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Local primaries taking shape By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Virginia Sherrod made it to the elections division of DeKalb County Clerk Doug Johnson’s office with only minutes to spare Monday, as the deadline passed for hopefuls to file candidacy petitions for the March 2016 primary. Sherrod’s candidacy for County Board member in the
4th District adds one more name to a race that may be one to watch next spring. Fellow Democrat Steve Faivre filed to run for an unexpired two-year term there, while Laurie Emmer and Demetri Broches are seeking to get on the Republican ballot. Democrats currently hold both seats in the district. Faivre was tapped this summer to fill Joseph Bassett’s unexpired term when Bassett
stepped down. The partisan primary election will be held March 15. Those running are seeking to be their party’s candidate. Voters will choose the office holder in the November general election. The DeKalb County Board has 24 members, with two from each district. Every two years, half of the County Board is up for re-election. In the upcoming partisan primary, not
only will several incumbents run unopposed, two others appointed this summer will seek election and then there are newcomers looking to replace current board members who are not seeking another term. Since the Daily Chronicle first reported on the candidacy filings, a handful more sought to join the race. Jonathan Schmarje of Sycamore will be looking to take over the Republican seat in
County Board District 2, which includes the northeast corner of the county, including Genoa and Kingston. Incumbent John Emerson, who has held the seat since 2008, did not file a candidacy petition. John Wett of Genoa is running as a Democrat in the district. Roy Plote filed to be the Republican candidate in the 11th District, which includes part of Cortland, Maple Park, Waterman and Hinckley. Plote
is vying to replace incumbent John Gudmunson who isn’t running for re-election. In the 12th District, Sandwich residents Phyllis Brown and Jerald Osland will compete for the Republican nomination for the seat. Incumbent Jeffery Metzger, a County Board member since 2005, didn’t file for re-election. Several incumbents are
See CANDIDATES, page A2
Leaders meet to try to save Earth from overheating
FALLOUT FROM STATE BUDGET DISPUTE
By KARL RITTER and SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Barbara Napolitano, 57, of DeKalb, plays with her granddaughter Sofia Giese, 4, on Nov. 23 in the DeKalb home they share with her daughter. Napolitano was diagnosed with throat cancer in March 2014, and while she is grateful of the assistance she receives, she’s been affected by the state budget impasse with her food stamps being cut.
Trickle-down gloom Nonprofits’ programs shrinking as impasse continues Note to readers: This is the first in an occasional series on how the ongoing state budget standoff is affecting local social service agencies and educational institutions, and the people they serve.
By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Few lawmakers are holding out hope that today’s meeting between the governor and the state’s legislative leaders will move the budget needle, but people such as Barbara Napolitano have their fingers crossed that the stalemate soon will be broken. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, are scheduled to meet today on the budget and other pending issues – for the first time since May. As Illinois enters its sixth month without a state budget in place, some people like Napolitano who rely on assistance from social service agencies to help sustain
Sofia Giese, 4, does a headstand against her mother’s bed Nov. 23 in the DeKalb home they share with her grandmother Barbara Napolitano. them are being turned away. Napolitano, 57, turned to DeKalb-based Hope Haven for rental assistance when she fell more than $6,000 behind on rent for the three-bedroom DeKalb apartment she has lived in for over five years with her adult daughter
and granddaughter. Because of the state budget impasse, the agency told her it couldn’t help. “It is very sad that people that worked, and that are striving to make a better life for themselves, it seems [the government] knocks you down,” Napolitano said.
Illinois has been without a budget since the last one expired June 30. Although court orders and consent decrees have required much of the state’s spending continue at last year’s levels, many services and programs that relied heavily on state funding have gone without. Napolitano was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, less than a year after retiring from her $52,000-a-year job in retail to pursue a lifelong goal of becoming a nurse. At the time, she had a nest egg that she planned to live on for a couple of years, until she completed nursing school and started working in that industry. “I always worked. I always paid my bills,” said Napolitano, who is currently enrolled part-time in a medical assistant program at Waubonsee Community College. Her illness derailed her plans, and the medical bills that followed quickly depleted her savings. Napolitano weeps sometimes when she talks about how much her life has changed in the past two years. She now gets a monthly
See STRUGGLES, page B5
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Sycamore theater celebrating its 90th birthday / A6
The cost for “Twelve Days of Christmas” is up slightly / A2
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LE BOURGET, France –With dramatic vows to save future generations from an overheated planet, the largest gathering ever of world leaders began two weeks of talks Monday aimed at producing the most far-reaching pact yet to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and avert environmental havoc. “We should ask what will we say to our grandchildren if we fail,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said as the U.N. climate summit opened under heavy security on the outskirts of Paris, two weeks after the extremist attacks that left 130 people dead. “Instead of making excuses tomorrow, let’s take action today.” Even before the gathering, more than 180 countries pledged to cut or curb their emissions, but scientific analyses show that much bigger reductions would be needed to limit man-made warming of the Earth to 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial times, the internationally agreed-upon goal. The biggest issue facing the 151 heads of state and government at the summit is who should bear most of the burden of closing that gap: wealthy Western nations that have polluted the most historically, or developing countries like China and India that are now the biggest and third-biggest emitters of greenhouse gases? “Addressing climate change should not deny the legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve living standards,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping told the conference. The last major climate agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, required only rich countries to cut emissions, and the U.S. never signed on. Since then, global temperatures and sea levels have continued to rise, and the Earth has seen an extraordinary run of extreme weather, including severe droughts and storms. This new round of talks seeks to produce an agreement that would require all countries, rich and poor, to take action.
AP photo
U.S. President Barack Obama (left) and Brazil President Dilma Rousseff (front row third from right) applaud as they pose with other world leaders for a group photo Monday at the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget, outside Paris.
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