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July 10, 2015 • $ 1.00
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DAILY CHRONICLE
DeKalb hosts 7-on-7 passing scrimmage / B1
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DeKalb seeks opinions on plans Residents invited to offer suggestions for city’s future at series of community meetings By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The city will host seven community meetings this month to help shape a strategic plan to be presented to the City Council in October. The goal is to hear residents’ suggestions for ways the city can improve. City officials also want insight on ways for the city to maintain
dialogue and communication with DeKalb residents. “These meetings are excellent opportunities for us to hear firsthand the hopes and aspirations that DeKalb residents, students and workers have for our city,” Mayor John Rey said. The meetings will be held in seven different locations throughout DeKalb. The locations are on public transit
routes, and transportation is available through TransVAC, which can be reached at 815758-6641. Conversations will be documented by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University. Results from conversations will be summarized and organized by theme into a single document.
If you go The meetings will be held in seven different locations throughout DeKalb. The locations are on public transit routes, and transportation is available through TransVAC, which can be reached at 815-758-6641 July 14: 7 p.m., Hopkins Park Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road
July 15: 2 p.m., Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, 231 N. Annie Glidden Road July 21: 7 p.m., Faranda’s Banquet Hall, 302 Grove St. July 24: 10 a.m., DeKalb Wesleyan Church, 1115 S. Malta Road July 25: 10 a.m., New Hope Baptist Church, 1201 Twombly Road
July 27: 2 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 900 Normal Road July 30: 7 p.m., River Heights Golf Course Banquet Hall, 1020 Sharon Drive Residents unable to go can fill out a survey online at www. cityofdekalb.com/808/2015-Strategic-Plan.
See DeKALB, page A5
Ruling muddles pay drama in Illinois
Job hunt tough for young workers
Judge says workers must be paid in full The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Andrew Nordman prepares a pump to recirculate liquid through a mash vessel full of grains during the brewing process Thursday at Cademon Brewing in Genoa. Nordman opened Cademon Brewing, DeKalb County’s first microbrewery, along with co-owner Brian Matejka in Genoa last year.
Reports find millennials are educated, but many are unemployed By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com DeKALB – After seeing some of his peers underemployed and buried in student loans, Andrew Nordman decided dropping out of college and joining the workforce was the best choice for him. Nordman, the 28-year-old owner of Cademon Brewing in Genoa, said he saved thousands of dollars and a year of his life by dropping out before his senior year in college and using experience he gained outside of school to land him a job as the lead developer at a Web development studio. “I know folks that I went to college with who were in the same program, and they did finish their degree, but they didn’t have the work experience that I had, and they’re still struggling,” Nordman said. “They’re still trying to find that breakout role. Some of them have abandoned their ideals entirely because they just needed to find some work.” Millennials – loosely defined as people born between 1981 and 1997 – are collectively more educated than generations before them, but
Assistant brewer Ryan Taves weighs out the hops for the boil Thursday at Cademon Brewing in Genoa. they also experience the highest rate of unemployment compared with other generations, when comparing years that each generation was four years into a economic recovery, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center. As job requirements are rapidly changing and a college education is marketed as a necessity, some
young people are struggling to find work, even after years of schooling, said Michelle Allen, Career Center coordinator at Kishwaukee College. “One other challenge I think that they face, truthfully, is that a lot of the jobs of tomorrow have not even been created yet and you’ve got to stage yourself to be a part of that,” she said. “But that is an extremely exciting time because
they’re the ones creating those next jobs, that next world, and what it looks like.” Justin Wilson, a senior kinesiology major at Northern Illinois University, is just beginning his job search. Although he isn’t feeling too much pressure yet, he feels there is more competition than for someone 50 years ago entering the job market, he said. “Back then, once you graduated college, you basically had a job. It was point A to point B,” he said. “It’s a lot more competitive of a market out there, so it’s a little bit more tough.” Nordman gained three years’ experience as the lead developer at a Web development studio while he was in college. After leaving school, he used that experience to join a startup company in DeKalb, which led to a corporate job and later to a decision to start his own business, he said. Others Nordman’s age are having a harder time, however. Wilson, 22, remains optimistic about his future career, but hasn’t had any job offers yet. He knows he
See JOBS, page A5
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Bugs take over
Dangerous dust
Goal achieved
Youngsters get up close with insects at DeKalb library / A3
Akst: Construction workers exposed to variety of hazards / A2
Woman takes balloon ride just weeks before turning 100 / B10
Advice ................................ B4 Classified....................... B6-9 Comics ............................... B5 Local News.....................A2-5 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World..........A2, 4, 6
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House adopted a stop-gap spending plan Thursday that would guarantee state employee paychecks for July, but Gov. Bruce Rauner quickly criticized it, as Illinois’ budget muddle got messier when a judge’s ruling on worker pay contradicted an earlier decision by a different court. As the Democratic-controlled House OK’d a one-month budget after a two-hour debate peppered with name-calling and recrimination, a southwestern Illinois judge decreed state workers should get their full paychecks even without a formal budget. That contradicted a Bruce Rauner Cook County court ruling earlier in the week that no budget means no pay. The state is 10 days into a new fiscal year without authority to pay bills. Republican Rauner insists on pro-busi- Leslie Munger ness reforms to spur economic investment before dealing with Democrats on a budget that has a deficit of up to $4 billion. St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert LeChien sided with 13 public employee unions in declaring Comptroller Leslie Munger must continue paying state workers. The ruling came days after a Cook County judge said only some workers covered by federal minimum wage laws can be paid. Munger – a Republican whose office filed fresh papers objecting to the Cook County decision Thursday – said the St. Clair ruling authorizes payroll-processing for all state employees. “Paying state employees for their work is the right and legal thing to do,” she said in a statement. Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office planned to appeal the St. Clair order. The Democrat said continued legal wrangling makes it “all the more imperative that the governor and the Legislature do their jobs and enact a budget.” The short-term budget plan,
See RULING, page A5
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