Ramshackle - what's it mean?

Ever use a word when you aren't really sure what it means?

How about the word "ramshackle"? You probably have an idea what it means, even if you don't use it very often.

How does the Merriam-Webster online dictionary define it? Ramshackle: "appearing ready to collapse : rickety".

Now, look at this picture. This is the house at 4320 Doty Road, in which Kurt Milliman was shot on May 28. Does it look like it "ready to collapse"? Does it look "rickety"?

Want a better look? Click on the image to enlarge it; then click on the Back button on your browser to come back here.

But did you form an opinion of the condition of the house in which Kurt Milliman died, when you read the word "ramshackle"? Did the thought cross your mind, "What was he doing in a house that was about ready to fall down?" Well, he wasn't!

What would be the purpose behind the use of the word "ramshackle" by the executive editor of the Northwest Herald in an opinion column?

Don't miss today's smear in the Milliman shooting case

If you think the Northwest Herald fairly reports all murder cases, take a look at the smear tossed in the Views editorial by Northwest Heard executive editor Chris Krug this morning.

Krug wrote: "On May 28, just 10 days earlier (before Feldkamp slayings in Marengo) Kurt Milliman was gunned down in a ramshackle Woodstock house by Timothy Smith after, police said, Milliman had engaged in a consensual $40 sexual encounter with Smith's pregnant wife."

Where's the smear? How about "where are the smears?"?

Start with "ramshackle"? If you drive by 4320 Doty Road, Woodstock (just south of Centegra Hospital - Woodstock), you will not see a "ramshackle" house. In fact, I'll go by again today and take a picture, so that you can see the house that is there. Granted, it's not a million dollar Bull Valley mansion, but it looks like many rural Woodstock houses.

Next, how about "police"? That word was used in other articles about this case. There are NO "police" involved. It's the McHenry County Sheriff's Department that is investigated (don't we hope!) this case. They are called deputies, not police (officers).

Next, the Northwest Herald has never named any of the deputies who are investigating this case - not even the first deputy on the scene, who found the Smiths outside and "secured" them for safety (whatever that means!) or the second. I've been reading the crime reports in the Northwest Herald for 15 years, and that's the first time I ever saw that phrase.

Next, the paper stated, "...after, police said, Milliman had engaged in a consensual $40 sexual encounter ..."

Says who? Said what police? "Police" can't make statements. Deputies make statements. OK, so which deputies? What deputy?

And the Northwest Herald didn't bother to include "alleged" in its sentence.

Maybe the Northwest Herald will begin a recitation of the events of that night (since it seems to be privy to so much information) and publish the names of all the deputies, especially the first two, who came to the scene that night. Maybe it will get cell phone records and begin asking questions about who called whom and why such calls were made at late hours? Anyone lose any sleep that night, after he heard what happened?

And I'm not talking about the Milliman family here...

Why isn't Kimberly A. (Holian) Smith charged as an accomplice to first-degree murder, the charge lodged against her husband? Why was her bond so low - and then reduced???

Isn't anyone else asking questions??? Should an outside investigating agency (100% independent of friendships and good-old-boy relationships with the McHenry County Sheriff's Department (if such an agency can be found)) be called in?

Feldkamp used 9mm handgun

How in the world did Northwest Herald editor Chris Krug find out so fast that Scott Feldkamp used a "9mm handgun" to shoot and kill Doran Bloom as he attacked his parents and him in the Feldkamp's Marengo home?

Was that information released at the sheriff's press conference, from which the sheriff excluded the Woodstock Advocate and the McHenry County Blog (although he did admit a reporter from the Lake in the Hills Patch)? Or did the information about the weapon just happen to get to editor Krug some other way?

Notice how no one has said whose gun was used. Was it Jack Feldkamp's? Was it Audrey Feldkamp's? Was it Scott Feldkamp's? If it was Scott's, how did it happen to be in Illinois, rather than in his Florida home?

Who of the household had FOID cards? Jack Feldkamp? Audrey Feldkamp? Not Scott Feldkamp - that's for sure, since he is a Florida resident. If he has a Florida concealed carry permit, it's not valid in Illinois.

When will residents (voters!) demand that the Illinois State Legislature (both houses) stop prohibiting law-abiding residents (citizens) from possessing and carrying guns? And when will the Federal government (Senators and Representatives in the House) grow up and create one standard rule of reciprocity, so that a person who carries legally in one state can carry in any other?

Having 50 sets of gun laws to know and follow would be like having non-standard traffic signals across the country. We are accustomed to seeing red on top; green on the bottom. What if some states put green back on top (as Nebraska did at one time)? Or allowed motorcyclists to treat a red light like a stop sign (which Illinois is considering)?

