In early October the DeKalb Park District found a bargain for a little over $400,000.

Rather than renovate and build an addition onto the current building in Hopkins Park (across from Jewel on Sycamore Road) for $500,000, to expand the operations of the existing maintenance facility, the Park District purchased a facility with three buildings at 1205 E. Locust from Hallgren Lumber Company for $410,000. Dave Emanuelson, of the Park District, outlined several other advantages to buying the Hallgren site.

"Our alternative was to build an addition onto the old metal building, the maintenance shop, but that would consume park land," Emanuelson said. For $500,000 the Park District would have been able to create an 8,000 square foot space. For $90,000 less the Park District was able to acquire three buildings from Hallgren which collectively have 49,000 square feet.

Additionally, Emanuelson said, "Buying a new facility on brown field has meant we could tear down the metal building and turn the four acres of land now occupied by the metal building into park land." A brown field, Emanuelson explained, "is a rust belt - abandoned industrial property."

Both lumber businesses and the facility on Locust have a long history in DeKalb. Halgren said, "My father [Thury Emanuel Hallgren] bought Hussey Lumber Company in 1935. Hussey was founded as Schimmelhorn in 1867. In 1943 or '44 while I was in the war he bought the facility from American Steel & Wire Company. American Steel already had closed shop but still owned property all over town. They owned almost everything east of Fourth Street to the end of town, as well as the facility we bought. My brother [Kenneth Hallgren], sister [Margerie Cowder] and I took over the company after our father retired in the late '50s. I took over in '83 or '84."

Hallgren Park was named in honor of Conrad's late elder brother Kenneth Hallgren.

In 1995, Alexander Lumber purchased the Hallgren Lumber Company business, but not the buildings, which are zoned for heavy industry from Conrad Hallgren and his fellow shareholders in the company.

"They made us an offer we couldn't refuse," Hallgren joked. Hallgren estimated that Alexander Lumber at one point owned or controlled 80 to 100 lumber yards in Illinois.

Alexander Lumber built a new facility in Cortland, leaving the buildings on Locust vacant, so Hallgren put them on the market earlier this year. This attracted the Park District's attention as the board was mulling over whether it would be better to renovate and expand the shop in Hopkins Park or build an entirely new facility.

As the Park District's employees are conservationists at heart, they were happy to be taking over land that already had been put to industrial use rather than expanding the building in Hopkins Park, which would have reduced the amount of space in a green field. Emanuelson compared this to Motorola constructing facilities in the green fields of Harvard, Ill.

Emanuelsen said,"Illinois has some of the best farm land in the world, so it is a waste to build factories on good farm land when old factories can be renovated."

Not only will the Park District be able to avoid expanding out into green fields, but Hopkins Park actually will expand because of this. Money saved with this deal, which had been raised with non-referendum bonding authority, will be used to purchase more land for the park.

"We're condemning four acres of property [adjacent] to Hopkins Park for $250,000," Emanuelson said. Considering the building that will be torn down in Hopkins Park occupies four acres of land, the net gain for the park will be eight acres.

The facility will house all of the Park District's equipment. Repairs will be performed on the equipment there. Vehicles currently stored outside the facility in Hopkins Park will be stored inside the new facility and will be washed there. Wood and metal shops will operate out of the new facility. Wood chips, gravel and sand will be manufactured and/or stored there. Emmanuelson said the Park District has not yet decided on what to name the facility.

It was sugar.

The powdery white substance found in a letter sent to Kaneland High School in Maple Park, which subsequently forced the evacuation and closure of the school on Friday, turned out to be sucrose, according to the results of a test done by the Illinois Department of Health on Monday.

Testing of the letter, which was received at the school at 10 a.m. Friday morning, was conducted by the IDPH at the request of the Kane County Health Department.

Officials in the school's main office received and opened the letter on Friday.

The school also received word Saturday that the material in the letter did not contain anthrax spores based upon a separate test done by SET Environmental of Wheeling.

As NIU students study for midterm exams and mark the end of the first half of the semester, planning for spring semester classes cannot come early enough.

As of Oct. 15, times, dates and location information of spring classes became available to students via an online search engine. Students are able to search for their desired course, find out the necessary information and choose which class section best suits their schedule. Necessary updates and information changes are made nightly to the spring schedule of classes. Students should expect to receive the Spring 2002 schedule book around Oct. 31.

Bruce Oates, assistant director of registration and records, said that students should meet with the individual department advisers within their major regarding class selection.

"The most important thing students can do is talk to their adviser," Oates said. "Those are the people who really have the expertise to help students determine what classes they should take."

Starting Nov. 12, students will be able to register for spring classes either by calling the TRACS telephone number at 753-8900 or by registering online through the TRACS Web site on NIU's WebConnect page at http://www.reg.niu.edu/connect.

"My adviser is there to tell me what classes I should and should not take for my intended major," said freshman business major Naor Boxer. "After meeting with my adviser, I hope to be able to schedule my classes for next semester and successfully finish my freshman year."

Oates said that while students can begin searching for information on the Internet about spring classes, they also will receive a copy of their DARS report, the degree audit reporting system, which shows students where they stand academically at NIU.

"They should be getting fairly soon a copy of their DARS report that shows the student what courses they have received credit for," Oates said. "[Students] should probably take that with them to the advising session."

Freshman business major Pradeep Jain said that the DARS report helped show him what options were available for the spring semester.

"It [the DARS report] told me what classes I have taken this semester and what choices I have for next semester," Jain said. "It puts me on the right track to graduating with the best education possible."

Oates added that it is beneficial for students to receive help from advisers about choosing the right classes. Students can get an idea of what classes they may want to take and then look at their DARS report to determine what requirements they have fulfilled and what requirements they still need to fulfill.

"It's good to have someone look at your information and have them make sure you're on the right path," Oates said. "Advisers are a wonderful resource and I think we have good advisers on this campus, they really care about the students."

To schedule a meeting with an academic adviser, interested students should call 753-0448 or contact their major department for more information.

For Mary Tan, psychic powers are not just a way to pay the bills, but rather a gift to share with those who are open to the experience.

Tan is the owner of Psychic Readings by Mary, located at 1303 Sycamore Road She offers people a chance to have completely private, confidential tarot card, astrology chart, palm and psychic readings, or a combination of any two. The prices of these different readings vary, with special rates on weekends as well as special rates for students. Tan also makes it a point not to charge by the hour, allowing herself as much time as she needs to talk with her clients.

Tan has had this ability, which she considers a gift, since she was a child.

"My mother and grandmother also have this gift, and I now see signs of it in my four-year old daughter," Tan said.

Tan, originally from West Virginia, moved to DeKalb two-and-a-half years ago and began her business. Tan said being a psychic is a good way to help people who have different decisions to make and issues to sort out in their lives.

People go to psychics for help in dealing with decisions, future occurrences, entertainment or just to have someone to talk to, Tan said. Tan also said she takes a lot of pride in her readings and says she has never been wrong. She also cautions people to be weary of fakes.

"People need to be careful because there are only a handful of real psychics left in the world," Tan said.

Although Tan has the ability to make predictions for many people, there are some people that she is not able to read for, including herself, her family and other psychics.

"I cannot make predictions for my family because it would be selfish to worry about them all the time, rather than the outside world," Tan said.

Tan believes the most important thing people should remember when going to a psychic is that their own comfort is the most important. If someone doesn't feel comfortable in a situation, they should trust their intuition and leave.

"A lot of people walk in skeptical and walk out a believer," Tan said.

Tan has many regular clients who come as often as once a week, and she welcomes any skeptics who want a first-time reading.