Sheriff cancels Merit Commission meeting - Again!

Why is there really any Merit Commission of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department?

Its monthly meeting has been canceled - again. They won't even meet to approve bill payment.

To my knowledge Sheriff Nygren has never formally terminated for Sgt. Greg Pyle, who is charged with State and with Federal crimes. Procedures at MCSD require the Sheriff to take any request to fire or receipt of a resignation to the Merit Commission. I think Nygren has never done so in Pyle's case.

Why is Nygren failing to carry out this important duty of his office?

Since he is never around and Andy Zinke seems to be in charge, why hasn't Undersheriff Zinke ever taken the Pyle matter to the Merit Commission? Zinke is getting paid big bucks to be Number 2. Does he still just do what Nygren tells him to do (or not do)?

And Nygren is getting even bigger bucks. Where is ol' Seldom Seen these days? Enjoying Florida? Enjoying spring in Minocqua? Still driving a lot of miles on the County's Tahoe?

Where is all the media attention to Greg Pyle? He was charged in January 2012 (was it really only 16 months ago?) with ten counts of predatory criminal sexual assault against a child (under 13 and a family member). That case is proceeding (albeit slowly) through the McHenry County Court system.

Then the Feds grabbed him, so conveniently on the day his employment benefits ran out.

The next court date in McHenry County is May 13, when motions for habeas corpus, other matters AND REASSIGNMENT will be heard. Why are defense attorneys playing the "I don't like this judge" game? Judge Sharon Prather got a big dose of this case in 2012, and then it was transferred to Judge Gordon Graham. Now it looks like defense has decided it doesn't like Judge Graham.

Maybe this case needs to have an out-of-county judge. Is there any criminal judge in McHenry County in whose court Greg Pyle never was (as a deputy)? Will defense claim that every McHenry County judge is biased?

Greg Pyle is still in custody in the Boone County Jail. Is it still a no-bond hold by a Federal judge? What's that all about?

Motions denied in Smith case

Two motions were argued before Judge Prather this morning in the case of Timothy Smith, recently convicted by a jury of first-degree murder.

Assistant Public Defender Kim Messer argued several points, and Assistant State's Attorney Michael Combs, Chief of the Criminal Division in the State's Attorney Office, argued against those points.

I'd love to report all the details, but the attorneys' voices were low, and even Judge Prather's voice was too low to hear all that she said. Messer asserted that Combs' rebuttal during the trial was "improper, outrageous and tended to inflame" the jury. That part, I heard.

I heard Judge Prather say that prosecutors have "wide latitude" and that Combs' shouting was "inappropriate". I wasn't surprised that she let him slide on it and denied both motions. After all, the jury was instructed to disregard statements by attorneys that were not based on evidence.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 22. Smith is facing a minimum of 45 years in prison. Will there be an appeal?

I-90 Work Zone - yes or no?

Yesterday I had a great ride into Chicago (and back) on my motorcycle. I left about 11:00AM and rode south on 47 to Huntley, then east on the Tollway. I thought it might be a white-knuckle ride, but drivers were fairly polite and stayed pretty close to the speed limit, even in the eastbound work zone.

The Illinois State Police brought a smile to my lips, because the Wolf Pack was a-hunting in the westbound lanes. An unmarked, maroon, four-door sedan had one driver stopped, and a white SUV with the ISP insigne on the side had a second vehicle stopped - although in a dangerous location - the inside shoulder. A third, marked patrol car was working the westbound side.

Coming back was another story. Shortly after entering the Kennedy, the craziness started. Once back on the Tollway westbound, speeds of other drivers were pretty high, including a jerk in a VW who cut me off and a kid on a crotch rocket who thought he was on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

And then I arrived at the construction zone at the Elgin toll plaza. The warning signs at the beginning of the work zone were clear and posted on both sides of the roadway: 45 MPH. And ignored by almost all.

Right after the toll plaza and before Randall Road, there stood a lonely 55 MPH standard speed limit sign on the right shoulder and no construction barrels anywhere to be seen.

So, the question is ... is the speed limit 55 MPH or 45 MPH? There had been no End Work Zone sign. So it's still 45, right? Or is it?

After 1-2 miles the work zone became obvious, and 45MPH work zone speed limit signs were posted.

Believe me! You don't want to get a $375 ticket and have to take your time (and your chances) with da judge.

I have emailed the Tollway about this. Let's see if they fix it. Will they promptly cover that 55 MPH sign and install additional work-zone speed limit signs?

Beth Bentley - now gone 154 weeks

Beth Bentley, Woodstock mother of 3, vanished on May 23, 2010 (or so). That's the day that Jenn Wyatt says she dropped Beth off near the Centralia, Ill. Amtrak station about 6:00PM.

Jenn said she didn't know what Beth's plans were.

On June 10th Jenn called me and told me that Beth never intended to take a train.

Now, let's start adding up 2 + 2 and see what we get.

Beth and Jenn were bosom buddies. Jenn worked for Beth. Beth bought a car for Jenn to drive. Supposedly, Beth paid the rent on Jenn's rental house at 749 Tara Drive, Woodstock. Presumably, Jenn got paid for working the law office where Beth Bentley was office manager and maybe legal secretary, since it was the office of her husband. Did she get W-2 income (wages), subject to withholding, or did she get paid "Cash". If she got paid in "cash" or what some people refer to as "under the table", the law office still had the legal obligation (Hello, IRS?) to produce a Form 1099, if it paid Jenn more than $600 in dollars or "in kind". (In a child support action in McHenry County, Jenn has said she didn't have any income.)

