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* Friday, March 1, 2013
pope’S farewell • faith, c1
Sycamore • SportS, B1
Benedict formally ends papacy on tearful day
Seniors bring spunk to student fan section
Sycamore No Olive Garden for DeKalb boy dies in crash Loved ones remember Matthew Ranken, 11 By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
and STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Matthew Ranken always let his 5-year-old cousin, Gavin, play football in the yard when the other kids told him he was too little. That memory was among the stories Ranken’s friends and family shared Thursday, the day after the 11-year-old fifth-grader at North Elementary School in Sycamore died from injuries he suffered in a four-vehicle crash in Kane County. They also remembered him coming home from school to watch “SpongeBob SquarePants” on one TV while playing the “Call of Duty: Black Ops” video game on another. “He was very sweet,” said his aunt, Tammy Dean. His classmates made cards mentioning his good heart and his sense of humor, North Principal Kathy Spiewak said. An avid John Deere and Bears fan, Ranken loved to play football, ride his dirt bike and fish. According to a news release from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Ranken was riding in the back seat of a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by his brother, Nicholas Weber, 21, of Sycamore. They were westbound on Route 64 near Peplow Road about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when they stopped for traffic backed up because of a crash about a mile away. A 1999 Ford Expedition driven by 28-yearold Benjamin Black of Sycamore crashed into the back of the stopped Cavalier, pushing it into a Buick Lucerne, police said. The Lucerne went onto the shoulder and the Cavalier struck a Hyundai, police said. Ranken, Weber and another passenger in the Cavalier were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, where Ranken died, police said. Weber and Teale Noble, 18, of Sycamore, were treated for injuries that were not lifethreatening, police said. Black was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving without insurance, police said. Sycamore School District 427 administrators notified parents of Ranken’s death and had substitute teachers on hand Thursday to relieve any teachers who needed a break. Substitute teachers also allowed North’s two fifth-grade teachers time to focus on helping grieving students, Superintendent Kathy Countryman said.
Matthew Ranken is seen in this photo provided by the family.
Photo provided
Kyle Bursaw – kbursaw@shawmedia.com
The Small’s Furniture City building at 2211 Sycamore Road sits empty Thursday in DeKalb. Plans to bring an Olive Garden restaurant to the space fell through when the chain’s parent company Darden Restaurants pulled out of the project.
Developer abandons plans, incentives for Sycamore Road By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Olive Garden representatives canceled plans to build a restaurant on Sycamore Road without using any of the $900,000 in approved city incentives, city officials said. City officials received notice Thursday morning from Darden Restaurants that the company is abandoning its plans for the shuttered Small’s Furniture City location at 2211 Sycamore Road, DeKalb City Manager Mark Biernacki said. “It’s a reflection of how the economy is not strong on the retail part of the economy,” Biernacki said. “These Mark chains are pulling back not just in DeKalb, but all over Biernacki the country.” DeKalb city The DeKalb location is manager one of 21 planned restaurant sites being abandoned this year. Darden has no interest in bringing Red Lobster or LongHorn Steakhouse to DeKalb either, Biernacki added. The announcement comes on the heels of Caribou Coffee, 2385 Sycamore Road, and Hallmark, 2445 Sycamore Road, closing this week. Deals, 2359 Sycamore Road, is expected to close March 17. “This is one of the things we’re running into with how the economy is,” said Roger Hopkins, the city’s economic development consultant.
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It’s a reflection of how the economy is not strong on the retail part of the economy. These chains are pulling back not just in DeKalb, but all over the country. Mark Biernacki DeKalb city manager
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Voice your opinion What should go in the shuttered Small’s Furniture City location? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle. com.
Despite Old Navy closing a year ago at 2347 Sycamore Road, Hopkins said the city has been fortunate in that no other big-box stores have closed because of the rough economy. City officials had planned to use $900,000 in tax increment financing district money to reimburse Darden Restaurants for reno-
vating the building. The money was to have come from property tax payments associated with increasing property values within the defined special taxing district. Under the plan approved in October, Darden Restaurants had seven years to generate enough sales tax revenue to repay the $900,000. City officials estimated the restaurant would generate $180,000 to $195,000 a year in sales tax and finish the repayment in four or five years. If it failed to do so, Darden would have to repay the balance of the loan within seven years. First Ward Alderman David Jacobson, who joined 5th Ward Alderman Ron Naylor in voting against the incentives, said the city should follow the free market, not try Ron Naylor to dictate it. 5th Ward “As much as the city tries Alderman to use funds irresponsibly to change that, the more obvious it becomes it doesn’t work,” said Jacobson, who also is running to be DeKalb’s mayor. Mayoral candidate Mike Verbic, who also is a DeKalb school board member, said he would not use incentives to attract new businesses at the expense of existing ones. “While I’m supportive of offering our community choices for restaurant retail, I am hesitant to offer incentives to businesses that don’t offer living wages and meaningful benefits,” Verbic said.
See DeKALB, page A4
Tentative contract will pay state workers promised wage hike By JOHN O’CONNOR and SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – Illinois’ largest union and Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration reached a tentative contract agreement Thursday, averting the threat of the first strike by state workers in decades of collective bargaining. The deal means that members of the American Federation of State, County and Mu-
nicipal Employees Council 31 will get promised 2011 pay increases on which the Democratic governor reneged last year, according to a member of AFSCME’s bargaining committee. The member spoke on the condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly about the deal. Neither the governor’s office nor union officials would publicly disclose details of the three-year agreement.
But the bargaining committee member said more than 35,000 union members would get 2 percent salary increases in each of the past two years of the three-year pact after taking a wage freeze in the first year. In return, workers will pay more of their health insurance costs, said the committee member. “AFSCME is very pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that protects our
members’ standard of living, and is fair to them and all Illinois citizens, even in these very challenging economic times,” Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer said in a statement. Spokesman Anders Lindall said AFSCME members, who have been at the table for 15 months, will begin reviewing and discussing the tentative agreement next week.
Gov. Pat Quinn makes a point in his State of the State address Feb. 6 to a joint session of the General Assembly at the State Capitol in Springfield. AP photo
See CONTRACT, page A4
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