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

. / • VOLUME 106 NUMBER 48 'SERVING THE CHAIN-OLAKES REGION SINCE 1875 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1982 1 SECTION 20 PAGES 25* « • by Anthony Oliver. Mother Nature struck, and struck Mc Henry hard this past weekend - closing roads, cutting power and making life miserable for countless numbers of people. According to McHenry Police Chief George R. Pasenelli, McHenry police officers on duty during the height of the storm were only going out on the street when called. - 27 Below -- BrH . I:-_ ^ • Tk. m.:«/ ..tJ tk.t ... >. ,O I.J for IJIIcp fipnpvs on a ski trill were I ibannM ik« rt The Chief said that up to 18 stranded motorists whose cars had either stalled or, become locked in drifts, were housed temporarily in the council chambers of city hall. He noted that Bruno Man- zardo, a local hotel owner, had offered to accommodate stranded motorists. "It is this kind of cooperation and concern on the part of people in the McHenry area that makes the whole thing worthwhile," Pasenelli said. The McHenry Police Chief noted that the Emergency Snowmobile Patrol was based at the police station during the storm and responded to a number of calls. • "This type of concern should put McHenry area residents at ease when severe weather situations arise," he said. The Chief complimented the Public Works department road crews, noting their efforts at keeping roads open this past weekend. According to Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Director John J. Shay, the department went into 24- operation at 7 p.m. Saturday. Shay said the lowest recorded tem­ perature (not including wind-chill) was 27-below-zero at 5:48 a.m. Sunday. Shay said the wind reached a speed of 48 mph before the gauge broke. The director said the agency coor­ dinated a number of runs between X fcescue and highway department plows, y making sure that roadways were open so the squads could reach their destinations. He said the department also delivered food and medicine when necessary, mostly by four-wheel-drive vehicles. The biggest problem occurred and the most calls came from a power failure across the southern part of the county which affected an estimated 6,000 homes. Shay said. Shay said that a busload of people from Hammond, Ind., who were bound for Lake Geneva on a ski trip, were temporarily housed ill the county courthouse when the' bus became stranded on Route 47 between Charles road and Hebron. The director said the people headed back to Indiana when weather per­ mitted The power problems in McHenry also caused additional hardships for residents of the Lakeland Park area who were instructed to boil their drinking water this weekend. According to Frank Higgins, vice- president of the Lakeland Park Water company, low voltage knocked out the electrical heaters and created low pressure in the water system. "As a result of the low pressure, the water has to be boiled - in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency rules," Higgins said. The company vice-president noted that at the same time the pressure dropped, due to the decreased voltage, there was a water main break at Ringwood road the Elm street. "Unfortunately, people put the two together and thought there was con­ tamination," Higgins said. He stressed that the "boil order" was a result of EPA regulations when low pressure pressure develops in the system. Higgins said the company passed the word through radio, television and had McHenry police tell residents to boil their water. Higgins said that since the testing agency (the county health department) . was closed Monday, normal service'* probably would not return until Tuesday. The Police department experienced some communications problems bet­ ween the station and the cars when an emergency generator went out in­ termittently during a two-and-a-half hour span. Likewise at the McHenry Rescue squad bam, the sqtud was operating off an emergency generator when a power outage, lasting a little more than two hours, cut short communications. The squad answered a number of calls during the worst of the weekend weather, including a mutual aid request from the Crystal Lake Rescue squad which encountered traffic problems on Route 31. Commonwealth Edison District Manager Ron Russell said that all service was restored by 9 p.m. Sunday evening. When a wire went down at 2 p.m. Sunday, it clipped service in northern McHenry, McCullom Lake and Wonder Lake. Russell said power was tran­ sferred to another area, but was lost a Russell said the longest outage was from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Russell