FRIDAY
June 19, 2015 • $1.00
DAILY CHRONICLE TEAM PLAYER
Sycamore’s Dion Hooker named Male Athlete of the Year / B1 HIGH
74 56 Complete forecast on page A12
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
LOW
Facebook.com/dailychronicle
@dailychronicle
Fairdale residents favor rezoning What’s next?
By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Based on Fairdale residents’ recommendations Thursday, the DeKalb County Board now will vote on rezoning the tornado-ravaged community, which would ease restrictions should residents decide to rebuild their properties. Fairdale mostly consisted of houses and land that were in place before county zoning was established in 1948, but they were grandfathered in. Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com Many Fairdale homes are Fairdale residents filled the multi-purpose room Thursday at the out of step with modern reDeKalb County Health Department building for a public hearing to get quirements, such as the disclarification on proposed zoning requirements. tance from a house to a street,
Woman won’t face charges in stabbing
The DeKalb County Board will vote on the rezoning of Fairdale at a special meeting July 1. If approved, residents can begin rebuilding their homes July 2. property lines, the height of fences and well and septic system guidelines. A public hearing Thursday before Hearing Officer Ron Klein allowed residents to voice their opinions and hopes for rebuilding and rezoning Fairdale from an agricultural zone into a mixed-use development area.
Hearing no objection, Klein recommended the area be rezoned, and the County Board will vote on the measure at a special meeting July 1. “This is an unusual situation,” Klein told about 60 Fairdale residents who attended the hearing at the DeKalb County Health Department, 2550 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb. [It is] the first one I’ve had in the way of a hearing where the county is proposing changing to reduce the restrictions rather than increasing them.” Geri Hopper said she hopes to rebuild the home she lived in with her husband, Ron, and her mother, Clay, but wants to
downsize to a one-story home and keep the basement that kept the three alive during the April 9 tornado. She said it’s important for her ailing mother, who has lung cancer. “She needs to get back in her own house as soon as we can get her in there,” Hopper said. “A positive attitude helps when you have any kind of sickness. This has been stressful.” She said her mother, who wasn’t at the meeting Thursday, “doesn’t want to go anywhere else.” “It’s a horrible thing that
See FAIRDALE, page A9
KISHWAUKEE UNITED WAY DAY OF CARING
Police, prosecutors determine self-defense in husband’s death By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – A Genoa woman acted in self-defense when she stabbed her husband in their home May 14, police and prosecutors said. After reviewing police reports, seeing a video recorded interview with Kendra Burno and meeting with Jene Burno’s parents, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office decided not to file charges against the 43-year-old mother of two, according to a news release issued Thursday. The decision was announced more than a month after Jene Burno’s death. Police have said Kendra Burno stabbed her husband, Jene Burno, at their home in the 31200 block of Madison Street near Genoa on the evening of May 14, then she went to a nearby house and called 911. Jene Burno worked as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service Annex in Huntley for 15 years. At his funeral, colleagues remembered him as “a dedicated employee” and a “genuinely good person.” An autopsy found that Jene Burno died from a single stab wound to the chest. Toxicology reports confirmed Jene Burno had been drinking at the time he was stabbed, Sheriff Chief Deputy Gary Dumdie said. Police did not say if Jene Burno had a weapon when he was stabbed, but Dumdie said he did not have a firearm or knife. Kendra Burno told police she got a knife because she “felt threatened when Jene Burno physically did not allow her to leave their home that evening,” Dumdie said. “She felt physically threatened,” Dumdie said. “It was a physical domestic dispute, so there had been a battery committed against her.” Kendra Burno wasn’t injured in the altercation that ended with her husband’s death, Dumdie said. The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, working with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, determined Kendra Burno’s actions
See SELF-DEFENSE, page A9
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Kim Goyke, of DeKalb’s Sonoco Alloyd, weeds a portion of the garden outside the Sycamore History Museum in Sycamore during the Kishwaukee United Way Day of Caring on Thursday.
Volunteers lend hand to nonprofits “So many of our agencies rely on volunteers so heavily. It’s a nice way to give back in that manner.”
By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Beth Ager wants her kids to know the importance of volunteerism. On Thursday, she sat with her son, Shawn, 11, at Hopkins Park in DeKalb preparing for the Kishwaukee United Way’s 11th annual Day of Caring kickoff event. “Volunteering is very important,” Ager said. “I want to teach my children that life’s not all about them. It’s about other people, too.” Day of Caring is an annual event hosted by Kishwaukee United Way that matches volunteers with nonprofit organizations for the day. The nonprofits plan projects that can be completed in relatively short periods, such as painting, gardening, delivering meals on wheels, calling bingo and decorating placemats or posters for the senior center or family service center, which is what Ager and her son did last year for the event. Shawn Ager said he liked art, so
Dawn Littlefield Kishwaukee United Way executive director
About 200 volunteers signed up, which is a pretty steady number compared to previous years. The event is an extension of United Way’s mission – to give, advocate and volunteer. Carol Host (left) pours more paint as Amber Gerardy (right), of the Sycamore “This is a great way to get folks Chamber of Commerce, paints the entrance wall of the Adult Day Center in DeKalb involved in the community. This is during the Kishwaukee United Way Day of Caring on Thursday. our most visible event around volunteerism,” Littlefield said. “It’s a way to cultivate that awareness. … the volunteer event would be fun to there,” he said. do again. He enjoyed seeing the postThis year was the 11th year for So many of our agencies rely on volers he made last year displayed in the event, said Dawn Littlefield, unteers so heavily. It’s a nice way to the community. executive director of Kishwaukee “It was cool to see our work out United Way. See VOLUNTEERING, page A9
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
WHERE IT’S AT
Healthy hearts
Facing 5 years
Coming home
Annual event benefits “Go Red for Women” campaign / A3
Man pleads guilty to 3 child sex offenses, will do time in state prison / A3
Swieca: Hawks rally doesn’t disappoint despite setbacks / B1
Advice ................................ B4 Classified....................... B6-9 Comics ............................... B5 Local News.................... A2-4 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World.... A2, 4, 8-10
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion..............................A11 Puzzles ............................... B4 Sports..............................B1-3 State ...................................A6 Weather ........................... A12