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Hope From Despair -- * Wonder Lake Page 18 Food Stamp Increase + ' Starts January 1 Page 12 McHenry Splits In Tourney Holiday Basketball Page 6 •p. Mechanic Dies In Accident > - THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1,875 VOLUME 105 NUMBER 44 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1980 1 SECTION 20 PAGES 25' A McHenry man lost his life Friday. Dec. 26, when he apparently misread the vehicle number on a truck and was dragged almost a mile by another vehicle in Arlington Heights. Paul Hayhurst, 32, of 3701 W. James street, an employee of Crystal Lake Tire and Battery, reported to work at George Noffs Moving 4i Storage Co.,. Arlington Heights. BiH Westward, a spokesman for that firm; said they had a contract with the Crystal Lake company for twice a week calls to Tiir flat tires on their trucks, estward said to his knowledge this was Hayhurst's first call. The McHenry mechanic was given a work order by the dispatch office at Noffs, an agent of North American Van Lines. Each of the Van Lines vehicles is identified by a six-digit number on the truck and the written work order included the number of the truck that needed service. Coincidentally, there were two vehicles in the lot whose numbers had the same last three digits. It is believed Hayhurst looked at the last three digits ana began working on the wrong truck. While he slid under the right rear of the van, inspecting the tires, the driver and his helper were unaware that Hayhurst was working on the van. After checking out a Chicago street map, they drove out of the lot. Although the wheel had locked the mechanic to the axle, the streets were icy endfigh that the truck was able to proceed without difficulty. It was about tnree-fourths of a mile away that a motorist noticed what happened and flagged down the truck driver. Hayhurst was pulled from the wheel by the Arlington Heights fire rescue squad but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Northwest Community hospital. Driver Hurt, House Damaged In Accident A McHenry man was injured Sunday after the car he was driving struck a house near the intersection of Bull Valley and Barreville roads. The McHenry Rescue squad took Raymond J. Despard, Jr., of 3215 Terrace, McHenry, to McHenry hospital for treatment of injuries received in the collision. Despard told police he was driving east on Bull Valley road when the car struck a patch of ice and went into the ditch. The damage to the house, which belongs to Maurice Jasper, of 3323 Bull Valley road, McHenry, was estimated at $1,000. Gary L. Bitler, of 1248 Forest, Round Lake, was heading west on Route 120, when an eastbound car, traveling in the wrong lane, crashed into his car. The driver of the eastbound car, Philip J. Schmidt, of 1902 Grandview, McHenry, was cited for driving while intoxicated and driving in the wrong lane. Schmidt told police he was driving down the road when another car ran into his auto. Two witnesses to the collision told police Schmidt was driving in the wrong lane. The McHenry Rescue squad tran­ sported Susan A. Bitler, 20, to McHenry hospital, where she was treated and released. The collision occurred at 8:43 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22. The County police investigated a collision between a car and the cement wall of a building on the northwest corner of the Johnsburg-Chapel Hill road intersection Saturday morning. The driver of the car was taken to McHenry hospital by the Johnsburg Rescue squad. Quoted from the report, the driver of the car, Ray A. Schultz, of 2602 Indian trail, McHenry, told police at the hospital, "He did not know his speed, direction of travel or what road he was on." Steal $4,200 At Liquor Mart Noting a total lack of holiday spirit, the McHenry County Sheriff's police are investigating a theft from the Liquor Mart, 2314 W. Route 120, McHenry, that netted the thief an estimated $4,200. $ According to the police report someone walked into the unlocked office and stole the money from an open safe while the store was open and crowded with customers. The theft was reported at 10:15 a.m. Dec. 24. 1980 Marked By Expansion Plans, Financial Cutbacks mtrnimm Snowmobile In Cold Dip Members of the McHenry Area Rescue squad attend to Diane Mead, the driver of a snowmobile whose foot became wedged between the machine and a snowbank early Sunday afternoon. Ms. Mead, of Fox River Grove, was taken to McHenry hospital. