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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Monday, November 4, 2013
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12 arrested in motel shooting probe By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Twelve people were arrested in connection with a brawl during which a shot was fired Friday afternoon outside the Travel Inn, DeKalb police said in a news release. The fight was over a drug deal gone bad, police said. After a man took marijuana without paying for it earlier Friday, the drug dealer summoned about five
other men to the Travel Inn, 1116 W. Lincoln Highway, to confront the alleged thief with a gun, according to the news release. Aaron J. Harris and Tyrone M. Sally, both 19 and of DeKalb, were charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm, aggravated battery in a public way and mob action, police said. Julio A. Martinez, 20, of Zion, was charged with unlawful delivery
Health care law gets real for America “A lot of this will turn on whether there’s a perception that there have been more winners than losers. ... It’s not whether an expert thinks something is a better insurance policy, it’s whether people perceive it that way.” Drew Altman President of Kaiser Family Foundation
of less than 10 grams of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school. Ten grams is about 0.35 ounces. Bryce A. Meinert, 20, of Freeport, was charged with theft; Tanesha J. McCrary, 19, of DeKalb, was charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Charged with mob action were: Abreon B. Starks, 19, of DeKalb; Gilbert G. Burch, 18, of DeKalb; David I. Cortina, 19, of DeKalb; Maceo Penn, 18, of Chicago; Edward K. Reid, 18,
of Chicago; Maurice Johnson, 18, of Chicago, and Isaiah L. Lee, 19, of DeKalb. Police said a confrontation in the parking lot escalated into a melee, in which a man was hit over the head with the gun and another person suffered a minor hand injury. After someone in the dealer’s group fired a shot, the dealer’s group fled, police said. Police captured one of the fleeing men when they arrived on the scene
about 12:30 p.m. No one was shot and several people called 911. Police said they interviewed at least 10 witnesses and searched a vehicle and apartment later Friday, ultimately finding the gun used in the shooting in the apartment. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, Northern Illinois University police and Sycamore police helped with the investigation.
TOYS FOR TOTS
SEEKING PRESENTS
The ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON – Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama’s health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know. With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion. “I’ve had questions like, ‘Are they going to put me in jail if I don’t buy insurance? Because nobody will sell it to me,’ ” said Bonnie Burns, a longtime community-level insurance counselor from California. “We have family members who are violently opposed to ‘Obamacare’ and they are on Medicaid – they don’t understand that they’re already covered by taxpayer benefits. “And then there is a young man with lupus who would have never been insurable,” Burns continued. “He is on his parents’ plan and he’ll be able to buy his own coverage. They are very relieved.” A poll just out from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation documents shifts in the country in the month since insurance sign-ups began. Fifty-five percent now say they have enough information to understand the law’s impact on their family, up 8 percentage points in just one month. Part of the reason is that advertising about how to get coverage is beginning to register. “The law is getting more and more real for people,” said Drew Altman, the foundation’s president. “A lot of this will turn on whether there’s a perception that there have been more winners than losers. ... It’s not whether an expert thinks something is a better insurance policy, it’s whether people perceive it that way.” The administration is continuing efforts to influence those perceptions. On Wednesday, Obama will meet with volunteers in Dallas who are helping people enroll in health insurance plans. Cabinet officials also are expected to make stops around the country in the coming weeks to encourage people to sign up for insurance even as the website problems persist.
Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: Volunteer Eileen Eckhardt, 9, with Girl Scout Troop 544, sorts a donated toy by age and gender during the Toys For Tots drive Saturday at the DeKalb Walmart. BELOW: Volunteer Garrison Eckhardt, 10, with Cub Scout Pack 104, sorts donated toys.
Yearly toy drive in need of donations for area families By ANDREA AZZO news@daily-chronicle.com
D
eKALB – Kathi Hogshead Davis hoped to collect more than 500 toys for the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program Saturday at Walmart, 2300 Sycamore Road, DeKalb, but when the collection event ended, some boxes were nearly empty. An hour before the event ended, organizers counted fewer than 60 toys. Davis, the DeKalb County Toys for Tots coordinator, speculated that the weather might have hindered people from donating. The temperature hovered around 45 degrees throughout the day. “[Sunday] is supposed to be in the 50s and sunny,” Davis said, “but we plan these things weeks in advance.” Although the participation was not as high as Davis would have liked, those who did donate, gave items including dolls and toy trucks. Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve were on site to collect the toys.
To help Toys for Tots Information about toy collection locations, how to volunteer, donate or request a toy for a child is available online at sycamore-il. toysfortots.org.
Those who donated a minimum of $10 or a toy worth at least $10 were eligible to eat hot dogs and drink hot chocolate with Santa Claus in outdoor tents. There is always a need for toy donations in the area. Last year, DeKalb County Toys for Tots and The Salvation Army, which distributes the toys collected in DeKalb county, served more than 2,500 children from 988 families throughout the county. Donation boxes for the toy drive are on display at businesses such as banks, restaurants, supermarkets and others in and around DeKalb County, including DeKalb, Sycamore, Genoa, Kirkland, Sandwich, Hinckley
See TOYS, page 4
Morgan Hadley, 8, tells Santa what she wants for Christmas.
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