students, Eric Coris, Debbie Linn and Lora Gamble, feel we should use more comics And if ever we feel the need of a pen pal. Julie Murphy con­ cludes her letter with a request to "write back to me". They were good letters, all of them, and we appreciate the part even a leftover newspaper can play in a classroom. In these inflationary times, the fact that the copies were free seemed to have quite an im­ pact. KAF Although neither the budget nor the five-year plan were ever specifically discussed, there was a lot of input - most of it critical C.W. Coons. Woodstock, chairman of the McHenry County Transportation com­ mittee, said that it costs $3.50 every time someone steps onto a piece of RTA transportation. "That wouldn't be so bad," Coons said, "if it went into the county. But three-fourths of it goes into Chicago." Robert Prendergast, 3102 W. Charlotte, McHenry. came prepared with facts and figures. Prendergast said that if the 1 percent sales tax were adopted, over 1-year, the RTA would realize an estimated $1,000,000 from the City of McHenry alone. Prendergast said the RTA would get $1,000,000 (estimated) from Woodstock, $1,438,517 (exact) from Crystal Lake, $1,044,850 (exact) from the county and an estimated $3,000,000 from other com­ munities in the county. Mayor Stanek was unable to attend the meeting in person, but he did send a taped message to the board Stanek's first request would be that McHenry be allowed to opt out of the RTA If the RTA will not allow McHenry to with­ draw, Stanek said a "modified extraction of revenues" should be instituted. "It should be apparent to anyone who is honest enough to admit it, that we are not receiving a commensurate amount of service and benefit," Stanek said At the very least, Stanek said, the RTA should not im­ pose "higher and more restrictive" taxes on the people of McHenry "The v tax now is unreasonable, it is too high, it benefits too few," he said; A letter from Senator Jack Schaffer, also unable to attend, said that if the sales tax must be imposed, make sure that all taxes collected from the county be spent there. The present act provides for such action, the letter said. Schaffer also recommended "differential" payment, i.e. those who use more, pay more. Also, the budget should provide for equal distribution of state and federal funds-preferably on a per capita basis the letter said The proposed budget for the fiscal year 1980 is estimated by the RTA at $365,100,000. The bulk of this money would be used for the "support of existing transportation ser­ vices." The RTA is proposing some new services for McHenry county. The current budget proposal includes money for local service in McHenry, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Harvard, Marengo and Cary- Fox Lake. Also in the works is a weekly service for the county and a Richmond, Spring Grove to Fox Lake feeder service. The budget also allows for Saturday service on the 807-809 route from Woodstock-Wonder Lake-McHenry. Nevertheless, sentiment here in McHenry is still against the RTA. "Back in the '20's, we tried Prohibition. It failed and we repealed it. I think it's time we repealed the RTA,"Hugh Kirk, 119 River road, McHenry. said The battle over salaries between the Police department and the City Council was resolved Monday - much to the chagrin ot the Police department. The Council voted 5 to 2 to accept the Finance com ^mittee's recommendations Sgt. Patrick Joyce appeared before the Council and stressed the point that police officers receive no overtime pay for court time. He went on to say that, at the end of four years, a top patrolman in Crystal Lake would be making $1,300 more per year than a top patrolman here Joyce was also not in favor of starting a new patrolman at $14,800 "I don't think anybody on a police force in this area would disagree with me when I say that that's too much," Joyce said. Joyce suggested starting the new men out at $14,000 and using the rest of the money for in step pay raises Alderman Datz countered, saying that the Council is "continually under pressure" to present an attractive star­ ting salary to bring new men to the force Alderman Wieser wanted to know what the average length of employment time was for a patrolman "Over five years, there is an K(> percent turnover." Joyce said. "We have ten-year men on the force." Datz said Then he made a motion to pass the budget as presented by the Finance committee, which passed Aldermen Nolan, Harker. Datz. Schooley and Meurer voted in favor, and Aldermen Wieser and Adams voted against it The budget leaves the of­ ficers with raises of $2,000 for patrolmen. $2,500 for sergeants and $2,460 for beginning patrolmen. The officers also will be paid for overtime hours which will be regulated by Chief Pasenelli. The