DAILY CHRONICLE
HE’S MAKIN’ A LIST
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December 5-6, 2015 • $1.50
Santa visits the children of Sycamore
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Sycamore library seeking autonomy By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The Sycamore library board is preparing to have voters weigh in next year on whether the library should become its own district, in an effort to serve more patrons living outside the city limits. At its meeting Tuesday, library board trustees are expected to move forward with talks about drawing up new
An effort to serve more patrons outside of city limits library boundary lines and discussing a tax rate, in an effort to get out from under the city’s purview and become its own taxing district. The board is working to get a referendum on the November 2016 ballot, where voters would have to approve setting up the new library
district. The transition would help the library serve more Sycamore area people without having to charge some of them non-resident rates, city and library officials say. Currently, since the library is funded through the city of Sycamore, only residents within the
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city limits are afforded such things as free library cards or resident discounts on other programming. “People who live in the Sycamore area, that belong to the Sycamore school district can get a library card, but they have to physically go in, sign up and pay money,” said
Kendzora-Smith and library board Treasurer Jim Tucker said they, personally, favor it. “I feel that we should M e l i s s a K e n d z o r a - S m i t h , serve all the people in the president of the library board Sycamore area, and not have of trustees. “A lot of people people who don’t have access just don’t want to deal with to the library,” said Tucker. that step.” “I think that if people see the Trustees said they have advantages of it ... they would already put feelers out in the feel that it would be a positive community and get a general for them.” sense that there is community support for the transition. See LIBRARY, page A5
FBI inspects S. California attack as an act of terror
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 14 NIU FOOTBALL
By AMANDA LEE MYERS and TAMI ABDOLLAH The Associated Press
FALLING SHORT Laura McDermott for Shaw Media
Northern Illinois University running back Joel Bouagnon hangs onto the ball as he is taken down by Bowling Green University defense during the first quarter at the 2015 MAC Championship game Friday at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
Bowling Green denies NIU second striaght MAC title By EDDIE CARIFIO ecarifio@shawmedia.com DETROIT – After building a 28-point lead, Bowling Green rolled to a 34-14 win over Northern Illinois on Friday at Ford Field, beating the Huskies for the MAC title for the second time in three years. The teams also met last year, with NIU claiming its third title in five years. In all, the Huskies (8-5) were playing in their sixth straight MAC Championship Game. With injuries to their top three quarterbacks this year, the Huskies started true freshman Tommy Fiedler, who started slow but improved in the second half. He finished 12 of 27 for 152 yards, a touch-
down and three interceptions. Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson broke two single-season MAC records in the game, both held by Ben Roethlisberger – passing yards and touchdowns. He threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions, including one to Shawun Lurry who returned it 63 yards for a score that cut the lead to 28-14, but the Huskies got no closer. The Huskies now await to find out which bowl they will be playing in. Announcements are made Sunday, with possibilities for NIU including the Boca Raton Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, or the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The FBI announced Friday that it is investigating the mass shooting at a Southern California office party as an act of terrorism, but the agency’s director said there is no indication the husband and wife who killed 14 people were part of a larger plot or members of a terror cell. If the investigation confirms those initial suspicions, the attack would be the deadliest inspired by Islamic extremism on U.S. soil since Sept. 11. While authorities did not cite specific evidence that led them to the terrorism focus, a U.S. law enforcement official said that the wife, Tashfeen Malik, had under a Facebook alias pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader. A Facebook official said Malik praised Islamic State in a post at 11 a.m. Wednesday, around the time the couple stormed a San Bernardino social service center and opened fire. Malik and her husband, Syed Farook, died in a fierce gunbattle with authorities several hours after their commando-style assault on a gathering of Farook’s colleagues from San Bernardino County’s health department. An Islamic State-affiliated news service called Malik and Farook “supporters” of their Islamist cause but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack. FBI Director James Comey would not discuss whether anyone affiliated with IS communicated back to Malik, but he said there was no indication yet that the plot was directed by any other foreign terror group. He also declined to rule out that future possibility. “The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations,” Comey said. He cautioned that the investigation has not yet shown evidence the couple was part of a larger group.
See SHOOTING, page A5
AP photo AP photo
Bouagnon (28) rushes during the first half of the Mid-American Conference Championship game against Bowling Green on Friday in Detroit.
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Favored Bears must come through Sunday against 49ers / B4
DeKalb boys basketball defeats Sycamore 49-25 / B1
Big books make great presents for the holidays / C1
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David Bowdich (center), assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, talks to reporters during a news conference on Friday in San Bernardino, Calif.
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