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Thursday, March 20, 2014
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CCT presents Disney’s ‘Jungle Book for Kids’
Sycamore’s Dion Hooker transitions to track
Sober living plan halted
A family’s grief
Sycamore seeks neighbors’ views before moving forward By DEBBIE BEHRENDS
What’s next
dbehrends@shawmedia.com
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Tonda Ranken plays with her grandson, Jett Matthew Weber Noble, while son Nick Weber brings the carseat to drive back to his house after visiting. Ranken’s youngest son, Matthew Ranken, was killed in a crash where a man who had heroin in his system rear-ended Weber’s car. Teale Noble, Jett’s mother, was a passenger in Weber’s car and was about two weeks pregnant at the time of the crash.
Rankens prepare for fatal DUI sentencing hearing By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI
On the Net
jduchnowski@shawmedia.com Tonda Ranken started with 15 pages of notes. Fifteen pages about what made her 11-year-old son, Matthew Ranken, special and how the fatal crash caused by a Sycamore man with heroin in his system forever changed her family. Her little blue-eyed football player couldn’t speak for himself. He couldn’t speak for his older half-brother Nick Weber, who is grief-stricken that he could do so little to save the boy who idolized him when he needed him most. And he can’t speak for his nephew, Jett, whose existence Weber’s girlfriend, Teale Noble, learned of weeks after she underwent CAT scans and other treatment associated with the cracked skull and blood clot she suffered because of the crash.
See Daily-Chronicle.com for more photographs and video of the Ranken family and for live coverage of today’s sentencing hearing.
Tonda Ranken didn’t know how to cram those 15 pages of notes into something she could read today when Benjamin Black is sentenced for aggravated driving under the influence in the crash that killed Matthew. She had a panic attack. Then, as she had in other stages of the grieving process, she just tried again. She wrote her victim impact statement in pieces over two days. “I am Matthew’s voice,” Tonda Ranken said. “He can’t speak. I will.” Black, 29, of Sycamore, faces between three and 14 years in prison; proba-
SYCAMORE – DeKalb County’s Drug and DUI Court’s proposed sober living home for men in the program is on hold – for now – to give neighbors a chance to weigh in. The resolution to purchase the Sycamore home at 303 Exchange St. was tabled at Wednesday’s DeKalb County Board meeting. It will be addressed at a special meeting of the board’s Law and Justice Committee at 6:30 p.m. March 31. Board member Anita Jo Turner, D-Sycamore, voted against moving the resolution to the full board when it was heard by the executive committee last week. “I didn’t know anything about it,” Turner said. “This is in my district and I wanted to talk to my constituents before making a decision.” The resolution contained a purchase price of $146,000 for the 2,388-square-foot house. Previously used as a two-unit rental property with four bedrooms in the lower unit and
The proposed purchase of the home at 303 Exchange St. for use as a sober house will be discussed at the county board’s Law and Justice Committee at 6:30 p.m. March 31 in the Gathertorium of the county administration building, 200 N. Main St., Sycamore.
one in the upper, the home was listed at $154,900, according to Zillow.com. Turner said the purchase goes against the county’s 100year plan, which would not have any development of the county campus to cross to the east side of Walnut Street. That plan was just one of the reasons nearly 20 neighborhood residents attended the meeting to oppose the purchase. After hearing from several neighbors, County Board Chairman Jeffery Metzger urged them to attend the committee meeting to discuss the issue further. Drug court coordinator
See DRUG COURT, page A6
A picture of Matthew Ranken sits on a table in the Ranken family’s living room in front on a display case holding the boy’s favorite video games, his football jersey, and various signed footballs from other teams. This photo is his mother’s favorite picture of Matthew. back of a Chevrolet Cavalier carrying Matthew; Weber, the driver; and Noble, the front-seat passenger. The Cavalier had stopped because of a traffic backup caused by another crash more than a mile away.
tion is an option only if Kane County Circuit Judge James Hallock finds extraordinary circumstances exist. Black was driving a Ford Expedition on Route 64 in Kane County about 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2013, when he smashed into the
See DUI, page A6
Debbie Behrends – dbehrends@shawmedia.com
On Wednesday, the DeKalb County Board tabled a resolution to purchase this home at 303 Exchange St. in Sycamore to be used as a sober living home for the county’s Drug and DUI Court program. The resolution will be addressed at a special meeting of the board’s Law and Justice Committee at 6:30 p.m. March 31.
Clash on economy could determine Illinois governor By SARA BURNETT and SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – The candidates for Illinois governor laid out their vastly different visions Wednesday on how to revive the state’s lagging economy, as national labor unions and other outside groups with much riding on the outcome began making
their presence felt and promised to keep doing so through the November election. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and wealthy Republican businessman Bruce Rauner won their primary races Tuesday, setting up what’s expected to be one of the hardest fought and most expensive races in the nation. Quinn, who has made a political career as a populist
and defender of the middle class, has increased taxes and pushed for raising the minimum wage. Rauner, who says the best way to help working people is to improve the business climate, wants to curtail government unions much like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker did. Republicans see Barack Obama’s home state – one of the Midwest’s last Demo-
cratic strongholds – as one of their top two opportunities to pick up a governorship, largely because of Illinois’ massive financial problems. On Wednesday the Republican Governors Association donated $750,000 to Rauner’s campaign, money intended to show the group is “all-in” to defeat Quinn. “We definitely see it as a winnable race, and we’re go-
ing to be highly involved,” said RGA communications director Jon Thompson. The Democratic Governors Association and organized labor also say a Quinn victory will be a top priority, as unions try to avoid the kinds of blows they’ve felt under GOP governors in places like Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Organized labor spent millions on ads during the
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primary that attacked Rauner, who has called Walker and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels his role models. “The last thing Illinois needs is a governor who looks out for the wealthiest among us while turning his back on the middle-class, and we plan to hold Rauner accountable every step of the way,” said
See GOVERNOR, page A6
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