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Archive for the ‘McHenry’ Category

McConchie’s would-be successor isn’t a Republican and can’t serve, lawsuit alleges

Posted in Appointments, County, Deception, Dinky, McHenry, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Resident Spotlights on February 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Darby Hills

By Russell Lissau | Daily Herald

Barrington Hills Trustee Darby Hills’ appointment to a vacant state Senate seat should be nullified because she doesn’t meet the state’s definition of a Republican, a lawsuit filed Tuesday argues.

Algonquin resident Brittany Colatorti’s complaint also alleges the GOP committee formed to choose a successor for state Sen. Dan McConchie in the 26th District failed to properly notify the public of its Feb. 14 meeting or the application process, and that Hills’ nomination should be canceled as a result.

Read more here.

Related: “Darby Hills Appointed as New State Senator for Illinois’ 26th Senate District”

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Applications open for The Land Conservancy’s summer internship program

Posted in County, Going green, McHenry on January 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County has opened its Conservation Leadership Internship Program to applicants for the summer of 2025, which will be the fourth year of the program.

The application period is open now through Tuesday, Feb. 4. Students can learn more and apply at conservemc.org/clip/.

CLIP is a paid, hands-on learning experience designed to give students the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the conservation field as a professional. No experience is needed to apply for CLIP, and it is open to high school juniors, seniors and college students. Participants must be able to work in extreme weather conditions and on adverse terrain.

The program takes place 40 hours per week from May-August 2025, and the pay is $15 per hour, or college credit.

The internship provides underserved communities such as women, BIPOC, first generation and LGBTQIA+ students/youth with hands-on professional training in the field of conservation.

Participants will gain experience areas such as: plant identification, land management, GIS/GPS training, prescribed fire training, herbicide use, rare plant monitoring, wildlife/stream surveys, sustainable farming techniques, land preservation techniques, field safety, scientific research/experimental design, art in the natural world, career development and professional networking.

These skills will give participants a strong understanding of the field of conservation and serve as a springboard for a professional career in the field.

A number of field trips and networking opportunities are available to those selected for the program, including Nachusa Grasslands, Indiana Dunes State Park, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Glacial Park and McHenry County College.

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County is a member-based private nonprofit dedicated to preserving natural, scenic and agricultural land. For information, visit conservemc.org. Follow instagram.com/conservemchenrycounty/

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Barrington Hills Riding Club/Park District Public Hearing January 8, 2025

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Cook, Countryside Elementary School, County, Elections, Ethics, Financial Statements, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, Goat Rodeo, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Lake, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, Massbach Hounds, McHenry, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Taxes, Unions on December 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO THE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE BARRINGTON HILLS PARK DISTRICT COOK, LAKE AND MCHENRY COUNTIES

The Board of Park Commissioners for the Barrington Hills Park District has adopted a Tentative Combined Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance, a copy which is available for public inspection by contacting the administrative assistant at 847-783-6772.

Public Hearing will be held on:

Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 6:45pm
Barrington Hills Riding Center Meeting Room,
361 Bateman Road
Barrington Hills, IL 60010

Any individual with a disability requiring a reasonable accommodation to participate in this meeting should contact the Administrative Assistant within a reasonable time prior to the meeting at Barrington Hills Park District Riding Center, of?ce@bhillsparkd.org, 1-847-783-6772.

Published in Daily Herald Dec. 26, 2024 (273946), posted 12/26/2024″

Source

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Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District Board meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, BACOG, BCFPD, County, Deception, Elections, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Jewel-Osco, McHenry, Pension Funding, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Taxes, Transparency, Unions on December 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District (BCFPD) Board of Trustees meets tonight at 6:30 PM at 22222 N. Pepper Road in Lake Barrington. Topics on their agenda include:

  • Strategic Plan Review Finalization
  • Consideration and possible approval of the 2024 Tax Levy Ordinance, and
  • Consideration and possible approval of the Resolution approving the revised McHenry County Automatic Aid Agreement

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

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Polls open tomorrow at 6AM

Posted in Cook, County, District 220 referendum, Economy, Ethics, Kane, Lake, McHenry, OP/Ed, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Privacy, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Resident Spotlights, Road construction, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Transparency, Unions on November 4, 2024| 1 Comment »

Please vote for Representative Martin McLaughlin!