Beth and Jenn had gone on other girls' week-ends away. You'd sort of guess that they knew each other pretty well.

Beth rented a car for them to drive to Mount Vernon and left her own car in Jenn's garage. Beth would have had to rent it, because Jenn's California driver's license was expired. Beth should have been the only driver of the rental car. Let's assume they didn't sweat about the "small stuff", since Jenn was going to have to drive the rental car back to Mount Vernon that Sunday and then back to Woodstock on Monday, even without a valid driver's license.

Is there anyone on the planet who would believe that one woman would drive her BFF 30 miles and drop her off in a small town without knowing where she was going? Or with whom, if she was meeting someone?

Unless ... unless they had had some kind of falling out... But if they had, why didn't Beth take the car (she was the renter and the only legal driver) and leave Jenn to make her own way back to Woodstock?

There are some stones here that haven't been turned over yet.

How many people really know what happened to Beth? Do they have "reasons" for not talking to the police? What could some of those reasons be?

Election turn-out - poor, poor, poor

A letter today from McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz provided some interesting, and discouraging, numbers about voters in McHenry County.

In the February Republican Primary:

Grafton Township, 2023 ballots cast (6.1%)
Dorr Township, 183 ballots (1.3%)
Nunda Township, 2506 ballots (9.5%)
Algonquin Township, 1443 ballots (2.5%)

All precincts were open for the April Consolidated Election. 32,963 ballots were cast (16.15%).

Kathie wrote, "I don't know what needs to be done, so that voters will realize how important each vote is. We had races decided by 2 votes, 4 and 5 votes and other very low differences."

So, what does need to be done, to get voters to the polls?

Did you vote in April? To your right is a survey.

FEN 1; Nygren 0

Congratulations to Pete Gonigam, publisher of FirstElectricNewspaper.com (FEN).

Pete won in a ruling against the McHenry County Sheriff's Department in his FOIA request for the report of Undersheriff Zinke, when Zinke messed in the DEA investigation of a drug shipment headed to RITA Corporation. The Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Bureau told Nygren to cough up the report.

You remember; right? Sgt. Koziol was (keyword now, "was") a member of a DEA Task Force and informed the Undersheriff of drugs on a truck headed for RITA Corporation in Crystal Lake. The president of RITA is Brian Goode, a top political contributor to Sheriff Nygren and a financial supporter of Zinke, too.

What did Zinke do? He let the cat out of the bag and told Goode.

MCSD made out Koziol to be the bad guy, and Nygren says he investigated Zinke. Yeah, sure.

Now Don Leist, EEO "officer" and self-proclaimed Legal Affairs Officer, says the sheriff laid off the investigation on him.

MCSD doesn't even need an EEO officer. And, if it has one, the position doesn't require a lawyer. But Nygren hired himself a lawyer to do a clerical job.

Will FEN get the report? Or will Nygren continue to stonewall Gonigam?

Or is there, really, any report at all?

Did Nygren tell Leist to "investigate" or merely to wave his arms and move some papers around and make it look like Zinke is Mr. Clean?

Zinke committed an outrageous act by revealing DEA investigation information to Brian Goode. Zinke deserved the boot over that. And Nygren deserves to boot for not delivering the kick. Zinke knocked him right out of the 2014 sheriff's race.

Congratulations to Pete Gonigam and FEN. I have offered help in raising money for FEN, in case Pete has to sue Nygren to get the report. If a fundraising effort begins, your contributions will be held in strict confidence. No one at MCSD will ever find out who tossed money in the pot.

Read FEN's article here.

Chicago Cubs - just a business

I had a really good laugh this morning, when I read the headline to the Northwest Herald article about the Cubs and their fight for more advertising revenues.

The headline? "Ricketts says moving is an option; team insists that shouldn't be considered a threat". Well, that was the headline in the print edition. Online, the headline read, "Analysis: Ricketts decides to play hardball on Wrigley renovations.

Har-har-har. Of course, it's a threat. It's right out of The Bully's Playbook.

Ricketts is saying, "If you don't play my way, I'll take my marbles and go home."

What does he want, among other things? A 6,000 sq. ft. video board in left field.

How big is 6,000 sq. ft.? 30' high x 200' long - or - 40' high x 150' long - or - 50' high x 120' long - or - 60' high x 100' long

What do you think Tommy has in mind?

Remember the good, ol' days, when you went to a ball game and you could afford a couple of dogs and a beer? How much do they soak you for beers now? $7? And you can't even get a good (slightly burnt) hot dog on a fresh bun these days.

And you get to watch shaggy-haired ball players scratch themselves and spit and fight.

Whatever happened to America's Favorite Game?

Call Tommy's bluff. When he moves out, make him demolish Wrigley Field, clear up all the toxic waste and level it for development.

Cubs Communications' Vice-Prez Julian Green probably deserves an Academy Award for his performance of "It's Not a Threat", when he apparently said he "didn't believe Ricketts' comments should be considered a threat..." Maybe he is auditioning for a role at the White House. Or maybe he hopes to catch Rahm's eye, next time Rahm burns through a mouthpiece.