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Dems push Pietrowski as leader 31-year-old could be next County Board chairman By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Board will have a new chairman in December, and Democrats, who hold a majority of the seats, have decided who they would like it to be. Democrats this week voted Mark Pietrowski Jr. as the County Board member they plan to nom- Mark inate during Pietrowski t h e C o u n t y Jr. Board’s organizational meeting Dec. 1. Pietrowski, of Cortland, has been on the board since 2012, when he was elected to Jeff Metzger a seat in District 3. “I believe we’ll all be able to work really well together,” Pietrowski said “...They’ve worked with me. They know my hard work and they know I’m a proactive member trying to find solutions.” Pietrowksi acknowledged that, at 31, he’s among the youngest County Board members, let alone chairmen. The chairman presides over County Board meetings and appoints members to committees with advice from the ad-hoc nominating
committee, and can also call meetings. The chairman will be chosen Dec. 1 when new board members will be sworn in; they also will elect a new vice chairman and committee leaders. Democrats captured a majority on the board in the Nov. 4 election, with a net gain of one seat that shifted the balance of power from a 12-12 split to 13-11. As the majority, Democrats will lead four County Board committees, while Republicans get three committee leadership positions. Republicans also can nominate someone to lead the board, although they have not said if they will. To focus on his role as a County Board member and potential chairman, Pietrowski this week resigned as chairman of the DeKalb County Democratic Party, a position he’s held since 2012. Vice Chairman Paul Stoddard will serve as the chairman until precinct committeemen elect a new party boss in January. If elected County Board chairman, Pietrowksi would replace Jeff Metzger, a Sandwich Republican from District 12, who was elected chairman in 2012. Metzger led his last County Board meeting Wednesday. In the meantime, Julia Fauci, a DeKalb Democrat representing District 9, will
Photos by Mary Beth Nolan for Shaw Media
Sisters Peyton (left) and Bristol Sands take a look at walleye before the fish are put into the water Thursday morning at Shabbona Lake. Their relatives, members of the Lake Shabonna Sportsman Club, stocked about 1,500 young walleye in the lake.
Stocking lake, for anglers’ sake By the numbers
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com SHABBONA – Rick Failla drove to Shabbona Lake State Park on Thursday to check the ice on the lake and wound up dropping a few hundred walleye into it instead. The fish drop was no mistake. Failla stumbled upon an annual event where park staff use donations and fishing derby fees collected during the year to replenish the walleye stock in the 318-acre lake. This year, they raised $3,000, enough to add about 1,500 6- to 8-inch walleye. “I’m so excited to see these walleye coming in, because in a couple years maybe I’ll be catching them,” said Failla, 54, of Kirkland.
Annual visitors: 425,000 Number of ice fishers: 40,000 Number of fish stocked in 2013: 39,000
Source: Illinois Department of Natural Resources
A young walleye flips out of a net as members of the Shabbona Lake Sportsman Club stock about 1,500 fish Thursday morning. Failla is one of about 40,000 ice fishermen who visit the lake each winter. He comes about every three weeks, adding his shanty to one of the thousands dotting the lake, which typ-
ically freezes over with a 16-inch-thick ice layer, said Illinois Department of Natural Resources Site Superintendent Kerry Novak. The fish – less than a year old – arrived by truck
from the Logan Hollow Fish Farm in Murphysboro, a southern Illinois city near Carbondale. Park staff netted the juvenile fish, then dipped the net into the lake to release them. The new walleye will join a lake ecosystem that holds about 10 other varieties of fish including largemouth and smallmouth bass, muskies,
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Obama spurns GOP with expansive immigration orders By JULIE PACE The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Spurning furious Republicans, President Barack Obama unveiled expansive executive actions on immigration Thursday night to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation and refocus enforcement efforts on “felons, not families.” The moves, affecting mostly parents and young people, marked the most sweeping changes to the nation’s fractured immigration laws in nearly three decades and set off a fierce fight with Republicans over the limits of presidential powers. In a televised address to the nation, Obama defended the legality of his actions and challenged GOP lawmakers to focus their energy not on blocking his measures but on approving long-stalled legislation to take their place. “To those members of Congress who question my author-
ity to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill,” Obama said, flexing his presidential powers just two weeks after his political standing was challenged in the midterm elections. As Obama spoke from the White House, immigration supporters with American flags draped over their shoulders marched on Pennsylvania Avenue outside carrying signs that read, “Gracias, Presidente Obama.” The address marked the first step in the White House effort to promote the executive actions to the public. Today, Obama will speak at a campaign-style rally in Las Vegas. Despite Obama’s challenge to Republicans to pass a broader immigration bill, his actions and the angry GOP response could largely stamp out those prospects for the remainder of his presidency, ensuring that the contentious
AP photo
President Barack Obama appears on screen at the 15th annual Latin Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Thursday in Las Vegas. Obama unveiled his expansive executive actions on immigration to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation. debate will carry on into the 2016 elections. Republicans, emboldened by their sweeping victories in the midterms, are weighing responses to the president’s actions that include lawsuits, a
government shutdown, and in rare instances, even impeachment. “The president will come to regret the chapter history writes if he does move forward,” Sen. Mitch McConnell,
the Kentucky Republican who is soon to become the Senate majority leader, said before Obama’s address. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who has refused to have his members vote on broad immigration legislation passed by the Senate last year, said Obama’s decision to go it alone “cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left.” While Obama’s measures are sweeping in scope, they still leave more than half of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally in limbo. The president announced new deportation priorities that would compel law enforcement to focus its efforts on tracking down serious criminals and people who have recently crossed the border, while specifically placing a low priority on those who have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years. The president spent months trying to gain a House vote on the Senate bill, frustrating im-
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migration advocates and some Democrats who wanted him to instead take action on his own. While Obama had long insisted that his powers to halt deportations were limited, the White House began seriously exploring options for unilateral action. Still, that process has been beset by delays, especially Obama’s decision to hold off on announcing the executive orders until after the midterms. Obama insisted that his actions did not amount to amnesty. “Amnesty is the immigration system we have today – millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules, while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time,” he said. The main beneficiaries of the president’s actions are immigrants who have been in
See IMMIGRATION, page A5
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