hesitated to guess at how many people were affected by the power shortage. A number of other smaller problems arose as a result of the storm, Russell said. A tree limb fell on wires near the McHenry Country Club and began to burn A line down on Saturday af­ ternoon resulted in a power outage to western Crystal Lake, which also af­ fected people living along Route 31 and Cary. \ Wauconda township, in Lake county reported a similar outage. Russell said the extreme cold and drifting snows hampered efforts at getting the damaged lines repaired and service restored. The crews worked throughout Sunday night and Russell said that, to his knowledge, no injuries were reported. At Illinois Bell, manager Stan Joz- wiak commented that there were only (Continued on page 18) LdGClV&S Braving sub-sero temperatures and high<*>ndt, fire fighters work to extinguish a fire that destroyed the Thomas Para home at 5005 Maple Hill. Tn McCullom Lake. Fire fighters from all three McHenry Fire •*--1 • | TT J department companies as well as Wonder Lake Companies I and II ana (iTfiily Homeless iheNundaRura,dep>rimenifou^hiihefir\,orfourhoursear,yMonday J morning. |a k Wr^r photo Ask $48 /yj j jHon County Board Charged In Lawsuit A McCullom Lake family was left homeless early Monday morning when fire destroyed the Thomas Para residence, at 5002 Maple Hill, McHenry. At about 3 a.m. Jan. 11, Company I of the McHenry Township Fire depart­ ment was alerted to a structure fire in progress at the McCullom Lake ad­ dress. With an immediate response from fire fighters and the McHenry Area Rescue squad, Company I commanders called for a tanker from Company II Although Christmas is now such a part of the past that all needles have left the once green trees, there are daily reminders that we were a part of this holiday Everyone can remember receiving at least one gift in his lifetime for which he could find no redeeming feature. Until this year, the last one oif them to make its way into our possession was a dish of fudge with a pickle fork in it. At a more advanced age, the gift might at least have provided a laugh. But we were 10, and there's nothing funny about unwrapping a pickle fork when the least of your expectations is a set of dominoes. The same aunt presented another niece with a towel and washcloth, which left the young lady without comment but provoked her mother to ask, "Does she think we're dirty"? Now pickle forks, washcloths and towels can be put to rest in a dark corner, never to be discovered agaiin until the incidents are long forgotten. But the gift we received this Christmas has refused to disappear or get lost. For at least three years we have had frequent visits from a neighbor's tomcat, followed by weeks during which he failed to make an appearance. When we did see him, it was to make life miserable for our own cat, Dum- • pling, which is a coward by nature. • Only when we presented a formidable defense and held the door open for him to escape the fray did he stand up and look at all like the fighter. Our presence has been a source of dismay for the visiting animal, which became so annoyed by our foot trying to (Continued on page 18) (Johnsburg) to assist in battling the blaze. While fire and rescue personnel were en route, it was rumored that the family was still in the home. In fact, Thomas and Linda Para, and five children - two boys ages 14 and 13, and three girls, ages 10, 6 and 3 - were spending the night elsewhere due to a power failure at the Para household. The family was staying with Mrs. Para's mother, Mrs. Lester (Ruth) Adams, of 4418 Ponca, McHenry, when they were notified of the fire by a neighbor, Mary Brand. Another neighbor, Mrs. Hagg, noticed the fire at about 3 a.m. and called the Fire department. The Paras had left their home with only the clothes they were wearing. Everything was lost in the blaze. Company I soon called for additional men and equipment from Companies II and III (Lakemoor) of the McHenry Fire department, Companies I and II of the Wonder Lake Fire department, Nunda Rural, Spring Grove and Rich­ mond. Redistricting Plan Upheld .lack Weber Photo A tanker from the Richmond Fire department was originally called for a change of station, to Johnsburg, but ran into difficulty on southbound Route 31. The tanker was unable to pass a three- car pile-up which was blocking the roadway. Spring Grove managed to reach the Johnsburg station house by traveling a different route. In the south, the responding NUnda Rural tanker came north on River road, which was the only road open from the Crystal Lake area. Barreville