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Family mourns fallen bicyclist Tour de Farms participant dies in DeKalb County, organization plans to retire his number By AL LAGATTOLLA alagattolla@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Organizers plan to retire the jersey number of a longtime Bike MS Tour de Farms participant who died during the weekend’s event in DeKalb County. Those close to him described Jeff Ruhl as active and athletic. His stepdaughter described “magical” trips to Michigan, with Ruhl teaching everyone how to water ski and making those on the visit feel relaxed. “You can’t not have fun Photo provided when you were around him,” Jeff Ruhl (right) poses with Joe Kresach (left) and Marko Dumlija (cen- his stepdaughter, Meg Cronin ter) at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center in DeKalb said, adding, “he was such an before the Tour de Farms charity event. Ruhl, 56, died Sunday during awesome guy.” the event. Ruhl, a 56-year-old St.
Gov. Rauner moves to avoid shutdown
Memorial gathering There will be a gathering in Jeff Ruhl’s honor from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at The Office, 201 E. Main St., St. Charles.
Charles resident, died Sunday while participating in the Bike MS Tour de Farms event in DeKalb County. DeKalb County Coroner Denny Miller said Ruhl was taken to Kishwaukee Hospital, where he later died. Joe Kresach was in the event. Kresach, a friend of Ruhl’s, is on the same team – LoBaMa. He said all seemed well with Ruhl at the event, adding Ruhl was in good spir-
its and was laughing at the event. Kresach said there is a steep hill coming out of the second rest area, and several in his group were able to get past the hill, but Ruhl was a little behind. Not long after that, they heard Ruhl got to the top of the hill and collapsed. They went back to try to help their friend. “We were just trying to call out to him to bring him back,” Kresach said. The Greater Illinois Chapter of the National MS Society released a statement after Ruhl’s death. “Our sympathies and support are with the family who is coping with the grief of this unfortunate tragedy,” the statement reads. “Jeff was a long-
time participant in Bike MS and member of team LoBaMa, and we plan to honor his memory by retiring his jersey number next year.” Cyclists between the second and third rest stop were held at the second rest stop during the emergency. Ruhl was married to Pat Ruhl, and he had three stepchildren, Cronin, her sister, Erin, and brother, Kyle. Cronin said he also was close to a nephew, Devon Horne. She said there will be a gathering in Ruhl’s honor from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at The Office, 201 E. Main St., St. Charles. “He lived a really quality
See BICYCLIST, page A5
Local schools face funding issue
By SARA BURNETT and JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ Republican governor and the state’s largest employee union moved Monday to avoid a partial government shutdown, with the union saying members will continue to show up for work even if the state begins operating without a budget and the governor pledging to do what he can to ensure they don’t miss a paycheck. But a new fight appeared to be taking shape between Gov. Bruce Rauner – typically seen as an enemy of organized labor – and the Democratic attorney general, who said workers can’t be paid until the governor and Democrats Gov. Bruce who run the Legislature pass Rauner a new budget. The back-and-forth is the latest in a months-long fight between Rauner and majority Democrats over how to resolve Illinois’ massive financial problems and – more recently – who will take the blame if state government Lisa Madigan begins grinding to a halt and critical services are cut off. The two sides have been deadlocked over how to eliminate a deficit that’s the largest of any state in the U.S. Illinois already is billions behind in paying its bills and has the nation’s worst-funded state pensions, with a more than $100 billion shortfall. Without a new budget in place by the Wednesday start of the new fiscal year, some 65,000 employees face the prospect of missing paychecks starting in mid-July. That raised fears workers would stay home and some government operations would cease. Gov. Bruce Rauner worked to alleviate those concerns, saying in a memo sent to state workers and provided to The Associated Press that “State employees will be paid for their work.” “I will do everything within my power,” he continued. “Our lawyers are working hard to ensure that all employees will be paid on their scheduled pay dates.” But Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose father is the Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, said a 25-yearold appellate court decision flatly stated that cutting checks without an approved fiscal plan violates the Illinois Constitution. “Even a court cannot order all of these payments to be made,” Lisa Madigan said. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 said its employees will remain on the job and the union also is looking at its legal options.
See BUDGET, page A5
Danielle Guerra file photo – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Eighth-grade social studies students watch Youtube videos on the importance of studying history in teacher Roger Christensen’s classroom in 2014 at Clinton-Rosette Middle School in DeKalb. The school issued all of the eighth-grade class Chromebooks to use for the year.
Not counting on cash
Local school officials take wait-and-see approach to state funding bill By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A new school spending plan signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner last week could mean about $450,000 more in general state aid for DeKalb-based District 428, District Superintendent Doug Moeller said. Like many local school leaders, however, Moeller has learned to be skeptical about whether those funds actually will be paid out throughout the school year. “What’s happened before is we get payments throughout the year, and at the end, we just don’t get that last payment due to budget shortfalls,” Moeller said. “So Monica Synett file photo – msynett@shawmedia.com Fourth-grader Anthawn Sanders watches a show about Down syndrome and we err on the side of caution.” Recent legislation will result in autism put on by Sycamore High School’s Kids on the Block puppeteers May 7 local schools receiving hundreds
at North Grove Elementary School.
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Genoa Kingston point guard sprains MCL, out 4 to 6 weeks / B1
A single-vehicle crash early Sunday in Sandwich leaves two killed / A3
Schrader: Markers highlight DeKalb County’s heritage / A2
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of thousands more in general state aid this school year, but DeKalb County school districts have budgeted conservatively, school officials said. On Wednesday, Rauner signed a small part of the Illinois budget for fiscal 2016, which begins July 1. House Bill 3763 will help fund public schools in Illinois. Under the budget plan, the state will pay out 92 percent of the “foundation” level for aid to school districts, which has been unchanged since 2010. Rather than vote to reduce this foundation level, the state has prorated the aid it pays out to school districts in each of the past four years. District 428 officials are planning to receive about 89 percent of
See SCHOOLS, page A5
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