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District 427 examines tax changes Officals look to revisit abatement structure, uses matrix system for evaluations By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Sycamore School District 427 is looking at ways to revisit its tax abatement structure and how it could be restructured for the future. “It hasn’t been revisited in a while,” Superintendent Kathy Countryman said. “It feels like it’s just time.” District Director of Financial Services Nicole Stuckert led the discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting, which also saw
a few personnel moves, including Julenne Davey taking Barb King’s spot on the board, and Jim Dombek re-elected board president. The school board’s industrial growth position statement says that local economic development may improve the quality of life in the community, and that incentives should be considered if a private enterprise meets the district’s strict guidelines as determined on a caseby-case basis, among other positions, the statement reads. Of the categories listed on
the incentive rating matrix – new Sycamore jobs created, total company jobs in Sycamore, new capital investment, company gross annual sales, consecutive years in Sycamore or current community, demonstrated community involvement, type of business, quality of jobs, and potential for future expansion – the board was in approval, but Vice President Steve Nelson recommended adding community partnership. “We’ve been really talking about the need for community
Police clash with protesters for 2nd night in Baltimore
partnerships, and this is a good way to put that out there, so they know they’re looking to that,” Nelson said. Over the past decade, Sycamore has made tax abatement agreements with 3M Corp. (Project Oak), CCI/Tate & Lyle, Superior Industrial Equipment, Fullco Industries and most recently, Smart Motion Robotics. They are divided by incentive categories. “The city would bring the request from the company to the school district,” Stuckert said. “Once that’s provided to
the school district, we would ask for information from that company and for them to fill out the matrix themselves to give us more information so we can make changes as need be.” The board also discussed either changing the percentage within the table based on the incentive category, or possibly adding a fifth year. Stuckert said she has compared District 427’s model with that of other school districts. “We are unique with our rating matrix,” Stuckert said. “I have shared this with mul-
tiple school districts that are looking to start an abatement program, and they really like [that] we are very defined. There’s no bias.” Stuckert said she plans to meet with the advisory committee at the end of the month, then the city of Sycamore before bringing recommendations to the district board in Jul.y “This whole approach is very different for businesses,” Dombek said. “Not many districts take this time on their abatements.”
TAKE BACK THE NIGHT
Voices need to be heard
By AMANDA LEE MYERS and DAVID DISHNEAU The Associated Press BALTIMORE – A line of police behind riot shields hurled smoke grenades and fired pepper balls at dozens of protesters Tuesday night to enforce a citywide curfew, imposed after the worst outbreak of rioting in Baltimore since 1968. Demonstrators threw bottles at police, and picked up the smoke grenades and hurled them back at officers. No immediate arrests or serious injuries were reported. The clash came after a day of high tension but relative peace in Baltimore, as thousands of police officers and National Guardsmen poured into the city to prevent another round of rioting like the one that rocked the city on Monday. It was the first time since the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that the National Guard was called out in Baltimore to prevent civil unrest. Maryland’s governor said 2,000 Guardsmen and 1,000 law officers would be in place overnight. “This combined force will not tolerate violence or looting,” Gov. Larry Hogan warned. The racially charged violence on Monday by set off by the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died of a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances while in police custody. In a measure of how tense things were on Tuesday, Baltimore was under a citywide 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. emergency curfew. All public schools were closed. And the Baltimore Orioles canceled Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox at Camden Yards and – in what may be a first in baseball’s 145year history – announced that Wednesday’s game will be closed to the public.
Marj Askins, Safe Passage legal advocate for sexual assault, greets participants during a Take Back the Night march on Tuesday at First Congressional Church of Christ in DeKalb. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
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Marchers raise awareness during Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
By DARIA SOKOLOVA dsokolova@shawmedia.com
AP photo
Volunteers clean a CVS pharmacy Tuesday in Baltimore, in the aftermath of rioting following Monday’s funeral for Freddie Gray, who died in police custody.
DeKALB – Chanting “Yes means yes! No means no!” members of the DeKalb community, employees of Safe Passage and several area officials marched the streets of DeKalb on Tuesday night. As part of the annual Take Back the Night event that addresses sexual violence, participants strolled through downtown DeKalb holding anti-sexual violence signs that drew occasional honks from passing motorists. Carrying a sign that read
“make love not rape,” high above her head, Natalie Ckuj, a domestic violence and sexual assault family advocate at Safe Passage, said it’s especially important to address the issue in a small community. “I think that big or small, it’s important to really bring out the pieces of a big problem,” Ckuj said, “even though people may not realize it on the level that it’s an issue.” According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, as many as 1 in 5 women are sexually abused while in college, while one in 16 men are victims of an attempted or completed assault.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the United States. Marj Askins, Safe Passage legal advocate for sexual abuse, said the Take Back the Night event also was a part of the anti-rape, anti-sexual violence movement. “Take Back the Night is about making sure that the night and public spaces are safe places for everyone and reclaiming the nighttime and public spaces as safe place for men, women and children,” she said. DeKalb Mayor John Rey said he participated in the event in support of Safe Passage and its ser-
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vices to the community. “The message we are intending to send is that sexual assault is not acceptable, and it’s the perpetrator that’s the issue, not the victim,” he said. “So I appreciate the opportunity to participate.” Rape is a crime that is not reported nearly as often as it occurs, for many reasons. According to data from the National Sex Offender Public Registry, about 20 million of the 112 million women in the U.S. have been raped during
See AWARENESS, page A8
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