75 cents
Breaking news at Daily-Chronicle.com
Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Thursday, March 21, 2013
PREP ATHLETICS • SPORTS, B1
MUSIC PREVIEW • A&E, C1
Weather keeps baseball, softball teams from starting season
10 albums not to miss this spring
DeKalb’s Jessica Townsend
Justin Timberlake
Oncken returns to County Board By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Board overwhelmingly approved the appointment of a former member Wednesday, despite two members of his own party opposing it. County Board members voted 20-2 to appoint Riley Oncken to Ken Andersen’s vacated seat in District 3. Two Republicans, Anthony Cvek and John Gudmundson, of Districts 4 and 11, respectively, voted against Oncken’s appointment.
Open seat filled by way of 20-2 vote Oncken said he was grateful to be back, but was disappointed the vote wasn’t unanimous. “I’m disappointed I don’t have the support of my fellow board members, but I have to respect their opinions,” Oncken said. Cvek circulated a letter to his fellow Republican board members detailing why he would not be voting
for Oncken’s appointment. Oncken said he received a separate letter from Cvek on the matter. None of those issues were discussed at Wednesday’s meeting. Cvek tried to tie Oncken’s appointment to another issue regarding the board’s economic development commission, but the proposal was shot down. Cvek said he would have
WATER HAZARDS
mentioned some of the issues if the vote did not immediately occur after that. For Cvek, the fact that Oncken lost in November to Andersen and Democrat Mark Pietroswksi Jr. was key. “Voters had a choice, and they spoke resoundingly,” Cvek said in an interview before the meeting.
Flooding an ongoing problem for local golf courses
Andersen resigned in February after losing the board chairmanship to fellow Republican Jeff Metzger, who had the support of Democrats. Andersen said he had lost the will to fight for what he believed in. DeKalb Republicans named Oncken as Andersen’s replacement, but Cvek had an issue with the process. “It’s an issue that’s less to do with Riley individually and more with the process that’s bringing him back,” Cvek said.
See ONCKEN, page A4
Ill. teacher pension plan inches forward By REGINA GARCIA CANO The Associated Press
Photo provided by Kirk Lundbeck, superintendent of golf operations
The fairway of the ninth hole at the Sycamore Golf Club is flooded Tuesday. By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com
W
hen Sycamore Community Park had standing water up to the seats of its benches last week, the park’s superintendent of golf operations, Kirk Lundbeck, wasn’t concerned. The park and its golf course, which sit on a flood plain at 940 E. State St. in Sycamore, have a history of flooding after steady rainfalls and heavy snow accumulation. Although last week’s flooding appeared to be monumental, the situation was actually routine, he said. “We’ve had a tendency to have this issue in the past, so our grounds crew is very good at flood recovery,” said Lundbeck.
The course had limited damage because of the dormant grass and cold temperatures. Lundbeck said the water was mostly runoff, which didn’t hurt the turf. That’s not to say Sycamore’s golf course hasn’t had more serious flooding situations in the past. Lundbeck recalled the summer of 2007, when standing water forced the back nine holes to be closed for a long period of time. The summer sun burned the grass through the water, which he compared to a magnifying glass effect. Sediment in the water also stifled the growth of the grass. Sycamore’s golf course isn’t the only course in the area that has flooding issues. River Heights Golf Course, located at 1020 Sharon Drive in DeKalb, often experiences flooding, especially because the Kishwaukee River splits the
course, said Roger Huber, superintendent of golf operations for River Heights. “When the river comes up, half of the holes are going to have water on them,” he said. Huber said the biggest problem after a flood at River Heights is the debris the water brings onto the course. He mentioned one particular winter when ice chunks in the water carved out some of the turf. The cost of repairing the course after a flood includes equipment, labor and products needed to reseed and re-sod, which Lundbeck said can be very expensive. “It’s impossible to put a figure on it, because it depends on the flood itself,” he said. Sycamore park board President Ted Strack said the district can’t exactly prepare for flooding
events financially, but they can work to maximize the resources they have while working with a minimal budget. “The golf course is ... one of the crown jewels of the Sycamore Park District. [It’s] very well maintained,” he said. “To be able to have that kind of facility at the price point we charge to users is phenomenal.” The golf course the swimming pool have contributed to the park district’s consistent deficit problems. Over the past five years, the golf course accrued about $400,000 in losses. The Golf Course Fund and the Swimming Pool Fund suffered a combined deficit of $177,000 in 2011. Strack stressed the importance
See FLOODING, page A4
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s test run of pension reform, designed to show the financial world that lawmakers could take even the smallest step toward fixing a gaping $96.7 billion hole, barely won approval Wednesday – on the second try – casting further doubt on a mess that has vexed legislators for more than a year. The Senate voted 30-22 to reform just one state pension system facing financial trouble, but it was the largest of five, the Teachers’ Retirement System. True to the approach he’s taken previously, Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, John wrote the legislation Cullerton to give teachers a Ill. Senate choice between health president care coverage during retirement or reduced annual costof-living increases. The “consideration” approach, Cullerton insists, would allow the state to sidestep a prohibition in the Illinois Constitution against reducing previously promised pension benefits. State Sen. Dave Syverson, the 35th district Republican who represents much of DeKalb County, opposed the measure. State Sen. Tim Bivins, R-45, did not vote. “I believe the people of this state demand reform to our pension systems, but they don’t want a ‘BandAid’ approach to a problem that calls for serious action,” Syverson said. “... The solution must lead to long term savings and not just a stopgap measure for a few years of minor relief.” But between the slim victory on a narrowly drafted bill and the earlier defeat of another Democrat’s comprehensive approach to the pension crisis, the action Wednesday leaves questions about whether the General Assembly has the stomach to tackle the pension mess.
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A2-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2 A5 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
C4 C5 C7-8
High:
29
Low:
17
Your success is in reach The Dale Carnegie Course®
Focus on the “Five Drivers for Success.”
A training process that improves company profitability by improving employee performance. Interactive session elicits full participation in the learning process through practice and group discussion.
• Communication skills • Leadership abilities • Interpersonal skills • Controlling excessive worry/stress • Self-confidence
offered by S.J. Grant and Associates, Inc. 7820 N University St. Suite 110 Peoria, IL 61614 309.691.6808 • www.centralil.dalecarnegie.com
Call Jim at 815-985-0031 / 877-691-6808 to learn more about the class now forming! Classes will meet at Kishwaukee College 21193 Malta Road, Malta, IL 60150 SP26456