Council voted unanimously to send a letter of opposition to "our represen­ tative" concerning a bill that would give municipal em­ ployees collective bargaining rights Mavor Stanek said that if the bill became law. city govern­ ments would lose their "autonomy" and elected of ficials would lose "the power of their offices and be at the mercy of some un-elected, self appointed leader of a union In other Council action. McHenry assured resurfacing of a few roads The Council voted to par ticipate in a program in which the federal dollars will pay for 75 percent of the cost for resurfacing selected roads The city would be responsible for the other 25 percent plus engineering costs. This would amount to the cost of inspection and supervision during the resurfacing. Superintendent Fred Meyer stressed that this would only be a two-inch resurfacing and not a reconstruction The roads included would have to be "major action routes." according to Mayor Stanek They are: Green street from Waukegan to Clover Kane avenue from Green to Center. Lillian street from Sioux lane to Crystal Lake road and Front street from Kim to West. Lloyd Wagner , of the Lake land Park Proper ty Owners assoc ia t ion , appeared before the Counc i l and of fe red the c i ty the annexa t ion of 180 ac res of McCul lom Lake bot to rn Kssen t ia l ly . the assoc ia t ion would g ive the l ake to the c i ty Wagner sa id t in* . . - soc i ; ' would ra ther the c i t \ ge t the l ake than the s ta te Wagner added tha t the assoc ia t ion and the c i ty had to s i t down and work ou t the de ta i l s of po l ic ing , o f po l lu t ion con t ro l , o f every th ing The McHenry Trade fa i r i s coming up th i s weekend and the Counc i l i s su re i t wants to have a Ujo th . however , i t i s no t su re of jus t wha t i t wan ts to pu t in the l>ooth Mayor S tanek sugges ted p ic tu res of wha t the c i ty has to o f fe r - a new park , t enn is cour t s , ba l l f i e lds , e tc Aid Datz sugges ted a con t inuous f i lms t r ip and Ci ty Cle rk Bar bara Gi lp in sugges ted hav ing someth ing to g ive away to which Alderman Marker responded , "a f ree t r ip th rough the sewer p lan t Conduct Countywide School Registration The Citizenship and Safety committee of the McHenry County Homemakers Ex­ tension association has initiated a countywide project to help high school juniors and 23rd Art Fair June 15-17 The twenty-third annual Country Art fair will be held at Parkland Junior high school on Ringwood road June 15, 16 and 17. The one-man show will feature the work of Rodger Bechtold of Woodstock. Residents of McHenry county and former exhibitors may get registration blanks by con­ tacting Elvi Mikk, 400 Calhoun street. Woodstock, or Lynn Schirmer, 3622 Oak Knoll, Crystal Lake. Categories are painting (opaque and transparent), graphics (prints and drawing), t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l , photography, mixed media and selected crafts. The next meeting of the committee will be held Mon­ day, May 14, in the council chambers of the McHenry city hall at 1:30 p.m. All interested persons are invited to attend. seniors become registered voters. Every high school in' McHenry county has been contacted and dates selected by the principals for student voter registration. At McHenry High school West campus the date is Wednesday, May 9, 10:50 a m to 12:45 p.m ; at Marian Central Catholic high school. Thurtday, May 10,11:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and at Johnsburg high school, Thursday, May 24, 10:45 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Any high school student who will be 18 years old by March 1, 1980, is eligible and encouraged to register. Two Will Be Prom Royalty O n e o f t h e s e p r e t t y y o u n g g i r l s a n d o n e o f t h e h a n d s o m e s e n i o r b o v s s h u w n a b o v e w i l l b e c r o w n e d p r o m q u e e n a n d k i n g a t t h e a n n u a l M C I I S p r o m t o b e h e l d S a t u r d a y , M a y 5 , a t B u r l i n g s h i r e R e s o r t . B u r l i n g t o n , \ \ i s T h e ( a n d i d a t e s w e r e s e l e c t e d b v a v o t e o f t h e s e n i o r s , a f t e r w h i c h o n l v s e n i o r s \ o t e o n t h e t w o t h e v w o u l d m o s t l i k e t o r e i g n o \ e r t h e f e s t i v i t i e s . L a s t s e a r ' s k i n g a n d q u e e n w e r e D o u g O e f f l i n g a n d l . o r i F o s s u m . S h o w n a b o v e , f r o m l e f t , a r e , l o v R e i n k e , T i m F r a n t z , S u e R e e v e s , K i l l l . a n g . D i a n e Z i e m b a , T o m H a h b . M a n B e t h A d a m s , T i m Z e l l e r . K r i s t i n e S a l m a n , ( . e o r g e W o r t s . ( h e r v l M c N i s h a n d R o n F r e u n d . Free McHenry Trade Fair Opens May 4