Why is the Northwest Herald silent on Local 150 reply brief that contains false allegation – Were they put in their place?

McHenry Co. (ECWd) –

Where is the local reporting?

The Plaintiff, James Sweeney, Union 150, and AFL-CIO filed this Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Counterclaim on June 26th, 2018.  Contained in that brief is an allegation that got our attention in light of a recent hearing on this case.

“As of this date, Gasser has not filed a response in opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Dismiss, nor has he moved to vacate or modify the Order entered on April 18th.”

“As of this date”, would be the date of their filing, June 26th, 2018.

Their Conclusion asked the court for the following:

“Court should dismiss Gasser’s Second Amended Counterclaim with prejudice and grant Local 150’s Motion to Compel Arbitration.”

The court did not dismiss Gasser’s Second Amended Counterclaim with prejudice, thus they lost that round in their attempt to have the case thrown out.  What actually happened?

The truth from the Judge:

This cause coming on to be heard on motion of Local 150 to dismiss the Amended counter-claim, the court fully advised in the premises, the court taking notice of the timely filed response brief and reply filed by local 150 contending otherwise, the court orders as follows:
1) the court examining Defendant’s 6/12/2018 filing contains a timely filed stamp of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of McHenry County.
2) Local 150 is granted leave to file an amended reply on or before 8/14/18.
3) Hearing on Local 150’s motion to dismiss is reset to 8/21/18 at 2:30 pm in T511 in Waukegan Il.

Based on communication the Algonquin Township Road District Attorney had with the local reporter, Ed Komenda, and his Editors at the Northwest Herald, Komenda allegedly published to third parties false statements pertaining to this matter.

“It has come to my attention that you have once again sought to malign me.  As relayed to me, you, in your capacity as a reporter/Agent for the Northwest Herald, have published to third parties false statements that I billed Algonquin Township Road District for work related to the response I filed on 6/12/18.  Yet you alleged that I had not completed nor filed on behalf of the Algonquin Township Road District that responsive pleading.   Please see the attached court record with the file date stamp of 6/12/2018 that you referenced as part of your disparaging statements.” – Rob Hanlon

We find it most telling, considering the history of reporting on Algonquin Township matters, there was nothing published regarding this false allegation in the Union’s filing.  If Komenda was telling people Hanlon had not filed on behalf of his client, as similarly alleged in the Union filing, is it fair to ask why there was no reporting on the truth of the matter after he was informed?  Would such reporting bring a negative light to the Union case?  Or better yet, was it too difficult to verify if the Union’s claim was true or not?

Anyone can see by reading the first page of the filing, Hanlon did, in fact, file with the Court on June 12, 2018.    It might do some people good to read the entire filing as it clearly sheds some light on the case that the local paper is not covering.

As Hanlon informed the local reporter and his Editors, his filing was, as a matter of fact, filed properly and timely to include proof of service.  With all the facts laid out on the table, it points to the Union’s filing as being false as it relates to their allegation Hanlon did not file a response.

One can only wonder why a false claim in a court filing is not newsworthy for the Northwest Herald?

Below is the communication sent to the Ed Komenda and the Editors of the Northwest Herald.  It appears Hanlon gave them a wake-up call, that in our opinion was long overdue.

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