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Wednesday, March 6, 2013
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Special on McCullough trial to air By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Sycamore will be in the national spotlight Saturday when CBS airs an hourlong special on the Maria Ridulph murder case that went unsolved for 55 years. The Emmy award-winning, true-crime series “48 Hours” will air an episode titled “Cold as Ice” at 9 p.m. that chronicles the 2012 trial and conviction of Jack D. McCullough in connection with the 1957 kidnapping and murder of Ridulph – a Sycamore girl who was only 7 years
be when Jack’s case gets reversed.” McCullough is challenging the guilty verdict at the appellate court. Others involved in the TV special are concerned about what the editors will focus on. Janey O’Connor, McCullough’s stepdaughter, is worried the production could focus on sexual abuse allegations. McCullough was found not guilty in a separate 2012 trail for the rape of his half sister.
CBS’ hourlong program to feature interview with convict terviews and looks forward to seeing the finished product. He said he hoped the program could aid in his healing process and bring hope to families still looking for anCharles swers about Ridulph loved ones they’ve lost. “It has been helpful, some-
old at the time of her disappearance. The program will include portions of a one-on-one interview with McCullough. The full, unedited interview will be posted on the “48 Hours” website. The CBS crew spent months interviewing the people most closely involved with the case including Charles Ridulph, Maria’s brother. Charles Ridulph said the crew always was friendly and never pressing during in-
times painful, and yet sometimes comforting, to be a part of putting this story together,” Charles Ridulph said. “We are looking forward to seeing how they depict the events and we are hopeful that the show will be true to the facts, many of which were not brought out at the trial because Jack McCullough chose not to present any defense.” DeKalb County Public Defender Tom McCulloch, who represented McCullough, said
it was an interesting process to have the cameras around and credited the crew for its diligence in interviewing as many people as possible. McCulloch said he was unsure if he wanted to watch it and relive the experience, but said the community would likely find a behind-the-scenes look at a 55-year-old cold case interesting. “I may TiVo it,” he said. “Someday I’ll watch it. May-
See 48 HOURS, page A4
NIU panel to interview hopefuls 10 to vie for president before a committee By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Ten candidates will be interviewed this week in closed-door meetings as the search for Northern Illinois University’s next president continues. A 28-member committee will meet with candidates Thursday and Friday at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont for roughly an hour and a half each, asking between 16 to 18 questions of each person. They were selected from a pool of about 48 candidates. “This week represents an important step as we meet each of these excellent candidates in person,” said NIU trustee Robert Boey, who also sits on the search committee. Alan Rosenbaum, co-chairman of the committee and a psychology professor, said the committee expects to narrow the field to four candidates Friday and submit the list to NIU’s Board of Trustees. The board will then review and interview the finalists before making a final decision. The goal is to have a new president ready to begin July 1 as NIU President John Peters announced Oct. 12 that he will retire June 30. Rosenbaum said the process, which started in November, has gone smoothly with the help of search firm Parker Executive Search. Thursday and Friday John Peters could present some challenges NIU president in weighing the opinions of a is set to retire committee that large, he said. June 30 “I think it’s always a challenge with a group this size,” Rosenbaum said. “But I think everyone feels they have had a chance to be heard and an opportunity to participate. People feel it’s been inclusive.” One way each committee member was able to participate was through a confidential online program setup by Parker Executive Search. Members were able to nominate candidates and view a candidate status log that showed people the search firm had contacted and their responses to the opportunity. The search firm then sent the committee a more narrowed recommendation list Feb. 22 with candidate names, letters of interest, a resumé and lists of references. Rosenbaum said he was happy with the diverse group of candidates which included people of different race, gender, ethnicity, geography and experience. “It’s a great list and the committee seems to be working well together,” he said. “I have no doubt we’ll find an excellent person to succeed President Peters.”
SNOW DAY Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
NIU student Maddie Greene laughs before being tackled to the ground Tuesday during a snowball fight outside University Plaza.
DeKalb County finds ways to make best of extreme weather By DAVID THOMAS
More online
dthomas@shaw,edia.com DeKALB – Dan Raih didn’t get a snow day Tuesday. A crew leader in the street operations division for DeKalb Public Works, Raih woke up at 6 a.m. and had been plowing all day. Normally, he works an eight-hour shift, but on snowy days like Tuesday, the shift is extended to 12 hours. “Whenever it starts, it doesn’t matter – whenever it starts,” Raih said. “If it’s going to snow for a long duration, we try to rotate through to keep the guys
To watch a video or view a photo gallery from Tuesday’s snowstorm, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.
NIU students participate in a snowball fight. fresh. ... You come in when it starts.” Raih and his colleagues
should have a much better day today. Gilbert Sebenste, the staff meteorologist at
Northern Illinois University, said heavy snowfall was expected to end Tuesday evening, and wind gusts were expected to die down later Tuesday night. “There will be a lot of snow on the side of the road, or the sidewalks,” Sebenste said. “And tomorrow afternoon, the sun should appear.”
See SNOW DAY, page A3
Dow hits record, erasing Great Recession losses By BERNARD CONDON The Associated Press NEW YORK – The stock market is back. Five and a half years after the start of a frightening drop that erased $11 trillion from stock portfolios and made investors despair of ever getting their money back, the Dow Jones industrial average has regained all the losses suffered during the Great Recession and
reached a new high. The bluechip index rose 125.95 points Tuesday and closed at 14,253.77, topping the previous record of 14,164.53 on Oct. 9, 2007, by 89.24 points. “It signals that things are getting back to normal,” said Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, a brokerage. “Unemployment is too high, economic growth too sluggish, but stocks are anticipating improvement.”
The new record suggests that investors who did not panic and sell their stocks in the 2008-2009 financial crisis have fully recovered. Those who have reinvested dividends or added to their holdings have done even better. Since bottoming at 6,547.05 on March 9, 2009, the Dow has risen 7,706.72 points or 118 percent. The Dow record does not include the impact of inflation. Adjusted for that, the Dow would have to reach 15,502 to
match its old record, according to JPMorgan Chase. The Standard and Poor’s 500, a broader index, closed at 1,539.79, 25.36 points from its record. The last time the Dow hit a record, George W. Bush still had another year as president, Apple had just sold its first iPhone, and Lehman Brothers was still in business.
See DOW RECORD, page A4
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