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SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
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DeKalb settles inequity complaint
IN THE DITCH
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Adam Poulisse – apoulisse@shawmedia.com
A DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy helps with traffic as a car is pulled out of a ditch Monday on Plank Road near Lukens Road outside of Sycamore during the evening commute.
Winter weather leaves many drivers stranded By ADAM POULISSE
Winter driving pro tips
apoulisse@shawmedia.com
K
erwin Alvero was driving on Plank Road near the Moose Ridge curve about 5 p.m. Monday, on his way home from visiting his girlfriend at the University of Iowa. He’d just passed a roadside memorial to a person who had died in a crash at the intersection when it happened. “A car was too far in the middle of the lane,” said Alvero, 18, of Streamwood. “I tried honking, but when the truck didn’t move, I had no choice but to go off the road. I was just trying to stay calm.” Alvero was on the scene trying to call his parents to help pay to have his car towed, but he eventually just drove it away himself after it was pulled from the ditch, the right back window shattered and the right side dented. At this time of year, and in this kind of weather, cars routinely slide off the side of the road as a result of human error, slippery surfaces or a combination of the two. Since the beginning of January, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office has responded to 361 calls of cars in ditches across
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Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
An abandoned Jeep Wrangler sits in the ditch turned the wrong way Monday alongside Route 72 outside of Genoa after the Super Bowl Sunday snowstorm.
Voice your opinion Has your car ever gone into a ditch? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. the county, according to the dispatch office – a far cry from the 883 calls of cars in ditches made during the same time frame last year. According to Dave Christian-
sen, deputy sheriff assigned to traffic, going into the ditch could be a driver’s safest bet, even if it means later calling a tow truck and paying at least $75 – and likely more – to get out. “If you’re faced with hitting somebody, definitely go into the ditch,” he said. “You’re not going to hurt somebody else. You’re going to go into the snow, which will stop your car a lot softer than the
• Don’t use cruise control on slippery surfaces • If your vehicle enters a frontwheel skid, steer in the direction you want it to go and wait for tires to regain traction. • If the rear of your vehicle skids, steer in the direction you want it to go and do not hit the brakes. Wait for the tires to regain traction. • Make sure your vehicle’s lights aren’t covered by snow. • Don’t tailgate • Watch your speed • If it comes to either hitting another car or hitting a ditch – hit the ditch. There’s less liability and the snow will stop you better than another vehicle. Sources: Police, AAA bumper of someone else’s car.” According to Christiansen, speed, improper lane use and following another vehicle too closely are the primary reasons cars go into ditches. “You can lose the traction so quickly on a road that’s covered in snow and ice,” Christiansen said. “If somebody’s speeding
See DRIVING, page A8
DeKALB – The city of DeKalb has entered a settlement agreement with the Justice Department over online job applications that allegedly discriminated against applicants with disabilities. Under the agreement, city officials agreed to ensure the city’s hiring policies and procedures don’t discriminate against applicants on the basis of disability. The city agreed not to conduct any medical examinations or ask disability-related questions of applicants before making a conditional job offer. The city also must update its website to comply with federal guidelines. City Attorney Dean Frieders said the settlement came after an exhaustive review of the city’s hiring practices dating back 10 years. He added the city was pleased to enter into the settlement. “Everything they’re trying to enforce is something the city was already planning on doing and stands behind,” Frieders said. The Justice Department said it contacted the city in July 2013 after an investigation found DeKalb’s online employment application asked questions about disabilities, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The investigation also revealed the city’s employment opportunity website wasn’t fully accessible to people with disabilities. Mayor John Rey declined to comment, deferring to Frieders and City Manager Anne Marie Gaura. Frieders said the questions the department cited had not been used in several years and had been prepared and reviewed by people who are no longer employees. He also said the city had planned to redesign its website to make it more accessible. “It does not meet ordinary expectations of what a modern website would look like,” Frieders said. Another condition of the settlement agreement is that within 90 days the city has to provide ADA training to all supervisors and those who participate in hiring. Frieders said Assistant City Manager Patty Hoppenstedt and Human Resource Director Michelle Anderson have been drafting a training program, but the city has not designated someone to carry out the training. The city will need to designate someone within 60 days who will address ADA compliance matters. City officials also agreed to send the Justice Department a written report every six
See SETTLEMENT, page A8
Jordan to execute al-Qaida prisoner after killing of pilot By OMAR AKOUR and KARIN LAUB The Associated Press AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan was preparing to execute an al-Qaida prisoner early today, a security official said, after the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot by Islamic State group militants. A video the extremists released late Tuesday purportedly shows the pilot being burned alive in a cage. Jordan vowed a swift and lethal response to what it called a “barbaric act.” Before daybreak today, a convoy carrying the al-Qaida prisoner, Sajida al-Rishawi, arrived at Swaqa prison where executions have been carried out in the past, the official said.
The official said al-Rishawi was to be executed at dawn. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. The 44-year-old Iraqi woman faces death by hanging for her role in triple Amman hotel bombings in 2005. Her suicide belt did not detonate at the time and she fled the scene, but was quickly arrested. After a televised confession, she recanted, but her appeal was turned down. Al-Rishawi has family ties to the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida, a precursor of the Islamic State group. Over the past week, Jordan had twice offered to swap her for the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kase-
asbeh. However, officials have said his captors did not deliver proof he still was alive, and the swap never moved forward. Jordan TV reported that al-Kaseasbeah already was killed Jan. 3. Al-Kaseasbeh had fallen into the hands of the militants in December when his F-16 crashed near Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of the group’s self-styled caliphate. He is the only coalition pilot to be captured to date. The killing of the 26-year-old pilot appeared aimed at pressuring the government of Jordan – a close U.S. ally – to leave the coalition that has carried out months of airstrikes targeting Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq. But the extremists’ brutality against a fellow
Muslim could backfire and galvanize other Sunni Muslims in the region against them. King Abdullah II, who has portrayed the campaign against the extremists as a battle over values, was in Washington on a previously scheduled trip. He added a stop at the White House with President Barack Obama. The monarch broadcast a speech on Jordanian TV on Tuesday evening, confirming the pilot’s death “with sorrow and anger,” and urging his countrymen to unite. “It’s the duty of all of us to stand united and show the real AP photo values of Jordanians in the face of these hardships,” Abdullah Anwar al-Tarawneh (center), the wife of Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath said. The official Petra news al-Kaseasbeh, holds a poster of him that reads, “we are all Muath,”
See ISLAMIC STATE, page A8
during a protest Tuesday in Amman, Jordan. Al-Kaseasbeh was killed by Islamic State group militants.
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