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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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Madigan offers catchall pension plan Area lawmakers seeking more details about House Speaker’s reform proposal The ASSOCIATED PRESS SPRINGFIELD – DeKalb-area lawmakers were cautious in their reaction to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform efforts Tuesday. Madigan sought to tackle the pension crisis through a single piece of legislation that would require government employees and teachers to contribute more
toward their retirement but receive fewer benefits in return. Several similar bills already have received House approval, but Madigan’s proposal ties them together. That, supporters say, makes it a one stop shop for pension reform, rather than require disparate fixes through separate legislative measures. The bill was scheduled for a committee vote this morning.
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Reps. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, and Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, have voted in favor of at least two of those proposals, but they did not come out for or against Madigan’s plan. “It needs to be fair to employees, just like it’s fair to taxpayers,” Pritchard said. “One remaining question: I haven’t seen those contributions we’re going to make every year, and what
that will do to our budget.” In moving the pension debate into high gear, Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, replaced language in legislation sent to the House by Senate President John Cullerton, removing Cullerton’s plan for offering affected state-government employees and teachers a choice of benefits. Instead, it unilaterally reduces them. Notably, the proposal does not
include shifting some teacher pension costs to school boards. Madigan has bemoaned the “free lunch” school districts get because the state pays the employer portion due to the retirement funds of elementary and secondary teachers. Several of Madigan’s proposals have been discussed, but have
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago
See PENSIONS, page A6
DeKALB CHURCH HOSTS OUTREACH EVENT
PRAYERS FOR PASSERS-BY
11 arrested in Chicago-led ring DAILY CHRONICLE news@daily-chronicle.com Two Chicago men are wanted and 11 others were arrested Tuesday after a months-long investigation into a crack cocaine distribution ring in the DeKalb area, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said. According to a news release from Sheriff Roger Scott’s office, authorities began investigating crack distribution in DeKalb in January. Through their investigation, police said they discovered the distribution syndicate was run by three Chicago men: Terry M. Griffin, 31, Antonnio B. Sanders, 31, and Christopher E. Bell, 29. Police have arrested Griffin and charged him with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and criminal drug conspiracy-delivery. On Tuesday, police said that Sanders was at large and wanted on charges of criminal drug conspiracy. Bell also was not in custody and wanted on charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and criminal drug conspiracy-delivery. During their investigation, sheriff’s police arrested 10 other people from DeKalb and Sycamore on charges of criminal drug conspiracy-possession. Arrested Tuesday were: Christopher J. Stogsdill, 45, of Sycamore; James B. Phillips, 55, of DeKalb; Jason Coppens, 38, of DeKalb; Brian D. Ottenhausen, 40, of DeKalb; Eldridge D. Moore, 62, of Sycamore; Terence J. Low, 57, of DeKalb; Ronald Bannister, 40, of DeKalb; Christopher K. Riggs, 36, of DeKalb; Dianatha Hardesty, 50, of DeKalb; and Andrew Burkett, 58, of DeKalb. DeKalb police, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration cooperated in the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
The Rev. Amy Fallon (right), of Grace Place Campus Ministry, offers to pray for a woman waiting for the bus Tuesday near St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The event at St. Paul’s, called Prayers2Pass, offered passers-by snacks, drinks and prayers to those who wanted them.
Religious leaders at St. Paul’s take message, snacks to those seeking help By DAVID THOMAS
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dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Darin Burns received a terrible phone call late Tuesday morning: The best friend of one of the assistant managers he works with had just been hit by a semi-truck. He was taking a shortcut through DeKalb’s residential community by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church when members of the church asked if they could pray for him, or someone he knows. The 22-year-old management major agreed. “I was praying for [the assistant manager] to cope with it,” Burns said, adding that he didn’t know if the friend was alive or dead. Burns was one of the many people who walked by the church as its members offered free food and prayers to anyone who walked past.
View more photos from St. Paul’s Prayers2Pass event at Daily-Chronicle.com.
After finishing a morning class, Northern Illinois University marketing senior Tom Kneifel wrote a prayer for his brother outside St. Paul’s Episcopal Church during their Prayers2Pass event in DeKalb. Many of the public prayers were from Northern Illinois University students, who were hoping for di-
vine assistance in obtaining a job or doing well on their final exams. The Rev. Stacy Walker-Frontjes
said the impetus of “Prayers2Pass” came from the stress she noticed students were dealing with around Ash Wednesday. “Some of them didn’t necessarily want the imposition of ashes, but they seemed to appreciate that somebody was talking to them and offering to pray for them, so we thought, ‘You know what, there’s something to this,’ ” Walker-Frontjes said. “We thought, ‘What if we offered to ... pray with people or pray for people at the end of spring semester?’ ”
See PRAYERS, page A6
“Some of them didn’t necessarily want the imposition of ashes, but they seemed to appreciate that somebody was talking to them and offering to pray for them, so we thought, ‘You know what, there’s something to this.’ ” The Rev. Stacy Walker-Frontjes, on developing the idea for Prayers2Pass after Ash Wednesday
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