35 weeks now - Beth Bentley missing

Is it still a Missing Person case, or is it time for the police to say "Foul play is likely"?

Beth Bentley, 41, has been missing since the third week of May. There seem to be plenty of "persons of interest", but the police have never named even one. That's the term police use, when they aren't ready to call someone a suspect and have to read him his rights.

Received an email from someone today using the sender name of linda4cuecenter@yahoo.com. I suspected immediately, of course, that this person is not associated with the CUE Center for Missing Persons, which is a national organization headquartered in North Carolina. Personally, I object to an individual's creating the appearance of an affiliation with an organization, when none likely exists.

That sender included a direction to the new "official" Beth Bentley blog, which now includes a plea for tips to be sent to it for forwarding to police. It is better for you to provide your tips directly to police. If you also want to inform search organizations, why not? But send tips directly to police first.

That "Linda" claims to be an "internet project manager/caseworker" and lists the website for the CUE Center below her title. This might cause recipients to believe she is affiliated with the CUE Center, but note that she does not directly so claim. If she were with the CUE Center, my guess is that she would have a CUE domain for her email address.

Red Mill - changing hands?

Peg & Ted's Red Mill appears to be changing hands. Or, at the least, the name is changing, which doesn't necessarily mean that the ownership or management is changing.

What's the Red Mill? It's a bar at 1040 Lake Avenue in Woodstock.

It's newsworthy for several reasons, number one being that it's what I would call a "cop bar." A "cop bar" is where cops hang out and "things" happen that never get reported to the police - officially. A few examples ...

In January 2007 a McHenry County Sheriff's Department sergeant had a birthday party at the Red Mill. One sergeant got so drunk he could not walk unassisted to a vehicle. His girlfriend was not so drunk, and she drove. They were followed by two other deputies, who also had been drinking. When the first car weaved off North Seminary onto an embankment and back onto the roadway, the driver of the second car flashed the headlights until the first car stopped and told the woman driver she could not proceed. (This was not a traffic stop; just one friend stopping another.) The sergeant became belligerent and pushed down one of the occupants of the second car, also a deputy. That deputy reportedly was prevented from calling Woodstock Police.

It all got covered over. When I received a call about it, I went to the Woodstock PD chief about it; he'd never heard about it. He sent a detective to MCSD, who came back empty-handed. No reports, no arrests. Did someone at MCSD lie to the WPD detective? Three supervisors at MCSD got 30-day suspensions - all handled quietly and out of the public view.

Then, in September 2009, after Sheriff Keith Nygren attempted to intimidate me in the Jewel-Osco parking lot by pulling in alongside my car in a distant area of the parking lot, he apparently told a Northwest Herald reporter that he had seen my car in the Post Office parking lot and in the Red Mill parking lot, as if I had been following him. The reporter was generous to Keith in his story and did not mention the Red Mill by name, just calling it "a restaurant." But the reporter had told me it was the Red Mill. And I told him that my car - the red Beetle - had never been in the Red Mill parking lot. Not even once!

OK, yesterday it was, in case anyone is keeping score. For about 60 seconds, while I photographed the new temporary sign above. And I have no idea whether Keith was there at that time.

Hear ye, hear ye. (OK, we're trying...)

In an article on First Electric Newspaper (http://www.firstelectricnewspaper.com/), publisher Pete Gonigam wrote, "There's a chance, though, that won't be necessary, said Moore attorney John Nelson who mumbled in open court." He was referring to testimony before Judge Michael Caldwell on Friday during the latest hearing on Grafton Township matters.

I've been in many of the courtrooms at the McHenry County courthouse. If only the judges and the lawyers and their clients would speak up in normal voices, all in the courtroom would be able to hear. Even I.

Of course, it would help if the bailiff would keep the other attorneys and the folks in the peanut gallery quiet. And control conversations in the vestibule. And put in maintenance requests for adjustment to the doors, so that they closed quietly.

I posted the following comment to Pete's article:

"Gee, an attorney mumbled in court and couldn't be heard?
"Here's what I want to know? Why don't the judges (ALL the judges) speak up loudly and clearly AND direct all who speak to them to do the same?
"What will it take to get the Courts' attention? Will we all have to show up with ear trumpets? I've got my eye on one that is brass, about three feet long and has its own unipod.
"How would judges like that? Should we take signs and just stand up with our "CAN'T HEAR" signs?
"The easiest fix is for all to just speak up in normal voices. The next step would be to amplify words in the courtroom, not just record them."

When judges call cases, they are easily heard throughout the courtroom. But, when the attorneys get up to the bench, the attorneys do mumble. I've been in courtrooms when the judge himself couldn't even hear and had to lean forward to hear an attorney. And when a judge had to tell the attorney to speak up.

