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

Regional State marks money for scholarships ^er?°r James Thompson has signed...legtetetkm appropriating ^ 5 million doUars for the new Il­ linois Merit Recognition Scholar­ ship (MRS). This program awards scholarships to high school students graduating in the wp 5 percent of their high school classes. Members of the recently graduated class of 1965 will be the ™ recipients. Eligible students win soon be receiving an applica­ tion blank from the Illinois State Scholarship Commission (ISSC), the state agency administering the program. The scholarship must be used at an approved Il­ linois Institution and is renewable for one additional year. The Monetary Award Program (MAP), one of the largest grant programs in the United States, was funded at $122.5 million dollars and is expected to assist approximately 100,000 needy Il­ linois students during the 1985-86 school year. This 12 percent in­ crease in MAP funding is the largest prog -am Increase in eight years and funds a maximum MAP award of $2,850. These state dollars, coupled with the $200 in­ crease in the maximum federal Pell grant, spell good news for Il­ linois students. Sutdents and/or parents desir­ ing information about any of the programs administered by the Il­ linois State Scholarship Commis­ sion should contact the ISSC at one of the following addresses: 106 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, IL 60015; 525 W. Jefferson, Springfield, IL 62702; State of Illinois Center at Chicago, 100 W. Randolph St., Suite 3-200, Chicago, IL 60601. PEOPLE TALK Girls just want to be mayor There is a family resemblance, but Ellen Lauper's haircut is more conventional that sister Cindi's. Her politics, however, are a different story. Ellen, 33, is running for mayor of Phoenix on the Socialist Workers Party ticket and doesn't talk about her sister. "We live in two different worlds," Ellen says in this week's People magazine. "I don't write her music and she doesn't write my speeches. People ask me what she thinks of what I'm doing but our day-to-day lives are different." Lauper, who says she Joined the Socialist party primarily because of its stand on feminist issues, has held a variety of unusual jobs and now works at a steel yard. "It's hard but you get a certain amount of respect once you've matched all the things your co-workers can do." She credits her mother with giving her and Cindi creative encouragement. "I think a goodjob was done in terms of teaching the value of thinking something through for yourself," she said. Pig pal The pigs of the world have a friend in Kentucky Pork Queen Lisa Hagedorn. "People said, 'You don't look like a pork queen,"' she says. "But when I explained my benefits they didn't laugh so hard." In addition to appearing at more than two dozen county fairs Hagedorn, 18, won a $1,000 scholarship, a pigskin coat and a chance to compete for the honor of national pork queen in March. And besides that, she likes pigs. "Hogs are beautiful and they aren't Just for eating," Hagedorn says. Dentist on the run James Blackwell marked 63 years with 63 miles. Blackwell, a Center- ville, Tenn., dentist turned 63 Saturday and went on a 63-mile run. "I wanted to do something to blow the mind of everyone else," said Blackwell, who began his anniversary Jogs with a 50-mile run 13 years ago and has missed only his 62nd and 61st birthday runs. "These birthday runs prolong my life." He plans to continue the mobile birthday celebration for at least a few more years. "I plan to keep it up until 70," Blackwell said, "or 'til I have a heart attack." Blackwell's determina­ tion to keep up Jogging comes from his hope to influence other people to keep in shape. "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't do it now," he said. "It's not fun. There's no 'runner's high.' Instead it's pain, fatigue and cramps." MOLLY MILLIGAN Your Home Decorator Palsy Milliitan Syndicate New looks for old walls Are you looking for a fresh alternative for your walls? If so, here are a few ideas to give traditional looking walls a new kick. They're easy, they're fun, and best of all, they'll cheap. 1. Any paper can be turned into wallpaper. Recycle brown bags, Sunday's funnies, magazine covers, foreign newspapers. Prime walls then hang paper. When dry, apply at least one coat of polyurethane to protect. For an off-the-wall look, paper only the ceil­ ing. 2. Give your walls the look of patterned wallpaper for the price of paint. No paste, no cutting, no plumb line. Just fun. Rollerwall® is a two-way roller system that paints a design on the wall. The paint glides from one roller onto another roller that is embossed with a raised design, and then onto the wall. There are more than 50 pat­ terns to choose from. Easy to do, hard to mess up. Ask your favorite paint expert for details or write Rollerwall, P.O. Box 757, Silver Spr­ ings, MD 20901. 