Early voting has ended at this hour at most locations.  Tomorrow, many more locations will be open for Election Day from 6AM to 7PM.

Click on your county below to find your polling location:

Or, you can also go to, “Poling Place Lookup,” to find your polling place location.

By now it should come as no surprise that Martin McLaughlin has our wholehearted endorsement and vote because he has earned it. Best of luck tomorrow.

Related: “Chicago Tribune endorses Martin McLaughlin,” “Daily Herald Endorsement: McLaughlin for Illinois House Dist. 52”

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Early voting available through Monday

Posted in Cook, County, District 220 referendum, Elections, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Politics, Springfield, Taxes on October 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Early voting locations are through Monday for the November 5, 2024 General Elections. Click on your county to find the most convenient location to cast your vote:

For general ballot information, visit the Cook County, Lake County, McHenry County or Kane County clerk’s office sites.

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State’s attorney says end of cash bail an ‘abject failure’ in his Illinois county (Maria)

Posted in County, Crime, Elections, McHenry, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, The Center Square on October 25, 2024| 1 Comment »

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

A full year into the state’s end of cash bail, a suburban county state’s attorney says the law has been “an abject failure” for his county.

Illinois ended cash bail statewide in September 2023 after litigation against the law was struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court. The Pretrial Fairness Act is part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity Today, or SAFE-T, Act.

McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said the data in his county doesn’t show what proponents promised.

“There was a 30% increase in crime by those on pretrial release compared to those on cash bail,” Kenneally told The Center Square.

Contrary to proponents of the Pretrial Fairness Act who said the law would decrease jail populations, Kenneally said he found the opposite in his county.

“On the eve of the SAFT-T Act, on Sept. 17, 2023, there were 204 people in the McHenry County Jail and on Sept. 15 of 2024, which is exactly one year counting for the leap year, there were 216 people in the McHenry County Jail,” Kenneally said.

The findings didn’t stop there. Kenneally said there was a 280% increase in the number of criminal defendants who didn’t appear for their hearings. But one area he highlighted with the end of cash bail is the diminished victim’s compensation fund.

“If people are no longer required to put down any deposit of money, what that means is that even if you say, ‘hey, you have to pay a victim this amount in restitution’ … a very little amount of that money is being paid,” he said.

Read more here.

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Hackmatack Monarch Coalition hosts Monarch Fair for families Sunday

Posted in County, Education, Going green, MCCD, McHenry, Topics Of Interest on August 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Monarch Coalition & Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge present the 8th Annual Monarch Family Fun Fair!

Submitted by Hackmatack Monarch Coalition

The population of the Monarch butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, has declined precipitously in recent years. Mexico, Canada and the United States are all collaborating on a North American strategy to conserve and recover this iconic species; our state hosts the Illinois Monarch Project; and local communities are doing their part.

Learn what families can do to help monarchs and other butterflies and pollinators at the ninth Monarch Fair, hosted by the Hackmatack Monarch Coalition, on Sunday, Aug. 11.

This year’s fair will be 12:30 to 4 p.m. at the Main Beach Pavilion, 300 Lake Shore Drive in Crystal Lake.

Members of the public are invited to migrate to the beach and get in free for a family afternoon and learn all about monarchs, with butterfly and pollinator plants information, a monarch art show, science and art activities, and loads of information from 17 exhibitors!

Pollinator plants will be available to purchase from Countryside Flower Shop & Nursery. Everyone who completes the Monarch Quiz will get a free ice cream token, redeemable at the Crystal Lake Culver’s restaurant.

