Hear Zane on Fri. 8AM radio

Zane Seipler will be the guest on Harvard radio tomorrow, Friday morning, January 22, at 8:05AM on the Morning Buzz. The program can be heard only online at www.harvardradio.net

Tune in a few minutes early, so that you don't miss the beginning.

Spread the word tonight. Zane is the Republican challenger to Keith Nygren in the February 2nd Primary Election right here in McHenry County.

An open letter to Sheriff Nygren

Dear Sheriff Nygren,

When you met with the Northwest Herald editorial board, you told them that you have been a law enforcement officer for "over 42 years." You also told them that you started in DeKalb County in 1971. From 1971 to 2009 is only 38 years.

Now your website says you started in DeKalb County in 1967.

The DeKalb County Sheriff believes you were a probation officer at some point between 1967-1971. The DeKalb County Court Services says it has no record of that.

Where did you work in law enforcement before you joined the Crystal Lake Police Department?

Where were your first four years of "law enforcement" experience? What did you do and where and when did you do it?

Did you ever work for the Addison Police Department?

Colorado Prison Problems

Illinois isn't the only state to build a prison that it can't afford to open.

According to The Denver Post, "Construction will be completed this summer on a $208 million maximum-security prison in Cañon City with 948 beds, but the state's budget crisis will keep it closed because there is no money to hire a staff. It would cost $20.5 million to open and occupy the prison, including hiring 581 full-time staff members. The prison has no target opening date."

Does this remind anyone of Thomson (Ill.) Penitentiary, the anticipated home for Gitmo detainees?

To put another violent criminal in maximum security in Colorado, one prisoner must be moved to less-secure facility.

The article also said, "...parole board members struggled with hard decisions about which inmates could really be trusted to move into early release."

As we have recently learned, Gov. Quinn and his "rogue" Director of Corrections avoided that difficulty, when they cut loose some inmates early. And now the State is spending money rounding them back up and putting them away again.

In Colorado one inmate in a two-man cell was found murdered and "tucked into his blanket as though he was sleeping." They probably didn't need Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to find his killer.

Asbestos problem?

Remember the fire on Sheila St. at the apartments there? And how many residents had to move out while the place was being cleaned up?

Now it appears that there may be an asbestos problem in that building. Recently there was a commercial truck outside with a sign on it about Asbestos and a warning to stay away from the truck.

And recently-returned residents are coughing in their apartments and smelling a strong odor of a chemical that they suspect is used in asbestos clean-up.

What does the McHenry County Health Department have to say? The Environmental section of the County's Health Department will send someone over to ask some pointed questions.

What does the State of Illinois EPA have to say? Haven't called them yet, but it probably wouldn't hurt to throw this problem on the desk at the IEPA, too.

Did the Woodstock Fire & Rescue crews notice any possibility of asbestos, when they were there?

MCC Promise - why it blew up

The MCC Promise program, which wasn't an "MCC" program, blew up. This morning's article in the Northwest Herald gives the reasons to the discerning readers. Was it was doomed to failure from the start?

When you design a new program, whether it's a college funding program or a plan to start or expand a business or whatever, the first step is to dream up all the reasons it's needed and whom it will help and all the benefits.

The second step ought to be an attempt to rip the plan apart and figure out in advance how or why it could or will fail, and then see if you can solve those challenges. Today's management gurus like to call such challenges "opportunities". That disguises them nicely. They are problems!

In the Age of Entitlement in which our kids are growing up, they believe they are owed everything. Free this, free that. Free college. Free transportation. Allowances. Snacks. Cable, satellite, cell phones (and not the cheap ones, either), Wii, the best and newest X-Box. You name it; they want it. And they want it right now.

And busy parents too often just roll over and fork them over. It's "easier" that way.

And so it was with many of those who received funds from the MCC Promise. Probably MCC did okay in the deal. It got the money, but not the students. According to today's article, only 575 students remain eligible for the Promise program, out of the 939 students who enrolled last fall. How many of those students could figure out what percentage that is?

Hint: That's 61.2% who remain eligible. Conversely, 38.8% dropped out, including "some (who) didn't show up at all, and others (who) made little or no effort." I guess if you were a high school graduate and could fog a mirror and make an "x" on the application, you got funded.

A little hard on the Promise folks? Sure. Why not? If they gave (only) $1,000 to 364 students (939-575) who dropped out, that was $364,000 paid to MCC for nothing.

A simple and easy component (condition) of the Promise grant was a short spell of volunteerism. I'm not certain but, if I recall correctly, it was 16 hours. A student could have done that in one or two weeks, (even in two days), if he really appreciated the grant; instead, many recipients put off their volunteer "until the final months" (probably "weeks"; maybe even final days) of the semester.

The Promise board has changed how it will dole out money to a reimbursement plan. The student has to fork out the tuition, pass the course, put in his volunteer time and maintain a certain GPA; then he gets reimbursed. This really means that many students will not enter the program, because they don't have the money in the first place to enter MCC.

How many students are being graduated from McHenry County high schools who can't even make it into a college freshman English or math class. According to the article, "more than half the studennts took at least one remedial class."

Maybe they shouldn't have gotten their diplomas in the first place!

Reference: www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/01/20/r_jxaayjj3tooutz2onul_zg/index.xml

Hottest race in McHenry County

Check out today's poll on the Northwest Herald website.

The question today is "Which local election interests you most?" I don't know if polls and results are archived.

Sheriff?
County Board?
School District 165 Referendum?

As of 9:41PM, 306 votes had been cast. (That's all? That's because the poll is hidden at the bottom of the homepage. I told them to move it up to the top right.)

The results, so far?

Sheriff? 56%
County Board? 35%
School District 165 Referendum? 9%

Woodstock PD beat assignments

Today's The Woodstock Independent carried the 2010 Permanent Beat Officer (PBO) assignments for officers of the Woodstock Police Department. Woodstock is divided into four beats, and officers are assigned annually to these beats.

To contact officers for any beat, phone the PD at (815) 338-2131 or email the officer by addressing your email to the officer by the initial of his first name, followed by his last name, followed by "@woodstockil.gov"; e.g., to send an email to Ofc. Michael Gustis, address your email to mgustis@woodstockil.gov

If you wish to send an email to all the officers on a certain beat, address your email to "pbo" (for permanent beat officer) plus the beat number, followed by "@woodstockil.gov"; e.g., to send an email to the three beat officers for Permanent Beat 21, address your email to pbo21@woodstockil.gov Supervisors will receive a copy of a group email.

Beat assignments are
Beat 21: Michael Gustis, Shane Marshall and Andrew Reitz
Beat 22: William Lintner, Matthew Harmon and Adam Schraw
Beat 23: Daniel Henry, Fred Eiselstein and David Dempsey
Beat 24: Brett Muehlfelt, Joshua Rapacz and George Kopulos

If you'd like to see a map of the beats, I think it was in the recent City Scene. I searched online but cannot find the City Scene; thought it might be found under the Recreation tab on the City's website.

For a couple of years I have recommended that the police department publish the beat map on its web section, along with the officers' beat assignments. Perhaps they'd do it if somebody else suggested it. How about if a few (or many) readers ask for it? The web, of course, is a great resource, and important information ought to be easily and quickly available.

If you think the beat map ought to be online, drop an email to Deputy Chief Steve Bozer (sbozer@woodstockil.gov), although I believe he is slated to retire in 2010. You might just send it to Chief Lowen, since it'll be his decision. Address your email to rlowen@woodstockil.gov

Or contact the chief's executive administrative assistant, Tamara Reed, and she'll be sure that you get a copy of it by fax, email or snailmail.