Briefs: County seeks candidates for zoning board

The McHenry County Board is accepting applications from people interested in serving on the county's Zoning Board of Appeals through Sept. 1, 2009. The candidate must live in Burton, Coral, Dunham, Grafton, Greenwood, Hartland, Hebron, Marengo, McHenry, Riley or Seneca township. Application forms are available on the county web site, www.co.mchenry.il.us, or at the county administration building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock. Applications are due by 3 p.m. Jan. 8.

Your coats and toys needed

The South Elgin Fire Protection District has teamed up with the Marine Corps Reserve "Toys For Tots" program to help make sure needy children in the area receive a new toy this holiday season. New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off until Dec. 19 at Fire Station 1, 150 W. State St., and Station 2, 2055 McDonald Road. The donation of toys will help less fortunate families in the South Elgin area. In addition to serving as a toy dropoff location, the fire district is again serving as a dropoff site for State Rep. Randy Ramey's annual coat drive. New and gently-used coats for all ages will be collected at both fire stations and distributed to needy families.

Sheriff targets seat-belt violators

McHenry County Sheriff's deputies wrote 143 tickets for seat-belt violations during a 16-day enforcement campaign last months, officials announced.

The initiative, which ran from Nov. 14 through Nov. 30, targeted safety-belt and other traffic offenses as part of an ongoing effort to reduce crashes resulting in serious injuries and death. Deputies also made two driving under the influence arrests and three arrests for driving while license suspended during the campaign. Sheriff's officials say they hope to increase seat-belt usage in the county to at least 93 percent, up from its current level of 90 percent.