Another false headline from NWH

Why does the Northwest Herald persist in placing untrue headlines above reporters' stories? Those headlines misrepresent the content of a reporter's story, set the tone for the reader, and influence, from the outset, an opinion of a reader.

Take, for example, today's headline: "FBI not starting probe of Nygren".

And the sub-headline of "Agency: Investigation of deputy's claims against sheriff unwarranted".

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department claims that Undersheriff Andrew Zinke received a January 4, 2011, letter from FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Grant, in which Grant purportedly wrote that none of the information about Nygren from Deputy Scott Milliman "was determined to have prosecutive merit."

And the FBI apparently determined that after what looks to me like a limited investigation, since the sheriff's department claims the letter from Grant read, "Where appropriate, investigation was conducted..."

So, for the benefit of editors at the Northwest Herald, that's a probe. How could an editor write "FBI not starting probe", when the letter says they investigated? And what does "Where appropriate" mean?

And the FBI didn't say that Milliman's claims were "unwarranted", according to the article. The FBI apparently said that information didn't have "prosecutive merit." I'm sure that is a specific legal term and that it likely doesn't mean "unwarranted".

My opinion? Why did Agent Grant reveal any investigation by the FBI? Isn't FBI policy not to disclose whether or not any investigation is or was underway?

Did the FBI decide that it wouldn't or couldn't prosecute regarding the "push Judge Floeter in front of the train" because Judge Floeter died at age 70 of natural causes on November 12, 2001?

From a 1996 Chicago Tribune article about Judge Floeter: "Robert Beaderstadt, an assistant state's attorney who has prosecuted cases before Floeter since 1989, when the judge was in Traffic Court, said Floeter "looks at the big picture when he sentences a defendant, how the sentence will affect the defendant's life and how it will affect the community."

The Tribune article continued: "Floeter long ago earned the reputation of being a free spirit" and that Judge Floeter's favorite place on the bench was Traffic Court. "You're dealing with normal people in everyday situations," Floeter said during an interview in his chambers. "A traffic ticket is a learning experience. You realize you are getting sloppy in your driving and that it will help you drive more safely and maybe save your life."

Robert Beaderstadt is now a judge in McHenry County 22nd Judicial Circuit Court.