DDC-4-13-2013

Page 1

WEEKEND EDITION

$1.50

Breaking news at Daily-Chronicle.com

Serving DeKalb County since 1879

Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14, 2013

NIU FOOTBALL • SPORTS, B1

AMERICAN PROFILE • INSIDE

Huskies’ slogan ‘The Hard Way’ inspires success

Environmental heroes safeguard the sea

Deal reached to sell Kiwanis Park DeKalb Park District agrees to pay $625K; property owner D-428 to vote on accord By DAVID THOMAS

If you go n What: DeKalb School District 428 Board of Education Meeting n When: 7 p.m. Tuesday n Where: Kishwaukee Education Consortium, 21255 Malta Road, Malta

dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb School District 428 board members are expected to vote Tuesday on selling Kiwanis Park to the DeKalb Park District for $625,200, its appraised price from May. If approved, the deal would seal the fate of the park property that school leaders had once

considered transferring to developer ShoDeen Construction through a land swap. DeKalb Park Board members unanimously approved the agreement Thursday to buy the 41.68-acre park from the school district for $15,000 an acre. The decision came about four months after school and park board leaders agreed to work together to maintain the park as

open space. Late last year, opponents of the land swap distributed bumper stickers and about 100 yard signs encouraging local leaders to “Keep our green; it’s not for ShoDeen.” A Facebook page by that name had 447 members in December. On Friday, school board President Tom Matya said the agreement would be addressed during the board’s public ses-

sion Tuesday. The school district purchased the park for $1.4 million in August 2002. “Being involved in the negotiations, I believe we struck a fair deal with the park board and a good decision for our community,” Matya said. Cindy Capek, executive director of the DeKalb Park District, said the district will use existing money from its capital funds to

By RICARDO ALONSO–ZALDIVAR The Associated Press

Angelo Nicolosi of Rockford recorded his 1971 interview with World War I veteran Fred Carlson about his time in the military service.

Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com

Angelo Nicolosi (right) of Rockford speaks to Edie Wisdom of Sycamore about her father, Fred Carlson, who served in World War I, at Hillcrest Covenant Church in DeKalb. Carlson passed away in 1987. Nicolosi had interviewed him about his time served during the war using a tape recorder in 1971.

Audio tape provides link to past for DeKalb WWI vet’s family n H Company, 148th Infantry n Drafted June 27, 1918, in Sycamore n Wounded Nov. 4, 1918, in Flanders, Belgium n Discharged Jan. 16, 1990, at Camp Grant

Voice your opinion Did anyone from your family serve in World War I? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com

By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Fred Carlson never talked much about the scar from the wound he suffered during World War I. In fact, Carlson hardly ever discussed his brief service in the U.S. Army or his experience fighting “over there” until a young man named Angelo Nicolosi approached him on Oct. 15, 1971. “I do remember that day real, real vividly,” Nicolosi said. Nicolosi, who was a 21-year-old political science student at Northern Illinois University at the

Hear history • To hear excerpts of the interview with World War I veteran Fred Carlson and a photo slideshow, visit Daily-Chronicle.com. • To listen to the full interview, visit the Joiner History Room at the Sycamore Public Library, 103 E. State St. time, set out to record interviews with two veterans of World War I: Carlson and R.C. Anderson, both of DeKalb.

The interviews represent recorded history that cannot be repeated by the living: The last combat veterans of “The Great War” – American army veteran Frank Buckles and Claude Choules, who served with the British navy – both died at age 110 in 2011. In the interview, Carlson talked about being the first one shot in his troop. He was wounded by a machine gun in a battle with the Germans at the Escaut River in Flanders, Belgium, on Nov. 4, 1918.

See TAPE, page A8

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s plan to raise Medicare premiums for upper-income seniors would create five new income brackets to squeeze more revenue for the government from the top tiers of retirees, the administration revealed Friday. First details of the plan emerged after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified to Congress on the president’s budget. As released two days earlier, the budget included only a vague de- Kathleen scription of a controversial Sebelius proposal that has grown more ambitious since Obama last floated it. “Means testing” has been part of Medicare since the George W. Bush administration, but ramping it up is bound to stir controversy. Republicans are intrigued, but most Democrats don’t like the idea. The plan itself is complicated. The bottom line is not: more money for the government. Obama’s new budget calls for raising $50 billion over 10 years by increasing monthly “income-related” premiums for outpatient and prescription drug coverage. The comparable number last year was $28 billion over the decade. Currently, single beneficiaries making more than $85,000 a year and couples earning more than $170,000 pay higher premiums. Obama’s plan would raise the premiums themselves and also freeze adjustments for inflation until 1 in 4 Medicare recipients were paying the higher charges. Right now, the higher monthly charges hit only about 1 in 20 Medicare recipients. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., asked Sebelius about the new proposal on Friday, noting that it would raise significantly more revenue. Part of the reason for the additional federal revenue is that Obama’s 2014 budget projects an additional year of money from the proposals. The rest of the answer has to do with the administration’s new brackets. Starting in 2017, there would be nine income brackets on which the higher premiums would be charged. There are only four now. If the proposal were in effect today, a retiree making $85,000 would pay about $168 a month for outpatient coverage, compared to $146.90 currently. Under current law, the next bump up doesn’t come until an individual makes more than $107,000. Under Obama’s plan, it would come when that person crosses the line at $92,333. If the plan were in effect today, the beneficiary would pay about $195 a month for outpatient coverage under Medicare’s Part B, rather than $146.90. The top income step – currently more than $214,000 – would be lowered to $196,000. And individuals in the new top tier would pay 90 percent of the cost of their outpatient coverage, compared to 80 percent currently.

Weather

Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries

A2 A3, A5 A4

See PARK, page A8

High-income seniors to pay more under Medicare plan

HEARING a piece of HISTORY

Pvt. Frederick T. Carlson

pay for the park, which the park district presently maintains. She said the district will pay it all at once, not in installments. Matya didn’t know Friday what the school district would do with the $625,200 from the park district, but he said it was a decision for the whole school board to consider.

National and world news Opinions Sports

A5, A6, A8 A9 B1-4

Advice Comics Classified

C6 C7 C8-9

High:

46

Low:

32


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.