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Friday, July 12, 2013
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DeKalb graduate ready to make a difference at Iowa
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Emily Bemis
DeKalb weighs adding tax districts Leaders from local taxing bodies say economic help needed for S. Fourth St. area By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – One thing became clear Thursday morning as the representatives of DeKalb’s eight local taxing bodies discussed creating new tax increment financing districts. South Fourth Street is going to need a lot of help, and TIF might not fix all of the problems there. But there might not be other options available. “If you don’t create the TIF, then it will just continue to be the way it is, because there is no funding source to incentivize development,” interim City Manager Rudy Espiritu said.
DeKalb already has two established TIF districts, which are a special mechanism local governments can use to spur development in blighted areas. As development occurs, taxes associated with the higher property values increase. A portion of those taxes, however, are diverted into a speRudy Espiritu cial fund that helps pay for development in the area for 23 years. The established districts are in downtown DeKalb and along Sycamore Road, adjacent to a proposed district.
What’s next
Voice your opinion
• July 24: The review board meets • July 26: Deadline for the Joint Review Board to issue recommendations • Aug. 12: Public hearing on the proposed districts
Should DeKalb create two new tax increment financing districts? Vote at Daily-Chronicle.com.
Inside Columnist Jason Akst writes that TIF districts are a complex tool, and DeKalb should be cautious about adding more. PAGE A2 On Thursday, Espiritu and Jennifer Diedrich, the city’s economic development coordinator, met with
Joint Review Board members to discuss creating TIF districts along South Fourth Street. They also discussed creating a small district with two parcels: the former Nelson Veterinarian property, 2131 Sycamore Road, and the Northern Illinois University Art Annex, 2211 Sycamore Road. The members of the joint review board represent different taxing bodies in the city – DeKalb School District 428, the DeKalb Park District,
Cooking for the visually impaired
the DeKalb Public Library, DeKalb Township, the DeKalb Sanitary District, Kishwaukee College, DeKalb County and the city itself. A member of the public sits on the board as well. The board is required by law to issue a report of its recommendations about the two proposed districts within 30 days of its first meeting, or by July 26. The board is scheduled to meet and issue recommendations July 24. The DeKalb City Council is scheduled to host a public hearing Aug. 12 on the potential TIF districts.
See TIF, page A4
Ill. Supreme Court ends challenge to abortion law By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Caitlin Cheatham (left), 12, shows a sign to Haley Tyrrell, 15, while the two prepared a meal of a salad, stir-fry pasta, dump cake, garlic breadsticks and a watermelon granita during Thursday’s cooking for the visually impaired class at Sycamore High School. Caitlin was Tyrrell’s mentor for the weeklong program, which ends today. BELOW: (From left to right) Megan Moran, 18, watches Stephannie Baccay, 16, while McKenzie Palm, 17, helps Cody Marbutt, 17, slice a tomato during the cooking for the visually impaired class at Sycamore High School.
Workshop helps high school students learn independence By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com
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YCAMORE – For the first time in her life, Kayla Craig is learning to cook. In the past, the Genoa-Kingston High School senior had her food prepared for her by a chef. The closest she came to cooking was warming up meals in a microwave. But with the help of a cooking workshop for the visually impaired at Sycamore High School, she’s learning to make pasta and salads on her own. “I like it so far,” Craig said. “And it’s teaching me for when I’m on my own, because eventually I’ll need to get my own apartment and learn how to cook.” The workshop, which began Monday and ends today, is meant to do more than help students with visual impairments learn how to shop for food and cook, said Diane Tyrrell, coordinator of the workshop and a Sycamore School District 427 board member.
See COOKING, page A4
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ended a lengthy and emotionally charged legal appeal over an abortion notification law Thursday, clearing the way for the state to begin enforcing a 1995 measure that requires doctors to notify a girl’s parents 48 hours before the procedure. The court ruled unanimously to uphold a circuit court’s earlier dismissal of a challenge to the law that was filed by a Granite City women’s health clinic and a doctor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. After court battles that lasted nearly two decades, Illinois now joins 38 other states in requiring some level of parental notification. The law goes into effect in 35 days unless it’s appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has found such laws to be constitutional elsewhere. Opponents of the notification law had argued that it violated privacy and gender equality rights because young women should be able to make their own decisions about their bodies and pregnancies. Supporters of the law, which was defended by the Illinois Attorney General’s office, argued that parents would be deprived of basic rights if they were not notified of a daughter’s decision to have an abortion. Anti-abortion activists have long said Illinois was a haven for teens from states with stricter laws on the books seeking abortions. “If you look at the map, from Canada to Mexico, we were the only state [in the Midwest] that did not have parental notification,” said Peter Breen, a lawyer for the Thomas More Society, which defended the law in court. In its opinion, the state’s high court found that the law did not violate principles of due process or equal protection and noted how the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld such laws. “We find that, while a minor clearly has an expectation of privacy in her medical information, which includes the fact of her pregnancy, the intrusion on the minor’s privacy occasioned by the Act is not unreasonable,” wrote Justice Anne Burke. “The state has an interest in ensuring that a minor is sufficiently mature and well-informed to make the difficult decision whether to have an abortion.”
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A3 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2, A4 A5 B1-4
Advice Comics Classified
C4 C5 C6-8
High:
81
Low:
57