Re-gifting Robin

Thinking about re-gifting? Re-gifting Robin will know if you are! Click on the gift box to test Re-gifting Robin's psychic ability.

www.regiftable.com/regiftingrobinpopup.html

The friend in Denver who sent this to me wants to know how it works. Anyone?

Burton Township - who? what?

A map of McHenry County (Ill.) townships in this week's The Woodstock Independent attracted my attention, when I saw a little slice up in the northeast corner. McHenry County could be neatly carved up in 16 counties of approximately equal geographic size, except for the northeastern-most township, a tiny corner of what could be 1/5 of Richmond Township. But, in fact, it is McHenry County's 17th township.

Size? Wikipedia.com says the population in 2000 was 3,997. A different source on Google mentions that the 2009 population was 5,300.

Do you suppose that those 5,300 people support a Township Supervisor, Assessor and Highway Commissioner?

Don't you just wonder who had the clout to form a tiny township like Burton?

Sheriff in a pickle - or two

Gallatin County (Illinois) Sheriff Raymond Martin's woes were added to by new charges that, according to the Associated Press, he may have tried to have witnesses assaulted or killed in a plan he allegedly hatched while in jail himself. And I don't mean as keeper of the keys.


I wondered whether the Illinois Sheriffs' Association still carried Martin's name on its roles; it doesn't. It has replaced his name with that of Shannon Bradley, who is the Acting Sheriff (although the ISA website doesn't include "Acting", probably due to a website programming limitation).


What a mess, eh? The sheriff, the top dog of law enforcement in Gallatin County, is in jail himself. And not in his own jail, either. Three counties away, in Jackson County.


It must be a fine family. The sheriff's wife, their 20-year-old son and he are allegedly involved in a murder-for-hire plot. Where did they find accomplices for their plot? In jail.



No wonder downstate sheriffs like concealed carry. Their residents need it - to protect themselves - from the law!

Off-duty carry. Good idea or not?

Should "sort-of" cops be allowed to carry firearms off-duty?

Democratic candidate for McHenry County sheriff Mike Mahon issued a press release earlier this week, questioning Sheriff's Nygren's denial of toting privileges for 230 McHenry County Sheriff's Department corrections (jail) officers, court security officers and process servers.

When I was a reserve deputy sheriff in Colorado in the 1970s, a newly-elected sheriff changed our commission from full-time to on-duty only, although he let us keep our concealed carry cards. I recognized the financial liability immediately, and a number of other reserve deputies and I stopped carrying our firearms off-duty.

We warned one particular reserve deputy not to carry. He had about ten years' reserve experience, including in Dade County, Fla. He thought and acted like a cop, which was good, but we guessed he might forget the change in policy, if he found himself in harm's way. In fact, he did.

One night he found himself witnessing a crime, and he drew his weapon and announced "Police." That was a huge mistake. Although he had been, he wasn't. Just like we had told him he might instinctively do. And the sheriff hung him out to dry.

Another ticklish situation developed, because I owned my own police-equipped motorcycle, including two-way radio on the department's frequency. I lived about 15 miles from the department headquarters and, under the sheriff's new policy, I was not "on-duty" until I checked in at the department and picked up a portable radio.

I asked about this possible situation. Let's say I was riding to the department, in uniform and armed but off-duty, and a person notified me of a bank robbery while I was stopped at a red light. What should I do? Hand him a dime and tell him to phone it in?

Since I was technically off-duty, I was not going to go to the bank!

Back to the 2010 problem in McHenry County. Should these non-sworn MCSD employees be allowed to carry firearms off-duty?

Until I see studies that indicate a high degree of risk to them when they are off-duty, I'll say they should not be allowed to carry off-duty or to and from work. Without general powers of arrest, they are civilians when they leave work. If they see a crime in progress while they are off-duty, let them call it in, just like the rest of us have to.

And, when we all have the right to carry a firearm, they can certainly exercise that right, too.

Bounds convicted of stabbing two

PRESS RELEASE
March 4, 2010

WOODSTOCK MAN FOUND GUILTY OF ARMED VIOLENCE FOR DOUBLE STABBING IN UNINCORPORATED CRYSTAL LAKE

For Immediate Release:

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, reports that on March 4, 2010,
Defendant Keith Bounds, age twenty-nine of Woodstock, Illinois, was found guilty of two counts of Armed Violence, two counts of Aggravated Battery, and one count of Mob Action by the Honorable Judge Sharon L. Prather following a three day bench trial. The evidence presented at trial showed that the defendant initiated a physical confrontation with two Cary men after a previous argument that had occurred inside of the Suds R’ Us tavern in unincorporated Crystal Lake. The evidence also showed that the defendant pushed one of the men outside of the bar near closing time, and shortly thereafter, stabbed him twice. When the second man came to the aid of the first man, the defendant then stabbed him twice. Judge Prather found that the defendant’s claim of self-defense was inconsistent with the facts, and that the defendant was the initial aggressor. The sentencing range for Armed Violence is between ten to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Ryan Blackney and Jeff Bora. The defendant will be sentenced on May 5, 2010.

McHenryCountyRadio rocks on

There was a full house at McHenryCountyRadio.net this morning. Dave Gardner, Henry Stevens and Jim Matthews were present and accounted for, when I showed up with coffee and special home-baked treats.

We tried to reach Zane Seipler this morning to invite him onto the Morning Buzz via telephone this morning. Zane will be Dave Gardner's guest (Zane, taking coffee is not required...)

Mark your calendars now for the Harvard Business Expo coming up on Saturday, March 27. For more information, contact the Harvard Chamber of Commerce.

Tune in mornings 7:00-10:00AM for the Morning Buzz. If you miss the morning broadcast, you can catch it from the archived programs. Just go to www.mchenrycountyradio.net and search around 'til you find what you are looking for.

Schlenkert case continues

Virtually unlimited funds at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department by being able to dip into the county taxpayers' piggy bank will mean continued efforts by the sheriff's department to keep from having to put Deputy Bob Schlenkert back to work, as previously ordered.

Schlenkert should have been able to return to work after the brief refresher training recommended by one doctor, according to an article in the Northwest Herald this week. Instead, Sheriff Nygren ordered him to complete the full physical component of the basic law enforcement academy. There was no need for a veteran deputy to be required to complete the entire basic academy again.

As I understand it, Schlenkert was unable to one component of the POWER (physical) test within the allotted time. And then "The merit commission fired Schlenkert in December 2007 for not following orders to pass the physical test and complete the training academy."

Compare that order to this. Suppose you order a disabled employee in a wheelchair to walk up a flight of stairs. Should the employee be fired for not following orders?

The money being spent currently by the sheriff's department is being wasted, in many cases.

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) apparently issued a ruling last week that there was no substantial evidence that he was discriminated against. It didn't say there was no evidence; it said there was no substantial evidence...

Should Sheriff Nygren feel that the ruling by the IDHR is a victory for him, he is seriously mistaken. Nygren claims that Schlenkert's case was without merit, and he is claiming that the IDHR's ruling means Schlenkert's case is without merit.

He's wrong.