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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
T y, August 7, 2014 Thursday,
YOUTH BOWLING • SPORTS, B1
NIU MUSIC • A&E, C1
Camp appeals to many levels of bowlers
Jazz band founder releases memoir
Free VAC meals no longer will be offered
NEARBY NUISANCES
Geese, parking meters among local peeves
Group’s funding has fallen in recent years
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com A driver might have sat for minutes on Peace Road at the Bethany Road stoplight, wondering what phantom car on Bethany Road was keeping his light from turning green. The answer lies underground in a wire sensor, said DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz. Until about two weeks ago, the sensor was broken, giving the stop light the impression a car was waiting to turn from Bethany Road onto Peace Road. “Now it only turns when there is a car in that turn lane,” Schwartz said. DeKalb County is full of iconic quirks and annoyances, such as the Canada geese that inspired parody social media accounts and freight trains that frequently cross – diagonally – a main downtown DeKalb intersection. Here’s a look at a few, including some that have solutions on the horizon or quick alternatives.
Ron Modell
By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
Farther south in DeKalb, Carmen Siragusa has seen a handful of dogs urinating on graves at the Fairview Park Cemetery in the past year. It’s something DeKalb police last year told her Fairview Park Cemetery officials were responsible for policing, but the handful of occurrences she’s seen still bother her.
SYCAMORE – Due to reductions in funding, Voluntary Action Center in Sycamore has discontinued its free community dinners while maintaining its core programs. The community dinners were held on the first, third and fifth Wednesdays of each month and were open to anyone in DeKalb County regardless of income. An average of 85 residents took advantage of the community dinners to eat a variety of nutritious foods, said VAC associate director Ellen Rogers. “This isn’t just about VAC losing money,” Rogers s a i d . “ W e f e l t Other with some of the community money we lost, we needed to look meals at what our core Feed ‘Em Soup, programs are: It’s Meals On Wheels, 122 S. First St. senior program in DeKalb, offers s u m m e r m e a l s pay-what-youand programs for can brunches and children.” dinners from 11:30 Meals O n a.m. to 1:30 p.m. W h e e l s s e r v e s Thursdays and about 275 people a Fridays and from 5 day, while trans- to 7 p.m. Mondays portation services and Wednesdays. such as TransVac provide over 6,000 rides a month. Last year, VAC also provided 23,000 summer meals. Many sponsors who funded the community dinners, which cost $250 per Wednesday, reduced their funding over the years, Rogers said. Community dinner sponsors included B95, Unitarian Universalist Church, United Way and DeKalb Elks. Some sponsors continue to support VAC with other programs such as Meals on Wheels, Rogers said. Donations and sponsorships account for about 13 percent of VAC’s funding. VAC’s overall annual budget is $3.9 million, and the nutrition budget is $1.5 million. The community dinners began in July 2009 when President Barack Obama introduced his stimulus plan to improve the economy and increase spending. VAC received about $5,000 from the stimulus package, Rogers said.
See NUISANCES, page A6
See VAC, page A6
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STOP LIGHTS ON PEACE ROAD With the sensor in working order, once a car rolls up to the light on Bethany Road, drivers on Peace will have a green light for another 45 seconds if there is a steady stream of traffic, Schwartz said. A couple projects could change that, though. County highway officials are completing a Peace Road safety study examining the intersections from Pleasant Street to Lindgren Road. What’s more, broken sensors won’t be an issue at three intersections on Peace Road after the resurfacing project county crews will complete this fall. County leaders plan to install cameras at Bethany, Barber Green Road and Pleasant that will monitor when a car approaches.
Illustration by Kristina Peters – kpeters@shawmedia.com
DOGS SULLYING GRAVES
Quinn administration refuses to explain hiring fix By JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – When a good-government campaigner sued Gov. Pat Quinn in April over political hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation, the administration responded that it had already taken action by reviewing and reclassifying jobs, which wouldn’t be subject to political considerations in the future. But asked to explain what it did, the Quinn administration has refused to identify which jobs were redefined or how state officials determined whether anti-patronage rules
applied – because it has made no final decisions. The administration’s rejection of a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press, citing a clause in the law that protects preliminary deliberations, contradicts its earlier declaration that it had reviewed job descriptions, reclassified posts, and fixed the political hiring practice after the release of a critical watchdog report last year. The IDOT employment issue is one of several nagging Quinn as the Democrat portrays himself as a lifelong government reformer amid a stiff re-election battle against Republican businessman Bruce Rauner. Quinn
says he has ended the clout-stained hiring practices of his predecessors and made government openness a hallmark of his administration, but Rauner and other critics question his commitment to it. The FOIA denial contradicts the administration’s assertion that it fixed the problem in the spring. The administration also is refusing to disclose the guidelines the government has used for two decades to decide which jobs must be open to any applicant and which can be given to someone because of his or her political connections.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn speaks during a bill-signing ceremony July 22 in Chicago. Chicago attorney Michael Shakman, who has a 40-year history of opposing illegal patronage hiring in Cook County, sued Quinn last spring over political hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation.
See QUINN, page A6
AP file photo
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