Receive trusted public safety alerts directly from your police department and other local agencies by text message. No cost, reliable & simple. Go to www.nixle.com to sign up! 

1.    Click on “Community Residents”

2.    Click on “Residents Sign Up Now”

3.    Enter a user name, password, your name, email address and mobile telephone number

4.    Alerts can be set for your home location and work location.

What messages would I receive through Nixle?
Only authenticated agencies and community organizations can securely publish information. There are four types of messages; Alerts (many would refer to this as an emergency type alert), Advisories (less urgent need-to-know information), Community Information (day-to-day neighborhood to community-level information), Traffic (very localized traffic information).

Don’t miss important public safety information!! 

•    Did you know that the County of McHenry government spends millions of dollars annually on supplies and services?
•     Are you taking advantage of business opportunities with the County of McHenry?
•     Do you want to know how to do business with the County of McHenry?

The County of McHenry wants to enhance contracting and procurement opportunities for businesses by providing information to potential vendors and suppliers located within McHenry County.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

WHAT:           County of McHenry Vendor Information Session

WHEN:           Monday, July 19, 2010           3:00PM TO 7:00 PM

WHERE:        McHenry County Administrative Building    Conference Rooms A, B, & C

                       667 Ware Road     Woodstock, IL  60098

For information on this event, contact Amy Burke, Purchasing Department Administrative Assistant at (815)334-4818 or send an email to:   purchasing@co.mchenry.il.us or fax at (815)334-4680.

"Water is personal, water is local, water is regional, water is statewide.Everybody has a different idea, a different approach, a different issue, a different concern, but water is the most personal issue we have,” said award-winning journalist Susan J. Marks in a recent interview. The Forum’s organizers hope that everyone will become better informed about the basic science and economics involved in protecting our water supply, and learn simple and practical ways to make a big difference.

The Water Forum and Resource Fair on Saturday, August 7, will begin at 8:30a.m. at the McHenry County College, Conference Room, 8900US Hwy 14, Crystal Lake,Illinois.  The public is encouraged to visit the vendor tables both before the event and during break. 

The P&D 2030 Plan  document is available to view on the 2030 Plan website: www.mchenrycounty2030plan.com.

.

Licenses and fees: The cost of registering a car in Illinois increased from $79 to $99 to help pay for the $31 billion state capital plan. The cost of a fishing license went up $12 to $14.50, hunting licenses almost doubled from $7 to $12, and a deer license went from $15 to $25.

A state law passed in 2007 offers some property tax relief by increasing the homestead exemption to $6,000 for 2009 taxes payable this year.

Transportation: The ban on texting while driving is only one of several new transportation-related laws.

As of today, any driver who receives court supervision for violating traffic laws will pay $30 in supervision fees, rather than $20. Another law increases the speed limit for semi truck drivers on interstate highways in rural areas to 65 mph. The law does not apply to rural interstates in Cook and the collar counties.

Metra passengers now can purchase tickets by credit card for no extra fee.

Juvenile crime: The age for misdemeanor cases to be held in juvenile court now is 17 years of age, rather than 16. Juvenile courts now have better access to mental health, substance abuse, and other rehabilitation programs. The new law does not change for juveniles accused of felonies.

Voting: A Senate bill effective today sets standard hours statewide for early voting.

Early voting polling places must remain open for eight hours on weekdays, starting at either 8:30 or 9 a.m., and between 9 a.m. and noon on weekends and holidays. Election authorities in counties with more than 250,000 people and cities with more than 100,000 must keep the polls open for another eight hours on the final weekend of early voting.

Another law requires all voting systems to notify voters if their ballot leaves any races blank, or if they do not vote for statewide offices, such as governor.

Health: All physical fitness facilities must have at least one employee trained in the use of automated external defibrillators on staff during business hours.

Odds and ends: Bowling alleys effective today must place warnings near their entrances advising people not to wear bowling shoes outdoors because it increases the odds of them slipping indoors. Owners who comply are not liable for injuries caused by people who slip because they tracked in a substance from outside.

Effective today, all American flags flying over public property in Illinois have to be made in the U.S.; foreign-made flags can fly until they need to be replaced.

The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers for the 2010 Census. These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement for authorized work-related expenses, such as mileage incurred while conducting census work. Best of all, census takers work right in their own communities.

Census taker jobs are excellent for people who want to work part-time, those who are between jobs, or just about anyone who wants to earn extra money while performing an important service for their community. Click on the link for more information.

WOODSTOCK – The Mc­Hen­ry County Board on Tuesday became the latest Illinois government to ban video gambling.

