Bv Ktuurutv Pont

kpohl@dailyherald.com
ose arcade-type games that
use joysticks to maneuver a claw
or crane typically grab at stued
animals and plastic toys.
On Tuesday, authorities discov-
ered a game with a dierent kind
of prize: 172 pounds of cannabis
with a street value of approxi-
mately $175,000.
Palatine police arrested and
charged 24-year-old Las Vegas
resident Kevin Dixon with unlaw-
ful cannabis tracking, unlaw-
ful possession of cannabis and
unlawful possession with intent to
deliver cannabis.
According to a police statement,
members of the Drug Enforce-
ment Administration informed
the Palatine Police Department
they had been investigating possi-
ble drug activity originating in Ari-
zona and headed to Palatine.
Palatine Deputy Police Chief
Alan Stoeckel said the crated
game arrived in the parking lot
of a business on the 300 block of
North Eric Drive.
Ocers and DEA agents inter-
cepted the shipment and arrested
Dixon, of the 5000 block of South
Torrey Pines Drive in Las Vegas.
A search revealed the cannabis
hidden inside the bottom of the
game.
Dixon appeared at a bond
hearing in Rolling Meadows on
Wednesday. A Cook County judge
set his bond at $250,000. He must
post 10 percent to be released.
It was unclear Wednesday what
Dixon was planning to do with the
drug, police said.
Stoeckel said the investiga-
tion continues. A call Wednesday
to the Chicago oce of the DEA
wasnt returned.
Police: Cannabis found in game
Fest vaI memer es
Check out our expanded photo
coverage of summer festivals at
dail]herald.com/galleries/festivals
|I yo0 spot someooe yo0 koow,
yo0 cao b0y the photo oo||oe!
Fest vaI memer esI
Check out our expanded photo coverage of summer
festivals at dail]herald.com/galleries/festivals. |I yo0 spot
someooe yo0 koow, yo0 cao b0y the photo oo||oe!
Check out our
photo coverage
of summer
festivals at
dail]herald.com/
galleries/festivals.
|I yo0 spot
someooe yo0 koow,
yo0 cao b0y the
photo oo||oe!
Fest vaI
memer esI
DAILY HERALD SECTION 1 PAGE 3
C
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2009
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Readers comments at dailyherald.com
Labor strife comes to Fox Lake as cops, village trade barbs
dh
The union cops sound selsh and
greedy to let 4 of their own men go so
they could get their 5% this year. The
economy has been horrible this year
and they still want a raise. Absolutely
nobody is getting a raise this year,
anywhere. They should be grateful they
still have jobs!!! posted by dara
And yet again, a Village playing hypocrite. They wanted the Ofcers to give in and
modify their contract to the benet of the village but would not concede anything
to the ofcers. posted by changeman
I cant believe they laid off 4 full-time police ofcers in this town that is already
way over-worked and under-staffed in regards to the police department...if I were
a resident of Fox Lake Id either be moving out or arming myself to the teeth to
deter any criminals from entering my property... posted by ectrip8
Bv Ktuurutv Pont
kpohl@dailyherald.com
School ocials in Palatine
Township Elementary Dis-
trict 15 will spend the upcom-
ing months discussing cost-
cutting measures to prevent
healthy reserves from rapidly
depleting.
e districts education fund
balance stands at more than
$27 million right now, but
drops to $23.3 million in the
2010-11 school year and $17
million in 2011-12 if the cur-
rent spending plan remains
unchanged.
By 2013-14, the education
fund balance is projected to
be $10.9 million a con-
cern for Merilee McCracken,
interim assistant superinten-
dent for business and auxiliary
services.
When you have an inad-
equate fund balance, youre
just putting out res and
unable to look at situations
in a proactive manner, said
McCracken, hired following
Rebecca Allards recent res-
ignation. ats not how you
want to operate.
