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Police chiefs talk at dinner
‘It’s quite amazing’
Address use of force, diversity, race relations By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Marine Corps veteran Russell Wood is greeted by the Warriors’ Watch Riders on April 8 during a welcoming home ceremony for the veterans returning from an Honor Flight at Midway International Airport.
DeKalb veteran takes first trip to D.C. with Honor Flight By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com Had his ship not been delayed, Russell Wood says he might not have survived World War II – and not received such a royal treatment through Honor Flight Chicago 70 years later. Wood, 88, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943 after dropping out of DeKalb High School when he was 17. When the war ended in Europe, Wood was sent to Hawaii to join the 5th Marine Division, which stormed the Pacific island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. He then served for eight months as Russell an occupaWood tional troop on Honshu, one of the southern islands of Japan.
About Russell Wood n Age: 88 n Location: DeKalb n Served: World War II.
Enlisted when he was 17. Was stationed in Hawaii and was deployed to Iwo Jima, but his ship was a week late. He then served in Japan for eight months. “The ship I was on was seven days late to make the landing [at Iwo Jima],” Wood said. “I never got there, and that’s probably why I’m still alive.” Wood, who now divides his time between DeKalb and Scottsdale, Arizona, was one of about 90 senior citizens from the Chicago Wood, 88, greets his great-grandchildren during the welcoming home of the veterans returning area who participated in from an Honor Flight at Midway International Airport. the April 8 Honor Flight, a one-day, all-expenses-paid memorials. It was Wood’s flight,” Wood said. “I think and thankful.” excursion for area WWII first trip to the nation’s it was a lot more of an honHonor Flight Chicago, a veterans to visit Washing- capital. or than I actually earned, ton, D.C., and its several “It’s quite amazing, that but I was very impressed See FLIGHT, page A8
DeKALB – Race relations, the use of deadly force and diversity in the local police were just some of the topics discussed during the Beloved Community’s third annual potluck dinner Sunday. Northern Illinois University Police Chief Tom Phillips and DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery both spoke at the event, which was at Newman Catholic Center, 512 Normal Road. Lowery said “there’s a huge misconception” about the use of deadly force and the intensity of the situation. “There’s always the question of why [the officer] didn’t shoot them in the leg or shoot the gun out of their hand,” Lowery said. “We’re all human beings, on both sides of the situation. Put into a high-stress situation, a lot of times it’s hard enough to hit a big target, let alone a small target, and things don’t look the same as you normally see them. You don’t always hear everything, and you don’t always see everything.” The chiefs fielded questions from the audience, which was comprised of about 40 people representing different faiths and ethnicity. Beloved Community, inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s words, brings together people of diverse backgrounds to have conversations. Given the latest headlines – including Ferguson, the unarmed naked man shot and killed and the police officer facing murder charges for shooting an unarmed black man in the back – deadly force was the hot-button issue of the night. “You can never train in that area enough,” Phillips said. “I don’t think the media or the movies do it justice. All the shootings I’ve been around or been involved in ... you’re not the same after.” Lowery said there were two officer-involved shootings in DeKalb in 2014. In such a situation, a third party – state police – comes in to investigate the case as a homicide while the involved officer is on leave.
See POLICE, page A8
Hopes dim for passage of school funding formula overhaul By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Despite a revamp to ease partisan and regional opposition, Illinois lawmakers now see little chance of passing legislation this session that would overhaul the state’s outdated school funding formula for the first time in two decades. The intent of the original bill was to increase state support for poor downstate schools, but sponsors revised it to reduce corresponding losses for wealthier school districts in Chicago and its suburbs. The revision would mean about $60 million less
for downstate schools than in the original bill, with Chicago and its collar counties losing substantially less than first proposed, according to an Illinois State Board of Education analysis. But the change has not significantly softened opposition to the bill, which lies chiefly among Republican lawmakers in the Chicago area. What’s more, legislators from both parties say the timing causes a problem because their priority this spring is dealing with a roughly $6 billion hole in the state’s general finances in the coming year. “My sense is we don’t see an education bill [come for a vote]
this session,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who represents western Chicago suburbs. “How it fits in with this budget ... I don’t think it’s something anybody’s going to be contemplating soon.” Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has established a special committee to consider the issue. But a top member of his leadership team, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, agreed that prospects for it were dimming. “I think there’s no question we’re not going to have significant new resources going into public education this year,” said Flynn Currie, a
Chicago Democrat who said she spoke with one suburban district that warned it couldn’t handle a loss of funds. “Without additional resources, this whole exercise is one in which you create paupers of [certain] school districts.” Few disagree the state’s funding formula needs an update. A study released last month by The Education Trust, a nonpartisan advocacy group, found Illinois has the most unfair school funding system in the nation, with AP file photo poor students receiving nearly 20 percent fewer state dollars State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, speaks with reporters Feb. 3 at the state Capitol in Springfield. Manar’s bill to overhaul Illinois’ school than their wealthier peers.
See SCHOOL, page A8
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DeKalb, Sycamore park districts make deal for reduced rates / A3
DeKalb library to host ‘Star Wars’ event for young fans / A6
funding formula currently sits in a Senate committee where it hasn’t moved since it was filed early this session.
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