When Lt. Gary Spangler heard about the Feb. 14 shootings, the first thing that came to mind was what to do first in the investigation. One year later, Spangler, head of the DeKalb Police Department's investigation division, and other responding officers...

I've never been one for fight songs, I'll admit it. Hearing the Wilmington High School fight song before games never really did anything for me and that really didn't change when I came here to NIU. I don't even know if I remember all the words to the...

Each day when Michelle "Micki" Emmett arrives at work, she sits down at her desk, looks out the window and sees Kishwaukee Community Hospital. It was there one year ago Saturday that her life changed forever. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't...

From the moment tragedy struck NIU on Feb. 14, the entire campus was thrown into a frenzy. Students tried to make phone calls to their parents, police and fire personnel were rushing around campus and the media were well on their way to DeKalb. The department...

Though it's been a year since the Feb. 14 shootings, NIU counselors continue to work hard to help students and the community at large move forward. Carolyn Bershad, associate director for clinical services at the Counseling and Student Development Center,...

We can not believe that the life we had with our son so recently, for so long, is gone, changed, and is in a mode of recovery and healing. When making plans and decisions we naturally think of Dan as though he is here, yet we realize the future we anticipated...

Ryanne Elizabeth Mace was born on May 13, 1988 to Eric and Mary Kay Mace, their only child and the light of their lives. She grew up mostly in northern Illinois cities, but did spend a couple of years living in the Portland, Oregon area as a child. She...

The afternoon of Feb. 14, 2008 seemed like any other day at Kishwaukee Community Hospital with people bringing flowers to patients and many of the departments going through shift changes. Shortly after 3 p.m., visitors of the hospital started asking about...

Gayle Dubowski did so much for me and for everyone who knew her, simply by being. I'm sure if I talked to everyone that knew Gayle, something new about her character would come out. But what struck a chord with me was just how she stood out, and even...

Offensive linemen aren't born, they're made. Nature doesn't make many 6-foot-4, 305-lb. men. So men, like Tim Mayerbock, work to beat nature. They take the bodies they are given and make them into moving walls. The transformation, however, comes with...

For a year NIU, DeKalb and Sycamore have collectively carried the memory of five students. Windows, office cubicles and restaurant walls all bare the image of a Huskie wrapped in black ribbon, and occasional glances at these mementos can bring a stream...

There may be community advisors on every floor, but only the C-Wing of Douglas Hall gets to experience the Honors House Leaders. Kate Braser, the program coordinator for the Honors Program, described the Honors House Leaders as being "the face" of the...