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O c to ber 8, 2015 • $1 .0 0
DAILY CHRONICLE
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SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
Review sought in University Village rezoning
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DEKALB FATAL SHOOTING
Request asks judge to rule on DeKalb voting procedures By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Two local property owners want a judge to halt any redevelopment at the University Village apartment complex until it is determined whether the DeKalb City Council followed proper procedure in rezoning the property. DeKalb resident John McKeon and local rental property company Mason Properties filed the request for an injunction this week in DeKalb County Court, records show. The court filing largely restates one that McKeon and Mason Properties filed before the City Council’s 5-3 vote Sept. 14 in favor of rezoning the property. McKeon and Mason Properties want a judge to clarify the city’s rules and procedures for members voting and for approval of zoning ordinances, said Michael Coghlan, the plaintiffs’ attorney. The suit raises ques tions about whether the City Council followed its own procedures and had the
required number of votes needed to approve the redevelopment agreement allowing Seattle-based Security Properties to buy and renovate the 534-unit University Village complex on Annie Glidden Road. The goal of the lawsuit “is to have a judge declare what the rules are,” Coghlan said Wednesday. City officials anticipated the legal challenge. At the time the measure passed, Mayor John Rey said “At this time I ask that the vote is recorded and is subject to the outcome of court rulings.” Although the injunction seeks to stop the zoning from going into effect, city officials said the ordinance has already been approved, signed by Rey and published. “We’ve done our part,” Rey said. The city received a copy of the petition for injunction Wednesday. “We will review it and respond appropriately,” City Attorney Dean Frieders said.
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
DeKalb police responded to the scene of a shooting about 10 p.m. Tuesday at 817 Pleasant St. (left) in DeKalb. Mathew Clark, 23, of DeKalb was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m. at Kishwaukee Hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest. Two suspects, Trevor Motsinger, 25, and Christopher Gerken, 25, have been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal shooting.
2 charged with murder Police: Shooter captured in Elburn after car chase By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN
See REZONING, page A6
Danielle Guerra file photo – dguerra@shawmedia.com
DeKalb Mayor John Rey (left) speaks during discussion about the University Village rezoning measure at a City Council meeting in June at the DeKalb Municipal Building. When the City Council approved the measure Sept. 14, Rey anticipated a court challange saying, “At this time I ask that the vote is recorded and is subject to the outcome of court rulings.”
bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Two men are accused of first-degree murder after an attempt to rob a drug dealer ended with a fatal shooting, DeKalb police said. Police were called to 817 Pleasant St. around 10 p.m. Tuesday. They arrived to find a resident of the house, Mathew Clark, 23, shot in the chest. Clark, who lived in DeKalb but was originally from Bloomingdale, was taken to Kishwaukee Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 11:35 p.m. Police arrested Trevor D. Motsinger, 25, of the 100 block of Home Drive in DeKalb, who they say arranged the drug deal knowing that the plan was to rob Clark. The alleged trigger man, Christopher J. Gerken, 25, of
the 200 block of North Hickory Street in Cortland, was arrested Wednesday morning after leading police on a chase from DeKalb all the way to routes 38 and 47 in Elburn, according to a police news release. Both Gerken Christopher a n d M o t s i n g - Gerken er are charged with first-degree murder. Motsinger also is charged with obstruction of justice and unlawful possession of controlled substances, according to court records. Police aren’t yet sure what drugs Clark was supposed to be selling Gerken, but they did find narcotics in the house, DeKalb Deputy Police Chief John Petragallo said. “The investigation is still
Nuclear black market seeks IS extremists By DESMOND BUTLER and VADIM GHIRDA
Wednesday morning after a police chase that went through multiple jurisdictions. A DeKalb police officer spotted Gerken driving north on Peace Road from Interstate 88 about 6:50 a.m. and tried to stop him. Gerken refused to stop and police chased him east on Route 38 into Kane County. Gerken finally stopped his vehicle at Route 38 and Route 47 in Elburn and was surrounded about 7 a.m. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Charles Police Department and the Elburn Police Department assisted capturing Gerken. Motsinger and Gerken both had previous records involving drugs, documents show. In 2013, Motsinger was
See SHOOTING, page A6
Cubs beat Pirates, face Cardinals next
Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, deputy of the Moldova General Police Inspectorate, who oversaw the four investigations, pauses during an interview May 26 in Chisinau, Moldova.
The Associated Press CHISINAU, Moldova – In the backwaters of Eastern Europe, authorities working with the FBI have interrupted four attempts in the past five years by gangs with suspected Russian connections that sought to sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists, The Associated Press has learned. The latest known case came in February this year, when a smuggler offered a huge cache of deadly cesium – enough to contaminate several city blocks – and specifically sought a buyer from the Islamic State group. Criminal organizations, some with ties to the Russian
the breakdown in cooperation between Russia and the West means that it has become much harder to know whether smugglers are finding ways to move parts of Russia’s vast store of radioactive materials – an unknown quantity of which has leached into the black market. “We can expect more of these cases,” said Constantin AP photo Malic, a Moldovan police officer who investigated all four evaded long prison sentences, cases. “As long as the smugsometimes quickly return- glers think they can make big ing to nuclear smuggling, AP money without getting caught, they will keep doing it.” found. In wiretaps, videotaped Moldovan police and judiarrests, photographs of bombcial authorities shared investigative case files with the AP grade material, documents in an effort to spotlight how and interviews, AP found a dangerous the nuclear black troubling vulnerability in the market has become. They say See NUCLEAR, page A6
ongoing,” he said. “But what we suspect is cocaine.” Police said Gerken was upset with Clark because of a previous drug sale and came to their meeting Tuesday armed with a handgun. He confronted Clark, a strugTrevor gle ensued, and Motsinger then he fatally shot Clark in the chest, police said. There are no other suspects in Clark’s killing, Petragallo said. “The two that are in custody are the only two involved with the homicide that we know of right now,” Petragallo said. “A separate investigation is ongoing regarding the drugs.” Gerken was arrested
KGB’s successor agency, are driving a thriving black market in nuclear materials in the tiny and impoverished Eastern European country of Moldova, investigators say. The successful busts, however, were undercut by striking shortcomings: Kingpins got away, and those arrested
AP photo
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, (44), holds Cubs starter Jake Arrieta as shortstop Starlin Castro joins in the celebration after they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League wild card baseball game, 4-0, Wednesday, in Pittsburgh. The Cubs advance to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. See coverage page B1.
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