Crime Preservation = job security?

The following comment appeared on The McHenry County Blog on September 29, 2013, at 8:16 am, when "Fukoku Kyohei" wrote: "Absolutely Cary Crime Stoppers donated to Andrew Zinke's campaign, its [sic] called Crime Preservation."

The comment was one of 52 comments to Cal Skinner's article titled Operating Engineers Pop for $12,300 in Signs for Andy Zinke.

There have been some guesses to the identity of "Fukoku Kyohei".

But "Crime Preservation"?

Does preserving crime require a fully-funded sheriff's department? 

(Temporarily-detached) Deputy Zane Seipler questions whether a 501(c)(3) can donate to a political campaign or support a candidate. Recently, The Advantage Group (TAG) [not to be confused with Woodstock's AdvantagePlus real estate operation] found its neck in a noose over political support and lost out on $49,000 from the McHenry County Mental Health Board.

Why would a Crime Stoppers organization toss $1,000 at Zinke? That has to be among its largest outlays. Crime Stoppers is supposed to be fighting crime, not preserving it. And, while Crime Stoppers' groups advertise that they pay "up to $1,000" for tips, some of them actually pay out only about $300 (on the average over a year). But Zinke gets the full $1,000?

Woodstock Area Crime Stoppers must not have done a very good job at "preserving" crime, because it was involuntarily dissolved on August 14, 2013. Not a very honorable ending to a worthy (or should have been) organization. Its Board did not respond to expressions of interest to keep it going with fresh faces.

Gov't. Shutdown Stupidity

Photo credit: Bryan Preston

Thanks to Cal Skinner's McHenry County Blog, I learned of one more example of the stupid decisions during the Government Shutdown. This one involves the closing of an unmanned scenic overlook in the Washington, D.C. area.

Can there be anything more stupid than dispatching a paid Parks Service employee and truck to shut down an unmanned scenic overlook? Does that save money? Doesn't that cause an unnecessary expense?

How many millions of tourist dollars are being wasted when foreign visitors and our own U.S. residents travel on planned vacations to National Parks, only to find their way blocked? For what? Because the trash cans won't get emptied?

Postage increase - 2014

The U.S. Postal Service is angling to stick it to us for a huge postage rate increase on January 26, 2014.

Try this on for size:

• Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents
• Letters additional ounces —  1-cent increase to 21 cents
• Letters to all international destinations (1 oz.) — $1.15
• Postcards — 1-cent increase to 34 cents 

 My guess is that the Congressional requirement to pre-fund retirement benefits has a lot to do with it.

Will this put me out of business? I am a distributor of "real" greeting cards - not e-cards. I love sending cards (and gifts), and the company I'm associated with claims to be the largest user of First Class postage in the U.S.

Will my business shrink because of the rate increase?

To send a letter (or pay a bill) will cost 49¢. Will I now have to decide whether someone is worth half-a-buck for the stamp, in addition to the cost of the card?

Guess it won't do any good right now to pester my Congressman. Is he even in his office? Is there anyone there to answer the phone? Open his mail? Read his e-mail?

Postage goes up. Fewer users; more use e-mail. Fewer customers? Rates have to go up. Rates go up? Fewer customers. Rates have to go up.

If people really knew what postal employees earn, more customers would go postal.

Grammar and the Law

FirstElectricNewspaper.com is reporting today that Judge Meyer was told last Tuesday by Don Leist that the Office of (Illinois) State Public Defender is now acceptable to Sheriff Nygren and him in FEN's legal action to get Nygren to release Leist's 100-page "investigation" into Undersheriff Zinke's outrageous release of confidential DEA information to Brian Goode.

Confused yet?

What hitch could there possibly be?

How about this, for starters: "The principal function of the Office of the State Appellate Defender is to represent indigent persons on appeal in criminal cases when appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court, the Appellate Court or the Circuit Court."

Is Nygren indigent? What's he doing with his $12,500/month salary?
is Leist indigent? Doesn't he earn about $100,000/year for being the Right Hand of Nygren?
Is this a "criminal" case? While perhaps it ought to be, it's not.
And there is no "appeal" to any court decision.

According to FEN, after a meeting in Judge Meyer's chambers, Leist told Judge Meyer that " ... Appellate Defender's representation would be acceptable 'by the Sheriff and I.'"

Huh? by the Sheriff and (by) whom???  Did he really say, "...by I"?

Leist must have been in Mrs. What's-her-name's third-grade class at Dean Street School a few years ago, when the teacher couldn't even get grammar.

I don't think anyone will be surprised tomorrow, when it turns out that the Illinois Appellate Defender's office won't represent Nygren and Leist.

And, when you read the Words of Leist, as reported by FEN, Leist didn't really say that the Appellate Defender's Office would represent them. What he said was that their representation would be acceptable to Nygren and him. That's not the same.

