DDC-2-8-2014

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Saturday-Sunday, February 8-9, 2014

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Plans for Hopkins Pool progress Park district committee weighing replacement, funding options By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The DeKalb Park District’s Pool Consideration Committee is exploring renovations to the existing basin at Hopkins Pool, with cost estimates for the project expected within a month. As committee members continue to discuss options for the aging pool, they focused their attention this week on using the existing shell while replacing mechanics such as pipes and gutters. Committee members asked a representative from PHN Architects to nail down prices for three options compiled by

the board that would use the existing basin. PHN will investigate a base option as well as two alternative options that carry higher price tags. The most lavish option includes a group rentals area, new mechanical building, a waterfall and a cabana area below the existing second-level sun deck. The park district has until 2015 to submit a plan to make the 39-year-old pool facility comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although discussion at the board meeting concentrated on the options for renovating the existing basin, Park District Board Commissioner Per

Thoughts on the pool? DeKalb Park District residents are encouraged to submit their opinions and comments about the future of Hopkins pool by email to poolcomments@dekalbparkdistrict. com.

Faivre said the committee is still considering other options such as replacing the pool in its current footprint or relocating it to another site in Hopkins Park or elsewhere in DeKalb. “We haven’t ruled anything out yet,” Faivre said. Replacing the pool in its

existing location would cost around $5 million and building a new pool elsewhere would likely cost more, Faivre said. In order to pay for any of these options, the committee is looking at the district’s finances. In 2019, the district will pay off bonds used for its Sports and Recreation Center and could borrow anew for the pool project. A referendum that proposed higher property taxes to pay for a more expensive pool renovation was rejected Monica Maschak file photo – mmaschak@shawmedia.com by voters by a margin of 3 to 1 in 2010. Hopkins pool lifeguards Elise Pollack (right) and Lindsey Blakley (left)

See POOL, page A10

practice a backboarding drill on fellow lifeguard Mike Lee during a recertification class May 30, 2013, at the Hopkins Pool in DeKalb.

Hope, pride for Russia as games begin By ANGELA CHARLTON and NATALIYA VASILYEVA The Associated Press

Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com

Students take notes on gun techniques and rules during a gun safety course Jan. 25 at a training facility in DeKalb.

Local police flag 3 of 300 gun-carry applications Voice your opinion

By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – About 300 DeKalb County residents have applied for permits to carry concealed guns, with local instructors saying the first wave of applicants are eagerly waiting for Illinois to allow them to carry firearms. Since the state started accepting applications a month ago, more than 36,000 Illinois residents have applied, according to data from the Illinois State Police, with 298 coming from DeKalb County. Among the county’s applicants is James Crissman, who said he won’t carry a gun every day. In fact, he’s not sure how he’ll use his concealed-carry permit once he gets it later this year. “I’m just interested in having it,” said the 70-year-old Sycamore resident during a break in a concealed-carry course. “I might carry it when I’m out and about or to go shooting at a range.” Crissman is one of dozens of people to take a concealed-carry course offered by Dennis

Will you feel safer knowing that private citizens soon will have concealed-carry permits? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.

Dennis Leifheit, owner of ZZ Cops Gun Room in Sycamore, instructs a Carry Legally in Illinois course Jan. 25 at a training facility in DeKalb. Leifheit, owner of ZZ Cops Gun Room in Sycamore. Leifheit, who also is a retired police officer, has offered a class nearly every weekend since November, with at least 10 people attending each one. He frequently receives calls about the Illinois permit, which costs $150 and requires most applicants take eight to 16 hours of training. Some question whether the

state police will stick to the guideline that permits be issued within 90 days as long as the applicant supplies fingerprints. Without fingerprints, applications can take 120 days. According to Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond, instructors who applied during the early application period Dec.18 should receive their permits this spring, which would fall around the 90-day mark.

“It’s a strong possibility that permits could be issued midMarch,” Bond said. Dan Schroeder, lead firearms instructor for Metro Training Group, believes a second wave of permit seekers will emerge this spring. “I think the second rush will come when people actually have the permits,” Schroeder said. Schroeder said an ideal size for a concealed-carry class would be 18 people. Of late, most classes have had fewer than 10 people, which he attributes to the lull between people who had eagerly awaited Illinois having a concealed-carry law and those who have a mild interest in the permit.

See CARRY, page A10

SOCHI, Russia – A Russia in search of global vindication kicked off the Sochi Olympics looking more like a Russia that likes to party, with a pulse-raising opening ceremony about fun and sports instead of terrorism, gay rights and coddling despots. And that’s just the way Russian President Vladimir Putin wants these Winter Games to be. The world’s premier ath- More letes on ice and snow have inside more to worry about than geopolitics as they plunge into See page the biggest challenges of their B2 for more lives on the mountain slopes on the Sochi of the Caucasus and in the Games. wet-paint-fresh arenas on the shores of the Black Sea. But watch out for those Russians on their home turf. A raucous group of Russian athletes had a message for their nearly 3,000 rivals in Sochi, marching through Fisht Stadium singing that they’re “not gonna get us!” Superlatives abounded and the mood soared as Tchaikovsky met pseudo-lesbian pop duo Tatu and their hit, “Not Gonna Get Us.” Russian TV presenter Yana Churikova shouted: “Welcome to the center of the universe!” Yet no amount of cheering could drown out the real world. Fears of terrorism, which have dogged these games since the Putin won them amid controversy seven years ago, were stoked during the ceremony itself. A passenger aboard a flight bound for Istanbul said there was a bomb on board and tried to divert the plane to Sochi. Authorities said the plane landed safely in Turkey, and the suspected hijacker – who did not have a bomb – was subdued.

See SOCHI, page A9

AP photo

Russia’s Maria Sharapova carries the torch Friday during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

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