Board members voted, 13-10 with one abstention, to ban the gaming machines from bars, restaurants and other liquor-serving establishments in unincorporated areas. The county joins Cook, Lake and DuPage counties, as well as at least 30 municipal governments, in banning the machines, which are part of the General Assembly’s plan to pay for the state’s $31 billion capital plan.

The county ban does not apply to municipal governments, which have the power to decide the issue for themselves.

Opponents said that the societal cost of expanded gaming would far outweigh the money that governments would receive. Board member Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills, called video gambling “a sucker’s bet.”

“Supporters of video gambling love the idea of easy money for the state, but they ignore the very real and substantial law enforcement and social service costs,” Yensen said.

No board member spoke in defense of video gambling before the vote, but some urged patience and said that a ban could wait until the Illinois Gaming Board devised the rules for businesses to possess the machines. Board member Marc Munaretto, R-Algonquin, tried to table a vote on the ordinance until March, which board members rejected, 10-13.

“This County Board has a history of making informed decisions, and by acting on this today, we are violating that work ethic,” Munaretto said.

Gov. Pat Quinn in July signed video gambling into law to help pay for just less than 30 percent of the capital bill, but the law allows county and municipal governments to opt out of the funding mechanism. The law allows establishments that serve liquor to have up to five machines. State officials have said that any government that opts out will not lose its projects under the state’s first capital plan in more than a decade.

McHenry County has about $315 million in road, school and other infrastructure improvements under the plan, state Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, has told board members. Major projects include a full Interstate 90-Route 47 interchange, and the long-delayed Algonquin western bypass.

Althoff had pleaded with the board in the past not to rush into a ban. The board’s Liquor and License Committee at first appeared content with an advisory referendum after supporters of video gambling filled an Oct. 7 public hearing, but quickly reconsidered after hearing that the General Assembly would consider removing the opt-out clause during the fall veto session in October. Such legislation did not materialize. County Board members voted Nov. 3 against placing an advisory referendum on the Feb. 2, 2010, primary ballot.

“Ultimately the decision was in the hands of the County Board, and they voted to ban it, and I will respect that decision,” Althoff said.

State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, vehemently opposed video gambling. He released his annual constituent survey Monday, which showed that 61 percent of the 1,000 responding households opposed a video gambling expansion, and 83 percent supported a referendum. Franks commended the County Board “for doing the right thing,” and said video gambling should never have been a funding component of the capital plan.

County residents on both sides of the issue took about 30 minutes before the vote to address board members. Old Rivers Inn owner Bob McDaniel said a ban would hurt his business on Route 14 between Woodstock and Harvard. Crystal Lake resident Chris McSwain, a vice president for coin-operated game machine company A.H. Entertainers, likewise spoke against a ban.

“This county needs roads, bridges, bypasses and schools,” McSwain said. “That’s what this capital plan is all about, and this is what video gaming helps support.”

But McHenry resident Joyce Story was among those who saw it differently.

“It’s not about the capital plan. It’s not about monies coming to our county. It’s about video poker,” Story said. “It’s not about jobs; it’s about addictions.”

Board member Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry, said she would be open to revisiting the ban once the gaming board develops the rules and enforcement procedures. But she said that it will take “a lot more than fancy talk from state legislators” to get her to support video gambling.

The lone abstention came from Randy Donley, R-Union, who was forced to recuse himself because his family owns Donley’s Old West Steakhouse, which has a county liquor license. Donley, who opposes a ban, expressed his frustration over being unable to weigh in on the matter as a restaurant owner.

“I represent a group in this county, and I was totally silenced,” Donley said.

How they voted

The McHenry County Board voted Tuesday, 13-10 with one abstention, to ban video gambling in unincorporated areas.

Voting for the ban were Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary; Sue Draffkorn, R-Wonder Lake; Ed Dvorak, R-Crystal Lake; John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake; James Heisler, R-Crystal Lake; James Kennedy, D-Lake in the Hills; Mary McCann, R-Woodstock; Virginia Peschke, R-Woodstock; Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry; Kathleen Bergan Schmidt, D-Crystal Lake; Ersel Schuster, R-Woodstock; Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake; and Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills.

Voting against the ban were Robert Bless, R-Fox River Grove; Scott Breeden, R-Lakewood; Mary Donner, R-Crystal Lake; Tina Hill, R-Woodstock; Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake; Pete Merkel, R-McHenry; Anna May Miller, R-Cary; Marc Munaretto, R-Algonquin; Lyn Orphal, R-Crystal Lake; and Daniel Ryan, R-Huntley.

Member Randy Donley, R-Union, abstained on the advice of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.