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Monday, June 23, 2014
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BIKE MS: TOUR DE FARMS
OVER $1.5M RAISED
DeKalb County explores new incentives for local businesses By JESSI HAISH jhaish@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Dawn and John Carlson’s farm is seen Saturday as byciclists ride on Malta Road in Kirland during the 33rd annual Bike MS: Tour de Farms. The Carlson Farm hosted the 13th rest stop for the ride, which started and finished at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center, weaving around DeKalb County. The Greater Illinois Chapter of Bike MS offered two days of rides, ranging from 15 to 200 miles.
Fundraiser takes cyclists through county’s countryside By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – After living with multiple sclerosis for 33 years, Emily Greenberg considers herself lucky to be able to ride a bike 85 miles across the DeKalb County countryside. “My memory is horrible sometimes, my walking is affected sometimes, but I’m very fortunate that I’m very healthy,” the 48-year-old Chicago resident said. “I’m just a really positive person.” Greenberg was one of 1,800 cyclists who flooded DeKalb County this weekend as part of the Bike MS: Tour de Farms fundraiser. Altogether, teams raised more than $1.5 million for multiple sclerosis research, programs and services throughout Illinois. Participants rode from 15 to 125 miles Saturday and Sunday, starting and ending
at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center, to raise money for multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable and often debilitating disease of the central nervous system. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the disease affects the brain and spinal cord, disrupting the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Scientists have yet to discover a cure for the disease. Symptoms vary wildly among people with MS. While some, such as Greenberg, have attacks that consist of memory loss or trouble walking, the disease can also cause fatigue, blurred vision and numbness. Greenberg’s 23 member team, Tour de Friends, raised $25,000 for the two-day ride. In her 13th year on the
See TOUR DE FARMS, page A4
Bike MS: Tour de Farms rest stop farm owner Dawn Carlson (right) of Kirkland holds a calf named “Tug” while cyclist Liz Markel of Chicago pets him Saturday. Carlson lost her mother to multiple sclerosis on Sept. 1, 2012. She called the Bike MS: Tour de Farms committee before the 2013 ride to volunteer her farm on Malta Road as a rest stop in memory of her mother.
On the Web For more photos from the Tour de Farms event, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.
DeKALB – The DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation and the county are exploring creating enterprise zones, which offer businesses tax breaks to move or expand within its boundaries. Community leaders are invited to learn about possible enterprise zones in DeKalb County at a meeting Wednesday. County Administrator Gary Hanson hopes, if approved, the zones will help diversify the county’s tax base. Currently, DeKalb County competes for economic development with enterprise zones that offer incentives that the county cannot at this time. “We hope to attract more industry and commercial interests in the county,” Hanson said. “Ultimately, it diversifies our tax base. It’s good for current residents of the county as it could hopefully bring good quality, high-paying jobs.” The county does not have any enterprise zones currently, but part of Waterman, for the Monsanto company, is included in the Mendota enterprise zone, said Paul Borek, executive director of DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation. Potential boundaries for DeKalb County’s enter- Paul Borek prise zone have not been designated yet, as it will depend on what kind of a response the county and economic development corporation receive. Businesses may be eligible for exemption on the sales tax paid on building materials and investment tax credit of 0.5 percent of qualified property. In addition to the state incentives, each zone tends to offer local incentives to enhance business development. The enterprise zone application needs to be submitted to the state by the end of December, so Wednesday’s meeting will describe the program, process and opportunity to community leaders, Borek said. Borek said when the state enterprise program was created about 30 years ago, it was initially intended for areas of high unemployment or high poverty. Borek said today it can be used to target economic development and job creation. “Communities with significant industrial operations or industrial development opportunities are prevalent,” Borek said. “In the past, since the program was so specific, it may have limited the communities that could qualify.” Borek said while the original criteria is still in place and these zones do address unemployment and aim to improve incomes, he hopes possible enterprise zones would help the existing industry expand while attracting new industry. The county is looking into this option now because the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity released the application materials within the past month. The state uses certain criteria to evaluate applications and determine which areas can be enterprise zones.
Illinois lottery contractor likely $200 million short on profits By CHACOUR KOOP The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ private lottery contract has never reached the lofty sales promises it used to win a bid four years ago and is expected to fall more than $200 million short of what it owes the state when the budget year ends June 30. But Northstar Lottery Group said it’s been hamstrung by state officials, with whom they have an already frosty relationship and accuse of throwing up road blocks – from canceling games it wanted to launch to prohibiting the sponsorship of Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival in
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2013 because of headliner R. Kelly. Regardless, Northstar’s 10year contract with the state details that falling short of its goals by 10 percent two years in a row is grounds for ending the partnership, no questions asked. It missed targets by almost 20 percent last year, and is on track to do the same this year. A top lawmaker has said he’s disappointed because a
massive construction program was supposed to be funded with money Northstar claimed it could deliver. The lottery giant’s contract has been under scrutiny from the start. A report released by Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland just days before Northstar took over in July 2011 showed irregularities in the decision-making process to select the corporation. In one case, a panel member submitted his evaluations of proposed business plans for the $2 billion state lottery after Northstar won the bid. Yet, company CEO Tim Simonson said it has done well despite factors working against it.
“Those were ambitious goals we set for ourselves, and we have fallen short of those goals. But the full perspective, we believe is important,” Simonson said, arguing that his company has run the lottery better than the state. In some cases, that’s true. Northstar boosted lottery profits by almost 10 percent in 2012 and improved income is expected – even if marginally – this year. Plus, Illinois has accumulated millions of dollars in penalty payments from the company when lottery profits don’t reach expectations. Lottery customer service has improved dramatically,
See LOTTERY, page A4
AP file photo
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, speaks with an Associated Press reporters May 5 in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Cullerton has said he is “extremely disappointed” in Northstar Lottery Group.
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