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Monday, July 1, 2013
SUMMER GOLF SERIES: PART 1
HOMETOWN FESTIVAL • LOCAL, A3
Professional offers tips to improve golf game Sports, B1
Community turns out for Shabbona parade
Sadie Jimenez
New report on NSA riles EU allies
DeKALB RESIDENT OFFICER SETTLING IN TO MULTIPLE ROLES
Keeping watch on the neighborhood
Spying allegations lead to threats of sanctions By FRANK JORDANS and LARA JAKES The Associated Press
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
DeKalb police officer Jared Burke heads to his vehicle parked in front of his home before the start of his shift Thursday in DeKalb. Burke, who lives on North 11th Street with his family, is taking part in DeKalb’s resident officer program.
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By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – It’s only happened a handful of times, but Jared Burke is used to having people knock on his door at 3 a.m. As the sole participant in the DeKalb police’s new resident officer program, Burke has become the go-to person for both police and residents in the Pleasant Street neighborhood he moved into in October. The city spent about $135,000 in special economic development funds from a tax increment financing district to buy the house and renovate it from a duplex to a single-family house. If a crime occurs in the neighborhood, Burke learns about it and follows up if necessary. When neigh-
bors have an issue, they will go to Burke’s home on North 11th Street so they can be heard. The resident officer program aims to bridge the gap between residents and police by placing an officer in a community. This program is designed to improve the quality of life in the area, but Burke said there’s no guidebook on how to do that. “It might be successful in this community; it may not be successful in another community,” Burke said. “Maybe one officer has better success than the other. But the program itself has many hats to it. “You might be mentoring one day at the school, the other day you might be at the Hispanic center digging a garden.” The success of the program will be hard to measure. Police Chief
Gene Lowery said police will compare the crime rate in the area to the previous year without Burke, although the key benefits of the program are intangible. “Despite the reality of crime, the most significant thing a citizen can experience is their perception of safety, so perception is huge,” Lowery said. Burke expressed similar sentiments. “There’s no criteria that says you’re successful,” Burke said. “You can’t say when crime rates drop you’ve been successful. ... You can’t put numbers on something like this ... to gauge success and failure. The goal is to leave it better than you found it.”
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration faced a breakdown in confidence Sunday from key foreign allies who threatened investigations and sanctions against the U.S. over secret surveillance programs that reportedly installed covert listening devices in European Union offices. U.S. intelligence officials said they will directly discuss with EU officials the new allegations, reported in Sunday’s editions of the German news weekly Der Spiegel. But the former head of the CIA and National Security Agency urged the White House to make the spy programs more transparent to calm public fears about the American government’s snooping. It was the latest backlash in a nearly monthlong global debate over the reach of U.S. surveillance that aims to prevent terror attacks. The two programs, both run by the NSA, pick up millions of telephone and Internet records that are routed through American networks each day. They have raised sharp concerns about whether they violate public privacy rights at home and abroad. Several European officials – including in Germany, Italy, France, Luxembourg and the EU government itself – said the new revelations could scuttle ongoing negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty that, ultimately, seeks to create jobs and boost commerce by billions annually in what would be the world’s largest free trade area. “Partners do not spy on each other,” said EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. “We cannot negotiate over a big trans-Atlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are
“Partners do not spy on each other. We cannot negotiate over a big trans-Atlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators.” Viviane Reding EU justice commissioner
See OFFICER, page A4 See NSA, page A4
Food remains draw as church’s Greek Fest switches locations By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The new location for this year’s Greek Fest was a blessing in disguise. While the St. George Greek Orthodox Church had to relocate the weekendlong festival from Hopkins Park to St. Mary Catholic Church in DeKalb, the new location protected the festival from the heavy rain Saturday, said Greek Fest Chairman Bill Vassilogambros. “If we had been at Hopkins Park, we would have been washed out,” Vassilogambros said. The Greek Fest is a way of bringing Greek culture, food
and music to DeKalb. The festival showcases Greek hospitality and warmth, said Steve Lekkas, parish council president for St. George Greek Orthodox Church. Traditional Greek food such as lamb, saganaki and gyros were served along with desserts such as koulouria, which are braided butter cookies. This year’s Greek Fest didn’t have the opportunity to invite special guests from the community such as the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team, Lekkas said. The volunteers were more focused on serving the food. “That’s always the first priority,” Lekkas said. “No matter what, that’s why everyone
comes here.” Most people are not aware of the church, but Greek Fest raises the church’s profile in the community, Vassilogambros said. The festival also is the church’s main fundraiser of the year. The festival started about 45 years ago as a church picnic and grew after parishioners brought their relatives, friends and neighbors, he said. Greek Fest featured a Greek grocery store for visitors interested in buying Greek rice, pasta and olive oil. The grocery store also offered merchandise such as a fisherman’s cap and scarves. Dorothea Bilder, parishioner for St. George Greek Orthodox Church, said Greek grocery stores are a rarity in
the DeKalb area. “In a lot of malls in the western suburbs, you’ll find a lot of ethnic stores,” Bilder said. “We don’t have that here.” Bob and Eleanor Resch traveled more than 25 miles from Paw Paw to attend Greek Fest for the first time. Bob Resch said he liked Greek food and music. “It was something different,” he said. Greek Fest volunteer Yiota Spyratos said some people like the old location and some like the new one. No matter where they hold the festival, people will come. “As soon as they hear Greek food, they find us,” Spyratos said.
Felix Sarver – fsarver@shawmedia.com
Andrew Spyratos, a parishioner of St. George Greek Orthodox Church, cooks lamb Sunday during the 2013 Greek Fest at St. Mary Catholic Church in DeKalb.
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