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300-acre annexation rejected Some City Council members question timing, location
By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The City Council denied an annexation agreement Monday that would have paved the way for adding 300 acres to the city and allowed for residential development of the rural areas northwest of the city. The council voted, 6-3,
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What’s the ideal-sized lot for a house? Vote online at Daily-Chronagainst annexation of the one tial community. Some alder- posed too many uncertainties I don’t know is: What are we icle.com. parcel to be included in the men expressed concerns about to move forward. really going to get? What are annexation and 8-1 in opposition of of the remaining five parcels. A point of contention was the future of the Sycamore Sportsman’s Club in a residen-
the safety of families housed nearby, while others worried about noise complaints that might force the club to move. Pete Paulsen, 2nd Ward Alderman, said the annexation
“There’s two huge question marks there: What and when? How many lots really? What are they going to look like and when are they going to be built?” Paulsen said. “... What
we really being asked to approve here?” subdivision west of Motel Road In February, 2011, the City to feather the city’s limits with Council approved the North- sparse housing and farmland. west Sub Area Plan, which called for a rural conservation See ANNEXATION, page A5
Budget fight hits hard in poorest region in Illinois
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY RENOVATIONS
By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
Monica Synett file photo– msynett@shawmedia.com
Visitors spend time Oct. 1 in the existing Center Cafe Lounge on the ground level of the Holmes Student Center on the Northern Illinois University campus.
Refurbishing Holmes Student Center Project would rejuvenate student, visitor hub on campus By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Northern Illinois University is planning a multimillion dollar makeover of its student center in hopes of improving the university’s first impression on visitors. “Remodeling Holmes Student Center would impact the entire campus community, and would directly be tied to the university’s recruitment and retention objectives,” NIU Trustee John Butler said. “It’s in serious need of upgrades and has been for years.” The university could be giving a redesign to areas of the half-century-old student center, which was named for the university’s fifth president, Leslie Holmes. The building, with its grab-andgo eateries, student-run sit down restaurant, ballroom and meeting spaces, has a $43 million operating budget and is a money-maker for the university. Holmes Center is a mutipurpose, three-level building at the center – called the core area – of campus. The enhancements would happen in phases, officials said. The center’s renovation is part of a longterm plan to upgrade what the university consider’s its core areas. “Phase I of the Holmes Student Center is the priority project,” Butler said. “It would have the
Holmes Student Center: Existing Conditions – Ground Floor Plan
CAIRO – The only public health clinic in Illinois’ poorest county is in a former synagogue off a largely abandoned main street, a bright spot with multicolored windows where seniors can get flu shots and moms get help feeding their kids. But today the lights are off and the doors locked. A sign on the door apologizes for the inconvenience: Because of the impasse over the state budget, we are only open on Wednesdays. A few blocks away half the sheriff’s department has just gotten pink slips. Counselors at the only place to get mental health care in miles are working for free as the waiting list for help grows. And about 20 miles up the road from Cairo, Illinois’ southernmost tip, the man in charge of keeping highways clear this winter can’t afford to buy road salt, but figures he wouldn’t be able to pay drivers to spread it anyway. For many people in Illinois, the fivemonth disagreement over a state budget has been barely a blip on the radar, a sideshow of political wills between a new Republican governor and a heavily Democratic legislature. But for residents in the low-income counties tucked between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers – a mix of farmland and forest where Southern accents are more common than stop signs – it’s a far different story. Here people and private industry are scarce and getting scarcer, and residents rely on government for everything from health care to jobs and feel the impact severely when the public sector falters. In a recent Southern Illinois University poll, about 30 percent of people in this southern section of Illinois said they or an immediate family member has been personally affected by the budget fight; one in 10 say they’ve lost or face the threat of losing a job. “A lot of people are hurting,” said Nancy Holt, the director of the Southern Seven Health Department, which is responsible for everything from immunizations to infant nutrition and restaurant inspections in the seven counties, though most of its employees only are working one day a week. “The most frustrating part is there’s nothing we can do about it.”
See BUDGET, page A5
Image provided
Before conceptual drawings for Phase I of the Holmes project. These are conceptual drawings and the final design may be different from what is represented by these illustrations. See an after drawing on page A5. most significant impact of the priorities of the campus core goals.” No formal plans have been adopted, but university officials could present a proposal to trustees for approval at the board’s Dec. 10 meeting. “I think you’ll see in December a recommendation to support
Phase I of the renovation of the Holmes Student Center project,” Butler said. At that time, the university may formally approve asking for architectural design proposals, and actual construction could begin a year from now. The first phase could cost be-
tween $16 million and $20 million, Butler said. He said money to pay for it would come the from the 2010 bond fund that raised $110 million for NIU to devote to revitalizing dorms and student life centers like Holmes.
See REDEVELOPMENT, page A5
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Abandon buildings now dominate downtown Oct. 13 in Cairo.
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