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De cemb er 3 , 2 014 • $1 . 0 0
GIRLS BASKETBALL Gilbert leads Sycamore past Sterling / B1 HIGH
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Enterprise zone held up by semantics Concerns raised about wording in agreement By ANDREA AZZO
What’s next DeKalb City Council is expected to vote on approving the enterprise zone application on Monday, with Sycamore voting on Dec. 15. DeKalb County Board members could vote on a possible amendment to the enterprise zone intergovernmental agreement on Dec. 17.
aazzo@shawmedia.com Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
The cast of the DeKalb High School 27th annual madrigal dinner, complete in their costumes modeled from royalty of the 1400s, perform Nov. 25 for Tyler Elementary School, while Travis Erikson (right), DeKalb High School choir and madrigals director, listens in the gym during the show’s elementary school tour.
Festive feasts DeKalb, Sycamore students preparing for madrigal dinners By AIMEE BARROWS news@daily-chronicle.com DeKalb High School junior Emili Maag knew she wanted to be a part of the madrigals ensemble after it performed at Littlejohn Elementary School while she was a student there. “When I was in elementary school, I made it my goal to be in the group, even before I was into singing,” Maag said. “I thought it was the coolest thing. If the group wouldn’t have come, I never would have thought to audition to be in it.” The DeKalb madrigal performers kicked off their season with a tour of DeKalb’s elementary schools last week, and the Sycamore High School madrigals are planning to tour their district’s five elementary schools Friday. Both groups are preparing for public dinner performances, too. DeKalb High School’s 27th annual madrigal dinners will be Dec. 13 at DeKalb High School and Dec. 19 and 20 at Northern Illinois University’s Altgeld Hall. Sycamore High School’s 41st
Jester Nick Rigas, a DeKalb High School junior, sits among Tyler Elementary School students Nov. 25 during the DeKalb High School’s 27th annual madrigal dinner elementary school tour. annual madrigal dinners will be at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12 and 13 at St. Mary’s Memorial Hall in Sycamore. The madrigal dinners feature music, costumes and skits set in the Renaissance time period. They are designed to give diners the same experience they would have received had they been dining with royalty
in a holiday season centuries ago. “[It is] a real fun holiday tradition that maybe isn’t something people are used to,” said Drayton Eggleson, Sycamore High School’s choir director. “It’s going back to the 15th and 16th centuries and
See MADRIGAL, page A3
SYCAMORE – One part of the process of approving the county’s bid for an enterprise zone has been delayed, but government officials are confident they’ll meet their deadline to submit the application to the state. Sycamore City Council members chose to postpone a vote Monday on approving a planned enterprise zone application based on concerns raised by DeKalb city officials about the wording in the intergovernmental agreement between the seven local municipalities. The DeKalb County Board already voted Nov. 19 to approve the application ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline to submit it to the state. With a possible amendment to the intergovernmental agreement, the board would need to vote on the enterprise zone again during its Dec. 17 meeting. DeKalb County Administrator Gary Hanson said he isn’t worried about missing the Dec. 31 deadline to apply to create an enterprise zone, which would make increased state and local incentives available in areas around DeKalb County attract investment, development and job creation, county documents show. “I still think we’re going to make it,” Hanson said. “Obviously, we’re coming down to the last month. Hopefully, all the meetings line up fine. I think everybody’s aware of the absolute deadlines.” The wording issue in the intergovernmental agreement has to do with relationship concerns, DeKalb Mayor John Rey said. The DeKalb County Economic
Development Corp. would be the administrator of the zone, but the county will take over if the DCEDC declines. There is a 30-day period for anyone to remove themselves from the agreement, Rey said. DeKalb city officials had discussed the possibility of modifying the relationship between the enterprise zone administrator and county by Dec. 31, 2015, but their lawyer advised them they could not do that. Once the agreement is in place, it can’t be changed, Rey said. DeKalb City Council is expected to vote on approving the enterprise zone application on Monday. “We’re trying to frame up everything for the first meeting so we don’t meet the week of Christmas,” Rey said. “If push comes to shove, we’ll do a special meeting or meet the week of Christmas, but if we can do the business beforehand, we’d like to do that.” The wording issues in the intergovernmental agreement are minor, said Ellen Divita, DeKalb’s director of community development. In one instance, the same language is repeated seven times and would need to be changed all the way through, Divita said. “We’re proposing changes for clarification in the language that we think benefits all parties,” she said. “There’s nothing really drastic. It’s just clarifying language that we asked them all to consider.” Sycamore council members will tackle the enterprise zone application again on Dec. 15.
Minimum wage increase stalls in Illinois Legislature By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Efforts to raise Illinois’ minimum wage stalled Tuesday when House Speaker Michael Madigan announced that Democratic leaders did not have the necessary votes to pass a measure that would have set the rate at $11 an hour. Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the Chicago Democrat felt “complications” made it unlikely a wage hike could be passed this year. Earlier in the day, the Chicago City Council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage – currently at the statewide rate of $8.25 – to $13 an hour by 2019. Some lawmakers and business groups opposed the higher rate for Chicago and wanted legislators to stop the city from imposing the increase. Others have said any in-
crease in Illinois would put the state at a disadvantage among its neighbors with lower rates and could lead to job losses. A Democratic senator was pushing a modified proposal to address some of those concerns. Sen. Kimberly Lightford’s plan would raise the wage incrementally to $11 for workers 18 and older by 2019, beginning at $9 an hour next July. A previous proposal would have raised the wage to $11 an hour by 2017. The Lightford bill would not have prevented Chicago’s wage hike, but would have prevented the city from increasing the rate any further. Other communities around the state would have had to cap their minimum wage at the state rate once the legislation became effective in July, putting in place a dual state wage. “We’re trying to find a balance to allow for a wage increase, to support business
communities and keep the city of Chicago thriving,” said Lightford of Maywood. But Madigan informed House Democrats at a caucus meeting late Tuesday that he did not plan to call the measure for a vote. The House planned to adjourn for the year today after canceling its Thursday session. The Senate was scheduled to convene on Thursday before adjourning. Democratic leaders had been surveying House lawmakers to gauge whether there was support for the wage hike, but a number of lawmakers said they had concerns. “It’s definitely going to be a problem in my district,” said Democratic State Rep. Patrick Verschoore of Milan, whose western Illinois district has businesses that see competition from Iowa, which already has a lower state rate than Illinois.
He said he wasn’t sure how he would vote. The push to increase the wage was a key focus of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s unsuccessful re-election bid, and a majority of voters supported a nonbinding referendum asking if Illinois should raise its wage to $10 an hour. Quinn’s spokesman, Grant Klinzman, said the governor would continue to work on the issue during his remaining month in office. Meanwhile, incoming Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner made a stop at the Capitol Tuesday and said the state’s budget condition is worse than he had been led to believe. He said he is in Springfield for two days speaking with lawmakers and experts about the state’s finances, but didn’t give any hint of how we would address the problems. “Every time we look under
AP photo
Republican Illinois Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner speaks to reporters Tuesday in the state Capitol in Springfield. Rauner is visiting the statehouse as House Democrats push to gather votes for a statewide wage hike. the hood, look at different de- make sure we understand it,” partments, look at different Rauner said. Democrats noted that they issues, the problems, the deficits, the overspending is more significant than has been disSee WAGE, page A3 cussed in the past. We want to
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