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

' ^ Trimming The Budget The McHenry high school board of education will hold a special meeting Tuesday night at the administration office for the purpose of determining what programs will be cut from the budget for the 1978-79 school year, as well as determining the site of a tax referendum, if members decide to have a*g- The meeting was scheduled after the board, at another special meeting this past Tuesday, received a list of proposed budget cuts from Acting Superintendent Robert Swartzloff, and Out­ going Superintendent Richard Swantz. That list, combined with the list compiled by the Task Force (a citizens' committee), will be considered when the final decisions are made. Essentially, what the board will decide Tuesday, is how much of the $750,000 deficit, which will occur when Johnsburg high school opens in August, '78, will be made up through cuts, and how much will the taxpayers make up through an increase in the educational and building maintenance funds. The board has the option of saving the $750,000 totally through cuts, having it made up totally through increased taxes, or some Board combination of both. That decision will come Tuesday. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. In addition to determining how much money should be cut from the budget, the board will also be deciding what items should be cut. The ramifications of the board's decision will be ongoing for years to come. The possibilities are examined thusly: Cut Nothing And Increase Taxes Should the board decide to ask the community to pay for the $750,000 deficit, the cost to the taxpayers would be great Teacher salaries eliminated with the reduction of students when Johnsburg opens, are already taken into consideration, with the $750,000 deficit remaining. Business Manager Michael Kelly projected that with no cuts other than teachers, a sixty-six cent increase in the Educational fund and a ten cent increase in the Building Maintenance fund would be needed to remove the deficit. TTie figure would be another ten cents higher if the board decides not to move to one building, but continues to use both campuses (see related story). But, using the seventy-six cent total increase as the base (Continued on pago 19) With Big Problems Retommend Expansion An architectural firm hired by the high school board of education has recommended that the board not spend the necessary $3.7 million to renovate East campus (the older building), but rather expand West campus and use the revenue from the sale of East and McCracken Athletic field to help' defray the cost. However, the firm noted that the school district, which at the present time has bonding power of about $2.3 million, does not have the money to expand West campus to a point where it wUl accommodate 2,300 students, which is the number of students that could be accommodated through the restoration of East. That information was given to the school board at a special meeting Tuesday night by the architectural firm of O'Donnell, Wicklund, and Pigozzi. The school board had directed the architectural firm to conduct a facility feasibility study, which would determine the cost of renovating East campus, and compare it with the cost of putting an addition onto West campus. "I can say that we're fond of old buildings, but there are times when the numbers point in one direction," Len Peterson, architect said. "We would find it hard to recommend the 2-2 arrangement." The 2-2 arrangement is the present situation, with freshmen and sophomores attending East campus, and juniors and seniors attending West. "When you compare what you have to spend renovating East to what you can get for the same amount or a little more at West, * and add the advantage of having all the kids in one building, that" is1 what points us in that direction," Peterson said. "Structurally, East is sound." Hie firm's bottom line figures for accommodating 2,300 students read like this: For renovating East campus which would include a small addition to West campus, the cost would be about $3.7 million. For expanding West campus and selling East campus and the athletic field, the cost would be about $6 million, less the revenues from the two sales. The study had been made before the school district received word that it would not receive $2.3 million from the state Capital (Continued on page 19) *nuius* THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875' VOLUME 102 NUMBER 2 FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1977 1 SECTION 20 PAGES 20' Thousands Expected For Fiesta Parade So you don't enjoy the 55 miles an hour speed limit? You aren't alone, if the habits of drivers who pass everything moving on the highway is any indication. Some brazenly ignore it; others, we are told, manage to get the "lay of the land "and travel accordingly. In other words, they follow truck drivers who seem to be aware of highway locations where there is danger of lurking state police officers. Even the Secretary of State recognizes that the speed limit has been irritating and frustrating to many drivers. Alan Dixon admits it isn't easy to sit hShind the wheel of a car with high speed capacity and keep the speedometer at such a low speed, particularly on interstates. But he and everyone else who look at the speed limit from a practical angle realize the advantages. It's been proven a safer speed, there is better gas mileage, and it takes only a little longer to arrive at- your destination. • But the most important reason for adhering to the apeed limit is that it is the national speed law and by . following it we avoid the possibility of receiving a speeding ticket. That alone should be sufficient for anyone with a dwindling billfold. But if the 55 mph. speed limit is encouragement to save life, limb and pocketbook, we suggest some other law be put & our local