3. If you love the textured weave of real Chinese grasscloth, but not the cost (up to $150 per roll) then consider vinyl grasscloth, about $18 to $25 a roll. Give it an authentic look by painting it your favorite col­ or. * 4. Wallpaper borders dress up any room. They add interest around ceilings, doors, windows and closets. The problem with borders is that they also can be costly, especially since they're sold by the yard. Make your own borders by selecting a wallpaper that has a vertical pattern or stripe. Shop for a pattern that will look good cut into strips, and placed horizontally as well as vertically. Cut paper with scissors and a straight edge. 5. Shirring walls with fabric is a great way to hide severely damag­ ed walls. Gauze and sheeting are good choices, but any lightweight fabric will do such as sheers on rods, placed below the ceiling line and Just above the baseboard. Doors and windows must have rods at­ tached above and/or below. You will need plenty of fabric, about three times the width of each wall. If you don't want to do all four walls then Just do one. Shirring will make any room inviting, cozy and romantic. If you have a question for Your Home Decorator, send it along with a sell-addressed, stamped envelope to Molly Milligan, P.O. Box 14, Dundee, IL 60118. Allow four weeks for a reply. A tropical storm hit during the second day of the Eleventh Annual Scout Jamboree held recently in Virginia. No one was hurt but most of the tents were blown down and the over 32,000 scouts in attendance were soaked by the rain. Jamboree hit by tropical storm The Eleventh Annual Scout Jam­ boree was held recenUy at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Over 32,000 scouts from all over the world, in­ cluding some from northern Illinois, were in attendance at this special Jamboree. This year the Boy Scouts of America is celebrating its 75th anniversary and the Jamboree is the culmination of all the activities in­ volved in the year-long celebration. As a part of the opening day activ­ ities, the scouts and a estimated 30,000 to 100,000 guests were treated to a special show that included a concert by the Beach Boys. The second day brought another special activity but a less pleasant one. A tropical storm hit during the afternoon of the second day with over 50 mph winds that pulled up tents and pelted the campers with rain. The scouts tried to hold every­ thing down but by the time the storm ended most of the tents had blown down, resulting in wet gear. The Jamboree staff moved quick­ ly to counteract the effects of the storm by preparing hot meals for the scouts and sending the wet sleeping gear out to a commercial launderer for drying. Several troops moved into Army barracks for the night and were treated to dry sheets and hot showers. Clear skies returned the next day and the scouts were able to get on with the weeks activities and enjoy the Jamboree to its fullest. Prime Housing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly is paying at least $500,000 for a neo-Georgian house overlooking a golf course in south London. A spokeswoman at Thatcher's 10 Downing Street office refused to comment on the report, citing security reasons. The Sunday Mirror said Thatcher and her husband, Denis, plan on elaborate security measures for the house. "It's like Fort Knox," the paper quoted a workman on the site as saying. The newspaper said British pop star Elton John is also considering buying a house in the complex for his mother. The Thatchers sold their Chelsea home, which they bought in 1969 for $39,000, at the beginning of the year for $490,000. \ • at the revived Folk festival Sincere Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie sing together NewDort Folk Festival Sunday, after Baez joined Guthrie on- Rtaceunexpectedly to join in a duet of the late Steve Goodman's cone "City of New Orleans." The festival was revived for the ttrst time in 16 years, at Fort Adams State Park in Newport. Barn dance planned for GS Hospital Good Shepherd Hospital is in­ viting all area residents to a barn dance on Saturday, Sept. 7. Tickets are now on sale for the 7 to 11 p.m. event, which will be held in one of the farm buildings located on the hospital's campus on Highway 22, two miles west of Route 59. A $7 per person admission fee will cover the evening of square dancing and instruction along with