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*Tuesday, June 17, 2014
GREEN TANGERINE RECORDS • MARKETPLACE, A6
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All manner of vinyl available at DeKalb record store
DeKalb’s Morgan Beaty totals 23 goals in senior season
Ash borer battle continues
Sycamore council OKs permit for brewpub By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Scott Schirmer, an emerald ash borer specialist, looks at the trunk of an ash tree after he peeled off a large peice of bark from the dead tree Friday near the Northern Illinois University nursing building on Normal Street. The markings on the inside of the trunk of the tree are those of the invasive emerald ash borer.
Municipalities use chemicals, tree removal to combat invasive beetle By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The sidewalk was strewn with dead or hobbling emerald ash borers Friday on Normal Road near Northern Illinois University’s school of nursing building. It was an unusual sight even for Scott Schirmer, Illinois Department of Agriculture emerald ash borer program manager. His house is located near a field with at least nine ash trees that have been affected by the green Asian beetle. “I’ve never seen this,” Schirmer said while studying emerald ash borers on the sidewalk. “I don’t know what’s causing this.” The emerald ash borer, a tiny green beetle native to China, is responsible for the decay and eventual death of thousands of ash trees in DeKalb County. First spotted in the U.S. in 2002 and in Illinois in 2006, the beetles’ larvae start at the top or canopy of the tree and work their way down to the trunk over a few years, feeding on the tree’s water and nutrients. Local municipalities have
To provide scale, Scott Schirmer puts his finger next to a live adult emerald ash borer found Friday on the sidewalk under an ash tree along Normal Street near the Northern Illinois University nursing building in DeKalb. been treating or removing affected ash trees to combat the problem in programs costing thousands of dollars. Sycamore the removes and replaces affected trees, rather than using a chemical treatment because their trees are at a point in which chemical treatment would do no good, Sycamore Public Works Director Fred Busse said. DeKalb uses a chemical treat-
ment because it is timely and cost-effective, said DeKalb Public Works Director T.J. Moore. The borer lays eggs underneath the trees’ bark in the cambium layer, the layer between the bark and wood of ash trees. When the larvae hatch, they feed on the cambium, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. Effects of the beetle can easily be seen when
tearing off the bark, exposing a maze of chewed-away tunnels. Adult emerald ash borers leave D-shaped exit holes on tree barks when they are finished feeding on ash trees. The city of DeKalb’s current treatment program, a yearly application called soil drench, costs the city $25,000 a year, money that comes from the special projects line item in the city’s general fund support budget. DeKalb has removed almost a quarter of the nearly 1,300 ash trees that once stood on city property and parkways, said Mark Espy, DeKalb Public Works assistant director. The city will pay to treat 865 trees starting July 1 with the soil drench chemical treatment, which involves pouring a solution around the base of the tree. More than 120 trees that have already been damaged because of strong winds or were heavily pruned will be slated for removal, Espy said. “Our parkways are showing signs of decline,” Espy said. “Without any treatment program, 100 percent death is
See ASH BORER, page A4
SYCAMORE – The process for James Heinrich to open a brewery and restaurant in Sycamore has already taken two years, but he is now one step closer to reaching his goal. Sycamore City Council voted 7-0 Monday to approve a request for Voice your a special use permit in order to open a brewopinion pub in the north end of the building at 1330 How often do you E. State St., Sycamore, drink craft beer? formerly occupied by Vote online at Open Air Motor Sports. Daily-Chronicle. A special use percom. mit was needed for the property, located in What’s next the highway business district, because of the An architect will on-site brewing of beer, draw blueprints city documents show. today for the “About seven years brewpub at 1330 ago, my friend introduced me to brewing,” E. State St., Sycasaid Heinrich, who lives more, that owner in Sycamore Township. James Heinrich “It became an over the hopes to open in top hobby. My friends December. Meansaid, ‘We need a place while, Andrew like this.’ “ Nordman is waitToday, an architect ing for five liquor will draw blueprints licenses to open a of the 3,000 square-foot microbrewery at facility for which 500 217 W. Main St. in square-feet will be used downtown Genoa for brewing operations. by October. Heinrich also needs to complete an application with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to allow him to brew. The application process can take 110 days to approve. Construction, such as putting in new drains and breaking the concrete floor, also needs to be done, so Heinrich is targeting a December opening. The brewpub, tentatively called Forge Brew House, will seat about 75 people and include a fire-brick oven in which pizza, ribs, sausages and casseroles will be cooked. Perhaps the biggest draw of the business will be its craft beers. Heinrich wants to have four mainstay ales like IPA’s and two to four seasonal beers such as pumpkin ale. He is focusing on brewing ales since they take only two or three weeks to make, whereas lagers take about six to eight weeks. Brewers use brite beer tanks are used in the carbonation of beer. Heinrich will apply for a class H liquor license with the city to allow him to sell the
See BREWPUB, page A4
More U.S. troops to Iraq; special forces considered By JULIE PACE and LARA JAKES The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The U.S. is urgently deploying several hundred armed troops in and around Iraq and considering sending an additional contingent of special forces as Baghdad struggles to repel a rampant insurgency, even as the White House insists anew that America will not be dragged into another war. President Barack Obama notified Congress on Monday that up to 275 troops could be sent to Iraq to provide
support and security for U.S. personnel and the American Embassy in Baghdad. About 170 of those forces have already arrived and another 100 soldiers be on standby in a nearby country until they are needed, a U.S. official said. While Obama has vowed to keep U.S. forces out of combat in Iraq, he said in his notification to Congress that the personnel moving into the region are equipped for direct fighting. And separately, three U.S. officials said the White House was considering sending a contingent of special
forces to Iraq. Their limited mission – which has not yet been approved – would focus on training and advising beleaguered Iraqi troops, many of whom have fled their posts across the nation’s north and west as the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency has advanced in the worst threat to the country since American troops left in 2011. The moves come as the White House wrestles with an array of options for helping Iraq repel a Sunni Muslim insurgency that has captured large swaths of territory collaring Baghdad, the capital
of the Shiite-led government. In a rare move, U.S. officials reached out to Iran Monday to discuss ways the long-time foes might help stop the militants known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The conversations took place on the sidelines of separate nuclear negotiations taking place in Vienna, Austria. U.S. officials quickly tamped down speculation that the discussion might include military coordination or consultation, though Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Yahoo! News that the U.S. would “not rule
out anything that would be constructive.” Kerry stressed that any contacts with Iran would move “step-by-step.” Taken together, the developments suggest a willingness by Obama to send Americans into a collapsing security situation in order to quell the brutal fighting in Iraq before it morphs into outright war. The White House said the forces authorized for support and security will assist with the temporary relocation of some staff from the Baghdad embassy. The forces are entering
Iraq with the consent of that country’s government, the White House said. Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said the troops on standby could “provide airfield management, security, and logistics support, if required.” They could work with embassy security teams or operate as a stand-alone force as directed. Officials would not say where the soldiers would be on standby, but It is likely they would be in Kuwait, which was a major basing
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