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VOLUME 103 NUMBER 7 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1978 2 SECTION 26 RAGES 20' THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 "Safety With the opening of McHenry area schools less than one week away, Police Chief George Pasenelli has urged that students, parents, and area drivers be aware of school crossing guards. They will be stationed at various in­ tersections in the city during the school year. "Drivers, in particular," said the chief, "need to become more conscious of the fact that school is reopening. We need to get them to watch out for The kids" Pasenelli cited the need for drivers to show respect for crossing guards, and the need for students to respect the guards also. "This is a problem with drivers and with the some of the kids," said Pasenelli, in reference to the indication that there is a lack of respect shown for the crossing guards. First" As Schools Open Several of the crossing guards cited examples of previous years, where a driver would ignore the crossing guard and drive past crossing children, narrowly missing them. Some children, particularly junior high and high school students, have harrassed and shouted obscenities at the crossing guards as they crossed in the middle of the street, ignoring the guard stationed at the corner. According to Pasenelli, a "special effort" to have police patrol cars patrolling school areas during arrival and dismissal of students when possible will be made. "The added presence of patrol cars at different times when possible," said Pasenelli, "will enable the crossing guards to do a better job." Pasenelli urged parents to instruct their children to obey and respect the crossing guards, who are hired and whose function it is to protect the children. "Parents should instruct their children to cross only at crosswalks, and walk their bicycles across streets," said the chief, " and most of all, respect the crossing guards who are trying to protect the children by making it safe to cross the street." Eight intersections will be manned by crossing guards during the mornings and af­ ternoons during school days. From 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., crossing guards will be stationed at the corners of Kane street and Route 31, Main street and Front street, Beach street and Route 120, Green street and Fairway drive, and Broad strftet and Route 31. The guards will also be at the intersection of Kane and Green streets every school day af­ ternoon from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. From 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., a crossing guard will be stationed at the corners of Green street and Waukegan road and Green street and Elm street. The crossing guards will be plainly visible, wearing highly visible vests, bright orange in color. They will be equipped with stop signs, so that they will be able to signal an approaching auto to stop in order to allow children to cross McHenry streets safely. "If the children are told by their parents to cross at the supervised intersections," said Pasenelli, "we will be better able to insure their safety in crossing the streets and making it to school." Police Chief George Pasenelli (right) and Police Lt. Robert Kranz are shown above during last week's meeting with the department's crossing guards. The guards will be stationed at various intersections near schools during the school year. Pasenelli urged McHenry parents, students and drivers to be aware of the crossing guards, who are stationed to insure the safety of school children as they cross busy streets in the city. The guards will be highly STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD visible, wearing bright orange vests, and will be equipped with hand held stop signs. Pasenelli urged parents to instruct their children to respect the crossing guards and also urged drivers to respect the guards, whose primary function it is to protect the children. TM bus drivers fret* school districts IS a ad 1M In McHeary driver an Idea of how the bus will handle if a sharp turn is needed to participated in an evasive driving course last week. That were avoid an accident. The training program is funded by the Illinois joined by other drivers from District 266 In Woodstock and 8EDOM Department of Transportation and offered by instructors from the drivers. Above, a driver maneuvers his bus through the Safety center at Southern Illinois university. serpentine, which Is a series of cones 65 feet apart, while another STAFF PHOTO-JOE DEHN bus waits to try the course. The maneuver Is aimed at giving the Evasive Driving Course In an effort to make McHenry area school bus drivers better qualified, an evasive driving course was offered recently at a Ring wood airstrip On a voluntary basis, drivers from McHenry Districts 15 and 156 joined others from Wood stock District 200 and SEDOM. to participate in the one-day* Most government programs that are new cost us money But the taxpayer is promised that one of these -- the auto licensing and registration program in Illinois -- will save us an estimated $21 million over the next five years That's good news, even if the estimate is high. Another plus for this program, which is in the launching stage, is that we drivers will be spared the annual chore of trying to fasten -usually with the same rusty aU bolts -- a new plate onto a car on a freezing, dark, December evening. The plates are made to last at least five years and will be renewed each year