Two McHenry County Area Beaches On Advisory * One Closed

McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH) conducted beach water samplings at 37 licensed beaches on Thursday, July 31.  Lake Park Beach (Main Beach) Crystal Lake and Wonder Woods 2, Wonder Lake are on ADVISORY  and will be sampled again next week, while another beach is CLOSED due to elevated bacteria levels – 

·         Park and Beach, McCullom Lake

The beach will be sampled again on Friday, August 1st. Residents should visit the MCDH webpage (www.mcdh.info) for the latest information on these beaches.

To prevent illness associated with swimming, all licensed beaches on the 12 lakes in McHenry County are tested every 2 weeks for E. coli throughout the summer to determine water quality.  Additional and more frequent sampling is done when elevated bacterial levels are found.    

Water sampling results are reported to the appropriate beach authorities. MCDH will post an advisory or closed signage for beaches with elevated E. coli results.  All beach water results and locations are readily available at the MCDH webpage www.mcdh.info or call 815-334-4585.

“Working to prevent disease and promote health and safety for all people of McHenry County since 1966.”

Unlimited Campaign Spending

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions.

The next step will be a vote in the full Senate.

Citizens United and McCutcheon opened up the floodgates for unlimited campaign spending by the 1%, and we will keep seeing horrible court decisions like these until we change the U.S. Constitution to end the absurd notion that money is "speech."

Actions are underway in hopes of persuading the 20 key Senators who will decide the outcome of the legislation of the Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions

End Marijuana Prohibition

The New York Times has recently published editorials calling for an end to marijuana prohibition. The Libertarian Party has held that same position for decades.

On July 27, 2014, the Times wrote: "...It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.... The federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana."

On July 29, another Times editorial ("The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests") pointed out the injustice and destructiveness of marijuana criminalization.

Libertarian Party Chair Nicholas Sarwark commented, "The War on Drugs, and particularly marijuana prohibition, has been an abject failure. Throwing people in jail for smoking marijuana is cruel and unusual punishment. As a public defender, my job has been to keep people out of cages. I'm glad the New York Times editorial board has come around on this issue."

The War on Drugs was launched by President Richard Nixon in 1971, the same year that the Libertarian Party was founded.

Americans have come to agree more and more with the Libertarian Party. In 2012, the states of Colorado and Washington ended marijuana prohibition. Multiple recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans want to legalize marijuana.

Like To Help People Make Life-Changing Choices?

Are you interested in helping people make significant life-changing choices? If you are, becoming a real estate agent may be just the kind of career for you for you.  McHenry County College's Workforce and Community Development Department is offering a Real Estate Pre-licensing program that meets from 6-9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from Aug. 20 through Nov. 12 in Room C104. The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14 in Crystal Lake.

Anyone interested in completing this program must take the required two courses, including the Real Estate Sales Broker Pre-License, which satisfies 75 hours of the 90 hours of instruction required and the Real Estate Broker Pre-License Interactive course, which satisfies 15 of the 90 hours required by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to become a real estate broker. Successful completion of this set of classes, including the required coursework, allows for students to sit for the Illinois Real Estate Broker Examination.

Students must be at least 21 and a high school graduate/GED.  For complete Illinois requirements, see http://www.idfpr.com.

Cost is $699, including all materials. For more information, contact Ruth Kormanak at (815) 479-7879 or by email at rkormanak@mchenry.edu. To enroll in both of these classes, contact the MCC Registration Office at (815) 455-8588 and mention both course IDs: URE U19-001 and URE U20-001.

Legislative Approval For $55.5 Million Road Improvements In District 64

In the final hours of this year’s legislative session, lawmakers approved a $1.1 billion capital construction bill that will provide funding for road and bridge projects across the state. Last week Governor Quinn signed that bill into law.

A total of $55.5 million in road improvements are coming to District 64 as a result of the capital bill. The seven identified projects cover 14.47 miles of road, and include:

McHenry County

•  Route 14, from W. Lake Shore Drive to Lucas Road: Construction Engineering
•  Route 14, from W. Lake Shore Drive to Lucas Road: Additional Lanes Added
•  Route 14, from Lucas Road to Crystal Lake Avenue and at Ridgefield Road: Construction Engineering
• Route 14, from Lucas Road to Crystal Lake Avenue and at Ridgefield Road: Additional Lanes Added
• IL 176, from IL 47 to Route 14: Street Resurfacing
• Lake County
• IL 132 (Grand Ave) at Fairfield Road: Intersection Reconstruction
• IL 134 (Main Street), from US 12 (Rand Road) to IL 120 (Belvidere Road): Street Resurfacing

“These projects are very welcomed improvements on some of District 64’s busiest roads,” said State Representative Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake). “Some will mitigate current congestion problems while others will allow roads that were nearly destroyed from this last year’s harsh winter to be resurfaced.”

Real Estate Classes At McHenry County College

Are you interested in helping people make significant life-changing choices? If you are, becoming a real estate agent may be just the kind of career for you for you.  McHenry County College's Workforce and Community Development Department is offering a Real Estate Pre-licensing program that meets from       6-9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from Aug. 20 through Nov. 12 in Room C104. The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14 in Crystal Lake.

Anyone interested in completing this program must take the required two courses, including the Real Estate Sales Broker Pre-License, which satisfies 75 hours of the 90 hours of instruction required and the Real Estate Broker Pre-License Interactive course, which satisfies 15 of the 90 hours required by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to become a real estate broker. Successful completion of this set of classes, including the required coursework, allows for students to sit for the Illinois Real Estate Broker Examination.

Students must be at least 21 and a high school graduate/GED.  For complete Illinois requirements, see http://www.idfpr.com.

Cost is $699, including all materials. For more information, contact Ruth Kormanak at (815) 479-7879 or by email at rkormanak@mchenry.edu. To enroll in both of these classes, contact the MCC Registration Office at (815) 455-8588 and mention both course IDs: URE U19-001 and URE U20-001.

 For information, contact:

Donna Bieschke, Marketing Communications Specialist

Office of Marketing and Public Relations

McHenry County College

(815) 455-8728 email: dbieschke@mchenry.edu

From National Democratic Headquarters

When House Republicans broke two centuries of historical precedent to sue President Obama, we knew we’d need a huge response.

That’s why we were so excited to see $1,798,384 (and counting!) has come in since Republicans voted to authorize Boehner's lawsuit.

We now have a shot at hitting our $2,OOO,OOO goal to defend the President -- and defeat Boehner’s Republican House.

With today’s news that Republicans are openly discussing impeachment, it’s more critical than ever that we hit our goal.