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Enterprise zone plans aggressive marketing
DeKalb County gets one of the first state-certified designations By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN
bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – County officials are hoping to attract new businesses in the coming year with a new state-certified, countywide enterprise zone. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity granted the designation, effective Jan. 1. The zone will be in place for 15 years, with an option to extend for 10 more. It covers 15 miles with locations in Genoa, Cortland, DeKalb, Sycamore, Waterman and Sandwich. The enterprise zone designation allows cities to offer economic incentives, such as sales tax exemptions, in order to attract business to the area. Forty-nine other municipalities throughout Illinois also have state-certified enterprise zones. Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy said the city of Sycamore’s enterprise zone areas are ready to go. Sycamore Industrial Park and Sycamore Prairie Business Park are both included, and the city has other land that is zoned for industry and light industry and ready for development as well. “We are happy that we have the infrastructure in place,” Mundy said. “We can take people to the sites. … We know that it’s an advantage and have seen increased interest. It’s good for us and good for the area.” The designation will help DeKalb County compete with cities closer to Chicago to attract new businesses and even retain existing companies, Mundy said. “That’s what businesses look for today,” he said. “We’d
Voice your opinion Do you think local economic development efforts will start to pay off in 2016? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. rather not offer [incentives] at all, but in order to compete, that is how it’s done today. We don’t want to pass up an opportunity.” Genoa officials also are readying to take advantage of the new designation, and they want to get off to a strong start. “We are in the first 50 to be granted this enterprise zone,” Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary said. “As years go along, the state will probably approve more and more. We want to be nimble enough to take advantage of being in the first group.” Vicary said he hopes to take advantage of the fiber optic connectivity available in Genoa to attract high technology companies to town. The city also has opportunity for light industrial development, he said. Expansion of existing companies could also be on the radar. “Hopefully, we will come with aggressive marketing plan,” Vicary said. “The enterprise zone gives us some fiscal tools to attract and retain businesses.” The city of DeKalb plans to work closely with the DeKalb County Economic Development Corp. to market enterprise zone opportunities, Mayor John Rey said. “Generally, we will also be incorporating it in our publicity materials,” he said. “It should help in attraction of prospective businesses.”
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Attorney Laura Scarry (left) questions DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott (not shown) while sitting next to partner attorney Jim DeAno (left center) while representing clients Deputy Meagan Pettengell (right center) and her husband, Sgt. Ryan Pettengell, during the Merit Commission hearing Tuesday at the Sycamore Legislative Center.
Deputies’ punishments pending Merit Commission hears testimony for final stage of Pettengells’ hearing By KATIE SMITH
ksmith@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Testimony continued late Tuesday evening regarding an appropriate punishment for two DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies who were involved in a March 30 chase that ended in a Kingston man’s death. The Sheriff’s Merit Commission found Dec. 7 that Deputy Meagan Pettengell violated mobile video and audio procedures and failed to use good judgment when it came to the safety of others, and her husband, Sgt. Ryan Pettengell, did not adequately supervise the situation. Scott has recommended Meagan Pettengell be fired and that her husband and supervisor that evening, Ryan Pettengell, be suspended for 60 days without pay. Both have been suspended without pay since June 23. Meagan Pettengell was responding to a 911 call about a domestic dispute early on March 30 in the 11500 block of Baseline Road. Sheriff’s deputies learned that Nissen had left the area in his girlfriend’s 2008 Honda Civic. The girlfriend, who had called police, told them that Nissen had been drinking, and records showed his license was revoked. Ryan Pettengell, the sergeant on duty and Meagan Pettengell’s husband, supervised the pursuit that night. Footage from the dashboard camera
DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Meagan Pettengell (center) and her husband, Sgt. Ryan Pettengell (right), listen during the questioning of DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott at the Merit Commission hearing Tuesday. in Meagan Pettengell’s squad car the night of the pursuit showed it reached up to 111 mph during the chase, and ran through a stop sign at an intersection at about 80 mph without emergency lights on. DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott testified Tuesday that Meagan Pettengell established a pattern of reckless behavior while operating the department’s car in her time as a deputy.
See PETTENGELL, page A5
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Obama launches final push to tighten U.S. gun control By JOSH LEDERMAN The Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Tears streaking his cheeks, President Barack Obama launched a final-year push Tuesday to tighten sales of firearms in the U.S., using his presidential powers in the absence of tougher gun restrictions that Congress has refused to pass. The president struck a combative tone as he came out with plans for expanded background checks and other modest meaAP photo sures that have drawn consterPresident Barack Obama, joined by Vice President Joe Biden and gun nation from gun rights groups, violence victims, pauses as he speaks Tuesday in the East Room of the which Obama accused of makWhite House in Washington, D.C., about steps his administration is tak- ing Congress their hostage. ing to reduce gun violence. Palpable, too, was Obama’s
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extreme frustration at having made such little progress on gun control since the killing of 20 first-graders in Connecticut confronted the nation more than three years ago. “First-graders,” Obama said woefully, resting his chin on his hand and wiping away tears as he recalled the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.” Obama’s 10-point plan to keep guns from those who shouldn’t have them marked a concession by the president: He’ll leave office without securing the new gun control laws he’s repeatedly and desperately
implored Congress to pass. Although Obama, acting alone, can take action around the margins, only Congress can enact more sweeping changes that gun control advocates say are the only way to truly stem the frequency of mass shootings. “It won’t happen overnight,” Obama said. “It won’t happen during this Congress. It won’t happen during my presidency.” But, he added optimistically, “a lot of things don’t happen overnight.” The National Rifle Association, the largest gun group, panned Obama’s plan and said it was “ripe for abuse,” although the group didn’t specify
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what steps, if any, it will take to oppose or try to block it. Even Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat and gun-owner who co-wrote the bipartisan bill Obama supported in 2013, took issue with the president’s move. “Instead of taking unilateral executive action, the president should work with Congress and the American people, just as I’ve always done, to pass the proposals he announced today,” Manchin said. The centerpiece of Obama’s plan is an attempt to narrow the loophole that exempts gun sales from background checks if the seller isn’t a federal registered
See OBAMA, page A5
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