a box supper of chicken, col­ eslaw, beans, a muffin, apple pie and beverages. The caller will be Dick Crouse of Palatine. Send checks, made out to Good Shepherd Hospital Barn Dance, to Good Shepherd Hospital Barn Dance, Good Shepherd Hospital, 450 W. Highway 22, Barrington, IL 60010. Advance reservations are required. Persons who order tickets will be able to pick them up at the door on the evening of the dance. For more information about the Good Shepherd Hospital Barn Dance, call (312) 381-9600, exten­ sion 5060. Group to meet on rights off disabled ELGIN - Allegations that the rights of disabled persons are be­ ing violated at private and public facilities wUl be discussed by the Human Rights Authority Region 2-North of the Illinois Guardian­ ship and Advocacy Commission at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 7, at the Elgin Mental Health Center. The Human Rights Authority is a panel of nine citizen volunteers appointed by the Commission and empowered by statute to in­ vestigate alleged violations of the rights of disabled persons. The Human Rights Authority Region 2-North serves north/nor­ thwest Cook and all of DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry coun­ ties. Rights violations may be reported at the meeting or by con­ tacting the Human Rights Authority Regional Coordinator at 595 S. State St., Elgin, HI. 60120. Host families are needed Youth Exchange Service (YES) is in need of families who would like to host well-screened, 15- to 18-year-old exchange students, who will arrive in August for a nine-month period and will attend local high schools. Students have excellent medical insurance and bring their own spending money. Families pro­ vide room and board and may claim a $50 tax deduction for each month they host a student. For further information, con­ tact Youth Exchange Service (YES), World Trade Center Building, 350S. Figuerosa St., 257- P, Los Angeles, Calif. 90071, or phone 1-800-848-2121. Illinois Department of Revenue finds tax cheats with computers SPRINGFIELD, 111. - Every year, computers from state and federal agencies have a conversa­ tion with computers at the Illinois Department of Revenue. As a result, thousands of would-be tax cheats are caught, and the state of Illinois is millions of doUars richer. More than 13,000 people who did not file IUlnols income tax returns, or underpaid their taxes, will receive notices this week that they were caught red-handed -- by a computer. Through this automated tax en­ forcement program, the Depart­ ment of Revenue sifts through records of the IRS, other states, governmental agencies, and federal sources. If the computer sniffs out a discrepancy -- such as income not reported on the Illinois return or too many exemptions -- or if the outside computers point out someone who has neglected to file the required tax returns, the state immediately begins collec­ tion proceedings. CoUection efforts for this year's computer enforcement program will begin July 15. The collection process begins with a computer-generated letter, notifying a person of the problem and asking for the doUars due. The machine is programmed to catch most legitimate errors, such as transposed numerals on social security numbers. "The computer also calculates the tax due, and machines sort and maU the notices," says J. Thomas Johnson, director of the IUinois Department of Revenue. "If we have no response from the computer-generated letters, then we issue a statutory notice of defi­ ciency, which gives the legal authority to go after the tax due." "Sixty percent of those who owe state taxes have paid up by this point." Those who have not responded are subject to having liens placed on their property, having their • property seized, or having the state confiscate any income, tax refunds or lottery winnings due from the state. "Protests are rare," Johnson says, "because most of the time we've caught them red-handed. Those who do disagree with us can go through an administrative ap­ peal, and could ultimately go to court to plead their case." Other enforcement efforts in­ clude comparing notes with the In­ ternal Revenue Service on federal audits, Johnson says. "If the IRS finds that you owe additional taxes, then you are also ' required to file an amended state tax return within 20 days," Johnson says. He explained that IUinois tax­ payers use the "adjusted gross in­ come" line on the federal tax return as a starting place for calculating state income taxes. If a federal audit changes your "ad- Justed gross income" line, then it changes the state tax amount due as weU. "But many people don't know that, or don't think