League of Women Voters to host DeKalb’s candidate night

The League of Women Voters of DeKalb County is sponsoring a "Meet the Candidates" night at 6:30 p.m. today at the Hopkins Park Community Center on Sycamore Road. Candidates from the DeKalb School District, city council and park board races will display their campaign material and meet voters on an individual basis.

At 7 p.m., DeKalb School District #428 Board of Education candidates will take part in a debate. At 7:45 p.m., candidates for aldermen from the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th wards will address concerns of voters. At 8:30 p.m., DeKalb Park Board candidates also will take questions from the audience.

There are nine candidates for the four school board seats in the upcoming election. There are four candidates for two park board positions and three of the four alderman positions are contested. The league encourages all citizens to attend and become more informed for the election on April 1.

Task force to discuss steering committee at tonight’s meeting

The DeKalb Neighborhood Advisory Task Force will meet at 5:30 p.m. today at the Community Development Department, 223 South Fourth St., Suite A.

Discussion of the creation of the Steering Committee for the the city-wide neighborhood organization is on the agenda. For information, call Sue Guio at 748-2363.

Knights of Columbus to hold fundraiser for injured volunteer

Knights of Columbus will host a benefit fundraiser from 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday, March 23. The proceeds will go to Al White, a volunteer who was injured while working for the 2002 Knight of Columbus M.R. Drive in DeKalb last September.

The fundraiser will be in the form of an all-you-can-eat breakfast. The breakfast includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy. Donations for adults are $5 and for children $2.50. Tickets are available prior to the breakfast at Columbus Hall, 1336 E. Lincoln Highway. Tickets also will be available at the door.

Wirsing pushes for legislation to ease teacher shortage

State Representative David Wirsing is pushing for House Bill 371 which passed the House Higher Education Committee. If the bill is adopted into law, it would increase the number of teachers allowed each year to participate in the state’s Alternative Certification Program.

The bill also would ease the teacher shortage by allowing more teachers each year to earn the certification needed to enter the classroom.

A provisional alternative teaching certificate is valid for one year of teaching in the public schools. Wirsing’s legislation would increase the number of teachers allowed to participate in the the program from 260 to 500. It also would eliminate the requirement that applicants must have previously been employed as a teacher for five years.

The legislation was suggested by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Education. It currently is awaiting a hearing on the House floor.

Wirsing advances legislation on grand jury service

Wirsing is proposing legislation in the Illinois House that would make serving on a Grand Jury less of a strain on jurors’ work and family responsibilities.

Bill 3050 would allow smaller counties with populations less than 225,000 or less to empanel two grand juries to serve at the same time, rather than relying one one panel of jurors to be on call for duty for up to 18 months at a time.

The change would not create any additional costs to individual counties. The legislation won approval in the House Judicial-Criminal Committee and has gone to the floor for a hearing by the full House.