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Monday, May 2, 2016
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City Crime The following was taken directly from area police and fire department records, or from DeKalb County court records. Anyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law.
April 18 • Derri Sykes, 34, of Chicago, was charged with theft. • Ciera Stewart, 23, of DeKalb, was charged with retail theft.
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April 19 • Austin Johnsen, 22, of DeKalb, was charged with two counts of criminal damage to property less than $300 and criminal damage to property $300 to $10,000. • Danisha Butts, 20, of DeKalb, was charged with fighting within the city. • Julionna Cedillo, 18, of Sycamore, was charged with fighting within the city. • Monica Kramer, 18, of Sycamore, was charged with fighting within the city. • Gerald Cook, 35, of DeKalb, was charged with driving on a suspended/revoked license and fleeing police. • Jessica Peterson, 31, of Cortland, was charged with retail theft. • Deante Clark, 22, of Sycamore, was charged with criminal damage to property $300 to $10,000 and three counts of domestic battery.
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April 17 • Clarence Freeman, 37, of DeKalb, was charged with retail theft. • Briana Edwards, 25, of DeKalb, was charged with child endangerment. • Torey Martin, 23, of Calumet City, was charged with possession of cannabis 2.5-10 grams. • Jermaine Williams, 24, of DeKalb, was charged with battery, battery/bodily harm and resisting a peace officer. • Kani Lunda, 22, of Chicago, was charged with failure to notify damage to an unattended vehicle. • Rajuan Hughes, 25, of DeKalb, was charged with possession of cannabis. • Cortez Wraggs, 21, of Chicago, was charged with criminal trespassing to land. • Jennifer Taylor, 24, of Naperville, was charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.
• Robert Evans, 22, of Crestwood, was charged with domestic battery. • Jeremy Belter, 32, of DeKalb, was charged with possession of cannabis less than 2.5 grams. • Carolyn Cooper, 18, of Hillside, was charged with retail theft. • Ashanti Ellis, 19, of Hillside, was charged with retail theft. • Corenna Ryan, 46, of DeKalb, was charged with retail theft.
Annie Glidden Road
April 16 • Jose Farias, 19, of DeKalb, was charged with possession of alcohol as a minor. • Robert Ehrenstrom, 20, of DeKalb, was charged with disorderly house.
Campus Crime The following was taken directly from the NIU Police Department. Anyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law. The NIU Police Department provides police reports online at niu.edu/publicsafety/. April 20 1. At 3 p.m., domestic battery was reported to have occurred at Neptune East. This case was closed by exception. April 21 2. At 9 a.m. April 12, theft $500 and under was reported to have occurred at the Chick Evans Field House. This case is open. 3. At 5:53 p.m., aggravated domestic battery and unlawful
restraint were reported to have occurred at the Psychology/Computer Science Building. This case is open. 4. At noon, attempted criminal sexual assault was reported to have occurred at New Residence Hall West. This case was opened April 21. 5. At 8:30 a.m., criminal damage to property was reported to have occurred in Lot 6E. This case was declared unfounded.
April 22 6. At 5 p.m. April 11, burglary was reported to have occurred at Stevenson South. This case was suspended. 7. At 6:30 p.m. April 13, burglary was reported to have occurred at Stevenson South. This case was suspended April 22. 8. At 2:50 a.m., illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor was reported to have occurred at 1010 Blackhawk Road. This case was closed by exception.
Chicago locals feel university flawed, but final shot at degree
The Associated Press
Chicago | Most of the more than 4,000 students at Chicago State University on the city’s south side are black, have low incomes and, like their school, face often uncertain paths toward better futures. A $600 million stopgap spending measure for Illinois public universities that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed last week helped put the campus on firmer financial ground, but even the $20 million for Chicago State wasn’t enough to keep the school from laying off more than 300 employees, about a third of its workforce. Even with its uncertain future, Chicago State represents the best chance forward for many of its students, they and experts agree.
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Problems, old and new The list of the questions facing the school on Chicago’s South Side has grown since last summer, when the state stopped providing money to its nine public universities due to the budget stalemate. The school at one point talked about possible closure, declared a form of academic bankruptcy and sent layoff notices to all of its employees before it cut the 300 jobs Friday. Before the budget mess, Chicago State was already considered the worst-performing of the state’s public universities. Only 21 percent of its students earn a degree within six years,
The Associated Press
Robert Bionaz, an associate professor of history at Chicago State University, lectures during a class April 12 at the university. The school has a troubled history and has been hard hit by the state budget crisis, but students and experts say it remains a last shot for many to get a degree.
according to the U.S. Department of Education. At Eastern Illinois University, that figure is 60 percent. And at the University of Illinois’ flagship campus, it is 84 percent. Chicago State is also more reliant on the state than any of Illinois’ other public universities, getting about 30 percent of its funding through annual appropriations. That doesn’t include the financial aid that most of its students use to help pay tuition — money that’s also held up by the state budget situation. Unique student body, campus The student body doesn’t look like those found at the other state universities. Three-quarters of the students are black and almost three-quarters are women. More than half are 25 or older and
many, if not most, have transferred from other schools after struggling elsewhere. “I’ve seen lots of them come unprepared for college work,” said Robert Bionaz, an associate professor of history. “These are bright people who in many cases have seen life intervene.” But the campus tucked into a part of the city with chronically high levels of unemployment and crime represents a chance, sometimes the last chance, for many students. “Honestly, this is like people’s last resort, last choice,” said Denzel Tucker, a senior physics major who transferred to Chicago State from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where a year of tuition is more than $40,000. Chicago State charges $6,000 a year.