books to save the temper. We refer specifically to city drivers who insist that the shortest distance between two points is to cross a four-lane highway in a straight line in the business district. We agree, but it just isn't practical. Fortunately, a police officer is stationed at one of these particularly bothersome in­ tersections, namely Third and Elm streets, much of the day Saturday. It helps maintain the sanity of drivers traveling almost any direction. But last Saturday was a hard l̂tf£k day for us. As we ap- preached the intersection, driving north, the officer was leaving for his car. At the same time a lady driver ahead of us decided the best approach to her destination was straight ahead across three, very fast moving lanes of traffic. So we waited - and waited - and waited. It didn't take us long to tire of the game, but the lady was persistent. Her head bobbed back and forth as though she was watching an exciting tennis match. Finally, either in desperation or in embarrassment for the lineup of traffic behind her,-she swung to the right and another McHenry traffic problem had eased. This happens frequently on busy traffic days, challenging the "victim" to cool the tem­ per. Maybe one-way signs are the answer. KAF Blaxe Destroys Abandoned Barn Early Tuesday A fire early Tuesday morning destroyed an abandoned barn on property in the 4600 block of W. Wonder Lake road in Wonder Lake. The property is currently in the hands of the First National bank of Woodstock. The fire occurred at ap­ proximately 5:45 a.m., and the Wonder Lake Fire department responded to the call. Area Residents Without Power During Storm A severe storm early Thursday morning left many area residents without elec­ trical power for about two hours. Power went out at about 1:15 a.m. in much of the southern area of McHenry, as well as outlying areas such as Holiday Hills. Police report that it took about two hours for power to be restored to all areas. There were no injuries reported as a result of the storm. CITY ClfRKS OFFICE PUBLIC WORKS DEPT. POLICE DEPARTMENT With all preliminary arrangements behind him, Tom Low, general chairman of Fiesta week events, relaxes on the city «f McHenry float with Miss McHenry. Kim Kantlehner, who will reign over festivities. Events opened with teen night in the pork Wednesday, and will conclude Sunday, Aug. 7, with the afternoon parade and water fights. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD As the weekend approaches, the major excitement associated with Fiesta week events focuses on Sunday af­ ternoon's parade. Like the other activities, it will follow the theme, "Say It With Music". The parade is scheduled one- half hour earlier than usual, at 1:30 p.m., including a number of drum corps and bands and many floats. The parade will have its start at the West campus high school north parking lot on Crystal Lake. The line of march starts on Main street and proceeds across Rt. 31 east to Green street, where it will turn north Skinner Blasts RTA To Seniors ' "If we get our fair share of the RTA money, McHenry county will have the best mass transit system in the world. But either give us the money, or stop picking our pockets." Those words were spoken by State Representative Cal Skinner Jr., who appeared before a group of about 100 persons Thursday afternoon at the Senior Citizen Walk-In important not to let the governor "off the hook" con­ cerning his message at the Republican Golf day in McHenry recently. At that time, Thompson stated that if McHenry county doesn't receive its fair share of RTA they'll keep taking the money out of our pockets and dump it into Chicagp. Be sure7 you write to the governor and not the RTA," he added ytt you write to the RTA, its like putting it in a big garbage can. Skinner, who has continually voiced his dissatisfaction with the present Regional Transit authority (RTA) alignment, tirged a letter-writing and telephone campaign waged in ffee direction of Governor James Thompson, expressing the community's feeling toward the RTA. The representative feels it is "What we have to do is enough that Thompson won't b his statement/' t powerful ck down on money, then it should be allowed to get out of the RTA. "What we have to do is become powerful enough so that Thompson won't back down on his statement," Skinner said. "I don't know if it will work, but4 do know that if we just roil over and play dead, The governor gets about 2,500 letters a week, so if everyone in this room wrote him, if would be noticeable." He also had extremely harsh words tor Dan BakHno, a former McHenry resident, who cast the deciding vote which approved the gas tax which will go into effect in October. "If Baldino doesn't get the RTA chairmanship when Milton Pikarsky moves on, then he &ld out too cheap." Skinner also fielded questions on various topics, many con­ cerning the RTA, and the county's chances of getting out of it. "It's conceivable that we could get out of it," he said. "We're such a bunch of loud­ mouths in the county, and we make so much noise, that they might let us out just to shut us up." However, Skinner warned that even if McHenry county were allowed to pull out of the RTA, its citizens would still be paying money into it. That is because every person in the ~--• • .. • / (Continued on page 18) to Rt. 120 and then east to Riverside drive and north to Pearl street. It will conclude at the south end of the park. The popular water fights between county fire depart­ ment teams will highlight the late afternoon activities, to be held on Riverside drive at 3 o'clock.?, Police Chief Ken Espey, who is honored as this year's parade marshal, said no parking would be allowed on the parade route, and parking around the Pearl street park and in the area of the water fights will be restricted. "No parking" signs will be posted during the parade on (Continued on page 