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Fire Damages The Feed Bag Musin And Meanderin9 A personal thorn in our side, and one shared by many motorists in this part of the city, has been the aggravation of driving at the Front-Elm- Waukegan street intersection. As the community's population grows, the number of drivers increases and compounds a problem that has been serious far too long. Some relief may be forthcoming if we have patience When members of the City Council were unable to agree on a solution even worth trying last fall, they sought a recommendation from the Illinois Department of High­ ways. which is knowledgeable about the dilemmas of driving today Their suggestions ap­ pear to account for some of the answers, but not all. The most irritating feature of the present situation is west­ bound or north-bound drivers Smoke can be seen escaping from first floor windows of the Feed Bag (the old Spencer Mill), 4105 W. Crystal Lake road, McHenry, in top photo as firemen from Company I rush inside to fight the blaze. In bottom photo, a fireman equipped with face mask and oxygen tank uses a searchlight in the smoke-filled portion of the building to locate the origin of the blaze, which was reported by a passing policeman late Saturday night. STAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD A late Saturday night fire which took over an hour to extinguish caused an estimated $4,000 damage to the Feed Bag, 4105 W Crystal Lake road, McHenry A passing McHenry city policeman noticed smoke emitting from the windows of the building and notified city hall that the fire department should be notified at 11:31 p.m. McHenry Company I responded to fight the fire. Members were hampered in their efforts by the dense smoke. It was finally determined that the fire had started in the washroom of a back office. According to Fire Chief Glenn Peterson, "The fire originated in the back office, and apparently was smoldering for a couple of hours." Cause of the blaze, which caused an estimated $2,000 damage to the building and (Continued on page 14) who emerge from Waukegan street to block north-bound Front street traffic. This is particuarly true of those who persist in crossing in front of both north bound lanes waiting for the light to turn. It prevents right turns on red. There is no provision in the recommendations to prevent west-bound Waukegan road drivers from continuing west on Elm. This means they will continue to obstruct the flow of traffic. One partial solution might be to remove the signs < which few observe anyway) cautioning motorists not to block the in­ tersection. Since drivers en­ tering Front from Elm will not be able to turn east onto Waukegan street, and Waukegan west-bound traffic will not be allowed to turn south (Continued on page 14) Voter Registration Drive At MCC As a community service. McHenry County college will conduct a voter registration drive for residents of McHenry county Wednesday, Feb. 15, Thursday, Feb. 16, and Friday. Feb 17. Registration at this time will enable one to vote in the March 21 primary election To be eligible to register, one must be 18 years of age or older, a United States citizen (naturalized or native born) and a resident of McHenry^ county prior to Feb. 20, 1978. Residents may register at the college from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 Deadline February 21 The county clerk's office will be open Saturday, Feb. 18, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. to register voters. Tuesday, Feb. 21, will be the last day anyone residing in McHenry county will be allowed to register or to make any address changes on their present registration. Those who plan to vote March 21 should be sure their registration is correct. Anyone in doubt may call the clerk's office at once. No one will be allowed to register or make any changes on their current registration after Tuesday, Feb. 21. The phone number is 815-338-2040. p.m. in the Student Services office. Room 143, on all three dates and from 6 to 9 p.m. in the College union Feb 15 and 16. In addition, residents who have moved within the county since they have registered should change their voter registration to their new precinct at this time. Miller, who has been a deputy registrar since February, 1975, said. "I encourage everyone who is not registered to register at this time This will make them eligible to vote in the primary, which I feel is the most important election as it determines each party's (Continued on page 14) Set Hearing On Landing Strip •f A petition for Conditional use has been filed for hearing before the McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals by Shamrock Beef Cattle farm on property presently zoned "F" Farming, to allow the petitioner to use this property for a private landing strip. The land contains ap­ proximately 4 acres and is located at approximately 533 North Draper road. West Campus Band To Give Concert Feb. J 6 The sixteenth annual mid­ winter concert by the West campus band will feature seniors. The concert will be given in West auditorium Thursday. Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. A small admission will be charged to support the scholarship fund. The concert will open with a Donald Hunsberger standard. "Folk Legend". "Concerto No 1" by Mozart will feature senior bassoonist. Cassie York. "Al­ aska Scherzo" by Nelybehl is a bright concert piece with the excitement generated by percussion A work by Ralph Mutchler, "Concerto Grosso". develops the contrasting styles of a jazz combo and a concert band Scott Anderson, Drew (Continued on page 14) The hearing on this petition will be held Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. in the McHenry county cour­ thouse, Room 112, 2200 North Seminary avenue, Woodstock, at which time all those who may be interested can appear and be heard Another petition has been filed for hearing by the State Bank of Woodstock, Trust 1879. Kevin Rasses, George Rasses and Robert Weskamp for amendment of the county zoning ordinance from "F" Farming district to "E l" Estate district. The property contains ap­ proximately 49 acres and is located in Nunda township, southeast of the intersection of Cherrv Valley road and Bull Valley^ road The hearing will be held Feb 23. at 2 p.m.. at the Crystal Lake Public Safety building. 