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD In three separate incidents this past weekend, two snowmobiles took the plunge into cold winter waters and one driver was injured in a collision with a snowbank. According to the McHenry County Sheriffs police, Diane Mead, 30, of 206 Millard, Fox River Grove, was riding her snowmobile near Snug Harbor when her foot slipped off the running board and lodged between a snowbank and the machine. The machine stopped when it hit the snowbank. The McHenry Rescue squad transported Ms. Mead to McHenry hospital for treatment of the leg iiquiy. At the same time, a snowmobile driven by Elizabeth Jenkinson, 42, of 1107 Spring Beach, Cary, was attempting to drive across the ice when die machine came upon thin ice. The snowmobile went through and the driver escaped injury. The accidents occurred in the early afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 28. The Johnsburg Rescue squad was called to a spot on Pistakee Bay, near River Terrace drive, at 2:15 a.m. Dec. 27, where a snowmobile hit open water and sank. The driver of the snowmobile, Walter Saraniecki, 30, at 6061 Neva, Chicago, managed to get out of the water and make his way to safer ice. He was taken to McHenry hospital for examination. except Petersen park in the 12-month period, although there were numerous hearings that continued throughout the period. Three developments were still pending as December closed - Malibu Estates, between Fox Ridge and Winding Creek; Valleybrook, on the southwest corner of the Bull Valley and Crystal Lake road intersection; and one little in the news in recent months, the Fritsch development at the southwest corner of Bull Valley road. In addition to self-imposed restraints placed upon themselves by individuals, the most noticeable cutbacks occurred in local school districts. School District 15 adopted the spartan theme early in the year to stem the rising costs of operating the district's six schools. The most startling announcement was that 20 teachers would be dropped from the faculty with the start of the fall term. It soon became evident that Johnsburg and MCHS were also feeling a financial pinch and were reducing services ana making cuts of other kinds. The dilemma of the schools failed to take priority over the personal needs of a public that defeated two school referendums for increases in tax rates in a week's time. Besides proposals for housing developments, there was one other large expansion project in the news, but at year's end its fate was still undecided. McHenry hospital had presented an impressive outline of plans to build a new, 210-bed hospital at the corner of Rt. 31 and Bull Valley road, on land given to the hospital many years ago. Recommendations by an area health systems agency have been for denial. A decision is expected in the opening days of January at a meeting of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning board. . A project with a greater chance for success because of its entirely local backing, is Knox park, for which dedication was held recently and some construction has begun. One of the community's biggest arguments arose from something as small as a moth. When the Illinois Department of Agriculture prepared for an intensive campaign against the gypsy moth in early spring, the announcement triggered a strong reaction among environmentalists opposed to the chemical to be used. Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture was included in the arguments. The hassle ended abruptly one day when the proposed spraying program was dropped because of what was. described by the Agriculture department as"possible psychosomatic harm people could experience and the lack or commitment from the E.P.A. to back up the program and provide information." Another point of controversy - this one continuing -concerns FAP 420, the highway that would link an unfinished highway improvement near Genoa City, Wis., with another in Lake county., Although the proposed highway has been in the planning stages for as long as 15 years, its fate is uncertain as environmentalists opposed the damage they say would occur to the Volo Bog area. They also expressed concern about damage that could occur to the glacial kames in Glacier Ridge park. A third controversy looms as important in 1081. It is the possible incorporation of Wonder Ijike, which has strong views among backers and detractors. September found 500 interested residents attending a meeting at which various views were expressed. Included among the important, on­ going issues of the community were other news items that attracted attention. They were the decision not to declare the mayor's position full time (some aldermen felt it cannot be described as either full or part time); the declaration of a moratorium on the use of city parking meters; and the completion of the 10-year census. Add Precincts In Township There will be at least eight new precincts in McHenry county because of the split-up of those precincts for which records show more than 1,000 registered voters. That was the prediction of County Clerk Rosemary Azzaro when she addressed the McHenry County board last week. The eight are McHenry 16, 1,044; McHenry 26, 1,233; Seneca, 1,100; Greenwood 2, 1,650; Nunda 5, 1053; Algonquin 11,1048; Algonqpin 29, 1,281; and Algonquin 36, 1,195. A situation described by Mrs. Azzaro as a critical problem and, later, "a crisis", is expected to generate considerable dicussion by the McHenry County board in weeks ahead. Mrs. Azzaro referred to difficulty in finding enough judges to handle elections. Her recommendation of an increase in salary for judges of election fronf^45 to $55 was approved. Judges will work at three elections in some townships or municipalities, and