TUESDAY
Oc tober 6, 2015 • $1.00
SEASONAL SCARES
DAILY CHRONICLE ‘Spirit’ and other pop-up shops celebrating Halloween / A8
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Agencies request aid from county Committee OKs contingency plan to cover paychecks for education office employees By ADAM POULISSE
apoulisse@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The Regional Office of Education will be getting financial assistance from DeKalb County to keep employees on the payroll and leave services uninterrupted during the budget stalemate. The Health & Human Services Committee on Monday approved a contingency plan
presented by Regional Office of Education Superintendent Amanda Christensen. It states that the county accepts collateral from the ROE’s agency funds to cover the paychecks for Christensen and assistant regional director Jeff Smith, both state employees. “It’s a situation where I would be providing the agency funds to cover us just in case,” Christensen said. “The county
isn’t going to lose any money, and it would only be an emergency situation should payroll be disrupted.” The amount paid would equal the net amount, plus insurance costs, of the state employees’ bimonthly paychecks, which are $3,292.57 for Smith and $3,026.42 for Christensen, she said, adding the agreement won’t cost the county any money besides what it takes to pro-
cess the checks. The committee voted unanimously among the attending members, and since there was a precedent, the motion does not have to go before the full County Board for a vote. However, committee member Chris Porterfield (D-8) said the agreement did make him feel “nervous.” “I understand no risk, and maybe that’s a reason to do
it,” Porterfield said. “I feel like ... we’re getting [cheated] because someone’s messing up.” Christensen said she and Smith have continued to receive paychecks after a ruling from a second judge allowing state employees to get paid even if a budget hasn’t been passed. “I’m not confident that this ruling will continue unchallenged, and I’m not confident
of an approved state budget anytime soon,” Christensen said. “I would like to be proactive and have a contingency plan in place should state employees be notified that payroll will be disrupted.” The last time that happened, employees were notified a day before they were supposed to be paid, Christensen said.
See ASSISTANCE, page A6
Officer to go Ellington’s open and ready to serve on trial for tough tactics in Chicago By DON BABWIN
The Associated Press CHICAGO – When a West Side neighborhood decayed into a deadly shooting gallery, the Chicago police chief said he was sending his “best guy” into the fray to turn back the drug- and gang-fueled violence. The chief called Cmdr. Glenn Evans his “favorite among my favorites,” and Evans had delivered in his previous assignment. There had been 80 fewer shootings in the Grand Crossing neighborhood compared with the year before – the second largest drop anywhere in the city. Evans won gratitude from families who finally felt safe enough to sit on their porches. But in December, the same officer who cleaned up those streets is scheduled to go on trial on charges that his no-holdsbarred style of policing went beyond the law when he allegedly shoved a gun down a suspect’s throat. The proceedings are sure to draw a complicated picCmdr. ture of the daring commander Glenn Evans who seemed to be part of the solution to the city’s gun violence, only to be accused of his own crimes. At a time when much of the nation is debating the treatment of black suspects by white police officers, Evans’ case unfolds against a different backdrop: He is a black officer credited with safeguarding black neighborhoods. When he was charged, the 53-year-old had already been the focus of dozens of excessive-force complaints and cost the city more than $225,000 in legal settlements. He was also widely praised for aggressive tactics that included racing along the streets in an unmarked car, shoving it into park and exploding out of the door to confront drug dealers and gang members, with no apparent concern about being outnumbered or outgunned. Evans has spent more than half his life in the police department. Slightly chubby, with a rumpled look that makes his clothes appear wrinkled when they’re not, he hardly looks like a police officer with 160 awards and commendations who has thrown himself in front of bullets to save fellow officers. “I call him the black Homer Simpson,’ said Tony Robinson, a retired detective and longtime friend of Evans. “To look at him, you’d never know he was a copper.” But on the street, residents know exactly what to expect. “I have no crime on my corner, and that is simply because of the way he helped me,” said Josephine Wade, owner of Josephine’s Cooking restaurant on the South Side. “He walked up to these dope boys and told them they had to leave.” Other officers describe a colleague who kept working hours after his shift ended whose interests seemed to begin and end with his job.
See POLICE, page A6
SPORTS
Goal in sight Area high school golfers ready for regionals / B1
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Chef Bryan Flower shows student Daina Carauskas how to prepare the red berry harissa salmon dish for serving Thursday at the student-run restaurant, Ellington’s, in the Holmes Student Center on the NIU campus.
Student-run NIU restaurant taking reservations Dining at Ellington’s
By RHONDA GILLESPIE
rgillespie@shawmedia.com
DeKALB – The Northern Illinois University restaurant named after a masterful jazz musician opened last week on a high note of its own. The eponymous (Duke) Ellington’s Restaurant, located on the main floor of the Holmes Student Center, offered a menu that included harissa salmon and homemade German apple cake – and a wine list – to kick off its fall semester. The restaurant serves patrons Tuesdays and Thursdays through Dec. 3. It also offers NIU juniors and seniors enrolled in hospitality and nutrition programs at the school an opportunity to experience running a restaurant and preparing tasty food with nutritional options. On Thursday, NIU professor Scott Sibley and graduate assistant Ryan Potempa pulled their chairs up to a table decked out in red and white linens and prepared to order their three-course meal. For $10, diners get a choice of appetizers, can pick a meat or vegetarian entrée and a dessert. Soft drinks are included in the price, but a glass of pinot, chardonnay or reisling wine costs an additional
Hours:: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Dec. 3 Cost: $10 includes: appetizer, entree (meat or vegetarian), dessert and soft drink. Additional $5 charge for wine. For reservations, log onto www.niu. edu/ellingtons/reservations/index. shtml.
Graduate student Ryan Potempa is served a roasted beet and corn salad Thursday at the student-run restaurant, Ellington’s, in the Holmes Student Center on the NIU campus. $5.
“I think to put this together requires a lot of work,” Sibley said. “It’s just very, very impressive.” Ellington’s is open to the public, and has been operating as an upscale training venue for students for at least a decade. The food is appealing, and the experience is invaluable, students and leaders in the program say. “This is a class,” said Chef Bryan Flower, a program instructor and coordinator for food systems laboratories. “From start to finish,
SPORTS
Recognition
Kaneland alum Angelica Emmanouil earns honors in college tennis / B1
they [students] put this together.” For opening week, Flower and his staff of faculty teaching assistants ran the restaurant. They took the lead on setting up the dining room decor, establishing the menu and preparing meals in the industrial kitchen. Going forward, however, it will be the students who will be in charge – with Flower’s team on the scene to guide, advise and hand out grades. “For me, what I like to see, are the family of the students,” Flower said. “They come and they cele-
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Sycamore woman facing attempted murder charges / A4
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Trial ahead
“This is a class. From start to finish, they [students] put this together.” Bryan Flower
Chef, program instructor and coordinator for food systems laboratories
brate what [the students] are doing. Because it’s usually one of the last classes that they take before they graduate.” Denise Worrell, 21, a junior nutrition and dietetics major, said working in Ellington’s as the general manager for one of the eight
See DINING, page A6
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