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THE WILD FAMILY
Thursday, February 27, 2014
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D-427 OKs air conditioning funds Schools will spend $2.6 million to cool classrooms; work to begin in summer By DEBBIE BEHRENDS dbehrends@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Summer improvements to the HVAC systems in four Sycamore School District 427 schools will provide air conditioning in more classrooms. The school board Tuesday unanimously approved spending $2.6 million with Mechanical Concepts of Romeoville to cool classrooms at North, Southeast and West elemen-
tary schools, along with a computer lab and the library at Sycamore High School. Kreg Wesley, director of operations for District 427, said the improvements will provide equity to all five of the district’s elementary schools. “This is all being done to expand air conditioning available,” Wesley said. “All classrooms in the elementary schools will be air conditioned.” He said gymnasiums and me-
chanical spaces are the only areas of the elementary schools that will not be mechanically cooled. “Even our newest building, North Grove, does not have an air-conditioned gym,” Wesley said. Not only is it important to have the classrooms cooled when students return for the fall semester, but Wesley said it will allow opportunities to enrich students’ lives during the summer months. Work won’t begin until students
are released for summer break. “That’s pretty typical for major maintenance projects,” Wesley said, adding that longer lead times are needed for the equipment being installed. Wesley said he was pleased that the bids received were lower than originally expected. Nicole Stuckert, director of financial services for the school district, said the district refinanced some working cash fund bonds in January
2013, freeing $3.9 million to be used for capital projects. “These projects have been discussed for a couple of years,” Stuckert said. A portion of the funds already has been spent on replacing a boiler at North Elementary, she said. Superintendent Kathy Countryman said this issue has been on the board’s radar for some time. “We’re excited to finally get this accomplished,” Countryman said.
General: Pact key in Afghan future
GROWING PAINS
The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Crime Free Housing Bureau inspector Mike Stuckert notes a car without a wheel, which is a code violation, Tuesday at a DeKalb rental property. By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
D
eKALB – When Marilyn Yamber evicted a tenant over repeated domestic disturbances, she had information from the city of DeKalb’s Crime Free Housing Bureau to back her decision. DeKalb landlords evicted 56 tenants from their properties last year after interactions with DeKalb’s Crime Free Housing Bureau, a program that has cost them $339,504 in fees. Although the statistics from the first year of the Crime Free
Crime Free Housing Bureau in DeKalb gets mixed reviews Housing Bureau have officials and landlords hopeful the program will clean up the city’s rental properties, some landlords still question if the program’s cost outweighs its value. The DeKalb City Council established the Crime Free Housing Bureau in order to improve the 9,000 rental units in DeKalb. Rental units account for 56 percent of the city’s housing stock.
Under the Crime Free Housing ordinance, a landlord could face fines if their property is the site of three or more unlawful activities within a one-year period. “We want them to be actively engaged in managing their properties,” coordinator Carl Leoni said. “It’s a business, it should be run professionally.” So far, no landlords have been fined, Leoni said.
Leoni, who has been on board for about a year, reviews police calls from the night before and lets landlords know about any criminal activity reported at their property by calling them and sending a copy of the police report. Landlords then are responsible for following up on the criminal activity. As part of the ordinance that created the bureau, all tenants sign a crime-free lease addendum that states they could face eviction if they commit a crime in or around their apartment.
See HOUSING, page A4
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Depicting a grim future for Afghanistan without U.S. help, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday that Afghanistan’s refusal to sign a security agreement with the United States may make the fight more difficult this year, embolden the enemy and prompt some Afghan security forces to cooperate with the Taliban to “hedge their bets.” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spent the day with his commanders and troops i n A f g h a n i s t a n Voice your working to man- opinion age the after-effects of President Should U.S. Barack Obama’s troops pull out order Tuesday of Afghanistan to begin actively planning for a to- entirely by the tal withdrawal of end of 2014? U.S. troops by the Vote online at end of the year. Daily-Chronicle. In back-to-back com. meetings, he urged them to focus on the military work they have to do and not worry about next year. Dempsey told The Associated Press in an interview that the possible exit of all U.S. troops was making Afghan military leaders anxious and eating away at their troops’ confidence. He said he spoke with some Afghan leaders after the Tuesday announcement, and they asked him to stay committed to an enduring U.S. presence, and told him they were doing all they could to get the agreement signed. Frustrated with Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, Obama ordered the Pentagon to accelerate planning for a full U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year. But Obama is also holding out hope that Afghanistan’s next president, to be elected this spring, may eventually sign a stalled security agreement that could prevent the U.S. from having to take that step.
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