The two women for this year’s Huntley area recognition chosen by MyHuntleyNews.com are Betty Zirk and Lynne Sell.

On May 18, the Cougars will begin a three-game homestand against the Chicago Dogs.  The announcement of the first home game of 2021 brings back the reality of Cougars baseball and offers another activity in helping us return to normalcy.

The Kane County Cougars have not played a game since September 2019.  

State Senator Terri Bryant, a Murphysboro Republican, has introduced SB 0070.  

Maggie Moore has helped and healed others since 2015.

She’s not a doctor but a grief recovery method specialist.

Since COVID-19, demand for Moore’s services has definitely gone up. She’s helped people “from desolation to transformation” as a client once described Moore’s specialty.

In working with a number of clients in this COVID-19 world, Moore has quickly come to understand how COVID has affected our society.

“We have come face-to-face with our own mortality in a different way than perhaps we had historically.  

Second dose?

Maderna vaccine for COVID-19.

Mary Schneider, Michael Postelnick, and Mike Bentley never hesitated in scheduling or receiving their first dose of Moderna vaccine or their second dose about 30 days later.

Schneider is an oncology nurse at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital. Postelnick is an infectious disease and antimicrobial pharmacist at Northwestern Medicine Hospitals in Huntley, McHenry and Woodstock.  Bentley is manager of plant operations at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital.

Schneider, Postelnick, and Bentley agreed to an interview to give their personal story of receiving the primary dose and booster dose, their reasons for getting the vaccine, and what they’ve seen and learned about COVID-19 from their vantage point in their position at Northwestern Medicine.

State Senators Donald DeWitte of St. Charles and Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods are among area lawmakers helping uplift the spirits of long-term care facility residents. They’ve been collecting Valentine’s Day cards for Valentine’s For Seniors Program.

One of the motivating factors for voters in local races is anything affecting their property taxes. So naturally the first question for each of the Assessor candidates is for their response to rising property taxes.

In his analysis of the drawing power of the February 23 Republican Consolidated Primary and the November 3, 2020 presidential election, McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio feels the township races directly affect an individual.

In-person voting in the consolidated primary began January 14. Voters in Algonquin Township, Grafton Township, and Nunda Township have had an opportunity to visit the McHenry County Administration Building Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m.

If you want to know some of the changes about our society in the world of COVID-19 besides the fact we’re wearing a mask, washing our hands more often, and separating ourselves from everyone but our own family, just take a look on garbage day at the curb on your neighbors’ property and you may very well see a lot of cardboard boxes left for recycling.

“So we are doing everything we can to obtain funding,” he said.

Buehler made the announcement after his committee completed reviews of 10 applicants over several weeks.

Illinois Senators have approved House Bill(HB)3563 now before Governor J.B. Pritzker for his signature. In this lame duck session of the legislature, state senators were asked to pass a 764-page amendment in law enforcement and the criminal justice system that was initially HB 163 and although the bill number changed, opponents felt it was the same old bill they had initially opposed.

This year, someone dropped a 1-ounce gold South African Krugerrand into a red kettle. The volunteer bell ringer for the Salvation Army of McHenry County would thank this person as the volunteer did with everyone that donated. None of the volunteers stare at the donation going into the kettle so this bell ringer would have no idea who gave the gold coin.

Watching a Christmas Hallmark movie or volunteer bell ringing are both good ways to spend your time between now and Christmas.

Clients drove up to the distribution site at Grafton Food Pantry. Ford, a board member of the Grafton Food Pantry, described the scene for the people that had stepped forward in their lives to give others a wonderful Thanksgiving.  She told of a volunteer greeting the clients as they stayed in their car. From that moment of anticipation of a client family, Ford explained how a volunteer would carefully load a client’s trunk with a turkey and trimmings and the client would drive away.  

Huntley Travel Managing Owner Bernice Bakley is optimistic about the prospect of a coronavirus vaccine.

“However, there are still so many obstacles for the travel industry to overcome before traveling truly opens up,” Bakley said. “Besides the obvious reasons many people are not currently traveling, the industry is dealing with some media outlets saying it is unethical to recommend travel during the pandemic and insinuating travel advisors would lie about safety to get people to travel couldn’t be farther from the truth,” she said.

The ban on evictions will last through December 31 and while it’s in place, landlords may not evict tenants that do not pay.  Laura Franz, executive director of TLS Veterans, knows that many veterans like most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck right now and hope to hold onto their jobs through the pandemic.