WEDNESDAY
Au gus t 12, 201 5 • $1 .0 0
ON THE MOVE
DAILY CHRONICLE
NIU offense to highlight a variety of running backs this season / B1 HIGH
79 60 Complete forecast on page A8
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
LOW
Facebook.com/dailychronicle
Dragon boat team finds success
@dailychronicle
County looks at jet fuel revenue Officials prepare for potential loss of funds By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com
“This is the first real team that I’ve been a part of,” she said. “What’s really cool about this team is we are really good friends, and it’s like a support group in a way. We all work hard for each other.” The team competes in about five races a year. Competitions take place across the country. The team will head to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in September and then to Orlando, Florida, after that.
DeKALB – DeKalb County officials could consider budget cuts in the sheriff’s and state’s attorney’s offices should a pending lawsuit put a multimillion-dollar hole in the county budget, according to preliminary plans presented at a recent finance committee meeting. For more than a decade, a jet fuel sales tax agreement between the city of Sycamore and an American Airlines subsidiary, and a similar one with United Airlines, have pumped about $2.6 million into the county’s Airline Fuel Sales Tax fund. But with the bang of a judge’s gavel, the money could be gone, and the county is thinking now about how it would replace it. Preliminary ideas for budget cuts were presented at the county’s Aug. 6 Finance Committee Mark meeting. DeKalb County Board Pietrowski Chairman Mark Pietrowski Jr. Jr. said all county departments heads were told in advance of the meeting to identify 10 percent cuts within their areas. The acrossthe-board trims would help the county get to the needed $2.6 million reduction. “We’re just trying to be proactive,” Pietrowski, a Democrat from District 3, said. “We want to be able to have a very financially sound, fiscally responsible budget.” According to county data, officials could consider cutting employment and reducing work hours – among other cost-saving measures. As many as 11 jobs could be cut from public safety, which include the sheriff’s office. Another six layoffs could happen in court-related offices, which includes the state’s attorney’s office. But it’s all “worst-case scenario,” Pietrowski insisted. American Aviation Supply, owned by American Airlines, has an office on the mezzanine level in the same building as Sycamore’s mayor’s office and other city departments. In March 2014, the Regional Transportation Authority filed a lawsuit against American Airlines alleging the office location serves as a way for the airline to avoid paying sales tax on bulk jet fuel at the much higher Cook County rates. RTA filed a similar lawsuit against United
See BOATS, page A5
See REVENUE, page A5
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Andrea Shacklee of Belvidere paddles at the front of the Proud Mary dragon boat Thursday during practice for the Paddlin’ For MB dragon boat racing team at Shabbona Lake State Park.
DeKalb group takes second place in national championship More online
By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Josh Corn played a lot of sports as a boy, but as an adult he needed an outlet for his competitive streak – until he found dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is a worldwide team sport with roots in Chinese culture. Twenty paddlers race in 46-foot-long boats. During official competitions, the boats are decked out in Chinese dragon decor, including a traditional head, tail and drum. Traditionally, a drummer and steerer will be onboard for the race. “As you get older, there’s not a whole lot you can do to compete,” said Corn, captain of DeKalbbased dragon boat team Paddlin’ for MB. “I’m very competitive, and I love having something to work for.” The United States National Championships took place in Arlington Heights in July. Paddlin’ for MB took second place in the race, which qualified the team to race in the world championships in Australia in the spring. The DeKalb team races in memory of founding member Marybeth McGill, a former aquatics director at the Kishwaukee
To watch video of the team, visit www.tout.com/m/qxxexb. To get involved, visit the team’s Facebook at www.facebook.com/Paddlin4mb. For more photos, visit Daily-Chronicle. com.
YMCA who lost her battle with lung cancer in 2012. McGill introduced Corn to the sport. “I didn’t know what it was, but I ended up falling in love with it,” Corn said. “When she got sick, we continued the team to try and lift her spirits. She ended up seeing us race one time before she passed away.” Many of the members of the group met through the Kishwaukee YMCA and knew McGill, Corn said. “We wanted to keep her spirit alive. ... We’ve evolved into a pretty solid team,” he said. “You become a tight-knit group. You train together, try hard together and succeed or fail together.” That team spirit is one of Andrea Shacklee’s favorite parts about Paddlin’ for MB. “The camaraderie and everything, the family of dragon boat
Eighteen members of the Paddlin’ For MB dragon boat racing team practice Thursday at Shabbona Lake State Park. racing is very unique,” she said. Shacklee has been involved in the sport for about two years. She had been on a rowing crew with Augustana College in Rock Island, but said the dragon boat racing experience is completely different. “I had done sweeping and sculling, heads of regattas,” she said. “This is more head-to-head racing, the whole way.” Shellie White never had been an avid team sport player until she found dragon boat racing.
House panel OKs federal funding plan over Rauner’s protest By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – What began as a bipartisan effort to distribute $5 billion in federal funds, and keep some Illinois programs afloat despite a budget stalemate, appeared Tuesday to be headed for a veto by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner amid a continuing financing feud with Democrats in the General Assembly. The plan before the House to cut loose available federal funding – providing nutrition for low-income women and babies and energy-bill assistance for the poor – got an overhaul.
Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan pumped into the Senate-approved initiative an additional $1.4 billion, including about $750 million in state spending authority. The state money is a deal-breaking “poison pill” inviting a total veto, Rauner’s office announced hours before a House committee endorsed the idea on 10-1 vote, with four GOP members voting “present” in protest. The vote, following a 90-minute hearing during which Democrats and Republicans traded grievances from a summer of stonewalling and inaction, sends the legislation
to the House floor where lawmakers expect to vote Wednesday. More than $4.8 billion available from Washington for social services, emergency aid and more would have been included in a state budget slated to take effect July 1. But after both the first-year governor and legislative Democrats produced budgets that didn’t balance, the deadlock ensued. The Senate approved authorization to spend the federal money last week with Rauner backing. Now Republicans are beside themselves as to why Madigan would pass up the chance to get some money
flowing even though there’s no fiscal plan. “Don’t you think it would be better to move forward on the stuff that we can agree on?” GOP Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer of Jacksonville asked. “There’s $4.8 billion that’s already ready for the governor to sign.” If the House OKs the amended legislation, it must return to the Senate for concurrence on the changes, delaying acAP photo tion for at least a week even without the threatened Raun- Day care providers Keitheia Adkins (from left), Zuli Turner and Lisa Livingston discuss a failed attempt by Democrats to stop cuts to a program er veto. Democrats said the state that helps low-income parents pay for child care following a legislative
See BUDGET, page A5
hearing Tuesday in Chicago. Turner said the cuts imposed by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration are “shameful” and will put kids in danger.
FOOD
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
WHERE IT’S AT
New flavor
Old favorite
Taken down
Put a new spin on shrimp cocktails this summer / B8
Chipotle to add second DeKalb location in former Qdoba space /A4
NIU Convocation Center removes photo of Bill Cosby / A4
Advice ................................ B4 Classified........................B6-7 Comics ............................... B5 Local News.................... A3-4 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World...........A2, 5-6
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... B4 Sports..............................B1-3 State .............................. A2, 4 Weather .............................A8