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August 1-2, 2015 • $1.50
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
Hub Arkush gives an inside look at Bears training camp / B1
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Fire crews fight Genoa pallet blaze By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com GENOA – Workers at a Genoa-area pallet company were disposing of old pallets by burning them Friday afternoon when the wind picked up the embers and the fire began burning out of control, fire officials said. Firefighters were called to Cleary Pallet Sales, 32570 Genoa Road, about 1:45 p.m. With the goal of keeping the flames away from the building and no hydrants available, fire crews from 10 area departments eventually were called to respond. Although the wind caused the trouble, it also helped
Breaking news text alerts Text DCNEWS to 74574 to get breaking news sent right to your phone. Message and data rates may apply. protect the building, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Christiansen said. He was the first to arrive on the scene, he said. “The wind is blowing it away from the building, so it’s just more piles of pallets starting on fire,” Christiansen said. A black Ford parked next to the pile was damaged, al-
though officials do not know whether the car actually caught fire, Sycamore Assistant Fire Chief Marc Doty said. A second vehicle may also have been damaged, he said. An estimate of the damages was not available Friday evening. Fire departments from Cortland, Genoa-Kingston, Kirkland, Sycamore, Marengo, Hampshire, DeKalb, Union, Boone County, and Cherry Valley all responded to the fire. “Because it’s out in the county, there’s no fire hydrants, and so these other departments are bringing these tanker trucks in that are full
of water,” Christiansen said. Firefighters filled their tanker trucks at the closest fire hydrant, nearly one mile from Cleary Pallet Sales, and delivered it to the site repeatedly for at least one hour. Firefighters had collectively used about 15,000 gallons of water by about 3 p.m., when the fire was under control, Doty said. Police closed Genoa Road at Route 72 and at Pleasant Hill Road during the fire. Fire crews remained at the scene for at least an hour after the fire was extinguished, Doty said. Each department had left the scene by 5 p.m. “It was really just a controlled burn that got out of control,” Doty said.
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Area firefighters responded Friday to a fire at Cleary Pallet Sales on Genoa Road in Genoa. Employees were disposing of old pallets by burning them when the fire began burning out of control. Ten area fire departments were called to the scene.
Uncertain future for building
Clinton calls for the Cuba embargo end By BILL BARROW The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Angel Reyes, with the DeKalb Police Department, takes pictures of the front of the shuttered Otto’s building Friday along Lincoln Highway in downtown DeKalb after serving a search warrant that allowed the city to enter the building. On Friday, the city of DeKalb brought in police, fire, construction consultants, building inspectors and structural engineers to do a total assessment of the building, which has been closed since January 2014 because of flooding from a burst pipe. After more than a year of vacancy, the deteriorating building has been causing flooding to the Mediterraneo Grill next door.
‘Nauseating’ smell, deteriorated conditions in downtown structure By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The smell is nauseating inside the vacant building at 112-118 E. Lincoln Highway in downtown DeKalb, and the structure has deteriorated beyond repair, Steve Irving, president of Irving Construction, said after doing a walkthrough Friday. The building, which most recently housed Ducky’s Formalwear and Otto’s Nightclub, has been shut down since January 2014, after a burst pipe left it uninhabitable. Ducky’s Formal Wear has since relocated, and the building has since sat vacant. “It’s 100 percent uninhabitable,” Irving said. “In my opinion, it’d have to
be completely gutted.” City Attorney Dean Frieders said the city’s attempts to work with property owner Pat Looney have been fruitless. “We’ve made a number of efforts to contact him and reach an agreement about the building, but that hasn’t happened to date,” Frieders said. “He has been unresponsive.” The city obtained a search warrant to inspect the building, which it executed Friday. Building inspectors, a structural engineer, an environmental engineer, a construction expert, and plumbing and fire department inspectors went in to evaluate the building.
See OTTO’S, page A6
Crews contracted by the city of DeKalb inspect the front of the space that once housed Ducky’s Formal Wear that connects to the Otto’s building on Lincoln Highway in downtown DeKalb.
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MIAMI – Drawing a sharp distinction with Republican rivals in the pivotal election state of Florida, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday called on the GOP-run Congress to end the trade embargo the U.S. has imposed on Cuba since 1962 The Democratic presidential favorite said an opened economic relationship would bring “dignity and democracy” faster than continuing the hardline isolationism sustained through five decades of Republican and Democratic administrations, including her husband’s two terms. President Barack Obama has normalized diplomatic relations with Cuba and made it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit and send money to families on the island. He also has called for Congress to lift the economic embargo. Clinton said that if Congress did not act, with her as president, she would use executive authority to allow American businesses, individuals, universities and not-for-profit organizations an easier path to engage in Cuba. Alluding to her time as first lady and in the Senate, Clinton acknowledged that she previously supported sanctions, but she told an auditorium of students, faculty and others at Florida International University that she changed her views during four years as Obama’s secretary of state. During that time, there also has been a softening of public opinion among the million-plus Cuban-Americans who hold considerable sway in Florida voting. Clinton accused Republican presidential candidates – without calling them by name – of approaching Cuba and Latin America “through a Cold War prism.” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have been among the most vocal critics of Obama’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. “They have it backwards,” Clinton said. “Engagement is not a gift to the Castros; it’s a threat to the Castros. An American embassy in Havana isn’t a concession; it’s a beacon. Lifting the embargo doesn’t set back freedom; it advances freedom.”
See CLINTON, page A6
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