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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Taking fresh approaches to salads with tomatoes
Caution urged during heat wave
RECIPES • FOOD, C1
THE TIME-OFF PUZZLE
By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com DeKALB – With temperatures expected to reach 91 degrees today, local officials are urging residents to stay cool and look after vulnerable people. The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for DeKalb County, north central and northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on Tuesday afternoon, as heat indexes are expected to reach or exceed 100 degrees through Friday. The forecast calls for highs of 91 degrees Thursday and 92 degrees Friday, according to the National Weather Service’s website. At Monday’s Sycamore City Council meeting, Sycamore Fire Chief Peter Polarek recommended residents check on elderly neighbors and others who may be affected by the heat. “Hopefully this will be a short stint, but nonetheless, some of our folks will not resort to air conditioning,” Polarek said. Despite the hot weather, some people refuse to use their air conditioning because they want to save money on electricity, said Sycamore police Chief Donald Thomas. He urged families to make sure their homes are properly ventilated. Senior citizens, children younger than 4 and people with existing medical problems, such as heart disease, tend to be most vulnerable to the heat-related health problems, said Jane Lux, DeKalb County Health Department administrator. Children and pets should not be left in a closed vehicle if the temperature is 80 degrees or higher, she said. The core body temperature of a child can rise three to five times faster than that of an adult if they are left in a hot vehicle, Lux said in a news release. Extreme heat is the most common cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 7,415 people died of heat-related causes between 1999 and 2010 in the U.S. Cooling centers will be available in the DeKalb and Sycamore area.
See HEAT, page A3
Photo illustration by Rob Winner – rwinner@daily-chronicle.com
Many workers leave some vacation time unused By DAVID THOMAS
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dthomas@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Lisa Gayden will not be taking a vacation this year. An employee in Kishwaukee Community Hospital’s Food & Nutrition Services, Gayden said she plans to save up her vacation time. She estimated she has 120 hours – or 15 days’ work – accrued. She said she has enough vacation hours built up in case she ever got sick. But she said she’s aware of how not taking a vacation can affect a person – the last time Gayden went on vacation was a trip to North Carolina about three or four years ago. “I probably get stressed out easier, get tired easier,” Gayden said. Fewer Americans intend to take a vacation in 2013, according to a June poll from Ipsos Public Affairs, a survey-based research company. Ipsos conducted the poll on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance, which sells travel insurance.
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The Ipsos poll found that 48 percent of Americans were confident they would take a vacation this year. During the same survey, 44 percent of Americans said they have not taken a vacation within the past two years. Steven Johnson, a travel agent with Carder Travel in Sycamore, said he has noticed a difference in the people booking vacation trips. He is noticing more trips involving grandparents with their grandchildren, not their parents. “It’s just trying to get the parents to get the time off to enjoy that trip,” said Johnson, who is the director of the Northern Illinois Travel Society, which books trips for many retirees and some current workers.
Nancy Peltz, a travel agent with Royal Travel & Tours in DeKalb, said most of her vacation bookings have been four to seven days long – enough for people to get away to Mexico at an all-inclusive resort. She suspects many travelers bring their work with them. “Yes, I think it’s everyone stays connected, whether they’re working or not,” Peltz said. “I think they’re probably not relaxing as much as they could on vacation.” Johnson said he has noticed the length of vacations have also been dropping. “They may take little excursions, but the big vacations don’t seem to be happening as much as they used to,” Johnson said. On average, U.S. workers receive fewer paid vacation days and holidays than their counterparts in other developed nations, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think-tank based in Washington, D.C.
See VACATION, page A4
TIME OFF BY THE NUMBERS
35 34 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 20 19 10 0 Developed countries and how many legally mandated holidays and paid vacation that their workers receive:
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Beth Ager of DeKalb reaches for her thin mint custard as her daughter, Anne Ager, 8, digs into her frozen dessert Tuesday at Ollie’s Frozen Custard in Sycamore. Temperatures in the area reached a high of 90 degrees with humidity at 52 percent, according to the National Weather Service.
Cooling centers in DeKalb County • Family Community Resource Center, 1629 Afton Road, Sycamore • DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., DeKalb • DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St., DeKalb • Sycamore Public Library, 103 E. State St., Sycamore • Sycamore Police Department, 535 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore • DeKalb Oasis, 2700 N. Crego Road, DeKalb
• Austria, Portugal: 35 days • Germany, Spain: 34 days • France, Italy: 31 days • Belgium, New Zealand: 30 days • Ireland: 29 days
• Australia, United Kingdom: 28 days • Norway: 27 days • Greece: 26 days • Denmark, Finland, Sweden: 25 days • Netherlands, Switzerland: 20 days
• Canada: 19 days • Japan: 10 days • United States: 0 days
Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research
D-428 middle school schedule change challenged By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Members of the community came out in force to oppose proposed changes to the DeKalb middle school schedule, which would eliminate general music and reduce some full-time positions at the two schools. The DeKalb School District 428 board is set to vote on the proposal at its Aug. 6 meeting. The schedule change would be
implemented during the 2014-15 school year. Under the proposal, one of the middle schools’ elective classes will be eliminated so that mathematics can be expanded from 44 minutes to 88 minutes. As a result, students will have one period to take electives or receive extra help in math and reading. Tracy Williams, the school board’s vice president, said the district needs to make hard choices in the education it offers
students. Describing himself as the father of two orchestra students, he said he understands the importance of having music teachers. “We clearly understand the value that comes from having these programs,” Williams said. “But we are falling short in math achievement. ... We need to address our achievement gap.” Music teachers from the district, as well as parents and other interested individuals, spoke
at length during the meeting’s public comments section about the necessity of keeping music in the classroom. A lot of them wore stickers that read, “Hello, my name is Music.” “Engagement in the fine arts helps students stretch their minds beyond the bindings of the book or the strict rules of the classrooms,” said Mark Barwegan, an art teacher at Huntley Middle School.
See SCHEDULE, page A3
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