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Civic competition’s next hurdle at hand DeKalb to submit latest America’s Best Communities application today By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A food hub, co-working space and hyper-local leadership opportunities are on the horizon for DeKalb, city officials envision as they prepare for the next phase of Frontier Communications America’s Best Communities competition. Frank Roberts – a DeKalb resident, vice president at First
National Bank and a leader in the effort – said he’s optimistic about future prospects. The committee has been putting together a 45-page, comprehensive application that lays out goals for the community moving forward. Local business owners, residents, Northern Illinois University leaders and city officials have offered input about what they’d like to see in DeKalb throughout the process,
he said. “The beautiful thing about this is that Frontier Communications realized that the markets they serve have economic challenges,” Roberts said. “They provide the seed money for communities to really think about what they need to do to make their community successful.” DeKalb reached the quarterfinal round of the competition
earlier this year, along with 49 other cities nationwide, including two Illinois towns, Monmouth and Carbondale. The win earned the city $35,000 from Frontier and another $15,000 from partner organization ESPN. The field will be narrowed to 15 semifinalists for the next round sometime early in 2016. Representatives of the semifinalist cities will receive a paid
trip to the America’s Best Communities summit, where eight finalists will be named and receive $100,000. In the final round, three place-winners will be named, with the first-place city winning $3 million, second place $2 million and third place $1 million. “There’s a lot of excitement,” said Matt Duffy, executive director of DeKalb’s Chamber of Commerce and a member of the
local committee. “Our team is diligently working on the final edits and there has been a lot of great progress.” There are a seven major focuses of the plan, aimed at enhancing the quality of life in DeKalb through improving the cultural and business climate, encouraging people to stay and play there.
See COMMUNITIES, page A6
Authorities: Gliniewicz had cocaine in desk
SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES IN DISTRESS
Wife, son are being investigated, official tells Associated Press By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
“I can’t stand here and say to you tonight that Safe Passage is going to be able to go on after January or February,” said Mary Ellen Schaid, executive director of the domestic and sexual abuse advocacy organization. Also addressing the attendees were Tara Russo, head of Elder Care Services of DeKalb County, Susan Petersen, executive director of Community Coordinated Child Care – which takes applications for the child care subsidy program, and Joyce Davis of the Voluntary Action Center – which, among other services, runs the Meals on Wheels program that feeds seniors. Several elected officials were in the audience, including a number of County Board members. Audience members asked state Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley, pointed questions about the budget.
FOX LAKE – Months before his staged suicide, Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz requested a meeting with a motorcycle gang member to “put a hit” on the village administrator he feared would discover his years of embezzling, an investigator said Thursday. Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Covelli said Gliniewicz in April asked someone to set up a meeting with the high-ranking gang member with the intended target being Village Administrator Anne Marrin. The messages, which were later deleted, came shortly after officials said Lt. Joseph Marrin had started auditGliniewicz ing the city’s assets and finances, including those of Fox Lake Police Explorer Post 300 program. The unnamed person told police in an interview that Gliniewicz made the request for a hit on Marrin in conversation, not over text or other messages, Covelli said. The gang member, who Covelli also would not name, denied talking to Gliniewicz. Covelli said Marrin was unaware of Gliniewicz’s plot as it unfolded. “She didn’t know any of this until he was dead,” Covelli said. Gliniewicz, 52, was shot and killed Sept. 1 after he radioed he was investigating three suspicious men. His death sparked a massive manhunt and left the community in mourning over the revered officer affectionately known as “G.I. Joe.” Gliniewicz decided to carefully stage his suicide to look like a homicide after months of pressure his “extensive crimes” would be discovered, investigators said. Covelli said investigators also found a small amount of cocaine in Gliniewicz’s desk drawer when they searched it the week of his death. The cocaine was not associated with any cases that investigators could find, Covelli said. In messages sent to a separate unnamed person in May, Gliniewicz also had talked about setting Marrin up. In one message released Wednesday, Gliniewicz wrote, “MANY SCENARIOS from planting things volo bog!!” [sic].
See CRISIS, page A6
See GLINIEWICZ, page A6
Photos by Mary Beth Nolan – mnolan@shawmedia.com
Mary Ellen Schaid, executive director of Safe Passage talks about the state of the domestic violence programs affected by funding cuts during the Community Crisis Meeting on Thursday at the DeKalb County Legislative Center in Sycamore.
County nonprofits host ‘crisis meeting’ Residents urged to tell state leaders ‘enough is enough’ with budget impasse Voice your opinion
By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – With the state now in its fifth month without a budge, DeKalb County nonprofit organizations are calling for an end to the impasse – and its negative impact on residents. “I’m tired of not having enough revenue. To not have a balanced budget ... enough is enough,” said Nancy Teboda, executive director of Children’s Learning Center in DeKalb. She apologized to the crowd of local residents and stakeholders for the anger in her voice when she began to address them. Teboda was among the nonprofit leaders who spoke Thursday at what was called a “crisis meeting” hosted by local social service agencies, and held in the DeKalb County Legislative Center in Sycamore. “We’ve been told that everyone will have to learn to tighten their belt,” she said. “Well I’m here to tell you, most of the families that we deal with – including staff ... don’t even have belts to tighten.” There are approximately 490 nonprofit organizations in DeKalb County, according to information
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Spectators fill the seats Thursday of the Gathertorium in the DeKalb County Legislative Center in Sycamore. Dawn Littlefield, executive director of Kishwaukee United Way, presented. Not only do some of them provide social services or other aid to thousands of residents, collectively, they employ about 7,000 people. But Littlefield said many agencies are in financial distress. Her parent agency, United Way, reports that more than 60 percent of the county’s nonprofit organizations, which do such things as provide
services to working families and battered women, aid seniors in independent living, and serve as resources for low-income individuals and families, have enough cash to last no more than three months. Another 20 percent have less than a month’s cash on hand. Program, service and staff cuts have been made at nearly half of the service agencies and at least 1 in 8 have closed programs altogether.
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Brotherly victory
Arson suspected Huskies’ injuries
DeKalb brothers bring home victories from national wrestling tournament / B1
Police seek information about Sycamore High School fire / B3
Hare has surgery on ruptured Achilles; Lewis’ injury a sprained knee / B1
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