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FASTER TRAFFIC AHEAD
Property tax abatement accord up for renewal By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com
County officials expect little to change with higher speed limit Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Vehicles are seen traveling east on Interstate 88 on Thursday from Shabbona Road in Malta Township. Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation recently to raise the speed limit on rural interstates to 70 mph. By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Doug Wallace hopes state politicians did their research when it came to raising the speed limit on rural interstate roadways to 70 mph. Wallace, of DeKalb, sees many ways the speed limit can impact drivers from an economic and safety standpoint. He said going faster can affect a car’s fuel efficiency and there is a danger with allowing people to drive faster. “If you’re going faster, there’s more chances for collision and it’s going to be deadly,” he said. Wallace said he hopes politicians looked at how the 70 mph speed limit affected other states such as Indiana. Illinois drivers will have a chance to find out when the law goes into effect Jan. 1. Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law to increase the speed limit on interstate four-lane highways from 65 to 70 mph. At the same time, the limit for excessive speeding has been lowered by 5 mph. Drivers can be charged with excessive speeding for driving 26 mph over the speed
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If you’re going faster, there’s more chances for collision and it’s going to be deadly.
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Doug Wallace DeKalb resident
limit. The law will align the state’s speed limit on interstate roadways with 36 other states, Quinn said in a news release. Neighboring states such as Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky have speed limits set at 70 mph or higher on parts of their roadways. According to some DeKalb County highway and law enforcement officials, raising the speed limit should not cause much change for DeKalb County. The interstate roadways in or near the county are Interstate 88 near DeKalb, I-39 near Malta and I-90 near Genoa. DeKalb County Engineer Na-
than Schwartz said he doesn’t believe the county will be significantly impacted by the upcoming changes to the speed limits on interstate roadways. “I expect little effect on our local highways,” Schwartz said. The county highway department maintains 190 miles of highways and 45 bridge structures within the county road system, according to its website. Schwartz recalled one change made more than a decade ago to the speed limit in the state that did impact the county. He said there was a change to increase the speed limit to 65 mph, which required adjusting the roadways in the county. “That one had a potential impact because any time people are driving faster, you have to consider what the effect will be on the roads,” he said. The highway roads that were originally designed for a speed limit of 55 mph had to be revised for 65 mph. Those revisions included modifying the safety guard rails, the center line stripping on
See TRAFFIC, page A6
Gov. Pat Quinn
Voice your opinion How fast do you think the average vehicle will travel next year on Interstate 88 through DeKalb County after the speed limit increases to 70 mph? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle. com.
DeKALB – DeKalb School District 428 wants to be better informed about companies that qualify for property tax abatements in the city of DeKalb. At their school board meeting Tuesday, members of the school board discussed the extension of an intergovernmental property tax abatement program, which already is in place to provide tax incentives for large businesses that come to DeKalb. The board agreed to wait to take action on the extension until an amendment can be added by the district, which provides the board with increased oversight. “Right now, the city informs us through a letter that company x, y and z qualifies, and now you need to start the abatement procedures,” Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Andrea Gorla said. “We want to put a little more teeth in it, and have the city formally come to the school board, tell us about the company, make certain that they’ve met each piece of criteria and then the board will take action on it.” The city and the school district last renewed their tax abatement program in 2010, but the three-year agreement concludes at the end of the year. The new proposal makes no other changes to the program or its incentives and runs through 2016. As the agreement stands, industrial, logistic and highly skilled, research-oriented companies that create at least 20 full-time jobs and meet a set of conditions outlined in the agreement can save on
“The agreement leverages new investment and generates considerable new tax revenue for bodies like the school district.” Paul Borek, executive director of the DeKalb County Economic Develop Corporation, said about the benefits of the tax abatement agreement between the district and the city of DeKalb
See D-428, page A6
Support builds for strike against Syria Bipartisan resolution could get Senate committee vote as early as today By BRADLEY KLAPPER and DAVID ESPO The Associated Press WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama gained ground Tuesday in his drive for congressional backing of a military strike against Syria, winning critical support from House Speaker John Boehner while key Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed to
back a no-combat-troops-onthe-ground action in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack. Officials said the emerging Senate measure would receive a vote today in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Approval is likely. “You’re probably going to win” Congress’ backing, Rand Paul of Kentucky, a conservative senator and likely oppo-
nent of the measure, conceded in a late-afternoon exchange with Secretary of State John Kerry. The leader of House Republicans, Boehner emerged from a meeting at the White House and said the United States has “enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior. We also have allies around the world
and allies in the region who also need to know that America will be there and stand up when it’s necessary.” Boehner spoke as lawmakers in both parties called for changes to the president’s requested legislation, insisting it be rewritten to restrict the type and duration of any military action.
See SYRIA, page A6
AP photo
President Barack Obama, flanked by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio (left) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks to the media Tuesday in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington before a meeting with members of Congress to discuss Syria.
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
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National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2, A5 A7 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
C5 C6 C8-10
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