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T y, August 12, 2014 Tuesday,
SPRY • INSIDE
DEKALB FOOTBALL • SPORTS, B1
How mom, caregiver finds ‘me time’
Barbs focus on the details on first day of practice
Eric Letterer
Groce to lead NIU’s DeKalb liason By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
and KATIE DAHLSTROM
Runner-up in mayoral election named to ‘communiversity’ post
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Former Re:New DeKalb leader Jennifer Groce is going to lead efforts to connect DeKalb and Northern Illinois University through a new NIU position, officials announced Monday. Groce, most recently an NIU Center for Governmental Studies research associate, has been chosen for a newly created full-time position of director of communiversity initiatives. The position, as well
as the corresponding Communiversity Development Strategy, are the result of NIU President Doug Baker’s push to create a new system to manage joint projJennifer ects between the university and Groce city. “When [Baker] chose to locate this initiative, Jennifer became the obvious person to
do it,” said Anne Kaplan, vice president for outreach engagement and regional development. Kaplan was involved in creating the position. Groce said among the most crucial parts of the job will be creating and implementing plans to strengthen ties between NIU and the city. Groce will be both a liaison and kick-starter for some of the collaborative ideas that have been discussed in the past 18 months.
“This is an exciting opportunity to take those ideas and have a central point of entry,” Groce said. Groce will report to a joint city and university community development committee. NIU will pay her $75,000 annual salary, which is about a 21 percent raise from the $62,000 she earned as a research associate. Groce has worked as a research associate at NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies
since 2011. Before joining NIU, she served as the executive director of Re:New DeKalb for eight years. She also was the runner-up last year in the four-way race for DeKalb mayor, trailing behind Mayor John Rey by 202 votes. Groce had 1,298 votes; Rey had 1,500. In her new position, Groce will manage possible connections between the university and DeKalb’s City Center Plan; the creation of a partnership that will guide enhance-
ments to the neighborhoods to the northwest of campus; and continued support of programs such as Camp Power at University Village. She said the areas she will initially focus on will include Hillcrest Road, University Village and other areas between Annie Glidden Road and Normal Road. “We want to get to know each other and what their needs are,” Groce said. “We want to build a community conversation.” Rey worked with Groce
See GROCE, page A7
Renovating building inspection rules Comedy star, actor Robin Williams dead at 63 By HAVEN DALEY and HILLEL ITALIE The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
The Wurlitzer Co. building sits condemned Monday at 1660 Pleasant St. in DeKalb. Part of the building collapsed in May 2012. DeKalb officials cited the collapse of the building as a major reason for wanting stricter guidelines and checks with commercial buildings in the city.
DeKalb’s process for commercial, industrial properties to be folded into 1 ordinance By KATIE DAHLSTROM
Voice your opinion
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb leaders are moving forward with sweeping changes to the city’s building inspection regulations to address the number of dangerous and deteriorating buildings in the city. At Monday’ s City Council meeting as a Committee of the Whole, City Attorney Dean Frieders presented proposed rules requiring all commercial and industrial buildings to submit to regular city inspections. Current regulations leave the city reacting after buildings have severely deteriorated or even collapsed, rather than trying to prevent those issues at the outset, Frieders said. “It is a pretty daunting problem,” he said. “Decades of city policies of either not inspecting properties or not citing and addressing progressively worsening building conditions have created a situation where many businesses have not only a poor appearance, but also may have severe deterioration that cre-
Should DeKalb launch a program to regularily inspect commercial and industrial buildings? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
SAN FRANCISCO – Robin Williams, a brilliant shapeshifter who could channel his frenetic energy into delightful comic characters like “Mrs. Doubtfire” or harness it into richly nuanced work like his Oscar-winning turn in “Good Will Hunting,” died Monday in an apparent suicide. He was 63. Williams was pronounced dead at his San Francisco Bay Area home Monday, according to the sheriff’s office in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The sheriff’s office said the preliminary investigation shows the cause of death to be a suicide by asphyxia. The Marin County coroner’s office said Williams was last seen alive at home about 10 p.m. Sunday. An emergency call from his house in Tiburon was placed to the Sheriff’s Department shortly before noon Monday. “This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken,” said Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider. “On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.” Williams had been battling severe depression recently, said Mara Buxbaum, his press representative. Just last month, he announced he was returning to a 12-step treatment program he said he needed after 18 months of nonstop work. He had sought treatment in 2006 after a relapse after 20 years of sobriety. From his breakthrough in the late 1970s as the alien in the hit TV show “Mork & Mindy,” through his standup act and such films as “Good Morning, Vietnam,” the short, barrel-chested Williams
See WILLIAMS, page A7
A sign from the DeKalb Health Department is taped on the shuttered music venue Otto’s on Monday in downtown DeKalb. The building was condemned in January after a water pipe burst creating significant water damage throughout the aging building.
May. City officials have since signed separation agreements with those employees and temporarily handed over inspection services to SAFEbuilt USA. Frieders suggested city officials create a single ordinance establishing the new inspection process, which would apply to commercial and industrial properties, but not residential ones.
SIGNS OF A GROWING PROBLEM ates a public safety threat.” Council members gave consent to move forward with the plan, and city staff will draft a request for proposals from contractors that aldermen could approve at their next meeting Aug. 25.
Under the proposal, city officials would select an outside contractor to run the inspection process. What inspections the city previously did were done by three building department employees the city placed on paid administrative leave in
Frieders offered the Wurlitzer Co. Building, Otto’s and the Travel Inn as proof that the city’s current regulations have allowed for long-term neglect. Parts of the Wurlitzer building, 1660 Pleasant St., collapsed
See PROPERTIES , page A7
AP file photo
Actor and comedian Robin Williams poses June 15, 2007 to promote his film, “License To Wed,” in Santa Monica, Calif. Williams, whose free-form comedy and adept impressions dazzled audiences for decades, has died in an apparent suicide. He was 63.
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2, 6-7 A9 B1-3
Advice Comics Classified
B4 B5 B6-8
High:
73
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53