with a sticker There will be no more, no less cost for registration and plates. Unfortunately, the license plate innovation will not help the traffic death toll, which was the subject for a late July report by a leading insurance company. It tells us that of the more than 52,000 persons who died as a result of traffic -crashes in 1977, about 26,000 - or half the total - died because Of a drunken driver Nearby Wisconsin posts signs Indicating it is tough on drunken drivers Some people in that state say it had better be because the lenient laws per­ taining to youthful drinking has caused problems The insurance company notes that Americans consume a lot of alcoholic beverages, which is certainly not news. It's estimated that 95 million Americans drink. Fortunately, nowhere near that total number are alcoholics and some "hold their liquor" better than others. course to better prepare themselves for emergency conditions requiring skillful maneuvering. The program is fully funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation and offered free to the school districts of the state. It is offered by the Safety Unfortunately, a sizeable number are social drinkers who sometimes don't stop after the "one for the road"at parties or the "stop for one" on the way home from work. These are the drivers who can -- and often do - -create deadly traffic con­ ditions for the rest of us The insurance company that came up with the statistics feels that understanding alcohol and the effect it can produce, and knowing one's limitations, is a large part of the answer We wonder! Most young people know more rules and more generally about a car than the adult driver Knowing and doing seem not to be closely related as evidenced by the high percentage of ac­ cidents caused by teen drivers If one who insists upon drinking and driving remembers at least that the major percentage of alcohol is disposed of at a rate of one ounce an hour, it might help For those few who might possibly look at themselves as the menace they can be when drinking and driving, charts appearing on Page 6, Section 2, of this issue could be an eye- opener KAF Orientation At Parkland School Parkland Junior high school will hold its annual orientation night Thursday, Aug. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Principal Donald Toole in­ vites all incoming sixth grade students and their parents to take this opportunity to become familiar with the school and its programs. center at Southern Illinois university The center recognized a need for "in-bus" accident avoidance training and initiated the l l-hour emergency and evasive driving course According to Richard H Glawe, the director of tran sportation for Districts 15 and 156, the program is aimed at making the drivers aware of what the bus can and cannot do in an emergency situation "The course is designed to allow the driver to experience Free Screening Of Blood Pressure Set The next free blood pressure screening at the First United Methodist church, 3717 West Main street, will be Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 1 p m This is a free service on the first Tuesday of each month at the church, performed in conjunction with the local hospital Plans have been completed for the pre school institute programs that annually open the fall term in Grade School District 15 and High School District 156. Key speakers will be Dr. Chris Pipho and Bernie Saggau, nationally known in the field of education. An orientation for new grade teachers is scheduled Wed­ nesday, Aug 23, with Dorothy Vick, secretary of the board, and Robert Prendergast, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, providing a welcome. A district tour via mini-bus will comprise a part of the day's activities. All grade school teachers will meet at Parkland school Thursday, Aug. 24, to par­ ticipate in optional offerings in the area of education. High school teachers will meet in the morning in their respective buildings The main address Thursday will be made at 1 o'clock at West campus by Dr. Pipho. author of Phi Delta Kappa's acclaimed spring issue of the simulated emergencies in a controlled setting," said Glawe, "and develop eon fidence in himself and the vehicle." The instruction included evasive action, straight l ine braking, skid recovery, off- road recovery, backing, and perceptual skills The drivers from McHenry who participated in the course included Chris Amore, Sally Belzer, Sandra Betancourt, Deborah Durrenberg, Mar- celene Gough. Carol Ketchum. Sharon Kottke, Cathy Me- Connell, Sharon McNish and Irene Weiss The drivers participated on a voluntary basis. For their 8 hours' work, the drivers receive 1 hour of credit toward the two hours training required by the state for each driver each year Forty of the approximately 500 bus drivers in the county took part in the training Kappan on Competency Based Education His comments are expected to have special meaning in both districts because of this year's goal for establishing competency levels for the students The Friday meeting will also be held at West campus, where Bernie Saggau, executive The McHenry City Council voted Monday night to accept an $80,(KM) contribution to the Capital Development Park fund in l ieu of park land from the developers of the Martin property, if the city annexes the land The decision was made at the continuation of the joint con­ ference and public hearing on the proposed annexation of the Martin land and the adjoining Anderson property, which was part of Monday night's Council