this will increase their salaries above $100, requiring her to deduct Social Security from the modest salary checks. Mrs. Azzaro said primary elections are scheduled in Algonquin township and Crystal Lake. Township, city, village and special referendum elections are scheduled the first Tuesday in April. School board elections are scheduled in November. The addition of at least eight new precincts adds 40 more election judges to the payroll list, a sizable increase in cost but a cost which board members indicated they believe is reasonable. Dean Marlowe, Huntley, said in his area he knows precinct workers set up the November voting equipment and boothsat5:30a.m. and wereat the polls long after the 7 p.m. closing. The board discussed microfilming records, making available some of the space in the courthouse presently filled with box after box of records. George Lowe, Cary, said microfilming is practical because of the space consideration and because much time (Continued on page 17) N^w Sheriff Looks Ahead The victor in a hard-fought campaign, McHenry County Sheriff Henry "Hank" Nulle looked toward the future of the department in a recent interview with the McHenry Plaindealer. The sheriff characterized his department as being particularly strong in its "arrest on crime in McHenry county." He noted that there has been a tremendous increase in the crime rate in the past few vears. Nulle also said the department was weakest in the civil process area -- the delivering of summons, etc. "The economy has a lot to do with this,*" he said. "People are having a hard time keeping up with their debts." Nulle pointed to a few changes that might be made within the department. 'We are going to re-evaluate our patrols in order to get better coverage and response times," Nulle said. He explained that one possible change might be the use of overlapping shifts. The sheriff also said the County police would probably be establishing a night patrol on the river. "There are a lot of thefts both of and from boats," he pointed out, "and we want to slow down some of the cowboys on the river. *\ The-feheriff also commented that he would like to see the department get more into the concept of "preventive patrol," but he addea, "This is a pretty big county and it takes a lot of people to provide adequate protection." Later he said the department needed an additional 20 men to staff the patrol and iail divisions in order to provide adequate coverage for the county. "There has been no increase in the number of men in the last two years," Nulle said, commenting that both the population of the county and the crime rate had been increasing during this same period. "The jail will become an issue," Nulle said. "It's going to have to get bigger;" The county iail in Woodstock is used as well r>y various municipal police departments throughout the county. "I can sympathize with the County board (which holds the purse strings), but it's not goifg to get any cheaper,,r he commented. The sheriff said he would like to see more of the men going to school for continuing education - particularly in basic law, search and seizure, testifying in court - the things an officer deals with on a daily basis. Nulle maintained that the first priority was the street. "A cop has to be everything; a lawyer, a marriage counselor, you name it." he said. Nulle said the prospects for accomplishing these goals were Ketty dim because the county dget was pretty well set. "We'll play it by' ear for a while," he said. With the arrival of a new year, there is always a time for looking back as «v«gl as an expression of plans for the * future. The year 1980 had stamped indelibly on its record an unusual mingling of expansion and cutbacks. The economic trend noted in the first January Plaindealer spelled out zooming prices at the grocery store. At the same time, prospective developments were scrutinized as the area continued to grow through annexation. It was at this time the city planner for McHenry urged that "the city should be held tightly and compactly within the cityTs general boundaries". * The year's end saw no annexations The post-Christmas period is ap­ propriate for assessing quality. What better chance do we have to look, first hand, at things that fail to withstand the test of a few days' use. lCJsn't necessary to deal with youngsters' toys to realize that "shoddy" is the word for much work that's turned out today. The first case in point on our personal list is a pair of earrings. They were not gems, but the price charged should have at least assumed that they per­ formed the basic functions of opening and closing. ~ One of them did neither with any degree of efficiency. Once open, it refused to close more than part way. The choice was either enlarging the ear lobe or taking more drastic measures that could easily snap the slim metal piece. We tried something in between which resulted in an earring slightly askew which gives the whole head a less than symmetrical appearance. Merchants are saved much trouble and some expense by the very fact that in the busy pre-Christmas season some (Continued on page 17)