OK, then the judge can hear. But what about the public - the rest of us in the courtroom? Contrary to an opinion given to me by an attorney in McHenry County a few years ago, I believe the public does have the right to hear what is said to a judge and what a judge says in the courtroom! And we shouldn't have to buy a transcript weeks later to find out what was said!

Stick it to your pet on Feb. 5

Do you ever skip those "routine" shots that your pet needs, even including the required rabies shot? Would you like to stay on schedule with those shots, but other things (foods, gasoline, heat, meds, school books, dental) all are higher priorities on your spending list?

I remember when I almost had my first heart attack. I had taken the beagle to a local vet for what I thought would be a $15 rabies shot. OK, so that was a few years ago, but it was within the past ten years. Fortunately, I asked first what the charge was going to be.

For the shot? $15.00. Whew. "and the cost of the exam is $xxx, and the cost of cleaning his teeth is $yyy, and the other shots he needs will cost $zzz. That "$15.00 shot" was about to cost me $135! It didn't help when the vet. assistant said, "You do want to take care of your dog, don't you?"

On Saturday, February 5th, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. you can get that rabies shot for $20.00. On Angels' Wings, Inc (Thrift Store & Pet Adoption Center) is having a low-cost vaccination clinic.

The rabies shot cost does not include the McHenry County Dog Registration fee. Distemper, Bordetella, and Parvo vaccinations are also available (for $20 each) at the event. No appointment is necessary; both cats and dogs (and their escorts) are welcome. Dogs should be on-leash; bring your cat in an animal carrier.

On Angels' Wings Pet Adoption Center is located inside the Thrift Store at 5186 NW Highway, Suite 133, in Crystal Lake (behind Exceed Flooring, next to Honey-Baked Ham). If you have questions, call (815) 356-8170.

Just want to get clipped? (Your pet's nails, I mean...) You just missed the January 18th $5 nail clipping day. Keep an eye on http://www.onangelswingsinc.org/ for future nail-clipping dates.

Woodstock Police car - was it hit or did it hit?

In Wednesday's crash at Route 47 and Lake Avenue between a Woodstock police car and two other vehicles, the crash was described in a newspaper article in the print edition this way. "The squad car was headed westbound on Lake Avenue while responding to a call for service when it was struck by a 2003 Ford Windstar that was southbound on Route 47." That explanation came from a press release from the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.

Above are photos of the police car, which is typically assigned to Beat 22 (note the number on the fender) and is believed to have been driven by an officer assigned to Beat 22, although his name is not mentioned in the newspaper article and has not yet been released by the Woodstock Police Department.

You decide for yourself. Does it look to you like it "was struck by" another vehicle, or does it appear that it struck another vehicle. Note the extensive front-end damage to the squad car.

Beat 22 is the northwest quadrant of the City, but the squad car was being driven west on Lake Ave. That would be inbound from Beat 24 and well outside Beat 22. Had the officer been assigned to a call in Beat 24, which would explain his being outside his beat?

What was the "call for service" to which the officer was headed with emergency lights and siren in use?

When a City police car is involved in an intersection crash, the citizens are entitled to an explanation, and it should be forthcoming quickly from the police chief. Two days later, there still is no word.

Is there a Department policy for automatic alcohol- and drug-screening following an on-duty accident? It should be a routine step and spelled out in the HR employee manual and the agreement with the union. The assumption, of course, is that an officer on duty has not used drugs or drunk alcohol within a specific period of time before going on duty. But is there a policy?

"Official" website now for the missing Beth Bentley

Today I came across a new website (or blog) labeled as the "Official Website - Help Find Beth Bentley". The site appears to have been established by the Rogers' side of Beth's family (her Arizona brother and father). You can view the new site at www.helpfindbethbentley.com/

The first postings were on January 19, and several posts have been added since the first day.
The site mentions the Woodstock Police Department and the CUE Center for Missing Persons, but not Crime Stoppers of Woodstock or CrimeStoppers for McHenry County. It contains information that has generally been set aside, such as she was last seen in Centralia, Ill. and that she was thought to have been headed for a 6pm train.

It seems more likely that Beth was last seen on Friday night, May 21, 2010, at the Frosty Mug in Mount Vernon, Ill., where a person not closely connected with her did last see her. Because little information has been released by police agencies in Woodstock or Mount Vernon, rumors persist as to her last-known whereabouts.

In addition to the "official" website, there are two active Facebook pages related to Beth's disappearance. The first one at one time had 7,600+ followers; that number today is 3,611. A second Facebook page has 695 followers.

Network at Pirro's today

Today's gathering of the Woodstock Chapter of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club will be at Pirro's Restaurante. Bring business cards, fliers, brochures. Your only cost? Whatever you drink and eat. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available, along with appetizers and dinner.

The best networking is on your feet, but sit down later for good food.

For more information, visit www.woodstockgroundhogclub.info

To learn where the gathering-of-the-week is, send an email to wdkgroundhogclub@aol.com