Flat revenue, a consumer
price index increase of 0.1
in 2008 thats curtailed the
amount of property tax the
district can levy under state
law and the three-year con-
tract District 15 reached in
June with its teachers union
are all contributors to the dra-
matic decline.
Still, Superintendent Dan
Lukich said the district would
be hurting even more had the
Classroom Teachers Council
not agreed to smaller base sal-
ary raises than ocials origi-
nally projected.
It could be much worse,
Lukich said. Far better agree-
ments were reached than we
anticipated.
e deal, which goes into
eect Saturday, oers base
salary raises of 0.75 percent
in the rst year, 1.9 percent in
the second year and 1.45 per-
cent in the third year. Ocials
drafted a ve-year nancial
plan assuming 2.13 percent
base salary raises. Teachers
also get step raises based on
years of service.
Beginning this fall, Lukich
said discussions will have to
start on ways to reduce expen-
ditures and retain the fund
balance.
He said the top priority is
avoiding cuts to the educa-
tional program.
About 70 percent of the
$147 million budget is allotted
for educational expenditures,
as opposed to maintenance,
transportation and other
funds.
Lukich said ocials will
have to look at limiting trans-
portation service. e district
may also be forced to cut sta,
though Lukich and McCracken
said they hope most reduc-
tions occur through attrition.
Less sta is an inevitabil-
ity, as 2008-09 as enrollment
dropped for the seventh con-
secutive year, according to the
districts nancial report card.
And a demographic study of
the area projects the district
the third largest elementary
district in the state with about
12,200 students will lose
between 100 and 150 students
annually over the next decade.
e studys worst-case sce-
nario predicted fewer than
10,000 students will attend
District 15 schools 10 years
from now, while the most
optimistic forecast estimates
11,600 students.
Despite the dicult deci-
sions ahead, taxpayers can
rest assured for now, at least
that no referendum is in the
works to seek more money.
Not only are there no plans,
theres no discussion, Lukich
said. Not in this economy.
Dist. 15 discussing cutbacks
to keep reserve fund intact
Bv Attssn GuorNtNcru
agroeninger@dailyherald.com
A 33-year-old man was in
critical condition at Advocate
Lutheran General Hospital
Wednesday after losing con-
trol of his motorcycle Tuesday
evening in Schaumburg.
Joshua Kuhl of Machesney
Park, near Rockford, was trav-
eling southbound on I-290/
Route 53 when he entered
the ramp to I-90 west and lost
control just before 5 p.m., Illi-
nois State Police Master Sgt.
Lance Powell said.
Kuhl, the father of one-
year-old triplets, was ung
to the ramp from westbound
I-90 to southbound I-290/
Route 53. He was wearing a
helmet.
Jammie Meyer of Elk Grove
Village, an aquatics supervi-
sor for the Bloomingdale Park
District who trains lifeguards
in CPR, happened to be driv-
ing past and was the rst on
the scene to administer CPR.
She said Kuhl had no pulse
when she arrived but she and
a state trooper who showed
up a few minutes later were
able to resuscitate him three
times.
He went in and out and in
and out the whole time, she
said.
e trooper, Tyrone White,
has only been on the job a
few months and this was his
rst experience in saving a
life. White and Meyer were
then joined by o-duty Cook
County sheris deputy Ruben
Archilla, who also came upon
the scene and stopped.
God put me in the right
place at the right time, he
said.
White said it was tting that
he, a rookie, and Archilla, a
30-year veteran who plans to
retire in October, worked side
by side to help the victim, sort
of a changing-of-the-guard.
is was not Archillas rst
lifesaving experience.
In 2001, he received awards
for saving a 4-year-old girl
from drowning after she wan-
dered into his pool, despite it
being properly secured.
In 2003, Archilla stopped
to pull a woman and a young
boy out of a car that had
ipped several times in a
crash on I-90 in Des Plaines.
ough he was also o-
duty then, Archilla said each
time he was simply using the
skills he acquired through his
sheris department training.
