75 cents
Breaking news at Daily-Chronicle.com
Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Monday, February 11, 2013 Kylie, 8, with father, Chris Eskew
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
AROUND DeKALB COUNTY
DeKalb gears up for another long playoff run Sports, B1
Dads, daughters dance at Sycamore, Genoa events Local, A3
DeKalb’s Rachel Torres
Mayoral race turns to business DeKalb city candidates talk development, outsourcing By DAVID THOMAS
Mark Biernacki DeKalb city manager recently presented city leaders data showing what city government has accomplished in the past five years.
dthomas@shawmedia.com
DeKALB – In the past five years, nine new businesses have been developed in downtown DeKalb. Eighteen new businesses have been developed along Sycamore Road, along with nine along Lincoln Highway and five along Annie Glidden Road. During the same time, the city’s overall equalized assessed property value has dipped about 10 percent from $645 million to $582 mil-
lion. Meanwhile, the city increased its general fund savings from $21,869 in 2010 to a projected $5 million, or about 17 percent of annual expenses
in 2013. Overall, city staff was reduced from 237 full-time equivalent positions in 2009 to 211 this year. These were some of the data and accomplishments City Manager Mark Biernacki recently presented city leaders to give a broad perspective of city government over the past five years. The four candidates seeking to lead DeKalb for the next four years applauded those accomplishments – but they think more work is needed. Both Mike Verbic, DeKalb school
board member, and David Jacobson, First Ward alderman, voiced concerned about the number of empty storefronts in downtown DeKalb and elsewhere. Verbic and Jacobson are facing former Re:New DeKalb executive director Jennifer Groce and Re:New DeKalb secretary John Rey in the April election. Mayor Kris Povlsen is not seeking re-election. The progress report lists only one
See CANDIDATES, page A5
WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW
Ready for the spotlight
In the past five years... n The city’s general fund balance rose from $416,652 in fiscal year 2009 to $5 million. n The number of city employees dropped from 237 to 211 people. n The number of public safety employees dropped from 145 to 143 people. n The city’s bond rating was upgraded from AA3 to AA2, with the negative outlook expected to be removed. n City leaders outsourced services to save $108,777 a year. n Overall equalized assessed property valued dropped about 10 percent, from $645 million to $582 million.
Obama springs to life in 2nd term Turns frequently to executive power By CALVIN WOODWARD and RICHARD LARDNER The Associated Press
Photos by Erik Anderson – For the Daily Chronicle
Local dog handler and veterinarian Lynn Kullman holds a treat in her hand and waits for Gatlin to “stay” while at her house in Cortland on Friday.
Local resident and her dog will compete in New York By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com CORTLAND – One Cortland resident is steps away from taking center stage with her dog at Madison Square Garden on national TV. Lynn Kullman and her dog, Gatlin, will compete Tuesday in New York for a finalist spot at the 137th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show later that night, which will be broadcast live from Madi-
How to watch • The breed shows, which Kullman will compete in Tuesday, will be broadcast live online at www.westminsterkennelclub.org. • The competition for the sporting, working and terrier groups, followed by Best in Show, will be broadcast from 7 to 11 p.m. Tuesday on USA Network.
son Square Garden on the USA network. Kullman, a veterinarian technician at an animal clinic in Naperville, has been an amateur dog handler for years but never reached the most famous competition until teaming up with her Gordon setter. The Gordon setter is similar to the more well-known Irish setter, Kullman said, but black and tan like a Doberman instead of red.
See WESTMINSTER, page A5
Voice your opinion Gatlin runs through the snow to owner Kullman in her backyard Friday.
What is your favorite dog breed? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
WASHINGTON – This is what “Forward” looks like. Fast forward, even. President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan is springing to life in a surge of executive directives and agency rule-making that touch many of the affairs of government. They are shaping the cost and quality of health plans, the contents of the school cafeteria, the front lines of future combat, the price of coal. They are the leading edge of Obama’s ambition to take on climate change in ways that may be unachievable in legislation. Since Obama’s re-election, regulations giving force and detail to his health care law have gushed out by the hundreds of pages. To some extent this was inevitable: The law is far-reaching and its most consequential deadlines are fast approaching. The rules are much more than fine print, however, and they would have thickened the storm over the health care overhaul if placed on the radar in last year’s presidential campaign. Regulations give teeth and specificity to laws and are essential to their functioning even as they create bureaucratic bloat. Congressskirting executive orders and similar presidential directives are less numerous and generally have less reach than laws. But every president uses them and often tests how far they can go, especially in times of war and other crises. President Harry Truman signed an executive order in 1952 directing the Commerce Department to take over the steel industry to ensure U.S. troops fighting in Korea were kept supplied with weapons and ammunition. The Supreme Court struck it down. Other significant actions have stood. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an order in February 1942 to relocate more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast to internment camps after Japan’s attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base. Decades later, Congress passed legislation apologizing and providing $20,000 to each person who was interned.
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3-5 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A5 A7 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
B5 B6 B7-8
High:
36
Low:
23