Maybe Judge Meyer should have been the one to call. Has the Appellate Defender's Office filed its Notice of Representation yet?

Round (Whatever? I've lost count) continues Friday morning, October 4, 9:30AM in Courtroom 201 at the McHenry County Government Center for Status, with a following court date on the calendar for Status-Attorney set for October 10, 9:30AM.

Judge Meyer ought to be getting really tired of the legal gymnastics being played out in front of him! He deserves kudos for keeping this on the front burner and for holding a tight leash on the obstructionists who are attempting to keep this case from reaching resolution. Thanks, Judge Meyer!

What does "balanced budget" mean?

The Northwest Herald carries an article this morning about Woodstock School District 200's "balanced budget".

Did the headline make you smile? Did you breathe a sigh of relief?

Did you even read the article?

Am I the only one who wonders what is "balanced" about an $840,000 deficit? Or the smoke-and-mirrors deception of calling a budget "balanced", when the District is actually sucking $840,000 out of reserves to meet its planned expenditures? Or the "added expenses" (according to the article) of $3,200,000 for the 7.3% increase in staff salaries?

Is there any reason that we aren't having a revolution right here in McHenry County?

Last week one retired and disabled senior citizen told me that his property taxes have gone up $1,000 in each of the past two years. And different retired senior citizen may lose his home because of increasing property taxes.

The next school board meeting is Tuesday, October 8, at 7:00PM. Meetings are held at the "Clay Professional Development Center", formerly known as Clay Street School, at 112 Grove Street (corner of Clay and Grove Streets).

What if every property taxpayer in District 200 boundaries showed up and shouted "No more!"

Well, the School Board knows that won't happen. They know hardly anyone will show up. Think they aren't counting on that? That's how they get away with calling deficit spending a "balanced budget." No one questions them.

Demand honesty and accountability in school district financing. Show up! Before you, too, can no longer afford to live in McHenry County!

Want to email the District 200 school board members? Good luck trying to find individual email addresses for them. Those email addresses are not on the D200 website. The best that D200 can figure out for an email address for the "important" board members is webmaster@wcusd200.org

Wouldn't you think D200 would create a unique email address for the Board, even as a group? It would take an I.T. person about 60 seconds to do so. Of course, he would have to be so directed to create it. So it appears that a lower-level school district employee (whoever reads the webmaster's email, if anyone) gets to screen and re-direct email to Board members.

Do you even know (or care) who is on the District 200 School Board? For the webpage listing the elected members, click here.

Gov't. shutdown

I wonder if the shutdown started at the top or bottom. Probably, I don't have to spend a lot of time wondering...  I'm sure it started at the bottom.

The American Public should demand that pay for the President and Vice-President, all Cabinet officers, and for all members of Congress (the Senate and the House) stop. As in, S-t-o-p. All perks, too. No more free haircuts, cut-rate meals, parking, etc. Cancel their government credit cards. Ground Pelosi's airplane, unless she wants to pay the full operating costs out of her own pocket, without any prospects of reimbursement - ever.

And the Public should demand that all government employees and appointees be covered under ObamaCare. Then we'll hear some screams. And that they sign up on their own time, not on compensatory time.

From one news article: "The effect on tourism already was being felt. Barricades were erected around some of the nation's most cherished monuments, from the Lincoln Memorial to the World War II Memorial."

Veterans yesterday had the right idea. Just push the barricades out of the way and walk on up to the Vietnam Memorial. And we should do the same at federal parks, etc. Just pack out your own trash, folks. Who needs a Parks employee at $60,000/year to empty trash barrels?

8th Grader's "gun" at school - duh, insane!

Have you ever been disciplined for pointing a gun at school? Ever play cops-and-robbers? Or cowboys-and-Indians?

How is an 8-year-old going to answer this question on future employment applications, say, after college or for the military? A student was arrested for pointing his finger at school. Oh, me. Oh, my!

Is anyone else outraged by the action at Harmony Community School in St. Cloud, Florida?

Cary to sound off to Principal Jonathan Davis? Write to davisj@osceola.k12.fl.us


The student's mother, Bonnie Bennett, intends to go to the mat with the school on her son's behalf. I say, "Good for her."

School administrators have gone over the falls with their attitudes and actions. They can suspend a child without due process. The parent can then challenge the discipline, but it has already been invoked.

Those school folks in St. Cloud are nuts and should be thrown in jail for bullying a student.

But what happens right here in McHenry County? In Woodstock? If I go to a school district meeting and aim my .38-cal. finger at the School Board members, am I going to get arrested?

Remember the story of Greg Kachka in Island Lake, who was arrested for disorderly conduct for pointing his finger as he gestured in conversation with another man at a Village Board meeting?

Greg should have sued the Trustee and the Village Clerk at the time (and the Village) for false arrest, defamation of character, frivolous legal action, etc., but I doubt he did. I still have the t-shirt I bought from his legal defense fund, and I hope he is well.