meeting The land is located on the west side of Ringwood road at Route 120 Council members decided that rather than accept a 4-acre donation of land to be used as park on the property, that the cash donation, $20,000 a year for four years, would be more beneficial to the city It was the feeling of the council that park land in that particular area would not serve the entire community The proposed annexation consists of 2B0 acres known as County Schools $60,000 If the twenty-one school districts in McHenry county could agree on a uniform school calendar there could be a savings of approximately $60,000 That was the message from Ed Hall, regional superintendent of schools Copies of a tentative calendar for the school year 1979-80 was presented to the boards of local school districts in meetings held this month It calls for the first day of pupil attendance always to fall on the Wednesday before Labor day Other provisions call lor a short Christmas vacation, the director of the Iowa High School association, will address the assemblage at 9 a m Workshops will be held at the same time in District 15. placing emphasis on reading For high school teachers, the hour and a half following the » Saggau address will be devoted to inter-campus department meetings Ask Zoning For Estate District A petition has been filed for hearing before the McHenry County Zoning Board of Ap-A peals by the Oak Park Trust and Savings bank, under a trust, for an amendment to the McHenry county zoning or­ dinance from "F" Farming district to "E 2" Estate district. The property consists of approximately 98 acres in McHenry township It is located approximately 2,100 feet north of Barnard Mill road with approximately 66 feet of frontage on Barnard Mill and adjacent to the easterly part of Wonder Lake The hearing on this petit ion will be Aug 24, 2 p m at the McHenry county courthouse, 2200 North Seminary avenue, Woodstock All interested rsons may appear and be h^ard. Musin' And Meandering Hold Pre-School Institute $80,000 To City From Developers Martin's woods and the 101 acres of the Anderson farm Developers are planning on placing approximately 180 homesites on the 260-acre parcel No development is planned at this t ime for the Anderson property, which will continue to be farmed Attorney Jim Green, representing the petit ioners for annexation, said that a 4-acre parcel on the property to be used as a nature park would be donated to the city, or the cash contribution of $80,000. Green also requested a consensus of the Council regarding the proposed an nexation. to determine if an nexation agreements should be developed to be discussed at a later date Alderman George Marker moved that the Council accept proposed concept of the an nexation. pending the preparation of all legal documents and the Council voted unanimously in agreement Alderman William Bolger moved that the city accept the $80,000 cash in lieu of the park land if the property is annexed The motion carried by a unanimous vote The petit ioners wanted a decision regarding the park land question so they would know whether or not to leave space for park land when platting the property (Continued on page 16) Hold Cousins High Bond Set For Rape And Robbery Two McHenry cousins are being held in county jail after they allegedly raped and robbed a McHenry woman Ricky Koczor, 18, 4719 Flower, is charged with rape, and his cousin. Ronnie Koczor, 18, of the same address, is charged with rape and theft from person According to McHenry police, a woman reported being raped by two young men Aug 6 and gave police a description of both offenders According to Police Chief Pasenelli, excellent police investigative techniques led to the arrest of the two cousins last week Ricky Koczor is being held in lieu of $50,000 bond and Ronnie Koczor is being held in lieu of $15,000 bond Both are scheduled to appear in court for preliminary hearings this week Common Calendar Saving week of Good Friday would be used for Faster vacation, and snow days not used would be dropped at the end of the calendar The calendar leaves it up to each district to deter mine whether there would be a one or two-day institute at the opening of school Those opening w ith a one-day institute would add a day at the end of the calendar in June Representatives ot seven school districts that house special education classes met sometime in June at the courthouse to discuss the problem There is a wide variation in the school year among county districts with some starting in late August and ending in late May. while other districts start after Labor dav and end in mid-June At a July 12 meeting of eight districts, an agreement was made that these schools would start the Wednesday before Labor day this year Hall has received letters and phone calls from several board members and citizens asking why there is no common calendar for the schools of McHenrv County The superintendent said there has been an effort for the past five or six years to get a county - (Continued on page l£5 Greetings From Australia <2 Handshakes like the one above were many and sincere this past week as eleven Rotarians from Bega, Australia, became acquainted with McHenry Rotary club members during a week's visit. Above, Vernon McNeil, left, president of the Bega club, is welcomed by Bob Adams, newly elected president of the McHenry club, during one of the many outings held in honor of the visitors from "down under". A full page of pictures appears elsewhere in this issue. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD