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Tuesday, December 17, 2013
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NOVEMBER STORM • LOCAL, A3
Owners hope to open The House in January
Area residents assist Washington families
Congressmen discuss food stamps, food pantries By DEBBIE BEHRENDS dbehrends@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Congressman Adam Kinzinger was heartened to see shelves at the DeKalb Salvation Army Food Pantry were well stocked when he visited Monday. Kinzinger, a Channahon Republican whose 16th District includes northwest DeKalb County, went on a daylong tour of organizations that provide services for struggling individuals and families. Along with the stop in DeKalb, Kinzinger also visited the Rockford Rescue Mission and We Care of Grundy County, a food pantry. “For three decades, my father ran a shelter, the
Voice your opinion What should Congress do with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. Home Sweet Home Mission in Bloomington,” Kinzinger said. “I understand need and how agencies leverage private dollars.” Both Kinzinger and his colleague, Rep. Randy Hultgren, a Winfield Republican, complimented the work of community food pantries while emphasizing their support for closing loopholes in eligibility for food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram. Beyond assistance, government officials need to strengthen the economy to provide good jobs for those in need, both Hultgren and Kinzinger said. “Ultimately, the surest weapon against hunger and poverty is a thriving economy,” said Hultgren, whose 14th District includes DeKalb, Sycamore and southern DeKalb County. “When one in seven Americans is on food stamps, we need to redouble our efforts to create jobs for those without them.” Food stamps comprise roughly 75 percent of the Farm Bill that has been extended into January, as the House and Senate attempt to craft a new five-year mea-
sure, Kinzinger said. Both the Senate and the House have passed farm bills this year, but they differ on how much to cut the nation’s food stamp program and how to restructure farm subsidies. The House passed a bill in September that would cut $4 billion from food stamps annually and allow states to create new work requirements for some recipients, a measure both Kinzinger and Hultgren supported. The Democratic Senate, backed by President Barack Obama, passed a farm bill with a $400 million annual cut, or a tenth of the House cut.
See CONGRESSMAN, page A7
Photo provided
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, visited the DeKalb Salvation Army as part of his tour of agencies assisting families this holiday season. Kinzinger said he was pleased to see food pantry shelves, like those in DeKalb, overflowing.
Gay marriage not a 2014 Ill. primary issue By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: Jana Thomas, a retail sales clerk at Super One Dollar Store in Sycamore, helps Becki Burke of Sycamore with her purchases on Thursday. TOP: Thomas began working at Super One Dollar Store six weeks ago.
Retailers add employees to handle holiday shopping rush By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Karl Ray will spend the majority of Christmas Day working at Lundeen’s. Ray, assistant manager for the Sycamore discount liquor store, said during the holidays the store usually has less employees because most of them are college students who go home for the holidays. Employees like him pick up extra hours to cover the lack of staff and meet the demand of holiday shoppers. On Christmas Day, he’ll be working noon to 5 p.m., following a 10-hour shift on Christmas Eve. As the assistant manager, it’s his job to delegate tasks while making sure the store looks good.
“You just want to prepare as well as you can and have it all go smoothly,” he said about working during the holidays. Unlike Lundeen’s, many stores nationwide are hiring just as many seasonal employees as they did last year to handle the holiday shopping season. According to the National Retail Federation, retailers are expected to hire between 720,000 and 780,000 people this holiday season, which is about the same as last year. The amount of seasonal hires varies from retailer to retailer, said Peter Gill, spokesman for the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Retailers’ hiring managers generally prefer to hire seasonal employees who they’ve worked with in the past. It’s generally part-time
work. “If they worked well for [the stores], there is less training and less they have to worry about,” he said. Jana Thomas hasn’t worked in retail since she was a teenager, but she’s finding it easier than waitressing thus far. In October, the Sycamore resident started working part time at the Sycamore-based Super One Dollar Store. “Considering I’m used to waitressing, I’m used to working 10-hour days,” she said. Thomas stocks shelves and helps people find items. Although the store has extended its hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., she starts her day at 10 a.m. and leaves by 2:30 p.m.
CHICAGO – When Illinois lawmakers considered a landmark vote on same-sex marriage, religious and conservative groups vowed to retaliate against those who voted in favor by grooming potential primary challengers in next year’s elections. But now that gay marriage is Illinois law and legislative candidates have submitted candidate petitions to election officials, the threat seems to have evaporated. A coalition of high-profile pastors that launched a campaign against same-sex marriage has dropped the pursuit against black House Democrats, for now. Primary challengers to three Republicans who voted in favor of gay marriage – including state Rep. Tom Cross, who is running for state treasurer – haven’t made it much of an issue either. A big reason, experts say, is the public’s rapid shift in support of gay marriage. That meant less political risk, even as the bill passed through the House with a slim margin in November, about nine months after the Senate. Other states, including Minnesota – the only other Midwestern state to pass gay marriage out of its Legislature – haven’t seen much backlash either. “I’m a very conservative Democrat. But if the populated numbers would have wanted that, I don’t represent myself; I represent the people,” said Tonya Hunter, a former social worker from Chicago challenging Rep. Art Turner. “It’s just my own religious belief.” Turner was one of 20 black House Democrats in the spotlight after the African American Clergy Coalition ran ads on black radio and released robocalls pushing its belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. The coalition includes the Rev. James Meeks, a former state lawmaker whose Chicago megachurch is politically influential. Yet of the 14 black House Democrats who voted yes, only half have primary challengers. Of the nine total challengers – most of whom are seeking public office for the first time – seven spoke to The Associated Press, saying same-sex marriage wasn’t among their top campaign issues. One supported the vote outright. Another wasn’t aware of how the incumbent voted. Two didn’t return multiple messages. Illinois’ same-sex marriage law takes effect June 1, though court orders – including one issued Monday – have allowed some couples facing terminal illness to wed earlier. Polls show support for gay marriage has surged since 1996, when Gallup found only 27 percent of Americans felt same-sex marriages should be valid. Last year, it jumped to 53 percent. Also last year President Barack Obama said he supported same-sex marriage, something which experts say could give the House Democrats cover.
See GAY MARRIAGE, page A7
See HIRING, page A7
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