Victor Wogen beat Steve Kapitan for the 3rd Ward aldermanic seat by 14 votes. This was the day after a mysterious, anonymous mailer smearing Kapitan was delivered to all the households in the ward. Here is Mr. Wogen’s account yesterday: Wogen denies any involvement with the production and distribution of the mailing, and said he…
Water Authority Defeated
The ill-conceived Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority referendum was defeated by more than 80%, not just in DeKalb County but in Boone as well. Even in McHenry County, where the idea originated, the measure was rejected by more than two-thirds of the voters. The referendum to fund it was beaten by even higher percentages. Both had…
Water Authority Alternative
Think that the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority is our last best chance to protect our local water supply? Wrong-o. In July 2006, the Illinois General Assembly changed Public Act 094-1007. Here is a snippet of the Act, straight from the General Assembly website and including the changes that took effect in January: Section 5. The…
Water: Fight, or Just Fix It
Recently I’ve been writing about the April referendum that asks whether most of DeKalb, Boone and McHenry counties should form the Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority (KVWA). “Water Law Needs Overhaul” looks at current applications of the Illinois Water Authorities Act and implications for KVWA; and “Care & Feeding of Aquifers” explores groundwater issues discussed recently…
Hey, We Got a Bouquet Today
The Daily Chronicle, in its editorial-page “Barbs & Bouquets” list, today presented a bouquet to the folks who questioned the Rockefeller/Keating business-park project this time last year: Bouquet – Bravo to the DeKalb City Council and the DeKalb Township residents whose questions about a proposed south-side industrial park led to the developer’s bitter withdrawal of…
Allentown 1, Rockefeller 0
[Updated with links 12/16/2006] Remember Allentown, N.J.? Last June found residents fighting hard against another Rockefeller Godzilla Warehouse project just as some of us in DeKalb were this time last year. Click here to link to that article. A visitor to citybarbs at that time, Wayne R. Smith of Allentown has returned today to leave…
We are Cannibals
Our property taxes are becoming too burdensome to bear. Yet we can’t pay for our schools. We’ve invented impact fees to pay for our schools but that increases the cost of our homes, which leads to higher property taxes once again. We homeowners get stuck coming and going. In effect, we’re cannibalizing ourselves to make…
Attack of the Killer Dishwashers
Last weekend I trained as a water analyst for the Sierra Club’s Water Sentinels program. We tested two fresh samples of water from the Kishwaukee River, one upstream from DeKalb Sanitary District operations and one downstream. I was surprised by this in a couple of ways. I had expected we’d analyze water from a rural…
New Plan for the Keating Property
The 343-acre Keating property southeast of DeKalb–encompassed by Route 23, Gurler Road and Crego Road–was sold months ago to developer Jerry Krusinski. This week, Mr. Krusinski unveiled his plans for the land at the Plan Commission meeting.
Bob Pritchard & Fundraising
State Rep. Bob Pritchard is the incumbent this fall and fair game for scrutiny. However, this is not really about him so much as it is about the general need for campaign finance reform in Illinois. From a Daily Chronicle report on the defeated May 2004 IL House legislation to ban horse slaughter in the…