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Friday, May 9, 2014
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Trash plan timetable questioned Waste Management says all it needs is extra equipment for extra garbage By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – The only thing Waste Management said it needs in order to take in an additional 500 tons of trash a day starting in August is more equipment. Waste Management Director of Operations Dale Hoekstra said the company needs standard equipment used to compact waste in order to speed the process of taking in more trash. Initially, Waste Manage-
Jeff Metzger
Mark Pietrowski
ment had planned to begin taking in the extra trash, which is expected to generate money for the county through a tipping fee, on Jan. 1, 2015. DeKalb County’s finance committee discussed Monday
the possibility of moving that date up to Aug. 1 in order to get a head start on raising funds needed for the county jail expansion project. Some County Board members who were not at the finance committee meeting said they support bringing in extra trash Aug. 1, but Mark Pietrowski Jr., a Cortland Democrat from District 3, isn’t convinced yet it is the best idea. Although Pietrowski is not part of the finance committee, he attended the meeting Monday to listen to Waste Manage-
ment’s representatives. Pietrowski questioned whether the company is ready to take in the additional trash because it does not yet have the necessary permits. “Waiting until they get the permits is the best thing to do unless they can assure the necessary infrastructure is in place,” Pietrowski said. “I don’t know if they can do that without permits.” Waste Management must submit an operational permit request to the Environmental Protection Agency, Hoekstra
said, whose review process can take 90 days. Waste Management could accept an additional 500 tons of trash a day on top of the 300 tons it already is accepting. The additional trash would generate about $70,000 a month through December if it is approved May 21 by County Board members. Although the host agreement considered by the committee said Waste Management would begin accepting waste from outside the county, about 13 percent of the waste
Protect, serve, remember
stream at the landfill already comes from outside DeKalb County, Hoekstra said. Under the amended agreement with the county, the company would be allowed to take in more than the established amount of 300 tons a day until Jan. 1 On Jan. 1, Waste Management would be required to bring in at least 375,000 tons of trash a year with a maximum of 500,000 tons. County Board members are
See LANDFILL, page A6
Qdoba closes, Verizon store expanding in DeKalb By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra - dguerra@shawmedia.com
Northern Illinois University police officer Maria Christiansen explains where she was hit with shotgun pellets during the Feb. 14, 2008, NIU shooting in which the shooter killed 5 students and injured 21 before turning the gun on himself.
NIU police officer survived campus shooting as a student By DANIELLE GUERRA dguerra@shawmedia.com
and ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Maria Christiansen always considers the worst-case scenario as a police officer at Northern Illinois University. A victim-turned-first-responder, she’s made it her mission to make sure that what happened to her Feb. 14, 2008, will never happen to another student at her alma mater. Christiansen, then known as Maria Ruiz-Santana, was a 20-year-old Northern Illinois University junior with lofty goals of joining the FBI when it happened. With 10 minutes left in her oceanography class, a shooter wielding
On the Web For video of Maria Christansen, visit Daily-Chronicle.com or scan this QR code.
three guns barged onto the stage of the lecture hall and opened fire. Christiansen was severely wounded by a shotgun blast.
See OFFICER, page A6
Maria Christiansen checks on NIU senior Juan Martinez during a floor hockey game on campus last month before calling paramedics for assistance.
DeKALB – Customers craving a quick bite of Mexican food have been pulling on the doors of Qdoba Mexican Grill this week only to find them locked. Qdoba, the fast-serve Mexican restaurant at 2383 Sycamore Road in DeKalb’s Oakland Place shopping center, closed this week. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless is expanding into vacant spaces in the same building. The restaurant is dark inside and the hours sign has been removed from the front doors, but there’s no sign indicating the restaurant has served its last burrito. Tony Riddle, a contractor working on the Verizon Wireless expansion next door, said he saw people moving furniture out of the store this week. “One day the doors were locked,” Riddle said. “They didn’t put a closed sign up, so customers keep coming up to the door wondering what’s going on.” The restaurant was run by franchisees, who could not be reached for comment Thursday. Qdoba’s corporate office declined to comment on the reason the restaurant closed. Mid-America Asset Management serves as the landlord for the building. The Qdoba space is listed for lease on Mid-America’s website. Qdoba is the third tenant to leave to the building in a little more than a year. In March 2013, Caribou Coffee closed its location in the building, directing customers to the location inside Hy-Vee at 2700 DeKalb Ave. in Sycamore. GameStop closed its location there in September, although it still operates a store across the street at 2564 Sycamore Road. Although two businesses moved out of the building last year, Qdoba will be the only vacant space. Verizon Wireless manager Leonard Loverher said his store is expanding to create an “experience store” in the spaces
See BUSINESSES, page A6
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