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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
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Obama: Mandela is ‘last great liberator’ By ALAN CLENDENNING, CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and JON GAMBRELL The Associated Press JOHANNESBURG – Amid cheers and song for the prisoner who became peacemaker, President Barack Obama energized tens of thousands of spectators and nearly 100 visiting heads of state Tuesday with a plea for the world to emulate Nelson Mandela, “the last great liberator of the 20th century.” Obama’s eulogy was the rhetorical highlight of a memorial service in which South Africans celebrated Mandela’s life with singing and dancing, of-
ten during dignitaries’ speeches. They also booed their own president and were chided by a top government official who said: “Let’s not embarrass ourselves.” Lashing rain lent a freewheeling aspect to the memorial, with people taking shelter in the stadium’s wide hallways, where they sang anti-apartheid anthems from the 1970s and 1980s. Foul weather kept many away, and the 95,000-capacity stadium was only two-thirds full. Obama implored people to embrace Mandela’s universal message of peace and justice, comparing the South African
leader to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. Mandela spent 27 years in prison under a racist regime, and promoted forgiveness and reconciliation when he was finally freed. “We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again,” Obama said. “But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the world – you can make his life’s work your own.” He hailed Mandela, who died Thursday at 95, as the unlikely leader of a movement that gave “potent voice to the claims of the oppressed and the moral necessity of racial justice. “
“Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by the elders of his Thembu tribe, Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century,” Obama said, referring to Mandela by his clan name. Obama, who like Mandela became the first black president of his country, said he was inspired by Mandela as a student. The speech was greeted with thunderous applause, and many heads of state and other foreign dignitaries gave a standing ovation.
See MANDELA, page A7
AP photo
President Barack Obama waves Tuesday as he arrives to speak to crowds attending the memorial service for former South African president Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium in Soweto near Johannesburg.
Panel will hear County Board race challenges By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Julie Cummings (left) and Tara King of the Choosing Life and Ending Abuse Now Slate Alumni Association of the DeKalb County Drug/DUI Court speak during the program’s 11th graduation ceremony Friday at the Gathertorium inside the DeKalb County Legislative Building in Sycamore. By DEBBIE BEHRENDS dbehrends@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Tara King relapsed about a week after she graduated from DeKalb County Drug Court in 2010. Her mother called drug court coordinator Marilyn Stromborg, and King had to face Stromborg, DeKalb County Presiding Judge Robbin Stuckert and the rest of the drug court team one more time. She admitted it was tough to see Stuckert again in those circumstances. “I went back to using for about two months,” King said. “It’s humbling to get through the program and relapse, but I needed that one more time just to understand that I’m an addict.” Now, as president of drug court’s alumni group, King tells other drug court graduates not to give up the support system they found in Stromborg, Stuckert
Dalia Williams (right) is hugged by family members after completing the DeKalb County Drug/ DUI Court CLEAN Slate program’s 11th graduation ceremony. and each other. Ten people graduated Friday from the drug court, dubbed CLEAN Slate for Choosing Life and Ending Abuse Now. It’s an intensive program that offers criminal
defendants reduced or dismissed charges in exchange for completing a rigorous rehabilitation program. So far, 71 people have graduated from DeKalb County’s program. “We ask them to change everything about themselves, and they have done that,” Stromborg said. But graduation can be both exciting and scary, King said. Even before the class graduates, King said she talks with them about the changes they’ve made and the ones they need to continue making. “Part of what we do is getting to know new participants, if they have questions or need to talk, to be mentors to them,” King said. The alumni meet the second Wednesday of each month.
See CLEAN SLATE, page A7
Office Depot move raises tax-break issue again The ASSOCIATED PRESS CHAMPAIGN – Illinois will lose 1,600 jobs after Office Depot said Tuesday that it will keep its headquarters in Florida after its merger with Naperville-based OfficeMax. The move comes just a week after the state Legislature declined to give the company millions in tax breaks. The state senator who sponsored the bill that would have given Office Depot a tax package
worth $53 million regretted that lawmakers didn’t agree to the deal. But some experts said that, given the state’s bad financial situation, not offering tax breaks might have been a smart move. The company’s announcement led one Republican gubernatorial candidate to call on Gov. Pat Quinn to hurry lawmakers back to Springfield to act on another set of tax breaks that Archer Daniels Midland Company has asked for as it considers locations for a new
headquarters. The governor’s office did not immediately say if that was under consideration. State Sen. Tom Cullerton, who sponsored the Office Depot bill, said the company’s decision was disappointing. “It’s a small setback, but it definitely does not mean Illinois is closed for business,” Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat, said. Office Depot spokeswoman Karen Denning said Illinois’ lack of an incentives package was part-
ly behind the company’s decision. Other factors included taxes and the ability of the existing 625,000 square-foot facility in Florida to accommodate all of the new company’s employees. That facility is almost twice as big as the OfficeMax facility in Naperville. Office Depot doesn’t yet have a timeline for moving its operations in Naperville and other headquarters staff in the Chicago suburb of Itasca to Boca Raton, Denning said.
SYCAMORE – Douglas Johnson expects hearings on objections to the candidacy of several residents running for DeKalb County Board to be like a court hearing. And just as a court hearing, they will take place Friday at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, said Johnson, county clerk and recorder. Would-be Republican County Board candidates Clay Campbell and Riley Oncken Laurie Emmer both had objections to their nominating petitions filed yesterday. Johnson said Earl Gable filed an objection against Emmer, who is running for District 4. Gable says Emmer should not be included on the balClay Campbell lot because one of the 19 people who signed her nominating petition lives outside the district. He said Gable had his petition filed by Sycamore-based law firm Smith and Meyer, LLC. Gable resides in District 4. Emmer, who is challenging incumbent Anthony Cvek, R-Sycamore, said she personally gathered the signatures but said she was not sure whether the signature in question will count. “I’m not saying I’m going to give up on this, but I will see the next steps,” she said. A call to Gable was not immediately returned Tuesday. His attorney Jeffrey Meyer said he would be representing him at the hearing. Board member Riley Oncken, R-Sycamore, who is running again for a County Board District 3 seat, has objected to the nominating petition of his Republican rival, Campbell. In his objection, Oncken said the address in Campbell’s voter registration record is not in District 3. Although Campbell concedes his voter registration was not updated, he said it should not matter because he’s been a resident of District 3 for almost two years and the county for 25 years. Johnson said he will lead the Electoral Board that will rule on the objections. Joining him will be a representative for DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack, and DeKalb County Circuit Clerk Maureen Josh or a representative. If the board finds the objections are valid, the candidates names would not be included on the primary ballot in March. However, candidates still would have the option to run as write-ins. “Depending on exhausting all deliberations, the board will go into deliberating on their own and it probably won’t be an open session,” Johnson said. The board will vote publicly, however. Johnson said it’s possible the hearings might have to be held Monday if the objectors or the candidates need more time.
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