THURSDAY
O c to ber 22, 2015 • $1 .0 0
DAILY CHRONICLE
CHICAGO FOOTBALL WEEKLY INSIDE TODAY HIGH
65 46 Complete forecast on page A8
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
LOW
Facebook.com/dailychronicle
@dailychronicle
Moody’s gives DeKalb negative outlook Credit-rating firm has issues with city’s above-average debt and pension payouts By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The city’s pension obligations, declining assessed property values and reliance on state funding could mean a lowered credit rating in the future, Moody’s Investors Service said. Moody’s, a worldwide credit-rating agency that provides research and analysis
for investors, has assigned a negative outlook to the city’s general obligation rating. DeKalb’s rating stands at Aa2. If lowered, it could mean the city would pay higher interest rates when it borrows money. Factors Moody’s took into account include diversification of the city’s tax base, debt and pension burdens and reserves. Key challenges the city
faces include above-average debt and pension payouts and dropping equalized assessed property values, the rating agency said. Strengths listed included the presence of Northern Illinois University and DeKalb’s ability to raise revenue broadly, because of its home-rule status. The city has $31.9 million worth of general obliga-
tion debts, which includes bonds that paid for part of the DeKalb library expansion project, the new police station, and tax-increment financing district obligations, city Finance Director Cathy Haley said. In 2010, the city issued $10.8 million in bonds to refinance 2008 and 2009 TIF bond anticipation notes, as well as finance downtown improve-
ments and other TIF projects, according to city documents. In 2012, the city issued $9.9 million in bonds to build the police station and borrowed $2.3 million more in 2013 to complete it. Haley said that the city’s rating of Aa2 was decent, but the city could make some improvements. “If we want to fund pensions higher, we could cer-
tainly do that,” she said. “As far as the tax base, City Council could increase the property tax rate to increase revenue to the general fund, if they chose.” Moody’s rated the city’s pension obligations heavier than usual, which is part of why the new outlook is negative, Haley said.
See RATING, page A5
Biden won’t run, a boost for Clinton
SYCAMORE’S 54TH ANNUAL PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
By JULIE PACE The Associated Press
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Costumed children eagerly await a slice of cake Wednesday during the opening day of the 2015 Pumpkin Festival in Sycamore.
Great gourds ‘Pumpkins in Disguise’ crowd courthouse lawn By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – No person or pumpkin was what they seemed Wednesday at the kickoff of Sycamore’s 54th annual Pumpkin Festival. Well over 1,000 people crowded downtown Sycamore to celebrate this year’s festival theme of “Pumpkins in Disguise” with a cake-cutting ceremony and downtown trick-or-treating. Sitting on the concrete dressed as an soldier and Princess Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen”, cousins Aiden Perez-Cano, 5, and Lilyanna Perez, 6, marveled at their baskets of free candy and the hundreds of pumpkins laid out before them. “I made a scary Halloween guy,” Perez-Cano said. Pumpkins were sorted into one of 10 categories – each of which will have first-, second- and third-place winners named today, Sycamore Lions Club President Ryan Genz said. “The creativity in all of them – it’s so much,” Genz said. “Just the pure number and the effort put in, it’s hard to put them in first or third [place] because there’s so much ef-
Katie Senica, 4, dressed as “Monster High” character Frankie Stein, registers her matching Frankie Stein pumpkin Wednesday during the opening day of the Pumpkin Festival in Sycamore. fort put in. Some of the carved ones are phenomenal, how they’ll carve them and then put something in the middle of them.” The pumpkins will be on display on the DeKalb County Courthouse lawn through Sunday. Linda VanBuren and her family spent about a month planning their entry, which featured 10 gourds painted and glued to represent each
member of four generations of the family. “We started off and said we wanted to have our pumpkins that had masks on it and then we just sat there and brainstormed, ‘Well, what about a masquerade ball?’ “ Sandy Foord of Sycamore said. “And then we all decided that we’d all make our own.” Each “family member” wore a
hand-cut mask and costume, on a dance floor that was draped with Christmas lights. “Back in the day when Wally had a little pumpkin up here, we were here for our free hot dog, and our pop and our pumpkin pie,” VanBuren said. Weston Hooker, 5, took a simpler approach. The pint-sized Darth Vader stayed near his pumpkin, painted to match his own costume, while he spun and swung at imaginary enemies with his light saber. “[Darth Vader] is cool because he has a cool mask,” Hooker said as his own mask began to breathe heavily like the Star Wars character’s. For many Sycamore children, Pumpkin Fest provides a second Halloween and twice as much candy to look forward to each year, Genz said. “Look at this. It’s just covered in painted pumpkins and there’s trick-or-treating downtown,” he said. “Every kid’s here or knows about it if they can’t be here. It’s huge.” And it’s only gotten bigger over the years.
See PUMPKIN FEST, page A5
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
LOCAL NEWS
WHERE IT’S AT
Fire alarm
Swept
Support, but ...
Home on north side of DeKalb burns / A3
Cubs lose four straight games to Mets / Sports
County gives verbal support for IHSA championship games, but no money / A4
Advice ................................ C4 Classified....................... C6-8 Comics ............................... C5 Local News.................... A3-4 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World.............. A2, 6
WASHINGTON – After months of tortured indecision, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he won’t be a candidate in the 2016 White House campaign, solidifying Hillary Rodham Clinton’s status as the Democratic front-runner and the party’s likely heir to President Barack Obama’s legacy. Standing under bright sun in the White House Rose Garden, Biden spoke movingly about mourning the recent death of his son, Beau, a process he said does not match the political calendar. While he said his family was emotionally prepared to undertake a grueling presidential campaign, they arrived at that decision too late for him to mount a credible bid for a job that has long been the north star of his political ambitions. “Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time,” said Biden, flanked by his wife, Jill, and the president. Biden’s decision puts to rest the uncertainty hanging over the Democratic primary. The race now will likely settle into a two-person contest between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has energized the party’s liberal base but lacks Clinton’s campaign infrastructure and support from party leaders. Biden was seen by some Democrats as an ideal blend of Clinton’s establishment credentials and Sanders’ populist appeal. Interest in his potential candidacy was fueled both by an outpouring of affection after his son succumbed to cancer in May and the persistent questions about Clinton’s viability, particularly amid revelations about her controversial email use at the State Department. However, Clinton appeared to calm nervous supporters with a commanding performance in last week’s first Democratic debate. What was already a narrow path to the presidency for Biden appeared to get even smaller. In a written statement Wednesday, Clinton praised Biden’s “unyielding faith in America’s promise” and said she expected he would “always be on the front lines, always fighting for all of us.” The two spoke by phone shortly after the vice president concluded his remarks.
See BIDEN, page A5
AP photo
Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill and President Barack Obama, announces that he will not run for the presidential nomination Wednesday in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... C4 Sports..............................B1-4 State ...................................A6 Weather .............................A8