19) Police Seek Assailant For v \ Shooting Through Car Window A search by McHenry county police last week failed to find the man who fired a shot into a car driven by a Wonder Lake resident, who was leaving McHenry on Rt. 31. Fortunately, the driver of the car, Roland Payne of 5210 Nimitz drive, was not injured as the bullet penetrated the rear door window on the driver's side. Payne told police that while driving north on Richmond road, a vehicle approached from the rear, and as it passed his car, a passenger a pistol at his auto, and fired the were kept busy throughout the week, with several area residents reporting items The assailant's car then sped away northbound on Rt. 31. Police were immediately notified, but a search of the area failed to find the of­ fenders' car, which was described as an older model blue car with Wisconsin license I^ates. Besides the shooting, police Tuesdsy morning, Harlan Erickson, 4213 Dennis boulevard in McHenry reported that during the early morning hours, someone syphoned several gallons of gasoline from his auto while it was parked in his driveway. At 18:88 a.m. Wednesday, police investigated a burglary at the hsihe of Paul Misiak, 8109 Highland. Wonder Lake, discovered wnen uie owner returned home from work. Entry to the home had been gained by prying off a screen to enter through an open window, with the offender stealing about thirty dollars in cash from a dresser drawer. William Dannehy of 3214 E. Lake Shore drive in Wonder ijiw told police M"MUy that during the past week, someone entered his host, docked st the Wooded Shores beach, taking his gasoline can and some hand tools. There was also a burglary at the home of Guy Delp, 223 Willow road, McHenry, which was discovered Friday when (Continued on page 19) Cher I James i Selected New County Queen MCC Board Bristles . . • } . i, • . Over "Mismanagement" A long and controversial discussion of what was described as "gross mismanagement"at McHenry County college occupied the board of MCC in regular session Thursday, July 28. The matter concerned grading work on a general purpoee athletic field on campus, a project reported not to have been presented to the board for approval before work began. Member Barbara Pautz of Crystal Lake opened the discussion with a statement that she in no way held the business office responsible.She apologized for any misun­ derstanding of her prepared statement made at the previous meeting. Mrs. Pautz, however, read a prepared statement saying that she "found the information report by Dr. James R. Davis, former MCC president, totally »» In conclusion, the board approved payment of an amended bill from Lakeland Construction Cp., Inc., of McHenry for the work of grading. The bill of $5,286.79, was amended to $2,475. Member Lee Schuppert of Crystal Lake said he felt the board should thank Lakeland Construction for amending the bill and considering the balance of $2,781.78 a donation to the college. The board approved. Members went into a four- (Contlnuod on page 19) CHERIE JAMES Staff PhetoWeyne Gaylord A pretty 17-year-old miss from Algonquin is the new Miss - McHenry County. Before a large crowd in front of the grandstand at the County fair Wednesday night, Cheri James was crpwwsL ibel877 (Continued on page 19) Lions Offer Glaucoma Test One of the leading causes of blindness- in Illinois will be dealt a serious blow Wed­ nesday, Aug. 10, when the Lions Mobile Glaucoma Screening unit comes to McHenry. The tests will be given tree of. charge from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and. 6 to 8 p.m., in the unit, which will be parked at 4310 W. Rt. 120 in the Market place. Staffing the unit will be local Lions volunteers headed by Lion Leonard Bottari and licensed medical personnel to do the actual screening. Staffing is done by the Lions of Illinois foundation and assisted by the University of Illinois, Department of Ophthalmology. No appointments are necessary for the test, which take only a few minutes and are painless. In the test, s measuring instrument is placed on the eye to record the fluid pressure in the eyeball. An elevated pressure might mean glaucoma, or it might mean something else. Persons with an elevated pressure are referred to doctors for a complete eye check up. Glaucoma is s symptomless disease in its early stages, but one whose progress toward blindness can be halted through early detection and treatment. (Continued on page 19) Is "You had a good year of operation, and the city of McHenry is very solvent/' That's what City Auditor William Froehlich told the City Council Monday night at its regular meeting. Froehlich and his assistant, Tom Engels, both commented on the city's sound financial condition, and made seme suggestions on how the city could even improve on its present sound position. Froehlich made special mention of the Water and Sewer fund, noting that "the city has a good base with which to start its programs." The city is presently undertaking the construction of a water treatment plant which would remove the iron fronT^tbe water, and the city is also in the beginning stages of con­ structing a new well. "I »h*nit you can rwmplete the the projects without outside funds," FroeMich said, in­ dicating that there will not be a need to sell revenue bonds to finance the projects. The auditors complimented the fine work done by City Treasurer William Brda and recommended that the treasurer consolidate some of its investments in order to capitalize on bicker interest rates. "This is In no way 8 criticism of the treasurer," Froehlich said. "By con­ solidating accounts, there can be better control of the cash flow. It's the thought that in thw> long run, larger inveetmentf would bring increased interest revenue." FmaKtMi il«n tnH fluft training and guidance for City Clerk Barbara Gilpin, Deputy AafkA OftiiA* n||i m m (̂ ContoJ?onpai?19)̂ j*r si f *