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: •••••. Unification Of Schools « &S1" <9, Presented With Dim View "Just how many accidents, and how many fatalities will occur on the Et. 31 bridge over Dutch creek, north of McHenry, In the next Ave years?" Those words headed a "Musin n' Meanderin" column that appeared with the pictures directly ahove in the Jan. 7, 1977, issue of the Plalndealer. At that time, a letter to James Rakow, superintendent of the McHenry County Highway department, from the Illinois Department of Transportatkn informed Urn that due to limited funding on the Short Range or ogam. "It seems very unlikely that the improvement to this structure can be programmed before Fiscal Year 1*1". Later, with pressure applied by the newspaper and legislators from this area, the project was pushed ahead, possibly to Fiscal l»7&-7». But even that was too late for Donald McBride, 19, of McHenry and Debora M. Slobe, 18, of WUdwood, who lost their lives in the crash of the car shown at right above, Friday evening. The superintendents of the three area school districts will prepare a study concerned with the feasibility of forming a unit district. That was the con­ clusion reached following a combined, informal meeting of members of the three district school boards. Jan. 11. The meeting, which was requested by Wonder Lake Harrison Grade School District 36, was attended by school board members from that district and from McHenry Grade School District 15 and McHenry Community High School District 156. Also in,.' attendance were the superintendents of the three districts. The meeting was held at the Administration building on Main street in McHenry. A unit district would con­ solidate the three districts, and establish one board which would control the entire system In July, officers of the three boards met and decided to have a feasibility study done to determine the merits of a unit district and whether or not it was worth pursuing. At that time they decided to appoint three citizens from each community to form a com­ mittee to conduct the study. District 36 later notified the two McHenry districts that'it would like to have a combined meeting of the three school boards prior to the study. Superintendent Ray Jones of Harrison district *• told board of District 36, stated that the district had done a study of its own. "We know that there are no advantages to unifying; in fact, there are more disad­ vantages for our district and the others that would be in­ volved." said Huggero. C a t h e r i n e A l v a r y , representing District 156, stated that the high school members presertf*Hfltt 'ttli WflM IWl study W#s Harrison board was against ^unification unless the education of theSshildren could be im­ proved. I Dr. S. L. Ruggero, president necessary to explore the situation and the problems it rnAy bring. "We are concerned with (Continued on page 20) DONALD McBRIDE Two people were killed, including a young McHenry man, following a two-car accident on Route 31, near the narrow bridge south of Johnsfcurg road, on Jan. 13, at Donald McBride, 19, 4311 N. Dennis boulevard, McHenry, died at McHenry hospital at 1:30 a.m. Jan. 14, as the result of injuries he sustained in the accident, which occurred during the heavy snow Friday evening. McBride was a passenger in a car driven by Debora M. Slobe, 615 Greentree road, WUdwood, who was pronounced dead on arrival at McHenry hospital. According to McHenry County Sheriff's police, evidence at the scene indicated that the Slobe vehicle was southbound on Route 31 and skidded out of control on the snow covered highway. The car then collided with a car driven by Richard L. Carlson, 1409 Arabian Spur, McHenry. According to the police report, Carlson stated that he was northbound on Route 31 at a alow rate of speed, when he noticed the approaching auto begin to slide sideways toward him as it approached the narrow bridge. Carlson told (Continued on page 20) Miwiw'Mcoitrfcrm'I Congratulations County Taxpayers! Once there was a man who came to McHenry to work and make his home. He came with an old car and old luggage. When he leaves McHenry next month, it will be with a new car and new luggage, but also with something old. This time the "old" will be of treasured sentimental value. It's the friendship and admiration of the host of friends he made during his years on the city , of McHenry , police force. In many ways the story of Ken Espey is the familiar Horatio Alger story of any small community. His entrance to a much leas p o p u l a t e d M c H e n r y community in 1953 was unheralded. He came as an auditor for the Loyal Order of Moose and his first contacts were with those people who held service positions. One of these was the late Larry Huck, who operated a service station ' and was described by the guest of honor as eager to dispense political information if one belonged to the right party. The memory of this first acquaintance and many other p l e a s a n t m o m e n t s accumulated over a quarter of a century came to light as the guest of honor responded to one after another of the speakers who heaped accolades on the modest Espey. The Alger touch came when Toastmaster Arnold Rauen carried his audience through the rise of the chief from trolman to sergeant to tenant and on Jan. 1, 1969, to the rank frorti which he retires with dignity Feb. 1. And Rauen made aure everyone understood this was a party of friends honoring someone very close to them. No one was more important than any other, and he emphasized that fact in his skillful handling of each guest's introduction. Those of us who came Just because we were his friend could not help but be impressed witti the respect he had earned among those eminent in their field and with whom he had been associated. There were judges, office holders on all levels, police officers, men and women in business and in a widely diverse area of occupations. But it was evident Espey did 1 patr lieut not regard their rank as the distinctive mark of the man or woman. It was only important to him_?>iat these individuals (Continued on page 20) McHenry county collected 99.41 percent of all taxes levied for the year 1976, Audrey R. Walgenbach, McHenry countv treasurer, reported last week. Commenting on the tax cycle which closed a tew weeks ago. Mrs. Walgenbach said. "The taxpayers of McHenry county should be congratulated once again for the near-perfect record of tax payments made Chief In The Spotlight this year. The 1976 percentage exceeded 1975 collections by ' percent Collections for '76 were. $43,260,703 out of a possible $43,515,603. whereas for '75 they reached $3K,581,526 out of $39,036,205 levied." Highlighting the all time record high collections in McHenry county were the performances of sixteen of the seventeen tow«3mpsv who collected more than 99 percent of the real estate levy. Alden township was highest with 99.97 percent. Burton township was lowest with 98.28 percent Personal property _tax collections were highest"*" in Chemung township with 99.56 percent, in Marengo township with 99.40 percent, in Riley township with 99.01 percent. Burton and Hartland townships were the only two townships which fell below 90.0 percent collection level for personal property levies \ In total tax levy, combining real estate, personal property, railroad. leasehold and pollution control taxes, Riley township was top in the county \ with 99.53 percent collection; followed by Greenwood. 