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College Referendum Results Precincts Yes No Totals Crystal Lake 1,823 931 2,754 Cary 321 392 713 Hebron 73 160 233 Marengo 279 382 661 Union 88 173 261 Harvard 573 484 » 1,057 Woodstock 839 860 1,699 McHenry 599 766 1,365 Richmond-Burton 133 152 285 Johnsburg 132 291 423 Wonder Lake-Greenwood 92 174 266 Greenwood (Woodstock) 110 92 212 Fox River Grove 75 119 194 Huntley ' 157 81 238 5,294 .5,062 10,361 A large vote in fourteen county precincts last Saturday approved the McHenry County college request for a boost in the annual tax rate for educational purposes of .05 per cent, raising it from .07 to .12 per cent. The affirmative vote is expected to keep the college solvent for about two years according to present projec­ tions. Although the referendum was successful, only four precincts carried the increase. Greatest support came in Crystal Lake, where 1,823 voters were in favor and 931 opposed. Other communities in which the vote carried were Harvard, Greenwood (Woodstock), and Huntley. Commenting early this week, Dr. James R. Davis, MCC president, said he was "very happy and relieved with the outcome". He admitted to optimism from the start even though some he talked with thought the vote would not meet with success. "We've been down so long it's good to start looking up again", he observed with candor. Since the college is on an accrual accounting basis, the budget starts July 1. Actual money from the referendum will not be realized until late summer of 1976. This fact caused Dr. Davis to add, "So we're still not out of the woods". Results of the referendum will be canvassed Thursday night by the board of trustees. The Citizens Advisory committee said in advance of the referendum that a suc­ cessful vote "in no way negates the ultimate need for the remaining portion". The committee referred to its first recommendation to ask for an .085 percent increase in the Education fund. Reckless Driving, Other Charges Against Motorists Robert G. Simon of 7301 Spaatz drive, Wonder Lake, was charged with reckless driving following an incident Sunday morning about 1:45 on River road, near Clements Lodge road. Simon told deputies he was south-bound on River road at approximately 80 m.p.h. when a tire blew out and he lost control of his car. Dallas L. Spiller of 2611 Forestwood drive, McHenry, was also south-bound on River road and he reported Simon's Ask Business Use Of Local Farm Property Thomas M. and Nancy K. Hodges have petitioned the McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals for a reclassification of property from "F" farming to "B 1" business district. An alternative "conditional use" permit is asked to allow repair of small displacement internal combustion engines, and the sale of parts and supplies for the repair, maintenance and operation. The property contains 2.2896 acres in McHenry township, about three-quarters of a mile northwest of the intersection of Rt. 31 and McCullom Lake road. The hearing is scheduled for 2 o'.clock Thursday, March 13, in the city hall. Select Cast For "Fiddler" Rick Bender as Tevye and Carol Leighty as Golde lead the outstanding cast of "Fiddler on the Roof", the McHenry Community high school spring musical. The announced cast is as follows: Tevye, Rick Bender; Golde, Carol Leighty; Tzeitel, Denise Higgins; Hodol, Sandy Clark; Chava, Joy Vyduna; Sh- printze, Celina Mays; Bielke, Karen Day; Yente, Michelle Schroeder; Motel, Keith Ot- terson; Perchick, Masatoshi Wada; Lazar Wolf, the butcher, Steve Toole; Mordcha , the Innkeeper, Kevin Wynveen; The Rabbi, Dave Sweeney; Mendel, his son, Ed Peters; Avrahm, the bookseller, Marty Fossum; NachUm, the begger, Mike Tollifson; Grandma (Continued on page t0) auto passed him at a high rate of speed as it came out of a curve. It went off the east side of the road, skidded back across the roadway on to Clements Lodge road. Simon's car then made a turn across a lawn and through a ditch When Spiller stopped to get the license number of the other car, Simon attempted to rock out of the ditch and hit the front wheel well of Spiller's auto. Reporting officer, Deputy Mel Hunt, noted that there were no flat tires on Simon's vehicle and no damage was incurred in the collision of the two autos. James J. Stahl of 4402 E. Lake Shore drive, Wonder Lake, was ticketed for failure to give aid or information following a collision at the intersection of Lake Shore drive and Hancock drive, Wonder Lake, last Saturday evening about 6:45. According to the deputy's report, Barbara Brenner of 7510 Birch drive, Wonder Lake, made a left turn from Hancock onto Wonder Lake drive when the north-bound Stahl vehicle made contact withfther car. She said Stahl's auto didn't stop but continued east-bound on Hancock. A (Continued on page 10) A McHenry fireman carries smoke ejectors into burning Valley View school Saturday afternoon. Smoke was pouring out every (A full page of fire pictures appears elsewhere in this issue) Damage to Valley View school by fire, smoke and vandalism Saturday afternoon is expected to run between $150,00 and $200,000. That was the estimate of county authorities and Fire Chief Glenn Peterson. Tuesday morning the Sheriff's department said only that detectivec were working on the theory that children may have been responsible. School opened Tuesday morning, following a day of no classes Monday because of teachers' institute. Many teachers and some