DAILY CHRONICLE
September 12-13, 2015 • $1.50
WEEKEND SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
McHenry................................14 Genoa-Kingston....................13 DeKalb..............................30 Marengo.................................42 Sycamore...........................21 Crete-Monee...........27 (OT)
Chicago Marshall...............20 Hiawatha............................ ..24
Kaneland...........................42 Rich Central..................... 36
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Rey: Zoning plan vote expected Monday 2 parties intervene in lawsuit against city over University Village proposal By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN
If you go Court hearing: 9 a.m. Monday, DeKalb County Courthouse, 133 W. State St., Sycamore DeKalb City Council meeting: 6 p.m. Monday, DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St, DeKalb.
bkeeperman@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Seattle-based developer Security Properties and the University Village Tenants Association filed motions Friday to intervene in a lawsuit filed
this week against the city of DeKalb over a controversial rezoning plan. DeKalb resident John McKeon and local rental property company Mason Properties are seeking a declaratory judgment on the DeKalb City Council’s vote on the Univer-
sity Village rezoning proposal. The City Council gave preliminary approval at its Aug. 24 meeting on Security Properties’ request to rezone DeKalb’s largest low-income housing complex. The vote was 4-3 in favor, with 7th
Ward Alderwoman Monica O’Leary absent. Mayor John Rey broke the 3-3 tie. The suit was filed Tuesday and a temporary restraining order request was filed Wednesday. Judge William Brady continued Friday’s emergency hearing to 9 a.m
Monday. McKeon’s attorney Michael Coghlan said the rules need to be clear before the City Council gives final approval to the proposed rezoning.
See ZONING, page A8
KishHealth, Ben Gordon Center talk unification
LEARNING ABOUT SEPT. 11, 2001
By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com
told her students that she was in New York the week before 9/11 vacationing with her family. “If [students] can see that the significant events in history affect what happens – the way that we do school, the legislation that gets passed, the way that we vote for people – that affects their life more than they realize,” Orange said. By a show of hands, only six of the 23 students in Georgia Wirth’s class Friday were born when the terror attacks happened. The language arts teacher showed a short docudrama about what happened aboard United Airlines Flight 93. Hijackers planned to fly the jet, which originated in Newark, New Jersey, bound for San Francisco, into the White House. Instead, passengers tried to overtake the hijackers and it ended up crashing in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It was the fourth and final crash that day.
DeKALB – The county’s largest health care provider is in talks to acquire Ben Gordon Center, a DeKalb-based behavioral health care center, officials at the two nonprofits announced Friday. KishHealth System and Ben Gordon Center have signed a nonbinding letter of intent for a potential merger deal that could be completed in November – a month before Northwestern HealthCare is set to acquire KishHealth System. Officials said the deal still is in the due diligence phase. “We’re essentially exchanging information between the two organizations to see if we could collaboratively work together to enhance mental health treatment in the community,” KishHealth System Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Planning Michael Kokott said. “We’re looking at ways in which we can work in a synergistic matter.” Ben Gordon Center is a nonprofit organization that provides mental health services such as outpatient addiction and eating disorder treatment, counseling and support groups, adult and adoles- Mark cent counseling, and pre- Pietrowski vention and community education services. The center operates five facilities in DeKalb County including a main building at 12 Health Services Drive, near Kishwaukee Hospital. Ben Gordon has Michael been providing mental Flora health services to DeKalb County residents since 1968. In 2009, KishHealth System closed its six-bed inpatient mental health clinic and now offers counseling, support groups and psychiatric services. DeKalb County Board Chairman Mark Pietrowski Jr. said he was “thrilled” at the prospect of KishHealth acquiring Ben Gordon Center. “I think KishHealth would be able to even further advance the service they provide for mental health,” he said. “I am excited to work with them and our mental health board to see what services we could expand upon in DeKalb County.” Ben Gordon Center reported revenue of about $5.3 million in its 2013 tax documents. Financial terms of the potential deal haven’t been discussed, officials said. “We haven’t sat down and said that is what we are looking at,” Kokott said. “If we go into this with both parties wanting it … we could negotiate around the financial piece.” Michael Flora, president and CEO of Ben Gordon Center, said providing a continuum of care is the most important thing for clients.
See 9/11, page A8
See MERGER, page A5
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Eighth-graders learn the timeline of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Friday at Clinton Rosette Middle School on the 14th anniversary the attack.
U.S. attacked 14 years ago Clinton Rosette eighth-graders get lessons about terrorist attacks More inside
By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Lessons on biology, grammar and algebra were put on hold Friday for eighth-graders at Clinton Rosette Middle School so they could learn what happened Sept. 11, 2001, and how it transformed the country. The students – most of whom had not been born – delved deep into what happened on the fateful day that saw four airplanes and 19 terrorists change millions of lives. The school has been commemorating 9/11 since 2006 by teaching students in its highest grade about the day. “We found that even in just the few short years (since 9/11), students had no knowledge of the event. They sort of remembered … but they didn’t really grasp it,” Clinton Rosette Principal Tim Vincent said. “But it’s an important part of (U.S.) history.” Alissa Orange was in eighth grade on Sept. 11, 2001, when her school principal came over the loud speaker and announced that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. That first plane, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. eastern time. “When the second plane hit, he
See page A3 for a story about a ceremony to honor responders and citizens who died during 9/11 and page C1 for a story about a new memorial that honors victims of Flight 93.
Eighth-graders watch the 2006 TV film “Flight 93” on Friday at Clinton Rosette Middle School on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. came on again and said, ‘Our country is under attack,’ ” said Orange, who now teaches eighth-grade math at Clinton Rosette. “It was surreal.” To help her students put those events into perspective, they created a timeline of what they do on a typical day and compared it to what happened that morning, now 14 years ago. The students learned that at the time they might have been brushing their teeth and preparing to go to school, terrorists walked through airport corridors,
boarded airplanes and hijacked them. Seventeen minutes after the first tower was hit, United Airlines Flight 157, also out of Boston, flew into the South Tower. Within two hours, both of the 110-story buildings had collapsed. At 9:37 that morning, American Airlines Flight 77, which took off from Dulles airport in Virginia, crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. It was jarring for Orange. She
LOCAL NEWS
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WHERE IT’S AT
Kite fest
Rabid bats
History together
DeKalb event comes back to town Sunday / A3
Diseased bats have been found in DeKalb County / A4
Eric Olson discusses long-term relationships / A2
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