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Wednesday, January 22, 2014
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D-428 officials: Wait a month Week after landfill incident, Cortland school parents want solution By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Chris Fowler wants to keep his child in the DeKalb School District 428, but not if it means attending Cortland Elementary School. “Some people feel comfortable returning. For those of
us that don’t, please help us find another option,” Fowler asked District 428 board members Tuesday night. “I urge you, please help us find another option, another school to send our children to.” A week after they were told a smell from the nearby landfill was blown into their
13 charged in DeKalb meth conspiracy
children’s school, Fowler and other Cortland Elementary parents asked board members for a solution. They were told to wait a month. The Cortland Elementary parents who attended Tuesday’s meeting were met with a written statement from the
board reiterating the district goal to have an action plan to address the students’ safety at the school in 30 days. On Jan. 14, a third party contractor working on the DeKalb County Landfill operated by Waste Management hit a pocket of old garbage and released a foul odor into the
air that traveled to the school where it entered the ventilation system and caused 71 people to be treated at Kishwaukee Hospital. Before any parents had the chance to voice their concerns about the incident and the plan going forward, school board President Tracy Wil-
liams read a prepared statement regarding the district’s plan for moving forward. He explained the district has a 30-day target for an action plan that will address air quality at the school and will be based on reports from the
See D-428, page A6
ANKLE BRACELETS KEEP TRACK OF COUNTY’S PARTICIPANTS
ELECTRONIC ALTERNATIVE
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Keith B. Kifer, 48, of Elgin
Michael J. Dumiak, 30, of DeKalb
Greg L. Hurst, 52, of DeKalb
Still wanted The seven others still wanted on precursor conspiracy charges are: n Jennifer A. Simpson, 32, address unknown n Carlos R. Tomas, 24, of the 1200 block of South Madison Street, Marion n William J. Buell, 32, address unknown n Allan H. Brown, 46, address unknown n Corey G. Lindquist, 28, of the 600 block of Eletson Drive, Crystal Lake n Matthew J. McDonald, 21, of the 300 block of Spring Avenue, Aurora n John A. Melvin, 33, address unknown
DeKALB – Police said Tuesday they have arrested five people and are seeking eight others accused of participating in a conspiracy to cook methamphetamine around DeKalb last year. The majority of the new cases target people who allegedly bought behind-the-counter medications, such as Sudafed with pseudoephedrine, for others to use to make methamphetamine, DeKalb County detective Lt. Bob Redel said. Under state law, pharmacies track and limit how much of those medications individuals can buy at once. “Obviously, they need more than one person to buy the stuff,” Redel said. The investigation stemmed from a methamphetamine lab authorities discovered Oct. 27 in a room at Travel Inn, 1116 W. Lincoln Highway, according to a DeKalb police news release. Three people were arrested in connection with the initial discovery, including Thomas Wilkinson, 29, of DeKalb, who police suspect was the operation’s ringleader. Wilkinson formally denied the criminal charges Dec. 16, and is next due in court Feb. 18. The continued investigation resulted in charges against 13 others. One man, Jerry M. Whitt, 33, an outof-state resident with an unknown address, is wanted on charges of aggravated participation in methamphetamine manufacturing, which is punishable by from 6 to 30 years in prison. The other 12 individuals charged are accused of helping obtain precursor material for methamphetamine, an offense punishable by probation or 3 to 7 years in prison. Arrest warrants were issued Friday; since then, five people have been arrested, according to the police statement. They are: • Keith B. Kifer, 48, of the 100 block of South Chapel Street, Elgin • Joseph E. Waldrop, 30, of the 100 block of South Chapel, Elgin • Greg L. Hurst, 52, of the 400 block of Harvey Street, DeKalb • Michael J. Dumiak, 30, of the 400 block of North 11th St., DeKalb • Jeremy W. Sebek, 28, of the 400 block of Meadowlark Circle, Sandwich
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Deputy Ray Nelson of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office looks over a map showing where participants of the county’s electronic monitoring program are located Jan. 15 at the Public Safety Building in Sycamore.
DeKalb County uses home monitoring to cut down on jail crowding By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Electronic home monitoring has changed quite a bit since DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Ray Nelson first began working on the cases.
When it started, electronic home monitoring could only tell authorities whether someone was at home. Now, it can pinpoint exactly where participants are – and where they shouldn’t be – every minute. Nelson can even tell if someone is driving too fast on the road.
“I’ve called people and asked them what the hurry is,” he said. Since the program began in DeKalb County in 1997, more than 2,000 people have participated in electronic home monitoring. As of Jan. 13, there were 21 adults and 11 juveniles
wearing the GPS ankle bracelets. The service helps keep inmates out of the overcrowded county jail, and reduces the county’s costs to house inmates in neighboring jails,
See MONITORING, page A6
How it works Electronic home monitoring participants wear an ankle bracelet, which sends an electronic signal through the strap. There is no way someone can cut the bracelet off without police knowing, said DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy Ray Nelson. An electronic monitoring device is seen at the Public Safety Building in Sycamore. The service helps keep down overcrowding in the county jail, among other benefits.
Chicago archdiocese hid decades of sex abuse By RACHEL ZOLL and TAMMY WEBBER The Associated Press CHICAGO – Top leaders at the Archdiocese of Chicago helped hide the sexual abuse of children as they struggled to contain a growing crisis, according to thousands of pages of internal documents that raise new questions about how Cardinal Francis George handled the allegations even after the church
adopted reforms. The documents, released through settlements between attorneys for the archdiocese and victims, describe how priests for decades were moved from parish to parish while the archdiocese hid the clerics’ histories from the public, often with the approval of the late Cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin. Although the abuse documented in the files occurred before George became archbishop
in 1997, many victims did not come forward until after he was appointed and after U.S. bishops pledged in 2002 to keep all accused priests out of ministry. George delayed removing the Rev. Joseph R. Bennett, despite learning that the priest had been accused of sexually abusing girls and boys decades earlier. Even the board the cardinal appointed to help him evaluate abuse claims advised George that Bennett should be removed.
“I realize this creates a rather awkward situation, but I believe I need to reflect on this matter further,” George wrote in a Nov. 7, 2005, letter to an archdiocese child protection official. Also against the advice of his board, George had Bennett monitored by another priest who was a friend and who vacationed with Bennett. Allegations against Bennett
See ARCHDIOCESE, page A6
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