What's ahead for the Fox Valley in 2010?

Looks like 2010 will be an interesting year for communities in Kane and McHenry counties, from taxing bodies grasping for revenue to elected officials facing investigation. In between, there are murder cases to go trial and school boundaries to be redrawn.

Here are 10 stories to watch in the new year:

Kane CountyKane County officials will deal with a budget year that is possibly even tighter than it was in 2009. More budget battles may be on the way, with several elected department officials indicating there's no more room to cut in 2010 without jeopardizing legally mandated services. The budgets expected to receive the most scrutiny once again likely will be those of Sheriff Pat Perez, who has the largest budget of any department in the county, and Kane County Circuit Court Clerk Deb Seyller, who says she never stopped wanting outside legal representation for the negotiation of her budget even after the county decided on her behalf that her budget was no longer a problem in 2009. On the plus side, the county is on schedule to complete one of its largest construction projects ever, the Stearns Road Bridge, near the end of 2010. The county's planning and development department also will see its first year in decades without Phil Bus running the show. Bus retired in 2009, and the department was reorganized to reflect the relative lack of new construction in the poor economy. Officials hope new grant money might be key to jump-starting construction once again.McHenry CountyAs a law enforcement officer for more than four decades, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren is used to dealing with all kinds of difficult situations.Fending for his job, however, is not one of them.That's exactly what's staring down Nygren in 2010 as - for the first time since 1998 - the longtime sheriff faces not one, but possibly two, election challenges.Nygren will spend the next five weeks leading up to the Feb. 2 primary campaigning against employee-turned-rival Zane Seipler for the Republican party nomination for sheriff. Seipler, a deputy for four years until Nygren fired him in 2008, was a thorn in Nygren's side for much of the past 14 months, successfully challenging his dismissal and now suing the sheriff claiming he was wrongfully terminated.If Nygren wins his party's nomination in February, he's likely to face a challenge in the November election from Democrat Mike Mahon. A Lake in the Hills resident, Mahon currently works as an administrator in the Cook County Sheriff's Office.St. CharlesSt. Charles officials will see renewed budget frustrations with projections already indicating a $3 million deficit to address in 2010. New taxes are once again on the table as a one-year wage freeze for employees in 2009 expires and costs rise to meet contractual union raises. The city council will be forced to either find a new income source or spend down more of its savings than staff recommend. To help combat the downturn, the city is expected to keep its focus on bringing new sales tax dollars to its coffers. The progress of the massive First Street development project continued in 2009, with the addition of several new restaurants and retail stores despite the down economy. Officials may look to use federal stimulus money to help push the First Street project and other new development deals forward.The city also will look to begin one of the larger construction projects in recent history: a new bridge over the Fox River at Red Gate Road. The project still has a funding gap that may be difficult to close with renewed opposition from unincorporated St. Charles and Wayne residents on the other side of the river.U-46: U-46 will be changing boundaries next year to be implemented in fall 2011. The last boundary change, in 2004, resulted in a class-action multimillion dollar lawsuit the district is nowhere near done fighting. They were supposed to change one particularly overcrowded school's boundaries earlier, but ended up nixing that plan. Let me know if you have any questions.West DundeeWalmart's plan to close shop in East Dundee and open a Superstore in West Dundee could finally see some resolution in 2010. The proposed Superstore, to be located near Spring Hill Mall, is months behind schedule as the village and the owners of the site, General Growth Properties, remain entangled in a lawsuit filed by a group of residents who are fighting to halt the store's construction. If the project moves ahead, neighboring East Dundee will lose its largest source of sales taxes to West Dundee, which is home to one of the area's largest shopping malls, amid already declining revenues and mounting expenses.Community Unit District 300It's looking to be a year of tough decisions in Community Unit Community Unit District 300, where officials are weighing a whopping $6 million in cuts to balance their next fiscal budget. Administrators say they're considering layoffs, across-the-board salary freezes, furloughs and cutbacks in the district's physical education and kindergarten music programs. The school board is scheduled to review proposals at its Jan. 15 meeting, with a vote to come as early as late February. "It's our best guess at this time that we will have to cut $6 million," Board President Joe Stevens said in December. School officials blame state funding reductions and an $8.6 million debt the state owes the school district for its financial trouble, and say it's subject to change based on how the state legislature starts off 2010. One hurdle in making cuts could be a legal deadline in March