DDC-8-9-2013

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Serving DeKalb County since 1879

Friday, August 9, 2013

GREATEST TEAM: PART V

PRAYER AND CELEBRATION

1982 Kaneland girls won state title Sports, B1

Local Muslims mark end of Ramadan Faith, C1

Wahbeh Taweel

Moving AN AGRARIAN HERITAGE planning begins 57TH ANNUAL SYCAMORE STEAM SHOW & THRESHING BEE

Evergreen Park residents asked for information “We’re not looking to exclude anybody who is a resident out there. We’re not looking to kick people out to the curb with nowhere to go. The goal is to find them comparable housing.” Paul Miller, DeKalb County planning, zoning and building director, said about resident relocation plans

By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Jessica Hernandez doesn’t want to leave Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park. She and her family have lived in the mobile home park since 2007, and despite flooding that has led to numerous evacuations, they value the strong connections they have with their neighbors. Floodwaters reached her front stoop in the past, but she worries renting an apartment or house in DeKalb will be a financial burden. “In my opinion, I feel bad for being here because I think you’re not [going] to be better in other places,” she said. Hernandez, a recent Sycamore High School graduate, and her family of six may not have a choice when DeKalb County acquires the property and begins the long-awaited relocation process. In May, the DeKalb County Board approved the $5.6 million project, which is funded by grants form the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency. The mobile home park became eligible for mitigation relief once the federal government declared DeKalb County along with five other Illinois counties disaster areas after repeated flooding in 2007. DeKalb County Planning, Zoning and Building Director Paul Miller said the state has allocated the money from the federal government to fund the project. The county can be reimbursed with that money through invoices it sends to the state with actual costs associated with the project. Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park is located next to the Kishwaukee River on East State Street in Sycamore in an area considered to be a floodplain.

Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com

Pat Noonan of Lemont waits on a 1913 Port Huron steam engine for the parade to start on the opening day of the 57th Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee on Thursday in Sycamore.

Annual farm show celebrates old traditions By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com

Dale Thompson gives a thumbs up as he watches a John Deere corn sheller in progress Thursday in Sycamore.

Voice your opinion

If you go n What: The 57th Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee n When: Continues today through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. n Where: The Taylor Marshall Farm near the corner of Plank and Lukens roads in Sycamore n Tickets: $6 for adults, children younger than 12 are admitted free

What’s your favorite part of the Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.

On the Web To check out video from the 57th annual Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.

SYCAMORE – Even in its 57th year, the Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee hasn’t changed much, and that’s how Les Petersen and Milan Duchaj like it. It’s grown by leaps and bounds over the decades, but Petersen and Duchaj, who have been around since the first show in 1956, will tell you that it’s still a reunion of friends and a celebration of steam engines and how they work. “The only show I missed was in 1966 when I was in the Army,” Petersen said. “It’s a lot bigger than it was originally.” The Northern Illinois Steam Power Club’s Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee runs today through Sunday at the Taylor Marshall Farm near the corner of Plank and Lukens roads in Sycamore. Gates are open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $6 for adults and is free for children younger than 12 and includes a variety of steam-powered demonstrations, from live

See TRADITIONS, page A6

See MOVING, page A6

Report: Child deaths linked to abuse on the rise in Illinois By JIM SUHR The Associated Press The number of Illinois children killed by abuse or neglect over the past year likely will be the state’s most in a quarter century, Illinois child-welfare officials announced Thursday in imploring residents to report suspected mistreatment of youths before it turns deadly. A new report by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services showed 94 of the 223 deaths investigated during the latest fiscal year that ended June 30 involved

credible evidence of abuse or neglect. With 45 cases still being investigated and awaiting an official ruling, the number of abuse-related deaths – what the department terms “indicated” cases – appears likely to surpass the state’s previous high of 102 in the 1989 fiscal year. There were 90 indicated cases statewide over each of the previous two years and 69 during the 2010 fiscal year, according to the DCFS tally it has kept since 1981. Three of every four deaths linked to abuse or neglect involved

To report abuse The Illinois Department of Children & Family Services has a hotline that people may call if they suspect abuse. Call 800-252-2873.

households with no prior contact with DCFS, spokesman Dave Clarkin said. “That’s why the department has been urging relatives, neighbors and friends to call our hotline [at 800-2522873] when they first suspect abuse, rather than waiting until the abuse becomes fatal

and they’re getting a call from a coroner or police,” Clarkin said. Explanations for the latest increase remain elusive, although Clarkin said 60 percent of the children confirmed to have died from abuse or neglect were younger than 6 months old, perhaps reflecting “very stressful, isolated times” parents of infants may encounter. Still, Clarkin said there are encouraging signs: The number of Illinois child deaths over the past six months has dropped, with the 18 deaths in July was nine fewer than

the same month in 2012, perhaps thanks to the agency’s partnering since January with nonprofit groups, ethnic chambers of commerce, and law enforcers to encourage residents to report suspected abuse before it proves fatal. “It reinforces for all of us the importance of all adults ensuring safe, loving homes for kids,” Clarkin said. “Whether they’re from sleep suffocations, inadequate supervision or death by abuse, all of these deaths are preventable.” The 223 child deaths probed by DCFS over the latest fiscal

Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries

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National and world news Opinions Sports

year was a 14-percent jump over the previous year and the most since the 257 investigated in 1994. Infants who suffocated while sleeping with parents, with blankets or on their stomachs appears to be the leading cause of death among children, despite cautions by the American Academy of Pediatrics against such dangerous practices. Other common causes of child deaths have been homicides – typically fatal beatings – and inadequate supervision, most often reflected in drownings.

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