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T y, December 12, 2013 Thursday,
GETTING HIS CHANCE • SPORTS, B1
‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ • A&E, C1
NIU senior made most of his opportunities
Stage Coach Theatre presents holiday classic Jordan Lynch
Dems ballot order for county clerk set Lottery puts Taylor above Ii for March 18 primary By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – With a couple of shakes of a recycling bin, Douglas Johnson found out who would be first on the Democratic ballot for DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder. Mary Lynn Meisch, chief deputy clerk for elections, picked out one of the two pill bottles inside the blue bin. Johnson opened the bottle and unfolded the paper inside to reveal
Trent Taylor would be first name on the ballot. Taylor, of DeKalb, is one of two Democratic candidates running for county clerk and recorder, with Sandwich City Clerk Denise Ii as his opponent in the March 18 primary. Johnson, the current county clerk and recorder, is the Republican candidate. “It’s great, I’m first on the ballot,” Taylor said. “I’m told that helps, but I’d like to think my qual-
DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Douglas Johnson officiates a lottery deciding the ballot order between Trent Taylor and Denise Ii on Wednesday at the DeKalb County Administrative Building.
ifications and experience wouldn’t make that an issue of who’s first on the ballot.” The county clerk is responsible for keeping vital records about residents and businesses, overseeing elections, recording deeds and other services. A lottery for the Democratic candidates was held Wednesday because Taylor and Ii submitted their
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia. com
See BALLOTS, page A3
Health care sign-ups up, but deadline still looming
FOUR-LEGGED LAW ENFORCEMENT
Dec. 23 is last day to be covered by Jan. 1 By LAURIE KELLMAN and RICARDO ALONSO–ZALDIVAR The Associated Press WASHINGTON – With time running short, the nation’s health care rolls still aren’t filling up fast enough. New sign-up numbers Wednesday showed progress for President Barack Obama’s health care law, but not enough to guarantee that Americans who want and need coverage by Jan. 1 will be able to get it. Crunch time is now, as people face a Dec. 23 deadline to sign up if they are to have coverage by New Year’s. That means more trouble for the White House, too, after months of repairing a dysfunctional enrollment webKathleen site. Next year could Sebelius, start with a new round of Health and political recriminations Human over the Affordable Care Services Act, “Obamacare” to its secretary opponents. The Health and Human Services Department reported that 364,682 people had signed up for private coverage under the law as of Nov. 30. That is more than three times the October figure but still less than one-third of the 1.2 million that officials had projected would enroll nationwide by the end of November. The administration’s overall goal was to sign up 7 million people by March 31, when open enrollment ends. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius assured Congress on Wednesday that “we are seeing very, very positive trends” now that HealthCare.gov is working reasonably well. She also announced that she’d asked the department’s inspector general for an independent investigation into contracting and management factors that contributed to the technology failure.
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
DeKalb police officer Aaron Gates tugs on a toy Dec. 5 with police K-9 Tac at the DeKalb police station. Tac was acquired by the department in August of this year and is the first K-9 the department has had in two years.
Meet DeKalb’s newest cop Police department acquired K-9 officer Tac in August By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The DeKalb Police Department’s newest cop can sniff out drugs, search for missing items or people and stop fleeing criminals – all on four legs. Tac, an almost 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, was introduced as the city’s new police dog in October. The department found Tac at a K-9 training facility called Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver,
“A K-9 officer is such a valuable component in police agencies. There are so many things it brings to the table that other officers don’t have the ability to do.” Gene Lowery DeKalb police chief
Ind., and bought him for $8,000 using money from community donations. He was imported from Slovakia. “It’s just like having another
kid,” said Aaron Gates, the police officer assigned as Tac’s partner. “It’s 24-7. He’s very high-energy.” Tac is the department’s first police dog in two years. It could
not afford to replace the last dog, Nick, when he retired at the end of his service life about two years ago. But DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery made it a point to do so. “A K-9 officer is such a valuable component in police agencies,” he said. “There are so many things it brings to the table that other officers don’t have the ability to do.” Tac lives at Gates’ home with
See K-9 OFFICER, page A4
See HEALTH CARE, page A2
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