Wild giving Hawks all they can handle through four games
SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
Sports, C5
$1.50
BEARS SIGN NIU QB • SPORTS, C1
USA WEEKEND • INSIDE
Musick: Lynch prepared to Bear Down in Chicago
Christina Applegate talks about joys of motherhood
Teachers: D-155 vote broke law Union files Open Meetings Act violation against board By JEFF ENGELHARDT
“Our members are just looking for this school board to be open and honest with the public and with us. We seem to miss that frequently. Why would you approve the superintendent contract without financial terms? What’s the purpose of that vote?”
jengelhardt@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Latenight agreements to give potential administrative raises and extend the superintendent’s contract have spurred the Community High School District 155 teachers’ union to file an Open Meetings Act violation complaint with the Illinois Attorney General. After their February board meeting, District 155 board members went into closed session for a second time at 9:45 p.m. before returning to open session at 10:15 p.m. to approve superintendent Johnnie Thomas’ recommendation to budget increases for administrative salaries in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The vote received unanimous approval. The board then returned to closed session before return-
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Shelley Simonton (left), 42, of Woodstock and her two children, Jack, 7, and Chase, 10, play on the jungle gym Thursday at Emricson Park in Woodstock. Simonton has had three heart attacks within the past seven years.
Distress in a mother’s heart
Justin Hubly
ing again to open session at 10:40 p.m. when it approved a three-year extension on
See D-155, page A10
Nigerian president refuses help in search More than 300 schoolgirls taken by extremist group By MICHELLE FAUL The Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria – The president of Nigeria for weeks refused international help to search for more than 300 girls abducted from a school by Islamic extremists, one in a series of missteps that have led to growing international outrage against the government. The United Kingdom, Nigeria’s former colonizer, first said it was ready to help in a news release the day after the mass abduction on April 15, and made a formal offer
Diagnosed with SCAD in 2012, Shelley Simonton fights through uncertainty of rare disorder
District 155 teachers’ union leader
of assistance on April 18, according to the British Foreign Office. And the U.S. has said its embassy and staff agencies offered help and were in touch with Nigeria “from day one” of the crisis, according to Secretary of State John Kerry. Yet it was only on Tuesday and Wednesday, almost a month later, that President Goodluck Jonathan accepted help from the United States, Britain, France and China. The delay underlines what has been a major problem in the attempt to find the girls: an apparent lack of urgency on the part of the government and military, for reasons that include a reluctance to bring in outsiders as well as possible
By SHAWN SHINNEMAN // sshinneman@shawmedia.com
U
ncommon and under-diagnosed. That’s how an expert now describes the heart disorder that has afflicted Shelley Simonton of Woodstock. In technical terms, it is spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Shortened: SCAD. It is, to some, a killer. To others, it comes once, wreaks havoc, departs quietly. For Simonton, SCAD is the cause of three heart attacks and many more scares. It’s why Simonton, 42, mother to a young girl and younger boy, has recorded the videos. Just in case.
First incident Early in 2007, she started having stiffness in her neck and jaw. When the symptoms worsened while she was at school, teaching her seventh-graders at Northwood Middle School, Simonton walked herself to the school nurse. Her mind flashed to her grandpa, who had died of a heart attack in part because he’d stubbornly refused his wife’s insistence on calling an ambulance. The nurse felt a “thready” pulse,
More inside Five families with triplets share a glimpse into their lives and offer different Mother’s Day stories. Planit Style, 8
meaning it was tough to perceive, and called for an ambulance. In the doctor’s office, the EKG and an initial cardiac enzyme panel – a test checking for heightened enzyme or protein levels, which can signify
CRYSTAL LAKE
COMMUNITY BANKS LOOKING TO LEND Lenders are slowly easing the standards needed to score a home mortgage, a trend that – coupled with down-payment incentive programs – is opening the market to more buyers, local bankers say. Some banks also will now allow borrowers to put gift funds from a family member or nonprofit group toward the home. For more, see page D1.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
LOW
77 62 Complete forecast on A12
a heart attack – showed nothing irregular. Simonton was almost sent home, except that, given her family history, the doctor decided to opt for a second cardiac enzyme test, which turned up elevated enzyme levels. She was transferred from Centegra Hospital – Woodstock to Centegra Hospital – McHenry, where doctors ran tests and determined that a spasm had caused her coronary artery to close.
See HEART, page A9
See NIGERIA, page A10
LOCALLY SPEAKING
HIGH
Simonton plays with Jack on Thursday on the jungle gym. After her second heart attack she found out it was caused by a rare tear in one of her coronary arteries, a condition called spontaneous coronary artery dissection.
“God every could no t be wh creat ere and so ed mo thers he Hap .”
py Mot her’s D ay!
CRYSTAL LAKE: Hundreds of graduates from MCC’s Class of 2014 celebrate their achievement. Local, B1 adno=0276241
Where to find it Business Classified Crossword
D1-4 E1-6 E3
Local&Region B1-8 Lottery A2 Obituaries B5-7
Opinion A11 Planit Style Inside Sports C1-12
Althoff Industries (815) 455-7000 Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing and Electrical Lic #055-001101