LOCAL
Daily Chronicle / Daily-Chronicle.com
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 • Page A3
DSW plans April 10 opening for DeKalb store By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Local shoe shoppers will have another 15,000 pairs to consider when DSW opens April 10 in DeKalb. DSW officials announced its new store at 2347 Sycamore Road, in the Oakland
Place Shopping Center, will open at 10 a.m. April 10. The store is located between Michael’s and T.J. Maxx, in part of the former Old Navy store that closed in 2012 after a decade. The other part of the former Old Navy will be occupied by discount retailer Five Below. DSW Inc., formerly known
as Discount Shoe Warehouse, offers a wide selection of brand name and designer dress, casual and athletic footwear and accessories for women, men and children. According to a news release, it operates 394 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as 356 leased depart-
Sycamore project list OK’d By DEBBIE BEHRENDS dbehrends@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – By early April, the Sycamore City Council should have bids for the largest street project – the reconstruction and widening to three lanes of a section of Bethany Road from east of Peace Road to just east of Aster Road. Estimated to cost about $1.1 million, that project is just part of the city’s estimated $2.7 million street maintenance program discussed at Monday’s council meeting as part of the $5.2 million capital projects plan for the new fiscal year that beings May 1. Other streets which will see some work include sections of North Avenue, Kerr Street, Archie Place, Pleasant Street, Garden Court, East High Street, East Elm Street, South Walnut Street, South Locust Street, Turner Place, East Ottawa Street, Russet Lane, Brookhill Lane, Ironwood Drive, Woodgate Drive and Oakland Drive. City Manager Brian Gregory said the list includes a portion of Park Avenue that involves significant storm water and water system improvements. Storm water improvements are planned for this summer, with water
second phase of the sewage treatment plant expansion to include a centrifuge and excess flow chlorination. Gregory said the plant currently treats about 3 million gallons daily, and when the expansion is complete, will be capable of treating about 4.9 million gallons daily. Mundy said new technology has allowed for expansion of capacity without increasing the physical size of the plant. Nearly $430,000 will be spent from sales tax distributive funds to replace what Gregory calls rolling stock – police, fire and other city vehicles. “We have a systematic rotation to make sure our maintenance costs don’t exceed the value of the vehicle,” Gregory said. “Staff does its best to maintain vehicles.” Gregory outlined the average lifespan of various vehicles – roughly eight years for patrol cars and 25 years for fire engines, for example. With no discussion, alderman agreed to the outline presented by Gregory. He reminded them a budget workshop, to review the entire city budget, is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 19 in council
By the numbers Street maintenance program: $2.6 million Phase 2 of treatment plant expansion: $1.5 million Sidewalk repair program: $36,000 Rolling stock replacements: $430,000 Phone system: $25,000 Website redesign: unknown
main improvements on tap in spring 2015 and paving in summer 2015. “A couple of the streets on the list – North Avenue being one – are cement, so we want to make sure we can get those bids awarded early,” Mayor Ken Mundy said. “Cement work is more weather dependent.” Also on the project list is sidewalk repair and replacement, primarily on the streets receiving maintenance work. Mundy said the income from video gaming machines will fund the sidewalk program. “It’s a new source of revenue, and we think it’s a good match for those funds,” Mundy said. Another large expenditure, $1.5 million, will be the
chambers.
“A couple of the streets on the list – North Avenue being one – are cement, so we want to make sure we can get those bids awarded early.”
ments for other retailers in the U.S. Roger Hopkins, the economic development consultant for the city of DeKalb, said DSW was one of the top stores that shoppers said they wanted to see in DeKalb in a study conducted in 2011. Hopkins cited a retail marketplace study that showed
42 percent of DeKalb County shoppers buy shoes outside of the county. He believes DSW will reduce that percentage – referred to as “leakage” for the sales tax dollars that leak from the area – from 42 percent to less than 5 percent. “This should attract them to stay here rather than pushing those sales to places such
as Randall Road or Rockford,” Hopkins said. Between 25 and 40 fulland part-time employees will work at the 11,000-squarefoot store, according to a release from the company. The store’s normal business hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
PICTURE THIS Note to readers: This is part of an occasional series showcasing interesting photos by Daily Chronicle photographers
By MONICA MASCHAK mmaschak@shawmedia.com Every newspaper photographer who has covered basketball is familiar with this outtake. It’s a funny shot not for the people in it, but for the composition. I feel as if I could start a gallery full of basketball players who seem to have basketballs for heads. It’s inevitable, and I know it’s coming, but I can’t help but laugh every time I see it.
I sit under the basket or in the stands and snap away while the players race up and down the court. After the game ends, I begin siphoning through the hundreds of photos from the game, picking out the ones I feel best capture the energy and outcome of the game. I’m fully involved at this point, meticulously dissecting each photo’s composition just as a news editor reads a story. Then the basketball-headed boy or girl appears.On Fri-
day, Sycamore’s Mark Skelley was that basketball-head. I snapped the shot of him aiming for the hoop during the second quarter of the game against Morris. I don’t remember if he made the shot, but overall, it was a good game for Sycamore. The Spartans won, 60-30. Outside of this column, a photo like this wouldn’t make it into the newspaper, and for good reason, but a top 10 would definitely make a great comedy reel.
Mayor Ken Mundy
Autopsy showed both victims died as result of fire
Schmidt trial continues today • CHARGES Continued from page A3 drowsiness and “may lessen your ability to perform dangerous tasks,” Cook read. Other medications such as one phenobarbital, used to control seizures, said to use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery, Cook testified. During cross-examination, defense attorney Jonathan Minkus emphasized none of the pill labels explicitly instructed Schmidt not to drive, but only to use care and talk to her doctor about making the decision to drive. Sycamore police detective Daniel Hoffman testified that he attempted to interview Schmidt’s neurologist, who works at Midwest Neurology in DeKalb,
to get more details about Schmidt’s health condition, but Hoffman testified he was told he could not talk to the doctor. During cross-examination, defense attorney Gregg Smith asked questions that emphasized that Hoffman, the lead investigator in the Schmidt case, did not recall some of the particulars of the case. Hoffman also testified he was not aware whether there was a doctor notification sent to the Illinois Secretary of State that Schmidt shouldn’t have been driving because of her physical disability. “As far as I know, we could not find anything,” Hoffman testified. Prosectors will call doctors, including a neurologist Schmidt was seeing, to testify when the trial continues at 10 a.m.today.
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
A fire early Sunday morning destroyed the house at 485 Hyde Road north of Earlville.
• FIRE Continued from page A1 bodies were discovered in the basement of the home after it had been destroyed by the fire,
authorities said. An autopsy supervised by DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller showed both died as a result of the fire and no foul play is suspected. Jones had lived in the
house on his family’s farm on and off since 1986, according to Courtney Stryker, who said she had known him since 1986. Stryker called Jones a “free spirit” and “kind of a loner.” DeKalb County proper-
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ty records show the 40-acre farm is owned by Whitman Farms LLC, based in Mequon, Wis. Fire departments from Earlville, Leland, Paw Paw, Shabbona and Mendota responded to the scene.
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