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PREP SOFTBALL • SPORTS, B1
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
MOTHER’S DAY • FOOD, C1
DeKalb holds off Sycamore in playofflike atmosphere
Happiness is a versatile, toasted cheese sandwich
DeKalb’s Hannah Walter
Police: Driver in crash on heroin Sycamore man charged with aggravated DUI in wreck that killed boy, 11 By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Benjamin Black
A Sycamore man is accused of being high on heroin when he plowed into a Chevrolet Cavalier, killing an 11-year-old Sycamore boy and severely injuring an 18-year-old Sycamore woman. Benjamin Black, 28, of the 1500 block of Sparkhayes Drive in Sycamore, was charged Monday with multiple counts of aggravated driving under the influence of a controlled substance in connec-
tion with the Feb. 27 crash that killed Matthew Ranken and that cracked Teale Noble’s skull, according to a news release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. Black’s 1999 Ford Expedition smashed into the back of the Cavalier carrying Ranken; his brother, Nicholas Weber, 21, of Sycamore; and Noble, Weber’s girlfriend, authorities said. The Cavalier had been westbound on Route 64 in Kane County about 7:30 p.m. when it stopped for traf-
Time well spent
fic backed up because of a crash about a mile away. Ranken, a fifth-grader at North Elementary School in Sycamore, was pronounced dead the same day at Kishwaukee Community Hospital. Heroin metabolites were found in a sample of Black’s urine taken immediately after the crash, the news release states. If convicted of the most serious charge he faces, Black could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. He remains in Kane County
jail unable to post 10 percent of his $250,000 bail. His next court date there is Thursday. In DeKalb County, a judge removed Black from an electronic monitoring program Tuesday, court records show. He had been on the home monitoring since March 25 as part of his bail conditions for a felony theft case. Black is accused of stealing more than $4,000 of coiled copper and brass March 11 in Cortland. A deputy involved with the home monitoring program tried
Rewarding experience awaits owners who put in the effort to train their dogs
to kick him out April 4 after a friend found Black passed out in her car after she ran into Walgreens to get hypodermic syringes, court records show. The friend thought he looked like he had shot up heroin, but Black told authorities he had taken a painkiller and cough syrup with codeine. He tested positive for opiates. On April 11, a DeKalb County judge decided to keep him in the home monitoring program but ordered that he submit to random drug tests, court records show.
Questions abound in rescue of 3 women The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Karen Hoffman praises her 2-year-old Doberman pinscher, Emma, after practicing a technique correctly during a basic obedience class for dogs May 1 at Haish Gym in DeKalb. The basic obedience classes are held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the gym. BELOW: Instructor Marcia Poff teaches a technique with her 5-year-old Doberman pinscher, Quincy. By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com When Marcia Poff first acquired Quincy, he was a terror. The Doberman pinscher was wild and out of control. But with a little love and a lot of training from Poff, he has grown to be a well-behaved companion. “I put the time into him and now he’s wonderful,” she said. “What a turnaround.” As a dog trainer for more than 40 years, Poff teaches multiple obedience and training classes at the DeKalb Park District for dog owners and their four-legged friends.
The class becomes more popular this time of year because more owners are able to work with their dogs outdoors. Sycamore police Lt. Darrell Johnson said the warmer weather also brings more misbehavior from dogs and their owners, as the department usually receives an increase in dog complaints and violations at this time. He said the most common incidents are excessive barking or whining complaints and leash law and excrement law violations, which both carry a $100 fine for the
CLEVELAND – One neighbor says a naked woman was seen crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard of the house a few years ago. Another heard pounding on the home’s doors and noticed plastic bags over the windows. Both times, police showed up but never went inside, neighbors say. Police also paid a visit to the house in 2004, but no one answered the door. Now, after three women who vanished a decade ago Onil Castro were found captive Monday at the rundown house, Cleveland police are facing questions for the second time in four years about their handling of Ariel Castro missing-person cases and are conducting an internal review to see if they overlooked anything. City Safety Director Martin Pedro Castro Flask said Tuesday that investigators had no record of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house but were still checking police, fire and emergency databases. The three women were rescued after one of them kicked out the bottom portion of a locked screen door and used a neighbor’s telephone to call 911. “Help me. I’m Amanda Berry,” she breathlessly told a dispatcher in a call that exhilarated and astonished much of the city. “I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.”
See TRAINING, page A3 See RESCUE, page A4
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