LOCAL NEWS – FRIDAY DECEMBER 6th 2019
Jim Leach
Members of Welcoming Western Counties, which is an immigrant advocacy group, will head to the DeKalb County Board to ask if they will approve a resolution, similar to the one the DeKalb school board approved earlier this week. The proclamation states that the school district cannot share any identifying information with federal immigration officials about students and families, regardless of citizenship status. Its passage on Tuesday was met with mixed results from the school board, but dozens of residents attended the meeting to show their support for the resolution.
The DeKalb County Youth Engaged in Philanthropy is now accepting applications for grants from local nonprofit and community organizations. According to the Daily Chronicle, the grants are meant to help improve the lives of young people in DeKalb County. Projects must be focused on youth and promote youth empowerment and leadership. Last year, a grant for more than 12-hundred dollars helped to provide tools and materials to DeKalb County Community Gardens for summer camp at Walnut Grove Vocational Farm in Kirkland, where campers learned about horticulture. The grant deadline is February 1 and can be made online at the DeKalb County Community Foundation’s website.
The DeKalb police and fire departments faced off in a friendly wing-eating competition at Buffalo Wild Wings to raise money for the Heroes and Helpers Shop with a Cop campaign. According to the Daily Chronicle, the firefighters ended up taking the title at the event which featured 5 firefighters and 5 officers chowing down on 150 wings apiece in 10 minutes, with about 50 onlookers cheering them on. The firefighters finished all 150 in 9 minutes and 7 seconds. Officers hope to help more than 60 children from the funds raised from the event, when children shop for Christmas gifts on Sunday at Target with the police.
The DeKalb County History Center was recognized for excellence last month by the Illinois Association of Museums, which honors the best museums in the state. The DeKalb County History Center received the Award of Excellence for 2019 for the exhibit “Crossroads: Change in Rural America.” This is the 9th award of excellence for the former Sycamore History Museum, and second for the DeKalb County History Center. The winning exhibit will be on display through March.