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A steamy wedding ceremony
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Area gas prices jump 20 percent Refinery shutdown causes scarcity; repair could be ‘drawn-out nightmare’ By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Bride Cassandra Murray (center) and groom Chris Chapman are announced as husband and wife for the first time by the Rev. Harlene Harden of Sycamore United Methodist after they were married Thursday during the parade at the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club’s Steam Show and Threshing Bee at Taylor Marshall Farm in Sycamore.
Steam Show and Threshing Bee kicks off in unique fashion On the web
By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – While most people were enjoying the opening day of the annual Northern Illinois Steam Power Club’s Steam Show and Threshing Bee on Thursday, Chris Chapman was very nervous. But most men are on their wedding day. The show, which lasts through Sunday at Taylor Marshall Farm off Plank Road in Sycamore, opened as it never had before: The steam engines, tractors, cars and other antique motors were the backdrop for Chapman and Cassandra Murray’s country-themed wedding consisting of bib overalls, cowgirl boots and straw hats. At the grandstand along the parade route, the lovebirds recited their vows before God, family and many, many strangers. “I feel better,” Chapman said after the ceremony was over. “It was neat having everybody involved in it. It was nice to see everybody happy doing it with us. It was cool to see.” The annual event brings visitors from near and far to DeKalb County for a weekend of classic
To watch more footage from the Sycamore Threshing Bee and Steam Show, visit Daily-Chronicle.com.
If you go
A 1920 Port Huron 12-25 steams down the parade route driven by owner Neal Drummer steams down the parade route after the wedding during the parade Thursday at the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club’s Steam Show and Threshing Bee at Taylor Marshall Farm in Sycamore. steam engines and other vehicles displayed alongside just-assteamy corn on the cob and barbecue for rumbling bellies. The schedule has parades, music, antiques for sale, a petting zoo and other events. As of Thursday afternoon, 1,970 people had attended the show’s opening day, and a bake sale and white elephant sale did
great business, according to club secretary Pat Malsch. “The weather helped,” Malsch said. “All in all, it was a great day for the first day.” Before she could become Mrs. Cassandra Chapman, Murray had to get approval from the show’s board of directors – of which her father is a member – to briefly halt the parade along the grand-
WHAT: Sycamore Steam Show and Threshing Bee WHERE: Taylor Marshall Farm, 27707 Lukens Road WHEN: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday INFORMATION: www.threshingbee. org/ ADMISSION: $7 for adults. Children younger than age 12 are free. Parking is free.
stands for 12 minutes at most to have a condensed wedding ceremony that included all the traditional wedding details, including a flower girl (or in this case, a
DeKALB – Many area motorists dug deeper in their pockets at the pump Thursday after gas prices spiked by about 50 cents a gallon at local fuel stations. Tiffany Morris rushed to a local Phillips 66 station at 1102 N. First St. in DeKalb to fill up her Honda Odyssey minivan. She said her mom urged her to get gas at the station’s $2.59-a-gallon price before it jumped to almost $3 as prices had at just about every other place in town. The price for diesel fuel was up noticeably at many stations Voice your as well. “What are you gonna opinion do about it?” Morris, of DeKalb, said. “It’s kind of Will your driving just the state of how things habits change as a are now.” result of the recent In DeKalb and Sycaspike in gas prices? more, prices for regular unleaded, which had been Vote now at Daias low as $2.39 per gallon ly-Chronicle.com. at the start of the week, jumped to $2.99 by Thursday morning. Mechanical issues at a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, have been blamed for the price spike, which came even as the price of crude oil fell to a six-year low Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing at $42.23, the lowest its been since March 2009, when the U.S. was in the grip of the Great Recession. On Saturday, an equipment malfunction at the British Petroleum refinery created a fuel scarcity in the Midwest – especially in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. The company said three of its largest crude distillation units had to shut down for “unscheduled repair work.” The breakdown led to forecasts that the refinery’s production would decrease. “While the rest of the refinery continues to operate safely, the outage has reduced production,” BP said in a written statement. “BP is working to safely restart the unit as soon as possible. In the meantime, the company is working to meet its fuel-supply obligations.” Phil Flynn, an analyst and energy expert for Price Futures Group, said BP’s Whiting refinery is one of the biggest in the world, producing
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Food banks struggle to meet surprisingly high demand By SCOTT McFETRIDGE The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa – Food banks across the country are seeing a rising demand for free groceries despite the growing economy, leading some charities to reduce the amount of food they offer each family. U.S. food banks are expected to give away about 4 billion pounds of food this year, more than double the amount provided a decade ago, according to Feeding America, the nation’s primary food bank network. The group gave away 3.8
billion pounds in 2013. While reliance on food banks exploded when the economy tanked in 2008, groups said demand continues to rise year after year, leaving them scrambling to find more food. “We get lines of people every day, starting at 6:30 in the morning,” said Sheila Moore, who oversees food distribution at The Storehouse, the largest pantry in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and one where food distribution has climbed 15 percent in the past year. Across the country in Gloucester, Massachusetts,
The Open Door food pantry has given away 7.6 percent more food this summer than last, said the organization’s executive director, Julie LaFontaine. “There’s always a real hustle and bustle,” she said. “People coming and going.” James Ziliak, who founded the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky, said the increased demand is surprising since the economy is growing and unemployment has dropped from 10 percent during the recession to 5.3 percent last month. However, many people who
have found jobs are working only parttime or for low wages, and others have stopped looking for work. “People who have low-wage jobs, who aren’t receiving regular raises, are finding those earnings stretched thin,” Ziliak said. The drop in food stamp rolls by nearly 2.5 million people from recession levels could be contributing to the food bank demand, he said, because people who no longer qualify for the government aid may still not earn enough to pay their bills.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, wages and salaries rose only 0.2 percent in the second quarter of the year. Feeding America spokesman Ross Fraser said a recent study by his organization estimated that 46 million people sought food assistance at least once in 2014. Feeding America, which coordinates large food donations for 199 food banks nationwide, has seen donations of food and money to the Chicago-based organization climb from $598 million in 2008 to $2.1 billion in 2014. The group coordinates
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donations from larger retailers, such as Wal-Mart, while local food banks also seek food from smaller businesses and buy groceries with donated money. The recession helped boost public awareness of food banks, which helped increase donations but also may account for more people seeking assistance. Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks, who has been working in food charities
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