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Friday, February 8, 2013
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City seeks consent to close highway Officials propose shutting down part of Lincoln Highway for Corn Fest By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com
DeKALB – The DeKalb City Council could petition the state for permission to close part of Lincoln Highway for Corn Fest over Labor Day weekend. City officials want the Illinois Department of Transportation to allow them to
close down Lincoln Highway between First and Fourth Street from 3 p.m. Aug. 29 to 9 p.m. Sept. 1. City Manager Mark Biernacki said the resolution the council will vote on Monday is similar to ones they’ve done in the past. “They weren’t in the past,” Biernacki said when asked if IDOT is hesitant to temporarily shut down part
of Lincoln Highway. “We don’t expect them to be in the future.” Corn Fest was held in downtown DeKalb for 30 years until the organizers moved it to DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport in 2008. At that time, the city was renovating downtown. On Feb. 1, festival organizers announced they wanted to
move it back downtown. The festival also was held near move-in day for Northern Illinois University students, but organizers want to push it back a week this year to Labor Day weekend. City officials wanted the change so they didn’t have to juggle resources between the festival and move-in day. Biernacki said it could
cost the city between $55,000 to $60,000 to host Corn Fest downtown. By comparison, hosting it at the airport had a price tag of only $40,000. There will be no parking fees for visitors, either. “There’s just no practical way to levy, let alone collect, such a fee downtown rather than at the airport,” Biernacki.
In addition to Lincoln Highway, parts of Second, Third and Locust streets will be closed as well. The city has the authority to close these streets without consulting state officials. The festival will be on the north side of the train tracks that run through downtown DeKalb, Biernacki said. In past years, Corn Fest spanned both sides of the tracks. Keeping it to one side eliminates a potential safety hazard.
Standardized Cremation catches on test raises bar SHIFT IN BURIAL METHODS
By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com
SYCAMORE – Sycamore District 427 is aligning its curriculum with new testing standards, but changes to the standardized test students will take in March could result in lower scores. “The kids don’t know any less,” said Kristine Webster, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction. “They haven’t gone backwards.” The district won’t be able to accurately measure the effectiveness of the common core curriculum until spring 2015, when it’s completely aligned with the common core standards. For the past few years, District 427 has been working to implement the common core standards in the classrooms. The curriculum currently meets the standard in both math and English Language Arts, which includes reading, writing, speaking and listening. The district also will work to bring science and social studies to match the common core standards in the future. The Illinois State Board of Education has made a few changes to the Illinois Standard Achievement Test, raising the bar for students across the state. The board has aligned 20 percent of the ISAT to common core standards while also raising the cut scores for the test and making it more challeng-
ing for students. “We’re excited that there is a push for more rigor,” Superintendent Kathy Countryman said. Illinois is one of 44 states that uses the common core standard with a curriculum designed to adequately prepare students to be college and career ready. Adopted in 2010, these core standards are internationally bench marked so students can compete globally with a more intense curriculum. More than 85 percent of D-427 students met or exceeded the test’s standard score in the past two years, compared to the state average of 82 percent. D-427 currently has teachers assigned to Common Core Implementation Teams, which Webster said has been an insightful process. “It’s really allowed us to have some great conversations about what’s good for the kids,” she said. D-427 students from third to eighth grade will take the ISAT the first week in March. The results will be available to parents this fall. “When they see the scores, they may be surprised by them,” Countryman said. “But we feel like we’re on a good path. We’re going to stay the course. We have a curriculum in place.” Countryman said parents will be receiving more information about the ISAT in the coming days.
Manhunt on for ex-cop accused of killing three The ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES – Thousands of police officers throughout Southern California and neighboring states hunted Thursday for a disgruntled former Los Angeles officer wanted for going on a deadly shooting rampage that Christopher he warned Dorner in an online posting would target those on the force who wronged him, authorities said. Police issued a statewide “officer safety warn-
ing” and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by the fired officer, Christopher Dorner, who has military training. Among those mentioned were members of the Los Angeles Police Department. “I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty,” said the manifesto. It also asserted: “Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That’s what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name.”
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Merv Mathison, of Anderson Funeral Home in DeKalb, demonstrates with an empty box Wednesday how a body is placed into the cremator.
Funeral homes cite cost as a reason By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
M
ichael Butala became the first funeral home director to install a crematory in DeKalb County
in 1993. That year, the county coroner issued only 105 cremation permits. Fast forward 19 years and that number has quadrupled, with 415 cremation permits issued compared to 184 burial permits. Butala, director of Butala Funeral Homes & Crematory in Sycamore, said he saw the trend toward cremations coming, but could not pinpoint a reason for the recent surge. According to the Cremation Association of North America, the rate for cremations has grown from 26 percent of all deaths in 2000 to a projected 45 percent in 2015. Butala said that benchmark already has been reached at his funeral home, with almost 50 percent of his customers opting for cremation. “I don’t think society is dictating it, I don’t think religion is dictating it, it’s just a trend,” Butala said. “Cost is a factor, geography is a factor, but I really don’t think there is just one reason.” Although there are numerous reasons for the shift to cremations, Barry Melton, funeral director at Anderson Funeral Home in DeKalb, said cost is the largest factor. Melton said traditional burials often cost more than $10,000 while fullservice, high-end cremation options
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
A recording graph located on the cremator at Anderson Funeral Home is used to record the time and temperature during cremations.
“I don’t think society is dictating it, I don’t think religion is dictating it, it’s just a trend.” Michael Butala DeKalb County funeral director
are less than $5,000. The discrepancy is even greater in larger cities, where it can cost thousands for a grave site, hundreds more for an opening fee and then all the costs of cement containers, caskets and other necessary items for burials. Melton said those costs would only rise as cemetery space fills up. The increase in cremations led to Anderson
Funeral Home adding a crematory about seven years ago, Melton said, because half the customers request that service. “When I started 36 years ago, cremation was a bad word,” Melton said. “Now you can take ashes into churches and have them blessed and everything.” Many religions have embraced cremations, including the Catholic church. Ken Anderson, pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church in DeKalb, said the church constructed a columbarium on its cemetery about a year ago because of the increase in families choosing cremation over burials. The columbarium displays the urns and containers of cremains.
See BURIALS, page A4
See EX-COP RAMPAGE, page A2
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