TUESDAY
Feb ru a r y 10 , 2 015 • $1 . 0 0
CONTINUING THEIR SUCCESS
DeKalb-Sycamore co-op gymnasts look to add to their winning streak in sectionals / B1 HIGH
LOW
28 24 Complete forecast on page A8
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
Facebook.com/dailychronicle
@dailychronicle
DeKalb council leery of loan request Bemis Toyota seeks incentives for renovation By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
The owners of Bemis Toyota in DeKalb asked the DeKalb City Council on Monday for a $650,000 forgivable tax increment financing loan to help offset the costs of a $2.3 million renovation.
DeKALB – DeKalb aldermen aren’t keen on giving Brian Bemis Toyota $650,000 in redevelopment incentives. During the DeKalb City Council meeting Monday, aldermen decided they need
more information about the auto dealership’s financial needs before they can consider an incentive agreement for a forgivable tax increment financing loan. Even with more information, 4th Ward Alderman Bob Snow said officials weren’t comfortable with the incentives floated Monday because they fall outside the city’s guidelines. “I guess I don’t like variances from our policy,” Snow said. “If we’re going to change our policy it needs to be changed for everyone.”
Bemis requested $650,000 in a forgivable tax increment financing loan to offset the costs for expanding and completing a Toyota-mandated renovation at the 1890 Sycamore Road dealership. Bemis officials would like the city to fund 28 percent of the expected $2.3 million total cost of the project in installments over 10 years. Current city guidelines set the limit at 20 percent of project cost, with agreements lasting for up to seven years. Bemis did not provide proof that the city funding would fill a gap, an incentive stipulation.
Bemis also asked for exceptions to the clawback provision that requires the businesses to generate enough sales and property tax revenue to make up the cost of the loan. If the business does not generate enough, it has to repay the city. Community Development Director Ellen Divita said in general, comparable car dealerships generate more than $100,000 in annual sales tax revenue for the city. The incentive money would come from TIF funds, a special
See COUNCIL, page A5
Peterson charged in scheme to kill Glasgow By BOB OKON bokon@shawmedia.com JOLIET – Drew Peterson is in the spotlight again facing sensational charges – a murder-forhire scheme to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow. Authorities did not give any details on the charges. And Glasgow said little Monday, noting he may be called as a witness. But one of the three attorneys who defended Peterson when he was prosecuted by Glasgow called the allegations “unbelievable.” “I never noticed any animosity Drew Drew had toward Glasgow during Peterson the trial,” said Joe Lopez, a Chicago attorney in Joliet on another murder case when the charges were announced Monday. “I wonder if this is just based on some jailhouse snitch or if there are recordings to support it,” Lopez said. “[Peterson] knows better. It’s James very out of character.” Peterson, 61, appeared to be a Glasgow carefree suspect in the years leading up to his conviction for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in September 2012. He has appealed that conviction.
See PETERSON, page A5
Drew Peterson timeline • May 3, 1992: Drew Peterson marries Kathleen Savio, his third wife. • March 13, 2002: Peterson files for divorce from Savio. • Oct. 18, 2003: Peterson marries Stacy Peterson, his fourth wife. • March 1, 2004: Savio found dead in bathtub. • Oct. 28, 2007: Stacy Peterson disappears. • Nov. 13, 2008: Savio’s body exhumed in murder investigation. • May 7, 2009: Peterson indicted in Savio’s death. • Sept. 6, 2012: Jury convicts Peterson of Savio’s murder. • Feb. 21, 2013: Peterson sentenced to 38 years in prison. • April 1, 2013: Peterson transferred to Menard Correctional Center in Randolph County. • Jan. 13, 2014: Peterson’s attorney appeals his murder conviction. • Feb. 9: Peterson charged in murder-for-hire scheme targeting Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow. • March 3: Preliminary hearing scheduled in Randolph County on murder-for-hire charges. • April 24: Bolingbrook Police Pension Board hearing on whether Peterson should continue receiving pension of $6,000 a month.
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Yvonne Johnson, a retired West Elementary School fifth-grade teacher, talks about her trip to NASA, as seen in the photo to her left, during a reception to honor Johnson Thursday at Kishwaukee College. Johnson made an endowment to Kishwaukee College and its science program and in return, the college named its science wing after her: the Yvonne A. Johnson Science Wing.
Devoted to teaching Kishwaukee College wing named for longtime local educator By ADAM POULISSE
Yvonne A. Johnson’s bio
apoulisse@shawmedia.com MALTA – There was a time in Yvonne A. Johnson’s life when her teaching career was much smaller – as in one-room-schoolhouse-just-outside-DeKalb small, circa 1951. “I ended up with all eight grades, 96 kids,” said Johnson, 84. “Seventeen of them were there for the whole school year. The others ... it was like a merry-go-round.” Students, Johnson recalled, included one who smoked cigarettes and another who drank beer – outside of her class, of course. Johnson – who retired from her last job in 2002, when she was 71, but continued to volunteer until 2011 – has given Kishwaukee College money to help foot the bill for new gadgets in the classroom. Her generosity was acknowledged Thursday at a reception, where a plaque thanking Johnson was unveiled just outside the entrance of the newly renamed Yvonne A. Johnson Science Wing. “We couldn’t think of a more
Age: 84 Education: Northern Illinois University ’60 Experience: West Elementary School from 1953 to 2002 when she retired, but volunteered until 2011. She has hosted and attended teacher workshops in Illinois and across the rest of the country.
Yvonne Johnson (lower left) greets friends during a reception to honor her Thursday at Kishwaukee College. appropriate way to honor what she’s done for the community,” said Marshall Hayes, executive director of foundation development at Kishwaukee College. “When she made a decision to make such a large commitment, we wanted to appropriately acknowledge the gift.” Most of Johnson’s career was spent teaching at West Elementary School in Sycamore. After leading the one-room Love School for two years, she moved to West
School in 1953 and taught classes until 2002. Although she retired, she still tutored and volunteered in the library until officially leaving in 2011. “Yvonne was a very excellent teacher, she was very superior,” said Bob Hammond, who was Sycamore School District 427’s superintendent for 13 of his 21 years with the school district from 1984 to 2005. “Former students come back and realize what an influence she had on them at an early
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
WHERE IT’S AT
Making history
In your backyard
Full speed
Lecture highlights WWII drones made in DeKalb / A3
Food hub to create opportunity for residents to eat more locally / A3
DeKalb alum earns spot on national team, heading to China / B1
Advice ................................ B3 Classified....................... B5-8 Comics ............................... B4 Local News.................... A3-4 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World............A2, A5
age.” Thursday’s dignified reception for Johnson included her friends and what few family members remain; she never married and never had children. The Kishwaukee College Art Gallery had photos illustrating Johnson’s life, which ranged from her milking a cow on a farm as a girl, to her at a NASA conference in the 1980s. “She had a very sincere interest in education and a very sincere interest in science,” Hammond said. “She’s in a position to do all kinds of things.”
See TEACHER, page A5
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... B3 Sports..............................B1-2 State ...................................A4 Weather .............................A8