board members assisted other school personnel Monday in cleaning away the debris and moving equipment to other locations The northwest wing of the building that houses first and second graders had such ex­ tensive damage that young pupils had to be housed in the Art and Music departments and the learning center. The roof of that wing was reported near collapse Monday. Mrs. Paul Cooper, who resides across the street from the school, turned in the alarm about 3:40 in the afternoon. When firemen of the three McHenry companies arrived they found smoke arising from every opening. It was necessary to use smoke ejec­ tors to enter the building. Authorities said it was ap­ parent the school had been forcibly entered, ransacked and burglarized. Fire Chief Peterson observed that books and papers were thrown in a pile in Room 103 and set afire. The flammable material used was not immediately deter­ mined. Another fire was started in a coin box in the cafeteria but this caused little damage. Light fixtures were pulled opening when members of the three McHenry companies arrived on the scene. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD from the ceiling and various types of vandalism occurred prior to setting the fire. Target for most of the mischief was the primary learning environment. Obscenities were written on the blackboard in one room, and fish tanks were damaged by filling them with bowl cleaner. Cornmeal was thrown about, and finger paints dashed on the floor. Ink was dumped into some of the drawers, destroying records. The investigation continued until well into Saturday night and was resumed the next day. Deputy State Fire Marshal Roger Sutton came to the school Saturday afternoon, and returned Monday. Also par­ ticipating in the investigation were Detective Borgeson of the county Arson unit, and Detective Eisle of the Burglary (Continued on page 10) Former Local Man Dies After Gun Incident Robert Ruemelin, 23, of 2018 Route 173, Richmond, a former McHenry resident, died early Sunday morning in McHenry hospital shortly after being admitted for treatment of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Deputies were called to assist the Spring Grove Police department about 2 o'clock Sunday morning in the in­ vestigation of a gunshot victim at 2103 Main street, Spring Grove. Upon arrival, they found the victim to be Ruemelin. Witnesses reported he had been despondent and had used a pistol to take his own life. Further investigation is being made by the Spring Grove Police department. Fireman Girard Justen carries smoke ejector through debris outside Valley View school. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD Plan 100th Year Celebration Nestled between the piles of copy of current news in the Plaindealer office are some very special stories just waiting to get into print. When put together, these stories comprise much of the history of McHenry and the surrounding area. They have been in the process of being assembled for many months as the Plaindealer plans for its centennial publication later this year. It was in 1875 that Jay Van Slyke focused his knowledge of the newspaper business on the operation of the .plaindealer, fourth newspaper in the county. The rest is history, and will be recounted for the pleasure of readers next summer. March 1 marked the deadline for entries in one of two contests held to commemorate the occasion. Artists a m a t e u r a n d (Continued on page 10) VOLUME 99 NUMBER 63 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1975 20 PAGES - FIFTEEN CENTS S-R-0 Interest on the part of ob­ jectors regarding the proposed Material Service corporation gravel pit operation has ob­ viously not waned. This was evidenced by another standing- room-only crowd which at­ tended the third County Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the matter last Thursday af­ ternoon at city hall. The hearing was continued to Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. since the petitioner's attorney, James Bishop, has not com pleted his presentation and objectors have not as yet had their chance to address the zoning board. Chairman Charles Smith of the board announced that correspondence had been received from the Worthmore Improvement association, Johnsburg School District No. 12, Village of Sunnyside and a petition containing seventy- four signatures of persons in Eastwood Manor indicating their opposition to granting the Crowd zoning change. Smith said he would admit the correspon­ dence from objectors into the record "for what it was worth but it doesn't mean much because you can't question or cross-examine a sheet of paper." The hearings concern a request by Leo and Evelyn Diedrich and, Material Service corporation for a conditional use permit for 121 acres of land located on the east side of Chapel Hill road, one mile north of Lincoln road. City Attorney Bernard Narusis is representing the city of McHenry, which is also opposing the zoning change. Under questioning by Narusis, Pope Schoenberger, general manager of Material Service, informed the board that an average of 60 truck loads a day would be shipped from the pit. Each trailer-type truck would carry 20 tons or a legal pay load of 72,000 lbs. That includes the empty weight At Zoning Hearing of the truck which is ap­ proximately 32,000 lbs. Schoenberger estimated that sixty truck loads would carry 1,200 tons of aggregate a day, 6,000 tons a week or 300,000 tons a