McHenry County | featured news

With heavy rain events becoming increasingly common in the area, McHenry County farmers are concerned whether they will have another delayed planting season.“Because of just the sheer amount of precipitation that fell in the spring and how frequently it fell, farmers were unable to get into their fields and plant or even just prepare their fields for planting” Climatologist, Dr. Trent Ford said.Last spring, more than 40,000 acres were never planted in the county as heavy rain left fields underwater or sodden and unplantable, said Dan Ziller, president of the McHenry County Farmers Bureau.

A Huntley man faces charges in connection with an incident that left a 6-week-old infant hospitalized Tuesday, police said.

Shawn P. Fontaine, 28, was arrested Tuesday after police received information about an infant who was admitted to Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital, Huntley Deputy Police Chief Michael Klunk said. The severity of the injuries prompted officials to transfer the child to Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, Klunk said.

The Crystal Lake Park District is one of 20 Illinois communities to receive a grant from The Morton Arboretum in partnership with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The $3,000 Urban and Community Forestry Grant is meant to help improve Illinois urban forestry, according to the park district.

The grants provide opportunities for public entities to support tree planting, develop a management plan, complete a tree inventory, or develop a tree preservation and protection ordinance.

Fees for students in Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 will stay the same for the 2020-21 school year, with the exception of preschool registration, which will go up by $5.

Fees for kindergartners through fifth-graders will remain at $110, and at $140 for middle school students in the district.

The only fee increase for next year are related to the Wehde Early Childhood Center.

Non-tuition preschool fees for this school year were $95, and will increase to $100 next school yea

Philosopher René Descartes famously declared “I think therefore I am” as proof of his existence.

However, when I studied that proposition years ago, I just assumed that everyone else had a little voice – an essential “me” – that provides a constant stream of consciousness in their heads, too.

SPRINGFIELD – A group of Republican lawmakers said Tuesday they want to see internal reforms at the Department of Children and Family Services in addition to the increased funding that Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to propose.

Pritzker is scheduled to deliver his annual budget address to the General Assembly at noon Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD – A group of Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday declined to block the Illinois State Police from implementing new administrative rules governing firearms dealers.

Those rules were adopted on an emergency basis in January, nearly one year after Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Firearms Dealer License Certification Act into law.

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution, a group of state lawmakers from both legislative chambers touted a series of bills Tuesday that would tax or ban single-use plastics and aim to boost recycling.

The four proposals have the support of organizations such as the Illinois Environmental Council and the Sierra Club of Illinois.

Several parents voiced displeasure at potentially losing bus service in their area at a Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 Board meeting Tuesday night.

Several areas of the city are being put under review by the board to see if continued bus service there is necessary.

These walking areas are the crossing over Swanson Road at Alexandra Boulevard for Woods Creek Elementary School, the crossing over Swanson Road at Village Road/Greenfield Lane for Glacier Ridge Elementary, the Wedgewood area and the Barlina and S