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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Friday, March 15, 2013
SYCAMORE • LOCAL, A3
PREP BASEBALL • SPORTS, B1
Math and pie go hand in hand at library event
Hawks look to Corn to lead quest for first regional title
Unemployment jump is seasonal Unemployment rates January’s unemployment rates for DeKalb County and neighboring counties: 12.8% 12.7% Winnebago
9.7% McHenry
Lee
9% LaSalle
5
11.1% Kendall
10
9.6%
13.5%
10.6%
Ogle
14.6%
15
Kane
The county ended its streak of posting monthly unemployment rates that were better year over year: January 2012’s unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. However, Kelewitz noted that the county’s labor force, number of employed workers, and unemployed workers have all increased over a year ago. People who are not
Boone
shopping.” Kelewitz added that a similar scenario happens with construction jobs, as more layoffs occur when the weather gets colder. Norm Walzer, a senior research fellow at Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies, also speculated that the winter break at NIU could have a seasonal effect on employment numbers.
DeKalb
DeKALB – The end of the Christmas shopping season and decreased construction could be two of the reasons for the nearly 2 percentage-point jump in DeKalb County’s unemployment rate, employment analysts said. DeKalb County’s unemployment rate went from
7.7 percent in December to 9.6 percent in January, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. “That’s what occurs because of seasonal patterns,” said IDES analyst Norman Kelewitz. “People are working in stores and [then] they are no longer working in stores because people are finished with their Christmas
Percent
By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com
Counties
See UNEMPLOYMENT, page A4
Obama’s tone gets Senate criticism
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
Requests target hot-button issues
By DAVID ESPO The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Polite yet firm, Senate Republicans told President Barack Obama on Thursday to tone down his political attacks and prod Democratic allies to support controversial changes in Medicare if he wants a compromise reducing deficits and providing stability to federal benefit programs. Participants at a 90-minute closed-door meeting said Obama acknowledged the point without yielding ground – and noted that Republicans criticize him freely. Barack “To quote an Obama old Chicago politician, ‘Politics ain’t beanbag,’ ” the president said. The discussion came as Obama wrapped up a highly publicized round of meetings with rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties and both houses of Congress in hopes of building support for a second-term agenda of deficit reduction, immigration overhaul and gun control. Obama met separately with Senate Republicans and House Democrats as legislation to lock in $85 billion in spending cuts and avert a government shutdown March 27 made plodding progress. Separately the two parties advanced rival longer-term budgets in both houses. No breakthroughs had been anticipated and none was reported in the closeddoor sessions, although Obama told reporters before returning to the White House, “We’re making progress.” In the Senate, several Republicans told the president his rhetoric was not conducive to compromise. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said the message to Obama had been: “Step one is to work with us, not just heckle and taunt us on the campaign trail, and step two is to lead.” The Tennessee lawmaker said Obama must also “go against the grain in his own party,” much as Lyndon Johnson did in winning civil rights legislation from Congress in the 1960s or Richard Nixon did in forging an opening with China in the 1970s.
Photo Illustration by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
In commemoration of Sunshine Week, a nationwide movement promoting open government, the DeKalb Daily Chronicle filed Freedom of Information Act requests with local governments to learn what sort of documents people are requesting.
DeKalb County governments receive dozens of FOIA requests By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Lynn Fazekas doesn’t like to use the word “transparency” when describing her blogging efforts. She thinks the term is so overused it has no meaning. “People who used the word transparency the most don’t have the kind of transparency record to match,” Fazekas said. Author of the City Barbs blog and a write-in candidate for DeKalb’s city clerk, Fazekas estimated that she sends between six to 12 Freedom of Information Act requests a year to a variety of local governments. Local governments in DeKalb County received at least 700 FOIA requests from residents from around the country in the six months between Oct. 4, 2012, and March 4. In commemoration of Sunshine Week, a nationwide movement dedicated to open government, the Daily Chronicle filed
FOIA requests with local governments to see how people used the common information tool. The DeKalb County administration office received six requests during the period, half of which were from union officials seeking salary or health insurance information. DeKalb police received at least 500 requests for incident reports, while the Sycamore police received more than 170. Here’s a look at some of the other requests.
CITY OF DeKALB Of the 52 FOIA requests received by the city of DeKalb, Fazekas sent three of them within the six-month timeframe. In March, Fazekas sent a FOIA request to the city for a copy of Carl Leoni’s contract with the city as their new housing coordinator. Fazekas said she was interested in the contract’s provisions given that a future City Council could choose to de-fund his bureau. Fazekas also sent a FOIA re-
quest to the city for a copy of a letter from the Attorney General’s office about an alleged Open Meetings Act violation the city committed in late 2012. A resident asked state officials to review the City Council’s changes to its agenda and the format it uses online. The public access counselor initially determined the city had violated OMA. However, City Attorney Dean Frieders said they had acted on inaccurate information. Frieders said he spoke with Sarah Pratt, the state’s public access counselor, who agreed. “A letter of clarification is forthcoming, and it would indicate there was no violation,” Frieders said. Most of the information requests the city clerks received were from people seeking details of certain properties in the city, including whether specific parcels have outstanding bills, violations or liens.
What is FOIA? n Anybody can submit a Freedom of Information Act request to any unit of government, be it the local city council, school board or a state agency in Illinois. The public body then has five business days after receiving the information to respond to the request or to request more time to find the information. n If someone making the request is unhappy with the government’s response, they can request the public access counselor in the state Attorney General’s office to intervene. n Then, the public access counselor can issue an opinion in the matter. It ultimately could lead to court action.
Voice your opinion Have you ever filed a Freedom of Information Act request? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
See FOIA, page A4
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