DeKalb County News Briefs

Chronicle Media

The Land of Lincoln has seen a drop in population for the fourth consecutive year, allowing Pennsylvania to push Illinois from fifth to sixth largest state, accord to new census figures.

STATE

Pennsylvania surpasses Illinois as 5th largest

For the fourth consecutive year, Illinois has lost population; this time, losing the most number of residents of any state in America, according to newly released U.S. Census data.

Illinois lost 33,703 residents, dropping the total population to 12,802,023, the greatest numeric population loss of any state. Pennsylvania saw a slight increase, and now with a total population of 12,805,537, has outranked Illinois for the first time in years, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017.

Illinois’ population drop represents a loss of 0.26 percent, which allowed Pennsylvania to slide ahead of Illinois into the No. 5 spot for the most-populous states.

Idaho was the nation’s fastest-growing state over the last year, the census said. Its population increased 2.2 percent to 1.7 million. Following Idaho for the largest percentage increases in population were Nevada (2 percent), Utah (1.9), Washington (1.7), Florida and Arizona (1.6 each).

Overall, the country’s population grew by 2.3 million during the one-year period, representing a 0.72 percent increase to 325.7 million.

New website gives detailed road conditions

The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced its newly redesigned GettingAroundIllinois.com, which will have continually updated information on road conditions.

“The new-and-improved GettingAroundIllinois.com is a great resource any time of the year, but especially during winter when road conditions can quickly change,” IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn said recently in a news release. “Illinois has the third-largest highway system in the nation, so we know it is important to provide the public with a convenient way to access information they know they can trust.”

Available on computers and mobile devices, the website includes the ability to identify and zoom in to a location, travel route or destination. Road conditions are recorded by IDOT plow drivers out in the field and relayed through GettingAroundIllinois.com through a cloud-based system.

Recent updates to this map include more detailed reports of snow coverage and a color scheme that aligns with map technology used by surrounding states.

Board OKs new sexual harassment policy

The DeKalb County Board has replaced its outdated sexual harassment policy with a new one. After a mandate from the state of Illinois, the policy replaces one that had been in place since the 1990s and now follows guidelines required by the state.

The board has directed the state’s attorney’s office to design training for county employees about sexual harassment. 

The policy defines sexual harassment and outlines what someone should do to report it if it happens to them or if they witness it occurring. It also forbids retaliation for reporting sexual harassment.

Legislation was passed at the state level in November after legislators past and present and other personnel from the General Assembly reported that they had been victims of sexual harassment for years while working. 

More than 100 people signed an open letter detailing the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in Springfield and the halls of the Capitol. However, there is no one to handle the issue. The General Assembly has not filled the post responsible for investigating sexual harassment claims, the legislative inspector general, since 2015.

SYCAMORE

Museum looking for volunteers, interns

Do you love animals? Are you thinking of becoming a teacher? Do you have a passion for preserving history? Are you a creative artist that loves telling stories through visual mediums? If you answered yes to these questions, you may want to consider volunteering or interning for the Midwest Museum of National History in Sycamore. MMNH needs volunteers and interns in 2018. For more information, call (815) 895-9777 or send an email to information@mmnh.org. Include “Volunteer Opportunities” or “Internship Opportunities” in the subject line. 

DeKALB

Boy band, hot chefs coming to Egyptian

The Egyptian Theatre is selling tickets for two new shows coming to the historic venue in 2018.

Larger Than Life will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 3. The Ultimate Boyband Tribute show the features a boyband singing, dancing, costumes, and that pop look. Larger Than Life takes its audience back to the biggest ‘90s party since the Backstreet Boys shut down Times Square. The group will perform more than 40 boyband songs by the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees, O-Town, Boyz II Men, LFO, One Direction and more. And for extra fun, the group will perform earlier hits by The Jackson 5, Temptations, Four Seasons and other classic male groups.

In Chefs, hilarious hunks give the audience a peek behind the apron as they slice, dice, and spice things up in the kitchen through a series of escalating culinary challenges where the stakes are high: if they lose a challenge, they lose their shirt. Literally. Chefs is a fully interactive experience where you will vote for the winner and may even join the chefs on-stage for hilarious cooking demonstrations. This bold and funny show is for audiences 18 and older.

For tickets to these shows, go to egyptiantheatredekalb.ticketforce.com.

 

–DeKalb County News Briefs–