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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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DISTRICT 428 BALANCING STUDENTS’ NEEDS WITH AVAILABLE SPACE
Ripple effect
New trial for man in 2010 NIU shooting Isaacman’s conviction voided because of ineffective defense By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Zachary Isaacman will get another opportunity to convince a judge or jury he was justified in shooting a fellow Northern Illinois University student in the leg in February 2010. Isaacman, 25, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in May 2011 for shooting Brian Mulder outside Stevenson North residence hall, but appellate justices overturned his conviction after finding his trial defense attorney, John Paul Carroll, was ineffective.
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Students at Cortland Elementary School make their way to the buses Monday after school. Boundary lines that determine where DeKalb students go to elementary school could soon change.
Decisions could mean change in school boundaries By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Boundary lines that determine where DeKalb students go to elementary school could change as early as the 2014-15 school year. At their meeting today, DeKalb School District 428 board members could vote to open a pre-kindergarten/ early childhood education center at Chesebro Elementary School. If they approve the proposal, the board would also decide whether to open the center in fall 2013 or fall 2014. Moving the early education classes out of Brooks, Jefferson and Tyler elementary schools would create open classrooms, space district officials say is needed. But shuffling students creates a ripple effect. “That is why we asked the board to work with a demographer,” Superintendent Jim Briscoe said. “That’s
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going to create some spaces in certain buildings. It doesn’t mean we’re able to move 28 students back somewhere.” Briscoe said one of the district’s major priorities is to create as little disruption as possible for students. To do that, he said, officials need time. Regardless of when the board approves the opening of the pre-kindergarten/early childhood center, any accompanying boundary changes wouldn’t go into effect before the 201415 school year. Briscoe also emphasized that the board has not made any decisions about boundary changes yet. “If the board decides to open the EC/Pre-K center, we’re going to have to look at where to move students,” said Briscoe, adding there are many variables that affect the placement of students. One factor is which schools have “overflowed” students. These are stu-
dents who are moved to another school in the district when they are unable to fit in their home school. Most of the district’s 168 overflowed students are kindergarteners. The district last altered school attendance boundaries in 2011, when it also instituted a class-size cap of 28 students at the elementary schools, Briscoe said. Part of the reason for the change was that the district had closed the old Cortland and Malta elementary schools, opened the new Cortland Elementary School and combined some other elementary schools. “We spent an entire spring and summer with the demographer trying to look at all of the capacities [of the schools],” Briscoe said. “We balanced everything out, and it worked out really well.”
See D-428, page A3
If the board decides to open the EC/Pre-K center, we’re going to have to look at where to move students.
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Jim Briscoe, District 428 superintendent
Isaacman is being held in the DeKalb County Jail on charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon; the first charge is punishable by between six and 30 years in prison. He Zachary will appear in Isaacman court today to ask a judge to reduce his $500,000 bond, which requires posting $50,000 bail while the case is pending.
See TRIAL, page A3
After 43 years, Williams set to retire May 31 By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Eddie Williams’ return to Northern Illinois University will last about 11 days, NIU officials said Monday. Williams, NIU’s executive vice president for finance and facilities and chief of operations, plans to retire May 31 after a 43-year career with NIU. Officials have not said if or how Williams will be replaced. Steve Cunningham, who has been overseeing NIU’s Finance and Facilities Department, will continue to do so after Williams retires, said Paul Palian, NIU director of media and public relations. Williams took a leave of absence March 8 after an FBI investigation into police records concerning Eden’s Gardens, a housing development Williams owns.
For now, Williams will assist the university in finance and budgetary matters, Palian said. He said Williams has masterfully handled the university’s budget and there haven’t been any employee furloughs or layoffs under his watch. “Over the last decade, we had declining support of higher education and Eddie he’s adequateWilliams ly handled the budget throughout the time,” Palian said. Palian said that while the university is concerned with the FBI investigating Williams, he did not think that would be Williams’ legacy when he retires. Palian pointed to the many buildings, renovations and green
See RETIRE, page A3
Deadly tornado devastates Okla. town Dozens reported injured, killed as crews move into hardest hit communities By TIM TALLEY The Associated Press MOORE, Okla. – A monstrous tornado at least a halfmile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people were killed, and officials said
the death toll was expected to rise. The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of the city. Block after block lay in ruins. Homes were crushed into piles of broken wood. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside. The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4
on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister. More than 140 people were being treated at hospitals, including about 70 children. And search-and-rescue efforts were to continue throughout the night. Tiffany Thronesberry said she heard from her mother, Barbara Jarrell, shortly after the tornado. “I got a phone call from her
screaming, ‘Help! Help! I can’t breathe. My house is on top of me!’ ” Thronesberry said. Thronesberry hurried to her mother’s house, where first responders had already pulled her out. Her mother was hospitalized for treatment of cuts and bruises. Rescuers launched a desperate rescue effort at the school, pulling children from
See TORNADO, page A2
AP photo
A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School on Monday in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers.
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2, A4 A7 B1-5
Advice Comics Classified
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62