75 cents
Breaking news at Daily-Chronicle.com
Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Friday, March 28, 2014
LENTEN WALKERS
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD • SPORTS, B1
Group puts faith and exercise together Faith, C1
Sycamore’s Lilia Edwards coming back from injury
GE to close DeKalb motors plant Company cites noncompetitiveness; move may leave 94 employees without a job By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – General Electric officials plan to close the DeKalb plant in 2015 after rejecting a plan from unions to reduce operating costs, company officials announced Thursday. The move to shutter the plant at 1900 Pleasant St. was made because the plant is noncompetitive with other producers, GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman told the Chronicle in an email. Freeman said the small motors produced at
the plant, which are used in residential clothes dryers, cost about 20 percent more than motors from other suppliers. The two unions, IUE-CWA Local 1081 and IAM Local 2068, represent the 94 employees at the plant. After company officials announced Jan. 9 that they planned to close the plant, unions were given 60 days to submit a cost-saving proposal. Union officials presented their proposals to DeKalb plant managers March 6, but company officials deemed them insufficient. “Unfortunately, their ef-
forts, while creative and sincere, were determined not to achieve sufficient operating cost reductions,” Freeman wrote. Kathy Brown, IUE-CWA Local 1081 president, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening. As a result of the closure, 94 people could lose their jobs. About 44 percent of those employees will be eligible to receive retirement benefits and the remaining employees will receive plant-closing benefits such as preferential employment placement at other GE
locations, severance, tuition reimbursement for education and retraining, continued insurance, and medical and dental benefits. DeKalb Mayor John Rey was disheartened to learn the plant would close, but applauded union and GE officials for their work on the proposal. The plant opened in 1946. “I have the impression it’s a market-driven decision and it’s unfortunate that people are being affected by it,” Rey said. “Clearly, it sounds like both
See PLANT, page A6
Rob Winner file photo – rwinner@shawmedia.com
The General Electric building located at 1900 Pleasant St. in DeKalb as seen on Jan. 10.
College athlete union raises many questions parts are denied a spot at the bargaining table? • Would high-profile programs such as Notre Dame and Alabama be better positioned financially to share a piece of the pie with athletes, leading to an even wider gap between the haves and havenots? “I just don’t think you can come up with any kind of formula that’s going to be equitable and fair to all,” said John Chaney, who coached men’s basketball at Temple for a quarter-century and was never shy about expressing his views on the ills plaguing college athletics. The NCAA and its conferences came out in unison against the ruling – not surprising, given their enterprise has contracts worth nearly $18 billion just for the TV rights to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and football bowl games. “We’ve got something very special in this country that is unique in the world that combines athletic competition with higher education,” Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford said. “When it’s done right, it’s a beautiful thing.” But some wondered if the NCAA brought this all on itself by dragging its feet on concerns that have been lurking for years, everything from stipends to at least close the gap between what a scholarship pays and the actual cost of going to school, to
By MICHAEL TARM and PAUL NEWBERRY The Associated Press
Cleaning a mess Monica Maschak file photo – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
A car drives by the shuttered Protano Auto Parts on South Fourth Street in DeKalb on Sept. 5.
City studies how to clear lead pollution from Fourth Street junkyard By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Nikki Griffith is used to the dilapidated Protano Auto Parts buildings down the block from her house. But that doesn’t mean she’d be sad to see them go. By the end of this summer, her hopes could be closer to reality as city officials investigate ways to clean up pollution on the property. Although city leaders have decided against establishing a special taxing district to improve several blocks along South Fourth Street, they said there’s still hope for one of the area’s development deterrents, Protano Auto Parts. City officials are complet-
“But the city hasn’t given up on re-energizing that area. We are not going to back away from it.” Ron Naylor Fifth Ward Alderman
ing the second phase of their environmental assessment of the site at 1151 S. Fourth St. “Hopefully by the summer we will know what is there,” DeKalb principal planner Derek Hiland said. “We will know how much contamination is there and what it will take to clean it up.” City officials had investigated establishing a tax
increment financing district along Fourth Street from Taylor Street to Fairlane Avenue, which would have included the Protano property and allowed the city to offer incentives to developers interested in cleaning up and redeveloping it. They voted against creating a TIF district at their March 10 meeting in part because prospects for redevelopment in the area were deemed un-
likely to generate enough revenue to cover the cost of needed improvements. Fifth Ward Alderman Ron Naylor, whose district includes properties on the west side of Fourth Street that would have been included in the TIF district, thought the special designation would have helped the area. “I was disappointed the TIF district didn’t go through,” said Naylor, who was absent from the meeting when the council voted not to proceed with the plan. “But the city hasn’t given up on re-energizing that area. We are not going to back away from it.” Work on the site has
See JUNKYARD, page A6
CHICAGO – Vince Dooley is sure relieved he’s not running an athletic program these days. Not after a decision allowing Northwestern football players to unionize, and what that might mean for all college sports. “If this ever happens,” said Dooley, now retired after four decades as Georgia’s football coach and athletic director, “the issues would be unlimited. What might happen from school to school, from day to day, from year to year, I don’t know. I’m just glad I’ve served my time.” Around the country Thursday, coaches and administrators pondered the potential ramifications of the stunning decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which ruled the Northwestern football team – up to now, referred to by the NCAA as student-athletes – are actually university employees in everything but name. Therefore, they should be able to bargain collectively for their fair share of an industry worth billions. That set off speculation over what might happen if the ruling holds up on appeal: • Would the big-revenue sports have unions, but others be left to fend for themselves? • Would private school athletes get to negotiate over issues such as compensation and health insurance, while their public school counter-
See UNION, page A6
Weather
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
A2, 5-6 A7 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
C4 C5 C7-10
High:
IT’S OVERTIME!
$
CHEVY OPEN HOUSE EVENT JONATHAN TOEWS
PATRICK KANE
ENDS MARCH 31
ST
2014 CHEVY CRUZE LT Proud Sponsor of
HWY 38 MPG
2014 CHEVY CRUZE LT w/automatic transmission. MSRP plus destination freight charge $20,735.00. Excludes tax, title, documentary fees and optional equipment. $159.00 per month for 36 months. $2,379.00 due at signing. GM Financial low mileage 12,000 mile lease for well qualified lessees. Offer ends 3/31/14. See dealer for details.
46
159 36 $$ 2,379 2 ,379
Low:
29
PER MONTH LEASE MONTHS DUE AT SIGNING