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Library expansion plan on target Next step for DeKalb facility is signing state contract to get $8.5M grant By the numbers
Breakdown of the funding of the library’s expansion project: n $8.5 million: State construction grant n $6.5 million: Bonds issued by the city n $2 million: Private loans from banks n $2 million: The city’s tax increment financing account n $1 million: Library reserves
By DAVID THOMAS
dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The DeKalb Public Library is moving toward the June deadline to raise funds for its expansion project. Library Director Dee Coover said the library board will have $11.5 million in its accounts by the time it approaches the state to sign the contract allowing it to get an $8.5 million construction grant. However, the process is complex, Coover said.
“There are thousands of details that need to be approved,” Coover said. To meet the $11.5 million total, the library is borrowing $2 million from local banks. But for the loan to go through, the board had to revisit the appraisal on the library’s 80-year-old building at 309 Oak St. “That took 21 days,” Coover added. Library officials are moving forward in other areas as well. At their Wednesday meeting, the library board listened to a presentation from the Alford Group, an Evanston-based firm
that works with nonprofits on a variety of fronts, including fundraising campaigns. “We’ll help you rekindle that cultural philanthropy,” said Don Zeilstra, vice president of the Alford Group. If the board decides to, they could hire the Alford Group to lead the fundraising campaign for the expansion. Zeilstra said their flat fee was $35,800. The board also heard presentations from John Bass, the executive director of gift and estate planning at Northern Illinois University, and John Biggins,
Cost of doing the dance Local schools and students prepare to splurge for prom
the owner and president of American City Bureau, a capital campaign firm based in West Dundee. Bass and Biggins each offered their take on things the board should and shouldn’t do when fundraising for capital campaigns. While the library needs to raise only $2 million to pay off the loan, Coover and other library officials are hoping to raise $6 million to complete the original expansion project. In March, the project was paired down slightly to meet the state’s June deadline.
Ill. police question pot test; bill moves By JOHN O’CONNOR and REGINA GARCIA CANO The Associated Press
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Conner Hill, a junior at DeKalb, and his date Kelly Brown, a junior at Sycamore, decide on corsage and boutonniere items May 4 at Kar-Fre Flowers in Sycamore. Hill and Brown plan to attend DeKalb’s prom Saturday and Sycamore’s prom May 18, both at Northern Illinois University. The flower shop has made boutonniere and corsage arrangements for about eight high schools this prom season. By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com
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s one of Sycamore High School’s junior class’s four male officers, Michael Hermes knew they would need help planning prom, so he recruited about 20 people to plan the annual cel-
ebration. This was no light task for the students, who spent several meetings crunching numbers so they would come in under budget for the event. “For a school the size of Sycamore, it costs about $20,000 to $25,000 to put on a prom,” Hermes said. Every year, prom expenses are a
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hot topic among schools, students and families, but some families continue to splurge. DeKalb’s prom tickets cost $55 per person, while tickets to Sycamore’s prom are $120 per couple, and prom dresses can cost hundreds of dollars.
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SPRINGFIELD – Leading Illinois law enforcement organizations stepped up their opposition Wednesday to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, warning Gov. Pat Quinn in a letter about lax motorist safeguards on a day a committee moved the measure to the Senate floor. The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association called on Quinn and transportation officials to speak up on the proposal, which would allow people with specific, debilitating illnesses to use marijuana for pain relief. The Senate Executive Committee endorsed the idea 10-5 after an emotional, highly personal hearing in which one lawmaker broke down while discussing how his late father might have benefited from the drug in dealing with cancer. Police oppose the measure, which got House approval last month, because they say there’s no clear-cut way to determine whether a motorist is driving under the influence of marijuana. The legislation states that federally approved field-sobriety tests are adequate to determine impairment, but Greg Sullivan, executive director of the sheriffs’ association, said they aren’t and predicted judges would toss out marijuana-related DUI cases as a result. The bill would require anyone with a medical marijuana permit to submit to a field sobriety test during a police traffic stop. Sen. William Haine, an Alton Democrat sponsoring the measure, said such “divided attention” tests – balancing and listening to instructions, for example – are admissible in court and elucidating as to a motorist’s state. “It shows the ability to have your attention focused or not,” Haine said after the hearing. “So, I don’t see the beef.”
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