75 cents
Breaking news at Daily-Chronicle.com
Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Friday, April 11, 2014
HAGGADAH TRADITION
NIU FOOTBALL • SPORTS, B1
Families mark Passover with Jewish text Faith, C1
Quarterback competition an even race so far Drew Hare
Location stalls sober house plan Proposed site was on wrong side of street, outside boundaries for county buildings By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – DeKalb County Board members say they were against having a sober house because it didn’t fit with the county’s 100-year plan. Turns out, it was on the wrong side of the intersection of Exchange and Walnut streets in Sycamore.
A proposal to buy the 2,388-square-foot house at 303 Exchange St. to house men being treated through DeKalb County’s DUI and drug court in Sycamore has officially been turned down. County board members say they didn’t want to go against the county’s 100-year plan, which sets boundaries for where the county has promised to house its government buildings.
“Technically, a promise is a promise, and I wouldn’t violate [residents’] trust,” said Stephen Reid, a Democrat from District 5. In its 100-year plan, which was approved in 2001, the county said it would contain county property to the area bordered by North Walnut Street to the east, North Locust Street to the west, East Sycamore Street to the north
and East State Street to the south. The Exchange Street house is at the northeast corner of the intersection with Walnut, putting it just on the wrong side of the boundary. Judge Robbin Stuckert, who oversees the drug court program, was not available for comment. Board members have said it is up to drug court officials to come up with a
new proposed location. “We do need a sober house,” said Jeff Whelan, a Republican from District 10. “I am for it, but the location was changed because it wouldn’t have been advantageous what they needed it for.” Anthony Cvek, a Republican from District 4, is the board member closest to the topic. The proposed sober
HAPPY HOMECOMING
house location along Exchange Street would have been three doors down from his house, he said. Cvek echoed other board members’ thoughts that the location would have gone against the county’s 100-year plan. “I wasn’t against it being close to my house,” he said.
See SOBER HOUSE, page A6
Bogus tax refunds a growing problem By ERIC TUCKER The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Nikki Burton plays with her son, Liam Burton, 18 months, while he’s being held by his father, Adam Burton, on Thursday afternoon after the three were reunited in Sycamore. Nikki and Adam Burton are both senior airmen in the Air Force and were deployed for 167 days to Southeast Asia. Liam spent about three months living with Adam’s mother, Kim Mattei, at her home in Sycamore and two months with Nikki’s mother, Melissa Miller, in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Parents reunite with toddler in Sycamore after 6-month deployment By KATIE DAHLSTROM
“I feel really sad they couldn’t be with him. He’s such a joy to be around.”
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Liam Burton waited 167 days to give his mom and dad their first kisses. On Thursday, 18-month-old Liam planted a kiss on his mom, Nikki Burton, and dad, Adam Burton, for the first time when they returned to Sycamore after a nearly six-month deployment with the U.S. Air Force. “He always kisses the phone, but that was the first one when we actually touched,” Nikki said. “It was unreal.” Senior Airman Adam Burton, 24, and Senior Airman Nikki Burton, 23, were deployed to southwest Asia together with the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron late last year when their son, Liam, was a little more than a year old. In the time they were gone, Liam stayed with Adam’s mom, Kim Mattei, in Sycamore and later Nikki’s mom, Melissa Miller, in Kalamazoo, Mich. He is their first grandchild.
Melissa Miller Nikki Burton’s mom
Liam Burton, 18 months, looks down High Street in Sycamore waiting for the arrival of his parents, Nikki and Adam Burton, both senior airmen in the Air Force, to return from their 167-day deployment in Southeast Asia. Liam had just turned 1 year old when the couple deployed from Travis Air Force Base in California. “I feel really sad they couldn’t be with him,” Miller said. “He’s such a joy to be around.” Adam and Nikki met while stationed together at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., out-
side San Francisco, and got married about two years ago before having Liam. When they learned of their impending deployment, the military gave them the option to be deployed one after the other
or at once. They chose the latter because it seemed better for Liam and because they knew they would have the support of their families. Facing deployment together also seemed like the best option, they said. Adam’s brother, Jake Burton, traveled to the couple’s home in California last October to take Liam before the couple shipped out. He recalled a beautiful California day marked with silence through the moment when it came time to say goodbye at the airport. “Taking a child from the mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Jake Burton said.
WASHINGTON – An Internet connection and a bunch of stolen identities are all it takes for crooks to collect billions of dollars in bogus federal tax refunds. And the scam is proving too pervasive to stop. A government report released in November said the IRS issued nearly $4 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over the previous year to thieves who were using other people’s personal information. Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that the “scale, scope and execution Eric Holder of these fraud schemes” has grown substantially and the Justice Department in the past year has charged 880 people. Who’s involved? In a video message released ahead of the April 15 tax filing deadline, Holder said the scams “are carried out by a variety of actors, from greedy tax return preparers to identity brokers who profit from the sale of personal information to gangs and drug rings looking for easy access to cash.” Even Holder isn’t immune. Two men pleaded guilty in Georgia last year to trying to get a tax refund by using his name, Social Security number and date of birth on tax forms. The IRS says it opened nearly 1,500 criminal investigations related to identity theft in fiscal year 2013, a 66 percent increase over the previous year, and has strengthened filters that help detect where the scams are coming from. It says it stops far more fraudulent refunds than it pays out and is making a dent in the problem. Still, the schemes have grown more sophisticated, attracting criminals with violent backgrounds who see an easy and safe vehicle for theft, according to law enforcement officials who fear that not enough controls are in place. “I’ve been on calls with
See HOMECOMING, page A6
See REFUNDS, page A6
Weather
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
A2, A5, A9 A8 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
C4 C5 C6-8
High:
66
Low:
43