For the most part, when they did look ahead, the forecast wasn’t clear or balmy.

On Coral Street, glancing through his front windows and imagining the patio filled with diners seated at tables below umbrella propane heaters, BBQ King general manager Collin Beck finally shook his head.

While teachers will teach in front of webcams and Zoom screens in classrooms empty of students, parents told MyHuntleyNews.com they will rely on their siblings, their own parents and in-laws, cousins, groups of rotating neighbors, other government programs, juggling schedules with their spouses or partners, and hiring strangers to keep their kids focused on remote learning programs while the parents attempt to bring needed income back to their households.

Young users have been drawn away from a spring and summer of video games, YouTube, Instagram, a loop of cartoons and super-hero movies, or relationships based on an endless texting thread. Some may have been reading books.

Zoom, Google Hangouts, or any other group conferencing software just added a new use to virtual meetings among coronavirus shut-in adults with millions of students from kindergarten through college rejoining their classmates and teachers by jumping into the deep end of virtual learning.

Paid for through federal highway safety funds administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, the department began a high-visibility “drive sober or get pulled over” enforcement campaign, according to a news release. The increased partolling started Aug. 20 and runs through Sept. 8.

“While celebrations marking the last days of summer may look different this year than in times past, the potential remains for an increase in the number of impaired drivers on the roads,” Deputy Chief Michael Klunk said in the release.

The school district purchased electrostatic cleaning machines that will spray chemicals designed to kill the coronavirus. The electrostatic feature of the gear makes the disinfectants cling to all sides of surfaces like lint clings to a woolen sweater.

And while students won’t be crowding cafeterias any time soon, the machines will be used to battle COVID-19 as teachers return to the building, according to Dan Armstrong, District 158 communications director.

In a special session called by Board Chairman Jack Franks, board members heard “stories from the trenches,” as Franks put it. The most shocking story may have come from Jim McConoughey, president of the McHenry County Economic Development Commission.

“About 26.5% of our small businesses in the county are closed,” McConoughey said, citing a survey of business banking activity conducted by Womply, a software and data firm specializing in small businesses.

The Huntley Red Raiders football team was sidelined a week earlier when the Illinois High School Association announced that football would be moved to the spring. Left for the fall season were sports that allowed for greater social distancing: cross country, golf, girls tennis, and girls swimming.

The Huntley Park District is offering students in kindergarten through eighth grade Remote Learning Camp, starting Aug. 21, the same day that remote learning begins for District 158 students. The camp is organized by grade in groups that won’t exceed 15 students per room at the Park District’s recreation center.

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