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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Monday, June 2, 2014
COMMENCEMENT • LOCAL, A3
BOYS TRACK & FIELD • SPORTS, B1
Hinckley-Big Rock High School celebrates graduates
Sycamore’s Hooker part of strong local showing at state meet Dion Hooker
Farmers markets still growing
Genoa Park District seeks feedback to park plan Chamberlain Park could see changes, additions By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Tom Yaeger drives a tractor while family friend, Barry Weeks, sits and picks asparagus from a handcrafted platform Thursday at the Yaeger Farm in DeKalb near Cortland. The acre of asparagus is picked daily, and Weeks looks for the shoots to be at least 6 inches before they are picked for the market. The second-generation family farm operates Yaeger’s Farm Market which sells local produce.
DeKalb County ready for customers wanting to buy locally grown food By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Family friend Barb Bradford (not pictured) sells Yaeger’s Farm asparagus at the open air market May 24 in Genoa. Yaeger’s Farm Market sells vegatables, plants, flowers and canned products at their own market in DeKalb along Lincoln Highway.
DeKALB – Mark Yeager knows he’s not the only stop for someone hunting for local produce, but he’s happy to be one of them. Yeager, the owner of Yaeger’s Farms in Cortland, and many other local farmers and business owners like him are ready for the waves of customers wanting to buy locally grown food. A lot of people stop by Yaeger Farms daily or weekly for their produce, Yaeger said, although he knows those customers might also buy vegetables from a supermarket early in the summer. When the farm is in full swing late July through August, though, vegetable needs could be filled at
Voice your opinion
GENOA – Genoa resident Kyle Garrelts can skateboard off ramps, do multiple flips and grind down rails, but he thinks Chamberlain Park in Genoa can add more amenities to satisfy his skills. Garrelts wants Genoa Park District to have a bigger skate park, equipped with a half-pipe, quarter pipes and a funbox ramp, among other things. “I use the skate park all the time,” Garrelts said. “It’d be cool to have new things to skate with.” That’s the type of feedback Genoa Park District officials are seeking as they plan changes at Chamberlain Park. The park district will hold two public input meetings at 6:30 p.m. June 10 and June 17 at the park district office building, 400 E. Second St., Genoa. The park district wants to bring back the tennis court formerly located where the skate park now stands and move or rebuild the skate park. Other possible features include a sand volleyball court, shuffle ball court, a concrete bag-toss area, horse shoe court and pickle ball. The park district needs community feedback to apply for a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that would cover half of the estimated $120,000 cost to make the changes, said Paul Bafia, Genoa Park District executive director. The rest of the money would come out of
See PARK DISTRICT, page A5
What is your favorite place to buy sweet corn? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
his farm stand, he said. The farm grows sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions and cucumbers, to name a few. Although it could cost 10 cents more for a pound of vegetables grown locally, Yaeger believes the extra dime is more than offset by the benefits. “You can put a face and a name to the person who grew it,” Yaeger said. “And rather than coming
See LOCALLY GROWN, page A5
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Wyatt Allen (left), 6, and Daniel Newhall, 6, play Thursday on the playground at Chamberlain Park. Two public input meetings are scheduled in June regarding some improvements/changes to the park.
Tax question looms over fall Illinois governor’s race The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – The end of Illinois lawmakers’ spring session leaves Gov. Pat Quinn pursuing re-election in a position he wasn’t seeking: Without the money he said is necessary to avoid deep budget cuts, teacher layoffs and higher property taxes, but not having
to sign off on an income tax increase before the November vote. The situation, with Democrats likely to seek new revenues after the election, sets up a summer of tough campaigning between Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner in a race that is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive nationwide.
Quinn has openly advocated for an extension of the state’s 2011 temporary tax hike, which cost a typical taxpayer more than $1,000 this year. But with the election and voters in mind, fellow Democrats adjourned with an alternative budget after coming up well short of the votes needed to back a tax increase, despite the governor’s personal ap-
peals to them. On one hand, Quinn can claim he has been upfront with voters, laying out the state’s dire financial situation even if it meant embracing a politically unpopular idea, while Rauner has remained mum about details of what he wants to do if the tax rolls back in January and leaves a roughly $1.8 billion revenue hole.
On the other hand, Quinn faces voters who know he’s likely to quickly push for the tax hike after the vote. And he wasn’t able to sway his own party on his agenda, showing a lack of Democratic unity behind him and the persistent challenge he has in influencing lawmakers in Springfield. “He did put himself out on a limb, politically,” said Chris-
topher Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois. “Now he basically gets the blame and none of the benefit.” House Speaker Michael Madigan acknowledged last week as lawmakers debated a budget that Democrats did not
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