road, Route 31 and the Crystal Lake blacktop were reported closed by drifting snow. Fighting high winds and sub-zero temperatures as well, the fire fighters worked to extinguish the blaze until nearly 7:30 a.m. According to Asst. Fire Chief Chris Bennett, the cause of the fire is under investigation. He said Monday af­ ternoon it would be some time before department officials could get into structure to look around. (Continued on page 18) By Angela Burden SHAW MEDIA NEWS SERVICE A Lake Zurich man has filed a $48 million lawsuit in federal court charging the McHenry County board violated his constitutional rights by turning down his application for a vending license. Richard Kimmel, brother-in-law of reported crime syndicate-connected Joseph Ferriola, is owner of AAA Amusements, which was denied a vending license in November to install coin-operated amusement machines in McHenry county. , In addition to seeking a temporary injunction requiring the county board to issue him the necessary license, Kimmel's suit, filed Thursday by his lawyer, Patrick Tuite, is asking $2 million damages from each of the 24 board members for a total of $48 million, plus another $250,000 on behalf of his corporation. No comment was available Monday from county authorities because they had not been served with documents connected with the lawsuit. "I was denied licensing for no definite reason," Kimmel said in a telephone interview. For that reason he decided to file the federal lawsuit. Kimmel said he has "quite a num­ ber" of coin-operated amusement machines operating legally in McHenry county in several municipalities which have granted permits, but he cannot operate those under jurisdiction of the county board without a license from the board's licensing commission. The county's license and liquor commission denied Kimmel's ap­ plication at a meeting in Woodstock on Nov. 9 and the county board later upheld the decision. Kimmel, 40, in testimony before the commission, said he had purchased Sagittarius Inc. from his sister, Julia (Continued on page 18) Robbery At First Federal McHenry police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents are in­ vestigating the Friday evening armed robbery of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago, at the Market Place shopping center, 4400 W. Elm street, McHenry. According to McHenry Police Chief George R Pasenelli, a lone gunman armed with a "small blue-steel revolver" entered the bank at about 6 p.m. and demanded money from the teller. She admitted to being frightened as she carried out the demands made to produce the money. The incident took place at a quiet time when there was only one customer. The man escaped on foot with ap­ proximately $3,700 in mostly small bills. The robber was described as a male Caucasian, in his late 20's, about 165 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. The assailant was wearing a ski cap, dark blue coat and dark pants. This was the first robbery at the First Federal in McHenry Th^ controversial Illinois legislative redistricting plan, which was challenged in court by Republican legislators, has been upheld by the state Supreme court. In a one-sentence ruling, the Supreme court justices affirmed the Appellate ruling which dismissed the challenge filed by Illinois House Speaker George Ryan and a number of other legislators. The terse ruling said, "The judgments are affirmed." Challengers to the redistricting plan presented by Rep. Michael Madigan, D- Chicago. said the plan resulted in "impermissable gerrymandering." Republican legislators urged the Supreme court to expedite con­ sideration of the case, in part, to forestall primary battles between in­ cumbent GOP legislators in two of the new districts. The plan placed Congressmen George 0?Brien, R-Joliet; and Edward Derwinski. R-Flossmoor, in the same fourth district. Likewise in the 9th district, there would be legislators John Edward Porter, R-Evanston, and Sidney Yates, D-Chicago. Porter has (Continued on page 18) Caution: One Way Traffic It was Rt. 31 south about 9 o'clock Monday morning and the worst of the blowing and frigid temperatures were over. Nevertheless, when the photographer snapped this picture a half mile south of Bull Valley road, there was only one­ way traffic in some places. Treacherous road conditions closed all county roads Sunday and except for emergency, vehicles brought traffic to a halt. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD McHenry's Bitter Cold A Picture Page .Page 20 United Way Sets Record .Pledges Total $139,800 Page 18 Hold Government Seminar B.P.W. Club Project Page 18 ,v