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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
GUAC ATTACK
BOYS PREP HOOPS
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Tommy Lucca
Residents welcome warmer weather
DeKALB PUBLIC LIBRARY
Building support for expansion
Unofficial record set; big change moving in By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com
Kyle Bursaw – kbursaw@shawmedia.com
DeKalb Public Library employees Patrick Smith (left) and Josh McCarthy roll up plans Thursday for the library’s expansion. The plans were on the wall from a meeting earlier in the week.
Residents, aldermen discuss tax increase for facility’s plans By DAVID THOMAS
DeKALB – It’s not unusual to find Ken Doubler teeing off at River Heights Golf Course in DeKalb on a Tuesday morning. But it’s rare to see him doing so in January. Before sunrise, Tuesday’s temperatures tied the record high of 50 degrees for Jan. 29 set in 1974. According to Northern Illinois University meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste, DeKalb unofficially reached a recordsetting high of 59 degrees Tuesday. Doubler is an avid golfer who plays at River Heights Golf Course at 1020 Sharon Drive as often as five days a week when weather permits. He couldn’t resist the idea of playing in such warm temperatures in January. “I wanted to get a few holes in today,” he said. “Just to say I played.” Despite Tuesday’s higher temperatures, Sebenste said the coming days will bring more familiar weather for this time of year, as he expects a
dthomas@shawmedia.com
Monday High: 43 Low: 33 Tuesday High: 60 Low: 40 Today’s forecast High: 36 Low: 10 Windy and cloudy with rain changing to snow
Accuweather.com
See WEATHER, page A3
D
eKALB – Northern Illinois University student Tonnie Adams understands why DeKalb Public Library leaders want to expand the historical building. She often brings her five children, who range in age from 6 to 13 years old, to the library to borrow books for school or movies to watch. “Sometimes I don’t have a table to sit at or have Internet use,” said Adams, who is studying community leadership and civic engagement. DeKalb library leaders asked the DeKalb City Council on Monday if it would consider borrowing $7.5 million for the $24 million construction project, which would add 47,000 square feet to the 19,000-square-foot building at 309 Oak St. Library leaders need to secure $15.5 million by June 1 to qualify for an $8.5 million state construction grant they were offered last month. Second Ward Alderman Tom Teresinski compared the library expansion to the police station, for which the city also borrowed. “We spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to find a way to finance a police station with little to no impact to the community,” Teresinski said. “Working together, hopefully we can find a way to minimize this potential tax increase
Weather by the numbers
Obama outlines new immigration plans in speech The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyle Bursaw – kbursaw@shawmedia.com
DeKalb Public Library employee Emily Gron (right) chats with members of Stitch Niche on Thursday, a crochet club that meets twice a month in the conference room at the library. and still get the job done.” If the library plan ultimately is approved, the city would borrow $7.5 million, which would be repaid by adding 8 cents per $100 of assessed value to residents’ property tax bills for 20 years. City officials have equated this increase to an additional $40 a year on someone who owns a home with an assessed value of
$150,000. Aside from the bond sale, library leaders also want to use $1 million in library reserves, raise $6 million from private donors, and use $1 million in tax increment financing funds. The library building is in a TIF district.
See LIBRARY, page A7
LAS VEGAS – Declaring “now is the time” to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined broad proposals for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders. He hailed a bipartisan Senate group on a similar track but left unresolved key details that could derail the complex and emotional effort. Potential Senate roadblocks center on how to structure the
President Barack Obama spoke about immigration to a crowd Tuesday at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas.
See OBAMA, page A7
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