for notifying teachers of potential layoffs in the upcoming school year. Union negotiations could still be ongoing at that point, and other proposed cost-saving measures would require additional bargaining.Campton HillsOfficials in Kane County's newest village say they have high expectations for their second police chief. Campton Hills has agreed to hire retired Aurora police commander Daniel Hoffman in 2010 to replace outgoing Chief Greg Anderson, who has run the police department since the village incorporated in 2007. Anderson announced in November that he would resign a year short of his contract with Campton Hills to become police chief of a larger department in suburban Oak Park. He has said Hoffman likely will take over in January. Hoffman was a patrol officer, school resource officer, sergeant and commander at the Aurora Police Department before retiring in July. He's been president of the Aurora Police Pension Fund for six months and also serves on the board at a local homeless shelter. Village President Patsy Smith said Hoffman is well-prepared to lead Campton Hills' department of six full-time and eight part-time officers. "Rarely do you find a person with the combined capabilities in management, interpersonal communications and field experience that Dan brings to the organization," she said.Elgin Area U-46With a dozen schools over capacity, Elgin Area U-46 is expected to begin the delicate task of carving up new school boundaries this year. Recent reports conducted internally and externally identified 12 schools as over capacity by as much as 30 percent. Administrators say they are willing to look at new boundaries but any plan must be decided in the new year to implement it by 2011. "If we're going to make boundary changes for the next school year, that decision has to be made now. And we have to have a process established. This is not a process we want to rush through," district spokesman Tony Sanders said in November. "We don't just look at one year's enrollment. We have to look at it five years out, if enrollment is projected to increase or decrease." The last time the district redrew boundaries was in 2004, and it wasn't cheap. After U-46 made the decision to move to a "neighborhood schools model" - with a majority of students within walking distance of an assigned campus - a group of Elgin families filed suit claiming the it violated black and Hispanic students' constitutional rights. The lawsuit was granted class-action status last August, and so far has cost the district more than $8.2 million in attorney fees.Kane County state's attorney's officeKane County Coroner Chuck West is entering the new year under a cloud of suspicion after prosecutors confirmed they're investigating potential misconduct in his office. State's Attorney John Barsanti, who represents county employees, confirmed in December that he'd enlisted a special prosecutor to investigate undisclosed allegations in West's office. West says the inquiry is politically motivated, and he denies knowledge of any allegations of misconduct in his office. "It's game-playing," said West, who does not plan to seek re-election in 2012. Barsanti said the allegations came to light over the summer, and the special prosecutor was enlisted in October to avoid potential conflicts of interest with the state's attorney's and coroner's offices. Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler also has confirmed the sheriff's office is investigating an alleged Whistleblower Act violation in West's office, but he declined to elaborate.Kane County CourtTwo drivers accused of using their vehicles as murder weapons could have their cases heard in Kane County Circuit Court in 2010. Edward O. Cook, 24, of Aurora, is charged with the murder of 57-year-old Batavia resident David Long, who was struck and killed as he walked his dog on the sidewalk the morning of July 29. Cook has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges alleging he was drunk, under the influence of marijuana and cocaine, and driving a stolen car when he lost control and hit Long and his dog. Also charged with a vehicle-involved murder is Timera D. Branch, 33, of Streamwood, who is accused of running down and killing 17-year-old John Keyes III in Elgin after the teen punched her son in a feud over a girl. Branch has pleaded not guilty to murder charges alleging she crushed Keyes against an apartment building on the 200 block of Center Street. Branch is the only person charged so far, but police continue to investigate reports that her son beat Keyes in the head with a baseball bat after he was run down. Both Branch and Cook are awaiting trial in the county jail on $1 million and $750,000 bonds, respectively. They each return to court Jan. 7.McHenry County CollegeMcHenry County College's revolving door of presidents should close in 2010. Leaders are due to pick a permanent president to replace Kathleen Plinske, the Crystal Lake-based college's fourth interim president since Walter Packard left the post early last year. Plinske, the school's vice president of academic affairs, took over after Larry Tyree, a former community college president in New York, resigned as interim president. Tyree had been hired after two other campus leaders served stints as acting president.True17782000With a map of the proposed development reflected in a window of the Randall Oaks Golf Club, West Dundee zoning commission board member John Brechin listens to a Walmart representative during a hearing on a proposed Super Walmart near Spring Hill Mall in 2008.John Starks | Staff PhotographerTrue