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De ce m be r 22 , 2014 • $1 .0 0
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MAYNARDS FIND SUPPORT FROM COMMUNITY AFTER FIRE
Some races without candidates Filing ends at 5 p.m. today By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DEKALB – With today the last day of the filing period for the April 7 election, some races are shaping up to be competitive while others have yet to garner a single candidate. As of Friday, three candidates had filed for the Ward 5 seat on the DeKalb City Council. Mike Haji-Sheikh was the first candidate to file when the period started Monday. Kate Noreiko and Cameron Zelaya also filed their Monica paperwork for a O’Leary spot on the bal- DeKalb City Council, lot. The only oth- Ward 7 er competitive city race is Ward 7, where Craig Roman will challenge incumbent Monica O’Leary, who is seeking her second term. Craig Roman This will be the third campaign for Roman, 40. He unsuccessfully ran in DeKalb County Board District 6 in 2012 and DeKalb City Council Ward 6 in 2009. “We need to bring communication to the residents,” said Roman, the regional sales director for the Catholic Holy Family Society. “I don’t think that’s being done.” No one has filed yet to run for the DeKalb City Clerk position. In Sycamore, one candidate
has filed in each of the city’s wards. Incumbents Curt Lang, Ward 1; Chuck Stowe, Ward 2; and Rick Kramer, Ward 4, filed while newcomer Becky Springer filed for Ward 3. Only incumbents have filed in Genoa. Pam Wessner, who currently serves in Ward 1 and James Stevenson of Ward 2 filed. That leaves the two other seats up for election without any candidates. Kingston voters will elect a new village president in April after longtime Village President John Munro resigned amid felony charges he had a village-owned credit card from April 2013 to January 2014 without permission. Village trustee Jim Baenziger, who is serving as village president in the meantime, is the only candidate to have filed for the unexpired two-year village president term. In fact, he’s the only person to have filed for any of the village’s open seats, which also include three trustee positions, Treasurer Taunya Fischer said. “While we do have packets out there, we haven’t had anyone turn them in,” Fischer said. Three people have filed for Kirkland’s three open trustee seats. Incumbents David McMurray and John Pierce, as well as new candidate Emily Harvel will seek voter approval in April. Races for school districts across the county have yet to fill out. In Genoa-Kingston School District 424, current board President Paul Kruse and member Barbara Gustafson are
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Nancy Maynard talks with family during a quarter-craze fundraising event Thursday at the Jane Fargo Hotel in Sycamore. The money raised will go to the Maynards, who lost their Genoa home in a fire on Thanksgiving day.
Family waits to rebuild By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com GENOA – Leaving their burnt home Thanksgiving, members of the Maynard family thought that all they could cling to was each other. What they learned, though, was that dozens of people were ready to hold them up. After a fire ravaged their home, Jim Maynard, a paid on-call firefighter for the Genoa-Kingston Fire Protection District for a decade, his wife Nancy, and their sons Tim, 18, and Joe, 15, hope to have a Christmas that’s as normal as possible. The only thing keeping that hope alive, they said, is the support from their Genoa neighbors, fellow firefighters and even strangers. “We’re doing well,” Nancy May- Paid on-call firefighter Jim Maynard talks with Genoa’s Assistant Fire Chief Ryan Stnard said. “It’s hard because we’ll be offregen at the event Thursday. The Maynards stayed with their son, James Garrett,
See MAYNARD, page A7
and his wife, Shelly, before finding a house to rent in Genoa a couple days after a fire destroyed their home and most of their belongings.
See ELECTIONS, page A7
Raising Illinois juror pay, reducing juries gets mixed reviews By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – A newly signed law that will more than double what Illinois jurors are paid while reducing the size of civil case juries is earning mixed reviews from criminal justice experts. Gov. Pat Quinn signed the measure Friday that backers say could lead to more diverse juries and offset anticipated costs by cutting back jurors in all civil cases from 12 to 6. But some counties are concerned about picking up the tab and researchers and advocacy groups believe smaller juries mean
less impartial verdicts. To the measure’s sponsor – who was lobbied by the former Illinois Trial Lawyers Association president – raising juror stipends is a simple equation. Illinois currently hovers near the bottom of U.S. states when it comes to state-set rates, though it varies by county – between $4 and $10 a day, more in some places. Plus, state law doesn’t require employers to pay wages during jury duty. The new law, which takes effect in June, moves Illinois closer to other states by raising it to $25 the first day and $50 after. Few other states are as stingy: South Carolina jurors get a
$2 daily minimum in civil cases and some – Connecticut and Massachusetts, for example – don’t pay the initial day, according to the National Center for State Courts. “It is a civic duty, but you are inconveniencing people,” said state Rep. Kelly Burke, an Evergreen Park Democrat co-sponsoring the plan. “It’s more than an inconvenience for some people, it’s a hardship.” Shannon Welling of Chicago served on a jury for a nearly two-week medical malpractice case this year. The 33-year-old said her employer continued to pay wages. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much left from the
daily $17.20 Cook County offers after commuting. “You keep getting told, ‘It’s your civic duty. P.S. Here’s 17 bucks, good luck!’ ” she said. “I’m lucky that I’m salaried. ... That was solely the way I was able to survive.” States don’t often take up jury pay, especially during tough economic times. California raised its rate in 2000, the first time since 1957; jurors now get $15 on the second day of service, up from $5. Fair-jury advocates say more money helps ensure juries are reflective of the wider population. Those who’ll have trouble taking time to serve –
like an hourly worker whose employer won’t pay them – will be less likely to ask for an excusal if the payment is larger. The Fully Informed Jury Association advocacy group notes the issue can disproportionately affect minorities. Quinn, who has less than a month in office before Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner takes over, said through a spokesman that he signed the law to ease “the financial burden of jury duty,” and noted many states have smaller juries. Quinn spokesman Grant Klinzman didn’t respond further. While it varies by court type,
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more than half of U.S. states require six jurors in civil cases, according to NCSC. The rest mostly stick with 12 or eight. Currently, Illinois allows six in some types of cases. Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia who’s written a juror handbook, points to research suggesting how big personalities are more likely to dominate on small juries. “They make more inconsistent verdicts,” Ferguson said, unlike larger juries where, “there are more voices and
See JURORS, page A7
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