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Student of the Month NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL, A10
FRESHMEN KEY TO COMETS’ STRATEGY SOFTBALL, B1
TELEGRAPH Monday, May 16, 2016
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON
The long ear of the law Complaints prompt council to consider giving police more power to keep things quiet BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
DIXON – With recent complaints regarding loud music downtown, the City Council plans to bolster its noise ordinance during its meeting today. When city staff reviewed the current noise ordinance, they determined its authority to police unnecessary noise was too limited, City Manager Cole O’Donnell said.
“We found that our excessive noise ordinance is weak in that it is only enforced when someone signs a complaint,” he said. After researching different noise ordinances and court cases, the city is proposing to amend the policy to give police officers the ability to enforce the ordinance without a signed complaint. The amendment would strengthen the ordinance but not to the point where it would be too strict or costly, he said.
For example, some cities enforce a noise ordinance based on decibel levels, which would require the city to purchase equipment that could measure those levels. With Dixon’s proposal, enforcement would be based on an officer’s judgment and would revolve around factors including the sound’s proximity to residents, the time of day or night when it occurs, and whether the sound is recurrent, intermittent or constant. QUIET CONTINUED ON A5
A CLOSER LOOK | ILLINOIS BUDGET
Little ground gained in Capitol battle Rauner still hopeful, but time is running out on his plans for the state
HOT RODS WARM UP A CHILLY DAY
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: The weather might not have been right for putting down the top on a classic convertible, but that didn’t stop folks from turning out for the Friends of Parks and Recreation’s fifth annual Lincoln Highway Car Show on Saturday. Spectators – and plenty came despite the weather – checked out classic cars on Elm Street in downtown Franklin Grove. The group hosted the show, with sponsorship help from area businesses, to raise money to build a handicap-accessible restroom at the village’s Atlasta Park. The current facility is non-compliant and in need of renovation. Vehicles were parked on the village’s main street, which is also the old Lincoln Highway, adjacent to the H. I. Lincoln Building, which houses the national headquarters for the Illinois Lincoln Highway Association. The event featured cars, trucks motorcycles and rat rods, a 50-50 drawing, prizes and food vendors. Awards in different categories were also given to vehicle owners. RIGHT: Amanda Goldman and her son, Kyle, 7, both of Franklin Grove, check out what’s under the hood.
SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vision of a grand 2-year budget compromise with Illinois lawmakers is diminishing as the clock ticks down on this year’s legislative session. The Republican has asked for probusiness and union-weakening proposals and other legislative changes as part of a budget compromise. While he remains optimistic he can get a deal done before the spring session ends May 31, Democrats who control the Legislature have been largely dismissive of his ideas. Any post-session spending plan will require threefifths support from each chamBruce ber, rather than a Rauner simple majority, making it harder to end the budget standoff that’s now in its eleventh month. “My sense is, big things, important things, kind of get done at the very last minute, kind of around 2 a.m. That may be what happens now, I don’t know,” Rauner said last week. Here’s a look at where some of Rauner’s proposals stand:
Term limits, redistricting Rauner’s plan to overhaul the state’s political landscape includes two items that would require lawmakers to go against their career interests: Imposing term limits and changing how legislative districts are drawn every decade. Lawmakers from the ruling party currently draw the maps – usually to their advantage. BATTLE CONTINUED ON A5
EDUCATION
INSIDE
Schools are doing the learning
CGH Medical Center has an idea for lifting patients’ spirits, and it’s drawing on the power of artwork to do it. To learn more about what’s on the walls and in the halls, turn to Page A3.
As the landscape of gender rights shifts, educators learn how to adapt SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – From locker rooms and sex education classes to dress codes and overnight field trips, many U.S. public schools already are balancing the civil rights of transgender students with any concerns that classmates, parents and community members might have. The U.S. Department of Education is drawing on those practices to guide other schools as they work to comply with the Obama administration’s directive that
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TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 166 ISSUE 11
transitioning children be treated consistent with their gender identity. That has been the policy since 2013 of the Arcadia Unified School District in Southern California. As part of a settlement with the federal departments of Justice and Education that became the foundation for the national mandate issued Friday, students may use the bathroom, locker room or wilderness cabin that corresponds with their rec-
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 COMICS ............... A8 CROSSWORD....B10
ognized gender outside school, Superintendent David Vannasdall said. “This is absolutely not about a student on a day-to-day basis saying, ‘Today I’m a boy, tomorrow I’m a girl.’ That has never happened,” Vannasdall said. “By the time these students are at a point where they are asking for our help, they are presenting in all areas of their life as that gender.” GENDER CONTINUED ON A9
ELECTION ............ A9 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Michael Krabbenhoeft/ mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Today’s weather High 67. Low 47. More on A3.
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