But back to my point - how did the Northwest Herald learn that Scott Feldkamp shot Doran Bloom with a 9mm handgun?

Crime Stoppers - transparent or not???

The Crime Stoppers for McHenry County group continues to stay hidden from prying eyes and refuses to communicate about its operations or finances.

Contrast this with an article that just ran in the Boone County Journal about the Boone County Crime Stoppers organization. Thanks to pushing by the publisher of the Boone County Watchdog, the Boone County Crime Stoppers group, which had lost its charitable trust status with the State of Illinois, has apparently gotten itself back in the good graces of the State. You can follow the efforts of the Watchdog's publisher at http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/06/crime-stoppers-repairs-charitable-trust.html
To read the original article on the online version of the Journal, go to the June 3rd edition of the Journal and the use the page indicator at the bottom to go forward to Page 7: http://boonecountyjournal.com/news/2011/Boone-County-News-06-03-11.pdf#page=3

Now, back to Crime Stoppers for McHenry County, which receives significant dollars every year from the McHenry County Circuit Court. Crime Stoppers for McHenry County isn't defunct in its registration with the Charitable Trust Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. IT IS NOT EVEN REGISTERED and never has been, according to the Bureau. It started the registration process about 24 years ago but did not complete it.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan should be embarrassed at the June 2, 2011, letter sent to me by the Consumer Protection Division of her office. What did it say?

"We have recorded this information (that which I sent them, alerting them to continued (unregistered) operations of Crime Stoppers for McHenry County for 24 years)) in our complaint files for future reference.

"Should an inquiry into this matter or subsequent complaints indicate actionable violations of Illinois law..."

Well, what did think my first letter was? Just an exercise in writing and expenditure of postage to test the U.S. Mail delivery system? Which failed the first time, by not delivering my first letter! My first letter (and its follow-up) asked the Attorney General to investigate Crime Stoppers for McHenry County. Why wouldn't they just get started and do that?

If you think that an organization sucking up public monies and required to be registered under Illinois law ought to, in fact, comply with the law and BE registered, then write to

File No. 2011-CONSC-00306989
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General
100 West Randolph Street, 12th floor
Chicago, IL 60601

Illinois Press Association - "credentials?"

The first question to me from the Illinois Press Association was something like, "Does the sheriff's department issue credentials to the press?"

Not to my knowledge.

When Lt. Miller informed me on Wednesday that I would not be allowed into the press conference about the Feldkamp murders that was scheduled in a conference room (in the tax-supported, public in the McHenry County Government Center), it was because my blog was not part of the media (in their definition).

He may not be familiar with "electronic media" term in the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Yet.

Public building - sheriff was wrong

On Wednesday Sheriff Keith Nygren of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department conducted a press conference for "credentialed media" in a conference room in the public building of the McHenry County Government Center, a taxpayer-supported building.

However, he limited admittance to the building's conference room and kept Cal Skinner (McHenry County Blog) and me out.

Nygren was wrong. He improperly (and perhaps illegally) prohibited members of the public and electronic media from attending this meeting. Since it was held in a taxpayer-supported building and outside a "secure" portion of the building, such as the Jail, it should have been open to Cal Skinner and me.

I'm awaiting the Public Information and Media Relations Policy, for which I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request on Wednesday, before I left the building. Obviously, Lt. Miller could have given me a copy of it on the spot, but he told me I could FOIA it. The FOIA window was right across the hallway, and that's exactly what I did. So much for conserving taxpayer money and employee time!

As I've written before, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department could take a PR lesson from the little Round Lake Park (Ill.) Police Department. There, the chief was open, transparent, friendly, took questions, and made no deal whatsoever of my attendance at a press conference, where he announced that the body of a woman missing for more than a week had been found.

If you watched the video of the press conference on the Northwest Herald website, you had to wonder why Nygren stumbled through the reading of it. Maybe he was airsick from the flight in. To me, it sounded like he was reading from the Northwest Herald article. A lawman with 40 years' experience should have been able to just stand there and speak about it!

How many dads do you have?

I was amused this morning, when I received an email from Dunkin' Donuts that reminded me of Father's Day (June 9) and offered me three Dunkin' Donuts gift cards for the price of two

So that got me thinking about how many dads DD thought I had.

Upon closer reading I saw that the card offer was for customized cards for dads and grads. Okay, so that opens up the field a little.

But the younger folks could have more than one "dad". There are dads, granddads, great-granddads, stepdads, foster dads. Is there a category for god-dads? If not, Hallmark and Dunkin' Donuts will probably create one...

Giftcards are pretty cool. Might even have to buy one for myself at http://www.dunkindonuts.com/  Oh, wait; weaving my way through their ordering process got too complicated and started taking up too much time. Too bad their didn't field-test it first.