A Community Band Showcase will fill the afternoon with music at the band shell starting at 1 p.m.

In Illinois, McHenry County is a leader in the state in showing up to help monarchs, with county entities representing over a third of all Illinois signers of 2024 Mayors’ Monarch Pledge organized by the National Wildlife Foundation.

Fifty-two Illinois units of government signed this year’s pledge with 20 of the signers based in McHenry County. Signers include the towns of Algonquin, Bull Valley, Crystal Lake, Harvard, Hebron, Holiday Hills, Huntley, Johnsburg, Lakemoor, Marengo, McCullom Lake, Oakwood Hills, Port Barrington, Trout Valley, Union, Wonder Lake and Woodstock; Coral and Nunda townships and the Crystal Lake Park District.

The Monarch Fair is sponsored by Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Crystal Lake Park District featuring activities from numerous conservation, education and arts groups involved in the Hackmatack Monarch Coalition.

Other participating organizations include Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Conversación de Conservación, Creative Arts Fine Arts School, Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, McHenry County Conservation District, McHenry County Master Gardeners McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program (McSEEP), Small Waters Education, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s Conservation@Home, Sierra Club, the Wildflower Preservation and Propagation Committee, and the Xerces Society.

For more information, contact Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge at (262) 448-3558 or visit hackmatacknwr.org/monarch-family-fun-fair-2024/.

Follow facebook.com/FriendsHackmatackNWR/.

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County treasurer warns McHenry County residents about tax scam letter being sent to property owners

Posted in Community Alerts, County, McHenry, Property Taxes, Taxes on July 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A copy of a scam letter being sent out to residents in McHenry County was released Wednesday as county officials warn residents about the scam. | Provided Photo

By LMCS Staff Report | Lake and McHenry County Scanner

The county treasurer is warning residents in McHenry County about a tax scam letter being sent out to property owners claiming a lien was filed against them.

The McHenry County Treasurer’s Office said Wednesday they and the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office have learned of a tax scam letter being sent out to real estate owners who owe real estate taxes.

The scam letter appears to come from McHenry County but at the bottom in fine print says it is from a company called “Tax Registry LLC.”

There is no known address for the company and only phone numbers.

“Do not be fooled by this mailing, and do not contact this company regarding paying your real estate taxes,” county officials said.

Residents who owe real estate taxes and want to know how to pay them should only contact the McHenry County Treasurer’s Office at 815-334-4260.

More here.

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Cicadas everywhere, but not always where they’ve been expected in McHenry County

Posted in Animal Welfare, County, McHenry, Topics Of Interest on June 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Rachel Gustafson, an educator with the McHenry County Conservation District, holds a cicada on Sunday, June 2, as part of the Cicada Celebration at the Fox Bluff Conservation Area. (Janelle Walker)

By Janelle Walker | Shaw Local

As the McHenry County Conservation District staff was deciding where to host June’s Cicada Celebration, the Fox Bluff Conservation Area between Cary and Algonquin seemed like the perfect spot.

But the cicadas seem to disagree.

Not only does the park along the Fox River have a number of deciduous trees – needed for cicadas to feed on underground and lay their eggs on after emergence – there is also a good-sized parking lot needed for the visitors who were expected, said Rachel Gustafson, program coordinator with the conservation district.

But just like naturalists “don’t really know how [cicadas] know” when to emerge from the ground on a 17-year-cycle, district officials also don’t know precisely when or where the bugs will emerge. So far, staff has not found any members of the red-eyed, green-bodied 17-year cicada brood at Fox Bluff, or along many sites near the Fox River. Officials also don’t know why, Gustafson said.

According to staff who were with the district back in 2007, the last time the brood emerged, there were cicadas there, Gustafson said. But not yet this cycle.

“There is a whole corridor along the Fox River where they have not emerged,” Gustafson said.

Read more here.

Related: “(Blissful) Lack of cicadas reported in our area”

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