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Wednesday, July 31, 2013
READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS • INSIDE
GREATEST TEAM: PART III • SPORTS, B1
Readers pick the best of DeKalb County
1981 H-BR boys soccer pushed to new levels
Fancy digs
High-end housing market picking up
Trial of ‘sexually dangerous’ man begins Jury to decide if James Walls will be released from prison By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
A single family home on Pleasant Hill Road in Genoa is listed at $749,900 as seen Monday. The house sits on 40 acres of land and includes a 2.5 acre pond. BELOW: Real estate agent Jocelyn Kerbel shows a wine cellar at the home. By FELIX SARVER
with a small group of buyers who can like or dislike a home for anything other than price. The listing price is $749,900. “When you get a price range like this, your buyer pool shrinks a lot, because it’s not your run-ofthe-mill pricepoint,” Kerbel said. After the economic downturn in 2008, the number of wealthy people declined and as a result, the high-end housing market slowed down. But the number of wealthy households has quickly recovered, leading to an increased number of sales, said Laurie Moore-Moore, CEO of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, in an email.
fsarver@shawmedia.com GENOA – When it comes to selling an expensive home, it’s all about finding the right buyer. Jocelyn Kerbel, a real estate agent with Signature Real Estate Professionals, has been selling real estate in the DeKalb County area for the past decade. Her company has sold everything from mobile homes to million-dollar properties. She’s the listing agent for a 6,300-square-foot home outside Genoa that is presently the fifthmost expensive home for sale in DeKalb County, according to the real estate website Trulia. For this property, she has to work
Voice your opinion At what price do you consider a home a “luxury home”? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
See HOUSING, page A3
On the market The 10 most expensive single-family homes for sale in DeKalb County. This list does not include farms, lots or homes in foreclosure.
1.
Moccasin Drive and Preserve Road, Shabbona; 3,500 square feet; $1,629,000
2.
348 Merry Oaks Drive, Sycamore; 6,518 square feet; $900,000
3.
7135 Snake Road, Kingston; 2,306 square feet;
6.
$899,999
10731 Somonauk Road, Hinckley; 5,000 square feet; $725,000
4.
16385 Whipple Road, Sycamore; 4,200 square feet; $799,000
$669,900
7.
13978 W. County Line Road, Lee; 1,600 square feet; $699,000
5.
32785 Pleasant Hill Road, Genoa; 6,300 square feet; $749,900
8.
9200 Finnie Road, Sandwich; 3,500 square feet;
9.
530 Hopkins Lane, Sycamore; 7,010 square feet; $650,000
10.
27645 Hunters Lane, Sycamore; 3,500 square feet; $625,000
Source: Trulia
SYCAMORE – A 55-yearold former Sycamore man who authorities said sexually abused two preteen girls is standing trial this week to determine if he should be released from a prison for sexually dangerous people. James Walls has been in a secured facility for about 11 years after allegations surfaced in 1998 that he had sexually abused a female family member from the time she was 4 to 11 or 12. He had been convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl who was not a family member, but Walls was committed as a sexually dangerous person rather than facing criminal charges in the later case. Now, jurors will be asked to determine if Walls is a pedophile who has abused girls in the past and who likely will abuse more children if released from a secure facility. Prosecutors from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office have to prove their case by clear and convincing evidence, which is a lighter burden than that used in criminal cases. If jurors find Walls no longer is sexually dangerous, a judge will determine during later proceedings which conditions, such as continued therapy and electronic monitoring, will be part of his release. Attorneys are expected to present their closing arguments today so jurors can begin deliberations. During opening statements Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Joelle Marasco detailed the abuse against the two girls. One awoke at a sleepover at Walls’ house to find his penis in her hand in 1992, Marasco said. The other girl reported when she was 16 that Walls forced her to perform oral sex multiple times
James Walls, a former Sycamore man behind bars for about a decade as a sexually dangerous person, is standing trial this week to see if he presents a danger to the public as a pedophile. Prosecution experts are arguing that Walls hasn’t received enough treatment to be released and that he denied the abuse, while his attorney is challenging the basis of the original accusations and emphasizing how long ago they happened.
See WALLS, page A4
Illinois lawmakers file suit against Quinn over blocked pay The ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO – Leaders of the Illinois House and Senate sued Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday over what they called a “purely political and unconstitutional” move to block lawmaker paychecks because of inaction on the state’s nearly $100 billion pension crisis. Less than 48 hours before the first affected payday, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton filed the 12page complaint with the Circuit Court of Cook County. “This matter is of funda-
mental constitutional importance, as Gov. Quinn’s action threatens the independence of each branch of government,” Cullerton and Madigan said in a joint news release. “The Illinois Constitution protects the salaries of members of the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive branch.” Earlier this month, Quinn cut $13.8 million for legislators’ paychecks in the state budget through his veto power. He had threatened consequences if lawmakers failed to act on addressing the pension problem. When members of a bipartisan pension panel blew
past another deadline, he cut their salaries. Base pay for lawmakers is $67,836, although many e a r n m o r e Pat t h r o u g h s t i - Quinn p e n d s f r o m Ill. governor serving in leadership posts or on committees. The lawsuit asks the court to decide if Quinn’s line-item veto really did fully eliminate lawmakers’ salaries. If not, the leaders argue, Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka should be required to pay
John Cullerton Ill. Senate president
Michael Madigan Ill. House speaker
those salaries “based on the plain language of the appropriations bill and on Illinois law.” As an alternative, if the court upholds Quinn’s amendatory veto, the suit asks the court to issue a declaration that Quinn’s action violated
the state constitution and to issue an injunction ordering Topinka to pay lawmakers’ salaries “to remedy that constitutional violation.” The lawsuit compares Quinn’s elimination of lawmakers’ pay to a 2003 decision by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to reduce the salaries of judges. “The Illinois Supreme Court invalidated Gov. Blagojevich’s actions that threatened the integrity of the judiciary, and this court should likewise invalidate Gov. Quinn’s attempt to punish members of the General As-
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sembly,” the lawsuit reads. Quinn has defended his move as constitutional. In a statement, Quinn described the lawsuit as “just plain wrong.” “If legislators had put forth the same effort to draw up a pension reform agreement that they did in crafting this lawsuit, pension reform could have been done by now,” Quinn said. Last week Topinka, who is named as a defendant in Tuesday’s suit, said she had no choice but to withhold lawmaker paychecks, citing a previous court case.
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