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Monday, April 15, 2013
FEEDING A COMMUNITY
NIU FOOTBALL • SPORTS, B1
Seeds planted in DeKalb community garden Local, A3
Huskies have banner day at spring game Jordan Lynch
Lawmakers take aim at virtual schools
A WORLD OF SOUND
Plan would put 1-year ban on their creation By JONATHAN BILYK jbilyk@shawmedia.com SPRINGFIELD – As area school boards rejected an online charter school that would draw students from its schools, state lawmakers appear poised to slap a hold on the creation of virtual schools until regulations and guidelines can be crafted. State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, introduced legislation Thursday to place a one-year moratorium on Webbased virtual charter schools. Last week, Chapa LaVia had called for a three-year moratorium, but she said that time span was “arbitrary” and she was open to reducing the length of time the ban would remain in place. “This is the first time Illinois has ever seen anything like this,” Chapa LaVia said. “And I’m not willing to risk something that would be detrimental to our children and our schools.” Chapa LaVia’s legislation has passed a state House committee and is headed to the full chamber. The legislation arose in response to a proposal from Virtual Learning Solutions to open the Illinois Virtual Charter School at Fox River Valley. The online school was proposed to include students from 18 school districts in DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties, and would be funded by local district funds, estimated at $8,000 a student. Sycamore School District
Erik Anderson for Shaw Media
A dancer performs during the Balinese Gamelan performance Sunday during the World Music Festival concert titled “A Musical Encounter” at the Northern Illinois University Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
Concert performers represent different cultures By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – David Boveri tried to keep his foot-tapping under control as he feverishly played his concertina throughout an Irish jig. The music eventually got the better of him. “It’s a really traditional part of the music,” he said. Boveri and the Northern Illinois University Irish Club performed Sunday as part of the NIU School of Music’s annual World Music Festival at Boutell Memorial Concert Hall on campus. The concert – comprised of about 20 undergradute, graduate and nonmusic majors – wrapped up the weeklong festival and showcased music
Erik Anderson for Shaw Media
Vikas Deo performs “Alaap in Ahir Bhairiv” with the sarod during the segment of “North Indian Classical Music” on Sunday in the World Music Festival concert titled “A Musical Encounter” at NIU. from Western Europe to Central and Southeast Asia and
the Middle East. Boveri, a graduate cogni-
tive psychology major, is the fourth generation of musicians in his Irish family, from whom he learned to play while growing up in old Irish Chicago. He said composing Irish music is an informal, interactive process, especially because it is taught by ear and “on the fly.” Most Irish musicians perform in small pubs and homes, he said. “It was a foreign experience to play on stage,” he said. Each of the concert’s performances represented different world cultures through several ensembles, including Balinese, North Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Irish and African music.
See CONCERT, page A6
Jim Briscoe, DeKalb school superintendent, said his administration is compiling a report to recommend a rejection, and that the district received a 1,100-page response from Virtual Learning Solutions, but it was not tailored to DeKalb’s concerns.
See VIRTUAL SCHOOLS, page A6
Study finds areas where likely tax cheats flock By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Worried the Internal Revenue Service might target you for an audit? You probably should be if you own a small business in one of the wealthy suburbs of Los Angeles. You might also be wary if you’re a small-business owner in one of dozens of communities near San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta or the District of Columbia. A new study by the National
Taxpayer Advocate used confidential IRS data to show large clusters of potential tax cheats in these five metropolitan areas. The IRS uses the information to target taxpayers for audits. The taxpayer advocate, Nina Olsen, runs an independent office within the IRS. She got access to the data as part of an effort to learn more about why some taxpayers are more likely to cheat than others. The study also looked at tax compliance in different indus-
tries, and found that people who own construction companies or real estate rental firms may be more likely to fudge their taxes than business owners in other fields. Many of the communities identified by the study are very wealthy, including Beverly Hills and Newport Beach in California. Others are more middle class, such as New Carrollton, Md., a Washington suburb, and College Park, Ga., home to a section of Atlanta’s massive airport.
Steve Rosansky, president and CEO of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, said business owners in his city are probably targeted because many have high incomes. The likelihood of an audit does increase with income, according to IRS data. “I imagine it’s just a matter of them going where they think the money’s at,” Rosansky said in an interview. “I guess if I was
See TAXES, page A6
AP file photo
The Internal Revenue Service building is seen in March in Washington.
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