year (at 50 weeks a year). Since it was determined there were about 5'2 million tons of sand and gravel in the pit, the company estimated the property would be mined out in approximately fifteen years. Arvid Tienson, director of. Environmental Quality and Safety for Material Services, testified that probably 70 percent of aggregate leaving the pit would go south on Chapel Hill road to Route 120 and then east or west, "probably most of it east". The other 30 percent would go north over the Johnsburg bridge to the state highway, Tienson reported. He said a traffic survey in­ dicated there were ap­ proximately 4,000 vehicles a day on Chapel Hill road. He felt there would be no traffic problem generated from this gravel operation since sixty more vehicles a day would only add 2 or 2'2 percent to traffic. Tienson advised that Material Service would provide and maintain acceleration and de-acceleration lanes on Chapel Hill road at the proposed pit entrance. He also said the effect of the heavy traffic on Chapel Hill road would be the normal wear and tear from additional 2 or 2'a percent traffic of these trucks. The road is rated for 8 ton per axle or 40 tons a truck (5 axles) or 80,000 lbs. "Since the maximum legal limit is 72,000 lbs., the weight of the trucks would be under the rated limit of that particular road," Tienson pointed out. He was asked how the company would control trucks from using roads other than Chapel Hill and Johnsburg roads to reach state highways. Tienson explained that since most of the hauling is done by contract haulers, the company has financial control. "In other words, if they don't cooperate with us in whatever safety procedures we request they make in the operation of their vehicles in. hauling our products, we can refuse to give them business," he said. It is also required that the contract hauler carry adequate in­ surance with a rated insurance company, Tienson noted. He advised that the company would welcome complaints from the general public if trucks take roads not designated by its officials. Regarding sales tax credit, Schoenberger related that even though billing for operations at the pit would be handled from a central office, a recent state ruling authorizes sales tax must be allocated to the county in which the material is mined. Stipulations agreed to by Material Services included: no (Continued on page 10) THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CH A IN - O-LA KE S REGION SINCE 1875 Fire, Vandalism Damage "We're Number 1 " Estimate School Loss May Reach $200,000 Warrior spirit soared to a high point in Belvidere last Friday night when the West campus team chalked up an impressive 80-60 win over Belvidere to capture the Class AA regional championship. Above, team members and other MCHS students indicate, "We're No. 1". The first game in the sectionals held in Rockford will be history by the time this issue reaches most local homes. The Warriors are pitted against the Rockford Harlem team. If victory should come, the local team would play the final sectional game in Rockford Friday night. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD So you've donated to the canisters to feed McHenry's duck population, and you want to know what happened to the money! Fortunately, it was a mild winter, and according to Dorothy Hollander, who ad­ ministers the feeding program, our feathered friends came through the past three months as happy as one could expect. Response to the request for funds was gratifying. Corn was purchased at regular intervals and the ducks fed in several areas along the river. In ad­ dition to the birds familiar to this area, seventeen Canadian Honkers joined the group for a time. Also, some of the wild ducks that probably did not fly farther south than this part of Illinois, were on hand for an occasional feeding. During some of the most severe weather, there were as many as 200 to 300 ducks feeding locally. Mrs. Hollander said the local ducks, which are not shy about making their wants known, took most of the feed. The wild, visiting ducks were reluctant to push forward until the others had enjoyed their fill. This, she pointed out, is probably best in the eyes of the Conservation department, which says they should be encouraged to depart for warmer climes if they have the inclination. Mrs. Hollander's con­ tribution from the farthest distance was made by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Eckland, vacationing in Florida. Cat­ ching up on reading their Plaindealers, the Ecklands learned of the canister program. They recalled their own enjoyment in feeding the ducks when they lived on the river,and wanted to become a part of the local effort to make the cold winter an easier time for them. Because the winter was mild, enough money was able to be saved to deposit in a fund which will bring corn to the ducks early next winter, before (Continued on page 10) Kindergarten Registration March 17-19 Kindergarten registration for all District 15 children will be held March 17, 18 and 19, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Landmark school. Any child who will be 5 years of age on or before Dec. 1, 1975, should be registered at this time. A legal birth certificate from the county in which the child was born will be required to complete registration. Working parents may obtain a registration form to complete at home and return the following day. College Tax Increase Wins By Slim Margin