WEDNESDAY
Ja n u ar y 27, 2 01 6 • $ 1 . 0 0
DAILY CHRONICLE BOWLING STRONG
Colness second on Spartans varsity in series victory over rival DeKalb / B1 HIGH
30 28 Complete forecast on page A8
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
LOW
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Road maintenance proposed DeKalb street repairs primarily funded through tax increment finance district funds By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN
bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The city may not have the $9 million it needs to put toward streets, but a plan has been proposed to fix some roads around town, primarily with funding from the city’s tax increment financing districts. State motor fuel tax revenues and those from the local gas tax will also be used to complete street and alley maintenance. Grants funded a lot of roadwork from 2004 to 2010, but have drastically dropped off, according to city documents. With the city’s TIF
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to Sunrise Drive; North 10th Street, from the railroad tracks to Lincoln Highway; Lewis Street, from North Do you think DeKalb needs to allocate 12th Street to North 13th Street, and more money for road repairs? Vote online Lincoln Way, from John Street to at Daily-Chronicle.com. Harrison Street. ““We have $575,000 available in [Central Area] TIF funds,” City Endistricts set to expire in a few years, gineer John Laskowski said. “We some aldermen pressed to fund road are estimating that we do have maintenance more aggressively, be- some wiggle room in case bids come fore the money dries up. back a little bit high. If they do come In the city’s central TIF district, back low, we have the opportunity officials estimate spending about to address additional streets or do $541,000 on repairs to Pine Street, patch work.” from First Street to Fourth Street; North 15th Street, from Clark Street See IMPROVEMENTS, page A5
Photo provided
A portion of Pine Street in DeKalb between First and Fourth streets with a low pavement index of 44 out of 100 will cost $205,000 to repair, according to a recent city presentation.
Rauner says stay tuned
PRAIRIE BAND POTAWATOMI NATION’S PROPOSED GAMING CENTER
Governor prepares for second State of the State speech today By SARA BURNETT
The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Claudia Hicks, the village president of Shabbona, speaks in favor of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s proposed trust acquisition and gaming facility project to the Bureau of Indian Affairs during a scoping meeting Tuesday at the Kishwaukee College Conference Center. Hicks talked about the jobs and commerce the Class II gaming facility would bring to the village of Shabbona.
Bingo hall meeting draws passionate comments Speakers pro and con address Bureau of Indian Affairs forum By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@ shawmedia.com
MALTA – For as many objections to a Native American tribe bringing gaming to this area, there were just as many who voiced support for it Monday at a public forum. The forum was a scoping session by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s application to have their tribal land near Shabbona held in trust. The event was held in the Conference Center at Kishwaukee Community College The designation would help pave the way for the Nation to move ahead with its plans to bring 800 bingo machines – Class II gaming – to the area.
LOCAL NEWS
Healthy rivalry
Barbs, Spartans gearing up for First National Challenge / A3
“Scoping is the process by which the lead agency solicits input from the public and interested entities,” a BIA representative explained before people were allowed to speak. The BIA is the lead agency in this process. Speakers were allowed three minutes to speak. BIA representatives didn’t offer any feedback or answer questions, and members of the audience were instructed that they could “not applaud or express displeasure” at anything said. Residents, labor union members, advocates for gambling addicts, and a gambling research professor were among the dozens in attendance. Also present was elected officials, including DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rich-
See PROPOSAL, page A5
John Warren Kindt, professor at the University of Illinois and specializes in United States and international gambling, holds up the The National Gambling Impact Study Commision’s final report, and speaks in opposition of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s proposed trust acquisition and gaming facility project to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
FOOD
New Year’s feast
For Chinese New Year, find affinity in Indian, Chinese foods / B10
LOCAL NEWS
WHERE IT’S AT
Sycamore Park District looking for collaboration / A3
Advice ................................ B5 Classified........................B7-9 Comics ............................... B6 Local News.................... A3-4 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World...........A2, 5-6
Joint project?
CHICAGO – Bruce Rauner takes pride in not being like any of Illinois’ previous governors, either on matters of style or substance. A multimillionaire in his first public office, the former private equity investor drops by watering holes in the state capital of Springfield to have a lowbrow Stag beer, despite having belonged to a six-figure wine club. He eschews backroom steak dinners and doesn’t drink caffeine, instead subsisting on so many salads and vegetable juices that some in the press corps have speculated about the carrot-orange tint to his skin. It’s not unusual for him to be the worst-dressed man in a room, sporting plaid shirts that look like they came from the sale rack at a discount store. Mostly, though, it’s his politics. Unlike even his Republican predecessors, who often cut deals with Democrats and their labor union allies in the Legislature, Rauner boasts about being the first to stand up to them, even as it’s led to a record-breaking stalemate. Seven months after Illinois’ last budget expired, the state still doesn’t have a new one, and money is running out for many programs. Now, after the most unusual first year of any new governor in the country, Rauner is starting 2016 with signs that the strangest may be yet to come. As he prepares for his second State of the State speech today, he is talking tougher than ever about his adversaries, particularly the “union bosses” he has already called “corrupt,” and is raising the specter of growing chaos, including public employee strikes, layoffs and shutdowns in state services. “I don’t know what the tipping point is,” said Emily Miller, who has advocated for social service agencies and other organizations at the Capitol for a decade. “The United States hasn’t seen anything like this, so it’s fair to say Illinois hasn’t seen anything like this.” Rauner is one of a handful of GOP governors elected in recent years to lead mostly Democratic states, such as Wisconsin and Michigan, which has produced some big collisions. The tactics on both sides are those now common in Washington – using showdowns and shutdowns rather than compromises to achieve political goals.
See RAUNER, page A2
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... B5 Sports..............................B1-3 State ...................................A4 Weather .............................A8