99.68 percent: Seneca. 99.66 percent; Hebron and McHenry town­ ships. 99.63 percent; Marengo 99.58 percent: Dorr, 99.55 percent; Dunham 99.54 per­ cent: Grafton, 99.51 percent; Nunda. 99.50 percent: Chemung.99.46percent; Alden, 99.41 percent: Algonquin, 99.32 percent: Richmond. 99.08 percent: Coral. 98.78 percent; Hartland. 97.Kl percent and Burton. 96.57 percent. "School systems in McHenry county received 71.73 percent, or $31,033,161, of the $43,260,703 total collection." Mrs Walgenbach said, "whereas all the county related funds, in­ cluding Mental Health and Tuberculosis, received 7.28 percent, or $3,385,232." Cities and villages received $3,153,352 or 7.28 percent. T o w n s h i p g o v e r n m e n t s received $2,753,111 or 6.36 percent; Fire Protection districts received $1,153,096 or 2.66 percent. and a miscellaneous group of taxing districts < conservation, park districts, cemeteries, sanitary districts. libraries and hospital) received $1,442,748 or 3.33 percent The County General fund received $63,892 in late charges on the 1976 tax collection An amount of $162,831, ^ addition to the 1976 tax levy, was collected and distributed to taxing districts in the county as receipts from back personal property taxes, forfeited real estate taxes, privilege (mobile hornet taxes, and agriculture roll-back taxes. Voter League Rrbgram Present Legislation--Lobbying t "Legislation and Lobbying" * is the topic of a program being sponsored by the Woodstock- McHenry League of Women Voters Thursday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m. Special guest speaker will be State Senator Dawn Clark Netsch from the district. Several lobbyists also be included as part program. Tlie focus of the program is to make voters more aware of the inner-workings of the >r uawn the 13th fists, will rt of/the legislative process. The league feels voters need to understand how lobbyists work, how they influence legislators, and what their part is in the whole legislative picture. Senator Netsch was first elected to the state Senate in 1972. She is the chairman of the Judiciary 2 and Criminal Law committee. Membership in the Appropriations and Public Health committees, as well as the Join Economic-Fiscal commission are included in her duties. In addition to her legislative position, Senator Netsch is a law professor at Northwestern. Her special area is state and local government. She is also co-author of a textbook covering state and local government. "Various voter groups have given Senator Netsch special commendations for her work in the interest of good govern­ ment. She promises to provide candid answers to questions from the audience. The program, "Legislation and Lobbying", is being held in the Woodstock ^Citv Council chambers, 121 W. Calhoun. The public is urged to attend this informative program For more information, contact Mrs. James Zid, 3514 West Broad, McHenry, McHenry Postal Service In Action One of the high points of Saturday night's testimonial dinner for retiring Chief of Police Ken Espey, right, was presentation of this framed cartoon by Chester Gould, creator of the Dick Tracey comic strip. In the cartoon, Tracey addresses Espey: "Chief, after your twenty-five years of service to thS community we sentence you to Florida sunshine and all the nice things you always wanted to do". In response Espey replies: "How about Joining me? You're no spring chicken". The dinner was planned by a committee of five friends, and those attending were friends, many of whom had been associated with him through his police work. They presented him with a gift of luggage at the dinner and program held at the McHenry Country club. , STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD (The Postal Service of recent years has crane in for its share of criticism. This is the first part of a two-part series on the operation of this nation-wide service as It pertains to the McHenry office.) PARTI "People aren't aware of the Postal Service, and that is the big problem facing the local post office," according to Joseph Thome, who was acting officer-in-charge of the McHenry post office until the return of Postmaster Leroy Smith last Saturday. "If people were aware of the work the office does, they would start to appreciate it," continued Besides serving the 9,000 residents of the city of McHenry, the McHenry post office serves an additional 34,000 people living In rural areas. There are now seven city routes and eleven rural mail-delivery routes serving the area. When the federal government decided to separate the post office from the bureaucracy of government and renamed it the United States Postal Service, the purpose was to enable the Postal Service to operate as a profit-making corporation. According to Thome, cuts were made and policies changed to enable the system to function independently. The service is still not showing a profit, last year needing a $2 billion subsidy from Uncle Sam. Thome said that each year the deficit to the government is getting smaller. "The post office used to perform many services free of charge, but we now charge our customers for services they receive," said Thome. According to the postal officer, rather than use tax money to pay for mall service, the government feels that the users of the service should pay the cost. Thomes added, "People who don't mail anything should not have to pay." In order to begin making money instead of losing it as was always the case In the past, changes were necessary to increase the efficiency of the department. Although the cost of mailing a letter has risen sharply in the past years, so have services offered. Due to a new system of mailsorting, one-day delivery Is available anywhere within a 100-mile radius of River Grove, HI., the site of this area's mail sorting facility. The North Suburban facility serves an area stretching from the Wisconsin border to the north, to DeKalb to the south and west. It serves 108 local post offices, including McHenry. Each day after mail is picked up in McHenry, it is bagged and loaded onto a truck and transported to River Grove. - (Continued < on page 20) VOLUME 102 NUMBER 49 MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875"1 , «- ' - . * V- WEDfslESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1978 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 20' , ' • : . \ ~ ' • t • 1 • Tragedy Of Narrow Bridge Takes 2 Lives STAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD J SENTINEL PHOTO-TIM BROWN THE * . • v