I like to think I made a dif-
ference in my 30-year career
... knowing that you gave that
person a chance to make
something of themselves and
live a long life, he said.
Archilla called White and
Meyer the real heroes and
also credited another civilian
who stopped to help, saying
the world needs more people
like them.
eres no doubt in my
mind that they were instru-
mental in helping save this
mans life, he said. (White)
did not give up on this
victim.
Eric Johnston of Rolling
Meadows, another passer-
by who stopped, said it was
just amazing to see what
these guys did to try to help
Kuhl. People were cheering
them on. It was like watching
a movie.
Kuhl is the father of identi-
cal triplets whose May 2008
birth was widely covered in
the Rockford media because
they had a rare complication.
Meyer said she went to the
hospital later Tuesday to visit
with Kuhls wife, who thanked
her for her help.
A woman who identied
herself as Kuhls mother-in-
law said shes caring for the
triplets while her husband
accompanied their daugh-
ter to be with Kuhl at the hos-
pital. She said the family was
coping and was just waiting
for news on his condition.
Archilla said he hopes Kuhl
is able to watch the triplets
grow up.
You can never prepare
yourself for something like
this, Archilla said, and you
can never get used to some-
thing like this.
Triplets father injured
in motorcycle accident
Kevin Dixon
Man in critical condition after motorist, ofcers performed CPR
Speed crackdown in Arlington:
Arlington Heights police
have begun their latest cam-
paign against speeding, using
IDOT grant money for extra
enforcement. e current
campaign runs through Aug.
22 and focuses on four inter-
sections chosen based on
crash data: Arlington Heights
Road at Central Road, Pal-
atine Road at Rand Road,
Arlington Heights at Palatine
Road and Arlington Heights
at Euclid Avenue. During an
earlier campaign that ran
from June 28 to July 25, 300
tickets were issued for speed-
ing violations, two for driv-
ing with a suspended license
and four for driving without
proof of insurance. Since the
inception of the speed grant
in April, 1,205 citations have
been issued for speeding.
Enforcement eorts are being
conducted primarily during
weekday morning and eve-
ning rush periods.
Independent candidate in 56th:
Marilyn Siegfried of Schaum-
burg has announced her
intention to run as an inde-
pendent for the 56th Dis-
trict state House seat cur-
rently held by Schaumburg
Democrat Paul Froehlich.
e 69-year-old Siegfried,
whos never sought elected
oce before, said shes a reg-
istered Republican who has
supported Froehlich before
and after his switch to the
Democratic party. Froehlich
recently announced he wont
seek another term. Schaum-
burg Township Republicans
have endorsed 28-year-old
Ryan Higgins of Schaum-
burg in next springs pri-
mary. Schaumburg Township
Democrats have not yet
announced a candidate. e
general election will be held in
November 2010.
Bartlett Night Out changes:

Bartlett has made some slight
adjustments to its National
Night Out lineup for Tuesday,
Aug. 4. For Tuesdays picnic in
the park in Bartlett Park, the
K-9 Friz B Crew will perform
at 5:30 and 7 p.m. e Hyper
Dogs will not appear. e
changes are not reected in a
preview of Night Out events
appearing in todays Neigh-
bor section, as the changes
were announced after that
section went to press. Bar-
tletts award-winning, multi-
day Night Out event kicks o
tonight with a 7 p.m. con-
cert at Bartlett Park. For a full
schedule, go to village.bartlett.
il.us.
Northwest suburbs in 60 seconds
MARK WE L S H/ mwel sh@dai l yheral d. com
Music lovers
watch and
listen as Jan
Paul Varney,
music director
and conduc-
tor, leads The
Marriage of
Figaro Over-
ture by Mozart
as the Summer
Serenade kicks
off at the
Fred Hall
Amphitheater
in Palatine on
Wednesday
night.
Sounds of summer