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DAILY CHRONICLE
Genoa-Kingston defense falters in 7-2 loss to Marengo / B1 LOW
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SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
County Board revisits jail plan
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‘WE SURVIVED’ Week after tornado, Fairdale community relief efforts continue
New idea would expand facility without new taxes “Waiting costs us a lot of money. Not only would a big capital project certainly help … but while we’re housing prisoners outside the county, we’re sending a million dollars to other counties to help their economy.” Gary Hanson DeKalb County administrator
By LINDSEY CLARK news@daily-chronicle.com SYCAMORE – The latest iteration of an expansion plan for the DeKalb County Jail could begin in 2016 without any tax increases, County Administrator Gary Hanson said. Hanson’s plan to fund the expansion of the chronically overcrowded jail relies on revenue from fees charged at Waste Management’s expanded landfill near Cortland, county farm sales tax, and internal borrowing to finance an expansion with costs now estimated at $32 million. At Wednesday’s DeKalb County Board meeting, Hanson also said that the time could be right for board members to act, pointing out that interest rates are low and that construction costs would continue to increase with inflation. A large-scale government project also would help the local economy, he said. “Waiting costs us a lot of money,” Hanson said. “Not only would a big capital project certainly help … but while we’re housing prisoners outside the county, we’re sending a million dollars to other counties to help their economy. When you consider that … we’re sending a lot of money out the door.” The county jail was built in 1980 and is maxed out at 89 beds. But the county averaged 145 prisoners daily in 2014, with the remaining people sent to jail cells in Boone and Kendall counties, at a cost to local taxpayers. County officials have been pursuing a plan to expand the jail to a capacity of 163 beds, while leaving room for future expansion.
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Fairdale resident Leo Cardot draws a stick figure family representing his family of six and two cats on the makeshift window of a van Thursday in front of his house on White Street in Fairdale. The house, while still standing, is uninhabitable. By DARIA SOKOLOVA dsokolova@shawmedia.com
A hollow tree trunk carved by Dale Peterson, a volunteer from Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian disaster relief organization, is seen on a property in Fairdale the group cleaned up Thursday. Peterson paired the resident’s statue, given to her by a neighbor before they moved, with what was saved from the massive tree, as a sign of the town’s redemption and new life.
FAIRDALE – Downed traffic signs, pieces of insulation, mattresses and other household items remain strewn across the streets of Fairdale, a small community in northwest DeKalb County that was known to the few before it was ravaged by a tornado one week ago. But with relief efforts underway and community determination to help restore the town, Fairdale is on the way to recovery. The numerous American flags flying over the disaster area were a testament to the community’s spirit. Several officials and community members said the town has made a significant progress over the past seven days. On Thursday, volunteer teams, officials and residents were cutting trees, clearing pieces of split wood and helping to keep one another spirits up. Reminiscing about the tragedy, David Richardson said his mother was out playing bingo and he was sipping beer in his garage when the news on the radio said a tornado was passing between the 110- and 115mile markers on Interstate 39.
On the Web To view video of the cleanup in Fairdale one week after the storm, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.
Voice your opinion Have you contributed to the tornado relief effort? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. “Every hair on my arms, my neck stood up, because I knew, it’s coming right at us,” he said. “And that’s when I ran down that driveway and I followed my neighbor, J.R., we ran down the street and we sat, watched it scream across the creek that’s right across, outside of town here. And as it crossed that creek.” This week, Richardson said his mother is going to play bingo again. “I hope she wins,” he said. “I told her last week, she goes, ‘I didn’t win the bingo either,’ and I was like, ‘Well yeah, you did,’ because if she had been home, she would have been sitting over there in that rubble, right there.” Kyle Doyon, the incident commander for Team Rubicon
See TORNADO, page A6
See COUNTY JAIL, page A6
Restoration of $97M in school funds won’t offset budget cuts The ASSOCIATED PRESS SPRINGFIELD – Nearly 600 of the 800 Illinois school districts will have $97 million in state funding restored after a budget deal brokered last month between GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders cut money for education, with about one-third going to Chicago schools and the rest scattered among the other districts. But even with millions coming back to schools across the state, it will not
make up for a 2.25 percent across-the-board budget cut that included education. And school officials still have to worry about more funding problems as the state continues to grapple with an ongoing budget crisis that may prompt more budget cuts in the next fiscal year. “School districts are not out of the woods yet,” said Elgin U-46 schools Superintendent Tony Sanders. The Illinois State Board of Education plan, which was approved Wednesday and
supported by Rauner, identified districts that were likely to face financial crisis as a result of reductions. The plan also protects districts that have higher concentrations of low income Gov. Bruce students and Rauner have lower available local resources. Approval of the funding plan comes the same day
the board of education also moved unanimously to select Anthony “Tony” Smith – Rauner’s recommendation to the board – as its new superintendent. The funds Anthony range from a “Tony” Smith few thousand dollars to $33 million for Chicago Public Schools. CPS is facing an estimated $1.1 billion budget
deficit and its pension fund is billions short of what’s needed to pay benefits as currently promised. Thirty-two districts, including CPS, will get 95 percent of the cut restored. Another 546 districts will get about three-quarters of their funding put back, while the remaining 278 districts were determined not to be eligible. Elgin U-46 is among the districts receiving 73.6 percent of its funding cut back from the state. Sanders said the district
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Panel discusses documentary that exposes sexual assault on campus / A3
DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commission votes no on cell tower plan / A3
Sycamore comes up short in pitchers’ duel against Kaneland / B1
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still is experiencing a loss of $18 million through grant freezes and the fund transfers from the budget deal. The budget deal signed into law by Rauner last month transferred $1.3 billion from state funds that pay for a variety of programs and made 2.25 percent across the board cuts – which included education – to fill a $1.6 billion hole in the current budget. It also stipulated that the $97 million is for financially distressed school districts.
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