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Oc to ber 15 , 2015 • $1 .0 0
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County preps for trick-ortreating
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN DEKALB COUNTY
Halloween safety tips offered by professionals By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com DeKALB – As lawns throughout the county are transformed into pretend cemeteries and cobweb-ridden abandoned homes, it’s plain to see Halloween is creeping closer, and trick-or-treating is drawing near. Come Oct. 31, sidewalks will be crowded with neighborhood kids looking for a tasty handout. This year, trick-or-treating hours in Sycamore and DeKalb will be from 4 to 8 p.m. “[Kids should] Halloween, while Genoa stay in the will end an hour earlier at 7 p.m. neighborHowever, there are hoods that precautions that should be taken as kids ready they’re familthemselves to wander iar with, esthe streets at night, Sycamore Deputy Police pecially being Chief Darrell Johnson said. very cautious “[Kids should] stay in with the the neighborhoods that they’re familiar with, activity and especially being very cautious with the activ- foot activity of ity and foot activity of pedestrians.” pedestrians,” Johnson Darrell said. Reflective tape can Johnson be applied to darker Sycamore Deputy costumes and coats to Police Chief improve visibility for unsuspecting drivers, DeKalb Police Community Relations Officer Chad McNett said. “You can buy reflective tape if a costume happens to be all black. Car headlights will bounce off that really well when they hit that tape ... .” McNett said. “Whatever is going to help the big people see the little people.” A tool available on the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office’s website might help parents steer clear of the 124 sex offenders registered with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Theresa Owens moves a package of Ramen noodles before washing dishes Tuesday in her DeKalb home. Owens receives food stamps and still is looking for work to help make ends meet. She wants to complete her GED and move to Georgia to live with a childhood friend when she can manage to do so.
Residents increasingly turning to SNAP for help Program usage up statewide, nearly tripled here By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in DeKalb County
DeKALB – Theresa Owens has depended on food stamps as her “miracle” for years. Households Individuals Owens, 51, of DeKalb, worked for 16 2005 1,972 4,375 years as a senior’s personal aide, as she 2008 2,502 5,714 raised her children. That job and those 2015 6,501 12,895 she had before, she said, didn’t pay enough Source: Illinois Department to cover housing, utilities and other houseof Human Services hold expenses and then also afford food. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, helped her bridge the the program. gaps between paychecks. “It does wonders, because at this point After health issues led the mother of I am jobless,” Owens said. “I have health two now-adult children to retire early in problems.” Owens is among a growing number of 2012, she said she became more reliant on
DeKalb County residents who rely on the SNAP program to meet their nutritional needs. In fact, Illinois has become the Midwestern state with the most SNAP recipients, in part because the program’s use has nearly tripled in places such as DeKalb County in the past 10 years. Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest, but Michigan had long had the most residents on food stamps – the common name for SNAP. As of Sept. 30, there were 1.05 million Illinois food-stamp households comprising about 2 million individuals. Eligibility for the program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is based mostly on household
See SNAP, page A5
See SAFETY, page A5
Police: Brothers were beaten in church to make them confess NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. – Two teenage brothers were brutally beaten in church – one fatally – in an effort by their parents, sister and other members to get them to confess their sins, police said Wednesday in a case involving an insular congregation that had sparked gossip and suspicion among neighbors. Police said spiritual “coun-
seling” at the Word of Life church in upstate New York turned into an hours-long attack Sunday night in which Lucas Leonard, 19, and his 17-year-old brother, Christopher, were pummeled with fists and kicked. They suffered injuries to the abdomen, genitals, back and thighs. Eventually, Lucas stopped breathing and relatives took him early Monday to a hospital, where he died, police said. Authorities went to the church
and found his younger brother, who was hospitalized in serious condition. “Both brothers were subjected to physical punishment over the course of several hours, in hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness,” Police Chief Michael Inserra said. He said investigators have not determined what the supposed sins were. The brothers’ parents, Bruce and Deborah Leonard,
were charged with manslaughter in Lucas’ death. Four other adults were charged with assault in the younger brother’s beating, including Sarah Ferguson, 33, the victims’ sister. The beatings took place at a red-brick former elementary school that serves as both a church and a home for several members of the congregation, including one of the suspects. The church has existed for as
See BROTHERS, page A5
Mark DiOrio/Observer-Dispatch via AP
Bruce Leonard (left) and Deborah Leonard (center) enter the courtroom of before their arraignment Tuesday in New Hartford, N.Y.
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Climate rally
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Environmentalists hold rally in downtown DeKalb / B3
DeKalb County public housing waiting list is set to open / B3
Rick Morrisssey writes the Cubs do know better/ B1
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