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District 427 board to vote on cuts a plan that would cut $3.8 million in spending over three years and reduce or eliminate teacher positions. Superintendent Kathy Countryman presented the plan at the Feb. 10 school board meeting. It calls for $1.6 million worth of cuts for the first year, $1.5 million for the By ADAM POULISSE second, and $700,000 for the apoulisse@shawmedia.com third – which includes reducSYCAMORE – Sycamore ing or eliminating several poSchool District 427’s board sitions, including special edumembers will vote tonight on cation and English Language
Plan would eliminate jobs, slash expenses
Learner faculty. “In order to be financially responsible to our taxpayers, we need to look at how we can still meet our mission of providing quality education,” Countryman said. The board and the district’s finance representatives met Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to review the proposal in detail before casting their votes today, Countryman said. The school board meeting will begin at 7
p.m. today at Sycamore Middle School, 150 Maplewood Drive, and include time for public comment regarding the issue. At the Feb. 10 meeting, district Director of Financial Services Nicole Stuckert said the district is on track to run out of money in its cash-on-hand fund next academic year. In addition, the district’s fund balance will go into the negative beginning the fiscal year starting July 1, 2018.
Carol Meeks, president of the Sycamore Education Association and a fourth-grade teacher at North Elementary School, said the union and the school board have been in regular contact regarding the proposed cuts. “Our members are aware of the problems that have been caused from a lack of funding from the state and changes in property values,” Meeks said. “We understand we have to put the district back on track.
If you go WHAT: Sycamore School District 427 Board meeting WHEN: 7 p.m. today WHERE: Sycamore Middle School, 150 Maplewood Drive, Sycamore
We’re not happy about that but don’t see many different opportunities out there than what’s been proposed.”
U.S.-Iran nuclear deal taking shape By GEORGE JAHN and BRADLEY KLAPPER The Associated Press GENEVA – Edging toward a historic compromise, the U.S. and Iran reported progress Monday on a deal that would clamp down on Tehran’s nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions on programs that could be used to make atomic arms. Officials said there were still obstacles to overcome before a March 31 deadline, and any deal will face harsh opposition in both countries. It also would be sure to further strain already-tense U.S. relations with Israel, whose leaders oppose any agreement that doesn’t end Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to strongly criticize the deal in an address before Congress next week. Still, a comprehensive pact could ease 35 years of U.S-Iranian enmity – and seems within reach for the first time in more than a decade of negotiations. “We made progress,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said as he bade farewell to members of the American delegation at the table with Iran. More discussions between Iran and the six nations engaging it were set for next Monday, a senior U.S. official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the sides found “a better understanding” at the negotiating table.
Western officials familiar with the talks cited movement, but also described the discussions as a moving target, meaning changes in any one area would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation. The core idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement, gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment and slowly easing economic sanctions. Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the U.S. fears Tehran could re-engineer the program to produce the fissile core of a nuclear weapon. The U.S. initially sought restrictions lasting up to 20 years; Iran has pushed for less than a decade. The prospective deal appears to be somewhere in the middle. One variation being discussed would place at least a 10-year regime of strict controls on Iran’s uranium enrichment. If Iran complied, the restrictions would be lifted gradually over the final five years. One issue critics are certain to focus on: Once the deal expired, Iran theoretically could ramp up enrichment to whatever level it wanted. Experts say Iran already could produce the equivalent of one weapon’s worth of enriched uranium with its present operating 10,000 centrifuges. Several officials spoke of
See NUCLEAR, page A5
AP photo
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, (center), returns to his hotel after walking on the bank of Lake Geneva, after a bilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for a new round of nuclear talks Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Brenda Woker of DeKalb talks to another cardiac rehab patient while she walks on the treadmill Wednesday in the Kish Health Cardiac Rehab facility inside Kishwaukee Hospital. Woker’s last surgery was a valve replacement on Nov. 3, and she’s in phase 2 of her post-surgery cardiac rehab.
Promoting cardiac health Medical professionals work to curb heart disease in county Tips for a healthy heart
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – After more than a dozen heart surgeries and procedures, Brenda Woker took comfort in being able to lift her toothbrush. In November, Woker had her third valve replacement surgery, which left her unable to do much other than brush her teeth for days. It was the 16th surgery or procedure Woker, 42, had endured since she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease as a child, leaving her starting over again with rehabilitation she’s been doing for more than a decade. “You feel like you’ve got that insurmountable mountain in front of you,” said Woker, a DeKalb resident. “You make sure your house is clean before you go in to surgery because that’s something you can’t do for months.” Although Woker was born with heart defects, others develop heart conditions over the course of their life. The conditions all fall into the category of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death among DeKalb County residents, according to the 2014 Community Benefits Report from Kishwaukee Hospital.
• Get active: Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. • Control cholesterol: Exercise and avoid eating too many animal products. • Eat better: Diet can help control blood sugar, blood pressure and weight, all factors that affect heart disease. • Stop smoking: Cutting out smoking can reduce the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Source: American Heart Association Exercise physiologist Cindy Hooper takes Brenda Woker’s blood pressure while she’s on a bike Wednesday in the KishHealth Cardiac Rehab facility inside Kishwaukee Hospital. During her workout Woker wears a heart monitor that feeds information directly into a computer, but her blood pressure has to be taken manually before, during and after her session.
offers several classes and programs aimed at keeping hearts healthy, Community Wellness Manager Beth Busching said. “It’s so prevalent in our county,” Busching said. “We Regardless of the type, local attacks, he said. According to a report from need to keep the community health officials are trying to curb the number of heart con- the Illinois Department of well.” Among other classes, the ditions that county residents Public Health, about 454 for every 100,000 DeKalb County hospital offers a free “Know suffer. Cardiovascular disease kills residents died of cardiovascu- Your Numbers” screening about a quarter of Americans, lar disease in 2013, the most where patients can learn their according to Dr. Jorge Saucedo, recent numbers available. At blood pressure, body mass ina board member for the Chicago the same time, about 336 out of dex, cholesterol and blood sugchapter of the American Heart every 100,000 DeKalb County ar levels. They also offer a class Association and the co-director residents died of heart disease aimed at helping people quit smoking, she said. of the NorthShore Cardiovas- specifically, the report shows. The hospital is in the midst Heart disease prevention cular Institute at NorthShore University. A majority of those remains a high priority at See HEART, page A5 fatalities are caused by heart Kishwaukee Hospital, which
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