about it, or try to get away with it. They probably don't know how efficient we are and don't know that we are getting this information from the IRS," Johnson says. "And sometimes they just don't know any better. Sometimes foUowing an audit report, after we send out the computer-generated letter, we'll get a call from a tax­ payer saying, 'But I've already paid you.' We ask them to send proof of payment, and they send us a copy of the check sent to the IRS. They don't realize they have to pay the state, too." There is no statute of limitations on prosecuting violators eaught through the federal audit report. The state has caught $5.4 million in taxes owed through the tape match and audit programs during the first 10 months of Fiscal Year 1985. More than 20,000 individuals were caught underpaying or not paying their taxes through the two programs. The computer tape matches are made once a year, but audit in- formlation swaps are handled year-round. The Department of Revenue also shares its information with the IRS, Johnson says. Information from IRS returns is totally confidential, as is IUinois tax information. Information con­ tained in the returns is only revealed at the request of the tax­ payer or by court order, Johnson says. The computer enforcement pro­ gram makes it possible for the Department of Revenue to pursue would-be tax cheats more effi­ ciently and at a more reasonable cost than through conducting audits on personal returns, he said. And, he added, there wUl be more computer comparisons avaUablesoon. Marengo liosts county Pomona Grange ly 24 Count Marengo Grange hosted the Ju- 24 meeting of the McHenry ty Pomona Grange, which met in the First State Bank building of Harvard. Committee reports were brief as most of the evening was devoted to finalizing plans for manning the Grange food tent and gates for the McHenry County Fair, July 31 to Aug. 5. Members and their families of the six county Granges take turns during each day of the fair. Ray Fasse gave a treasurer's report, and it was reported that all insurance was in order. A dona­ tion was sent to the fair associa­ tion for several 4-H trophies. It was announced that a special part of the Aug. 24 meeting of Har­ vard Grange would be set aside for starting a Junior Grange, which is open to chUdren between the ages of 5 to 14 and is known as a character buUder. Emalee Col- ver, IUinois state junior director, wUl be on hand to answer ques­ tions. A program on Americanism was prepared by lecturer, Pat Christ. Readers were: Marie H o l l i s t e , " W h a t I s a n American?"; Bunny Hettinga, "A Prayer for USA," written by George Washington; and Vera Perry, "I'm Known as 'Old Glory.'" Mary Fasse read a part of the "Preamble to the Constitution" and "Know Your Citizenship," a meaningful commentary about how thankful we should be on the freedoms we have. A question and answer quiz foUowed which for the most part was on the men of history responsible for framing our country's principles. "Talent Night"' wUl take place at the next meeting of the Pomona Grange, Aug. 28, at 8 p.m. in Fellowship HaU at the First Con­ gregational Church of Crystal Lake, with Ridgefield Grange as host. Scholarships toward foreign travel available Scholarships of up to $800 that can be applied toward interna­ tional education, and travel pro­ grams are available to families who host EngUsh-speaking young people of high school age coming to the United States for a semester or academic year. This intercultural exchange pro­ gram is sponsored by the American Institue for Foreign Study Scholarship Foundation, whose offices are in Greenwich, Conn., and San Francisco, Calif. Visiting students come to the U.S. from Germany, Spain, Japan and more thair20 other countries. They attend local high schools during their stay. "Many families could provide the ideal home for a visiting stu­ dent," said Paul A. Cook, ex­ ecutive director of the foundation. "We can match the student's in­ terests to yours, and you can screen applications to choose the youngster you like best." Host Family members earn scholarships applicable to more than 100 different international learning tours suitable for junior high, high school, coUege or adult travelers. Programs hanging from one week to a fuU year in­ clude home stays, cruises and campus stays. Each has some educational and cultural focus, be it an inteiisive language immer­ sion or a one-week tour. For free information on how to become a Host Family, call the foundation at (203) 869-9090 in Con­ necticut, (800) 243-4567 east of the Mississippi, (800) 841-9028 in California, or (800) 458-7100 west of the Mississippi.