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Rash of false reports waste time Untrue claims to police harmful to reputations of DeKalb, NIU communities By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A rash of false robbery reports in recent months have wasted police time and unnecessarily raised safety concerns in DeKalb near Northern Illinois University’s campus, officials said. At least three robberies have been falsely reported since August, according to
DeKalb police. Two resulted in NIU Campus Safety Bulletins being sent out to university students and employees. “It creates a perception that our community isn’t safe and that the problem is greater than what actually exists,” NIU Police Chief Tom Phillips said. “False reporting impacts safety because it ties up resources.” It’s also a crime. Two NIU students have been charged
since the school year started with filing a false police report. Andrew J. Wood, 19, of the 1200 block of Grant Drive North, DeKalb, was charged in September with a Class A misdemeanor in connection with an Aug. 28 robbery report. Wood initially told police that three male suspects grabbed him, threw him down as he was walking on the sidewalk in the 800 block
Budget woes continue to mount for Ill. lawmakers
of Spiros Court and took his wallet containing $40 in cash and his phone before running off. More recently, Sean D. Jaworski, of the 400 block of Stadium Drive West, DeKalb, was charged with attempted disorderly conduct after reporting a Sept. 24 robbery that police said didn’t happen, according to court records. A third false report came from a girl who told police
she was robbed Oct. 12 in the 900 block of Greenbrier Road, according to DeKalb and NIU police. Despite the recent rash of false robbery reports, false reporting is relatively uncommon, DeKalb police Deputy Chief John Petragallo said. The reports don’t just come from students. In some cases, mental illness is a factor.
“It creates a perception that our community isn’t safe and that the problem is greater than what actually exists. False reporting impacts safety because it ties up resources.” Tom Phillips
See REPORTS, page A5
NIU Police Chief
COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER
By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press CHICAGO – Pressure is building for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and majority Democrats to end their months-long stalemate over Illinois’ budget, although lawmakers appear no closer to a deal as they reconvene today for the first time in weeks. Fitch Ratings on Monday downgraded Illinois’ rating on $26 billion in outstanding bonds because of the crisis, and Moody’s Investors Service warned that the state’s inability to make its November pension payment could further hurt its already dismal credit rating. The United Way of Illinois said a survey of human service agencies shows more than three-quarters have cut services and almost one-third expect to run out of money within a month. Meanwhile business and labor leaders and some of Rauner’s fellow Republicans – including former Gov. Jim Edgar – were stepping up calls for a truce. “It doesn’t help to continue fighting with each other. ... We’ve got to get together, work together,” GOP Comptroller Leslie Munger, a Rauner appointee, told reporters Monday. “Everyone has to give some and get a balanced budget with reforms in place. The sooner we do it, the better off we’ll be.” Rauner and Democrats who run the Legislature have been fighting since spring over the budget for the July 1 fiscal year. Democrats want Rauner to agree to a tax increase to help close a roughly $5 billion budget hole, but the governor won’t approve a hike until the Legislature approves changes he wants, such as a property tax freeze and curbs to public-employee union powers. Fitch cited lawmakers’ budget failure, Illinois’ above-average debt and “exceptionally high” unfunded pension liabilities in lowering the rating on general obligation bonds to BBB-, a few levels above what’s considered “junk” status.
See BUDGET, page A5
AP file photo
Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner (right) greets former Republican Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar in 2014 in Springfield. Pressure is building for Rauner and majority Democrats to end their months-long stalemate over Illinois’ budget. Yet, lawmakers appear no closer to a deal as they return Tuesday to Springfield.
Photos by Katie Smith – ksmith@shawmedia.com
Dale Geibel, a Hiawatha High School junior, laughs with his friends Saturday during a benefit in his honor at Franklin Park in Kirkland. Geibel was diagnosed with cancer in June, but recently had most of a malignant brain tumor removed during surgery. Doctors believe the remainder of the tumor can be treated with radiation.
From ordeal, an inspiration Community rallies to support Hiawatha student battling cancer By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com KIRKLAND – One morning in June, 16-year-old Dale Giebel woke up with a headache. A day later, he found himself in a Chicago hospital bed with surgery scars and a worrisome diagnosis. Doctors found a a cancerous germinoma in the Hiawatha High School junior’s brain in June. But the discovery, and debilitating treatments that followed, weren’t enough to keep Dale from going to the homecoming dance, playing in the marching band, and planning for a successful future. In November, he will start radiation treatment that is expected to take care of the rest of the tumor, his mother, Carlene Giebel said. “The community has just surrounded us with love and support,” she said. “The outpouring of love and compassion from kids at our school has just been fantastic.” It was an emotional evening when family and friends gath-
Certificates are stapled to a #TeamDale board Saturday during a fundraiser for Hiawatha High School junior Dale Geibel. The amount of support Geibel and his family have recieved since his cancer diagnosis has been unbelievable, he said. ered Saturday at Franklin Park in Kirkland to raise money for Dale. One of the Giebels’ neighbors even made a 20-hour trek from Montana to see him in person. “When I first got out of the car and I saw how many cars and people were here, I started crying when we were walking up and
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[my mom] asked if I needed to go back,” Dale said. “I said no, and I’ve cried a couple times throughout here, and I’m just so overwhelmed with how many people showed up today. “I see how much they really do love me, and that feels great.” Students at Hiawatha High School have been sporting
#TeamDale T-shirts for the past few months to raise awareness and support for their classmate, who could only attend school sporadically between chemotherapy treatments. “We said, ‘Whatever this is, we’re going to stick together,’ ” Carlene Giebel said. “We’re a family, we’re going to be Team Dale. We just kind of put our hands in the middle and we did our own Team Dale chant.” News of Dale’s condition spread fast and hit hard. Kirsten Hossman, Dale’s friend and classmate at Hiawatha, recalled breaking down. “At first, I was really composed and then I saw my dad and I just broke down and I fell apart,” Hossman said. “I was a mess. It was so horrible. I felt horrible.” Members of “Team Dale” could be found at football games and during passing periods, generating communitywide support strong enough to help Dale make it to his junior homecoming dance.
See CANCER, page A5
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