121 West Woodstock street, when all those who may be interested can appear and be heard Young Career Woman Selected By BPW Club IP i and compete with outstanding young women from all over the (Continued on page 14/ The State of Illinois Department of Highways has announced preliminary plans to correct the traffic situation existing at Front and Elm streets. That was the report given to the City Council by Supt of Public Works Fred Meyer at one of the last meetings. According to Meyer, "Due to the tremendous amount of accidents occurring at the intersection, the Department of Highways is including the corner in its safety program." Supt. Meyer explained to the Council the changes to the intersection that the state is contemplating to rectify the problems. The plans include installing a left turn , signal for traffic on Elm street heading east that would enable motorists to turn left onto Front street. The signal would operate in con­ junction with the left turn signal presently in operation for traffic on Elm street heading west that allows motorists to head south on Rt. 31. Meyer also told the Council that the state would cut part of the concrete island away from near the Overton parking lot, so that the right-turn-only lane could be extended. "There would always be two full lanes of traffic heading each direction on Rt. 120," said Meyer. The traffic congestion at Waukegan and Front street would not be ignored according to the department's plans. To alleviate some of the congestion, a small triangular island would be built in the center of Waukegan road, forcing traffic on Waukegan road to turn right onto Front (Continued on page 14) Registration-Screening Slated In Grade School Residents Give Views District 15 is once again conducting a screening program for the preschool children of McHenry In this way. children who have special needs can be identified before entering school. This year's procedure will be slightly different from previous years. Youngsters who will be 3 by the time of screening and all 4-year-olds who will not be entering kindergarten in the fall of '78 will be screened Feb 22, 23 and 24 and March 15. 16 and 17. If a child falls into this 3 and 4-year-old category, the parent is asked to call central ad­ ministration office (385-7210) to set up an appointment for one of these dates at a specific time The secretary will need to know the child's name and birth date , the parents' names. (Continued on page 14) LINDA KELLOGG Linda Kellogg, chosen Young Career Woman by the McHenry Business and Professional Women's club, will represent the club in the district and state Very recently the McHenry City Council learned of preliminary plans to correct the traffic congestion at the corner of Front and Elm streets. At a special meeting of the Council held last fall, many recommendations were set forth, but each had its detractors. At the conclusion of that session, when aldermen were no nearer solving the problem, they decided to meet with state officials knowledgeable in traffic problems for help in arriving at a solution During the interim, while McHenry drivers were awaiting the state recom­ mendations, a Plaindealer reporter asked for opinions of the man (and woman) on the street Since that time, one reader called to suggest making Waukegan road a dead end with postings, "Local traffic only". Another phoned to suggest the problem might be solved by taking away the privilege of turning right on the red light. Others were questioned in person, at random, and their opinions are expressed below. H THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-OLAKES REGION SINCE 1875 VOLUME 102 NUMBER 57 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1978 2 SECTIONS 30 PAGES 20* Present Plans To Meet Intersection Problems Train-Car Crash Kills McHenry Man Paul H ScholjL 66. of 2008 W.Western avenue. McHenry. was pronounced dead at McHenry hospital Saturday. Feb. 11. of injuries suffered when the 1965 Ford sedan he was driving was struck by a Chicago & North Western train Wayne Conway was engineer of the train which hit the Scholz car at the Main-Railroad street intersection in Crystal Lake Mr. Scholz was driving north on Main street and the train was west-bound when the ac­ cident occurred at 11:50.a.m. Conflicting stories were given by witnesses regarding the cause of the accident Some said the gates failed to go down, while others said Mr Scholz drove around them Mr Scholz. who was retired chief custodian for Crystal Lake high school, resided north and west of Burton's Bridge., Virginia H Hermes of 5009 N. Westwood drive. McHenry. was ticketed for failure to yield turning left when her car and another driven by Michael J Novak of Itasca collided at the intersection of Rt 12 and 120 at Volo. The accident occurred at 9 44 a m Monday. Feb. 13 State police said Novak was traveling north on Rt 12 and Ms Hermes was south bound (Continued on page 14) Mrs. Ronald Parlqw "How about a flashing red or yellow light (at Waukegan and Rt. 31)? That would be a solution." Linda Sztuczk "Gees...maybe put a...put another . . .no. that wouldn ' t work." Mrs. I). Kolz "The only thing is one-way traffic (on Waukegan* toward the hospital." Alma Humming "There's lots of accidents there all the time, but I have no solution " Rose Wagner "I don't know what could be done, except people being more considerate and letting us out from Waukegan road." Annette Hansen i have no idea, except people walk more, that's all." STAFF PHOTOS- WAYNE GAYLORD Ray Koeppen "It'll have to have a light (at Waukegan and Rt. 31). No question about it. It's messy on weekends and at night." Chuck Nelson "An overpass would be too expensive. Maybe a one-way (on Waukegan) toward the hospital."