Problems highlighted by Degner’s death still damaging

Matthew Degner, son of Lydia Price, died in September, but there are still related problems locally and nationally: the house where they lived is still standing, and hoarding, a problem highlighted by his death, continues to afflict Americans.

Neighbors, including Horacio Hernandez of the 2800 block of Harvey, are concerned about the abandoned house. “Our concern is the house now because it’s abandoned. We don’t want an abandoned house in the area because people might try to live in there,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said he didn’t want Berwyn to be known for the incident.

“[Price] was the only one outside of the loop of neighbors; she never really gave us an opportunity to help,” he said. “[Berwyn] is a very safe and clean neighborhood; there had been no serious problems until what happened.”

Berwyn Police Chief James Ritz described the circumstances of the animal hoarding. He said officers really didn’t get a chance to investigate because Price refused to admit them into the house. Although there were numerous calls, the closest officers ever came to entering the home was in 2004 when there was a call about a possible methamphetamine lab due to a stench. At that time, officers spoke with Price and saw dog feces, which were causing the smell, according to Ritz, who said they asked numerous times to enter the home and “did everything they could to investigate.”

“She was well within her rights to deny them entry,” Ritz said. “No judge would grant a warrant based on dog feces…the officers did everything they could.”

Police discovered the conditions of the house after they found Degner dead outside the home in the 2800 block of Lombard Avenue on Thursday, Sept. 8. They were then able to enter the home, where they found more than 200 animals living with Price, her four children and the children’s grandmother. Degner died of bronchopneumonia.

“It’s senseless to put blame on anyone…that’s not going to bring Matthew back,” Ritz said. He said the Berwyn police department conducted a critical incident debriefing for the officers involved since the situation was so horrendous. “We always offer counseling and monitor officers’ welfare to make sure no one begins to suffer PTSD,” he said. “It was something you hope you never see again.”

Hoarding, however, is more common than previously thought, according to Dr. John E. Calamari, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at OCD Chicago, an organization that provides resources about obsessive compulsive disorder, and professor and chair of the psychology department at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Ill. “Hoarding goes unnoticed because they don’t come in for treatment,” he said. “There aren’t very good estimates, but its prevalence is higher than that of OCD, which is about 2 to 3 percent of the population.”

Calamari said hoarding is a heritable problem; its prevalence is increased if a person is related to someone who has hoarded. This connection is stronger than that of OCD, he said. Though it has seemed in the past that hoarding is a type of OCD, Calamari said hoarding appears to be different from OCD because the treatments that generally help people who have OCD, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) and cognitive behavioral therapy, don’t seem to help people who have a hoarding problem. SSRI’s are a popular medication generally used to treat anxiety disorders and depression, while cognitive behavioral therapy is a class of therapies that focus on a client’s thoughts and try to change his or her thoughts in order to change behavior and emotions.

“This is a complicated problem…there is emerging research that suggests it involves lots of things, possibly including ADHD. There are a number of things that come together due to biological and learning experiences that make it more possible for hoarding to happen,” Calamari said. “It’s a severe mental illness we don’t really understand.”

Price is scheduled to have a court proceeding at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14 at the Fourth Municipal District Courthouse in Maywood.

Berwyn PD to initiate Spanish lessons in 2012

The 2010 U.S. Census found that almost 60 percent of the total number of people living in Berwyn is Latino or Hispanic, but only about 7 percent of the staff of the Berwyn police is able to speak Spanish fluently. To remedy this predicament, the Berwyn police department is placing more focus on teaching officers Spanish, starting next year.

Police Chief James Ritz said Rosetta Stone, a language learning computer program, would be set up on a network of individual computers with assistance from Berwyn’s IT employees. Sergeant Joe Fitzgerald of the Berwyn police said the program has been purchased and the setup process is now on the logistics of the program.

Ritz said the police department has about 270 staff members, including communications personnel, sworn officers and non-sworn officers; about 15 to 20 of these people are fluent Spanish speakers right now.

“It’s our priority to work with full-time personnel and then we will transition to part-time personnel,” he said.

Fitzgerald said promotion of the program and keeping it running would be the next major challenge. “Helping [officers] maintain interest will be challenging since learning a new language takes a lot of patience and practice,” he said.

Although the Berwyn police department had begun to coordinate an effort to use the skills of residents of Berwyn and high school students from Fenwick’s Spanish club at the end of 2010, Fitzgerald said using the Rosetta Stone software would be more logical because of the dynamic nature of the police department. Officers who are scheduled to work with Spanish speakers at a specified time might not be able to come back to the station in time if they are out late on a call. He said including members of the community may be considered at a later date.

Ritz described the importance of having officers learn Spanish.

“It increases our professionalism towards the Hispanic culture [of Berwyn], and this will be instrumental in understanding their culture as well,” he said.

The funding for the program will come from the police department’s training budget.

Berwyn police chief says allegation unfounded

Berwyn police chief James Ritz said Wednesday that the incident in Berwyn that had appeared to be an attempted child abduction was “classified as unfounded after doing our investigation.”

The man who found himself described in a community advisory came forward to explain the situation, Ritz said. “He had run over a tree branch and was asking for help, and this was totally verified by the girl who made the report.”

“The girl did the right thing and he did the right thing by coming to us,” Ritz said. “This proves the value of communication with the community.”

The police chief said he had spoken at a PTA meeting at Lincoln School Tuesday night along with an Oak Park police commander.

Bikers and pedestrians to meet Tuesday

Berwyn resident Justin Wier has organized a meeting next week for locals to discuss how to make Berwyn more safe and conducive to biking and walking. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Garlic Clove Restaurant at 6814 Windsor Ave.

“Although Berwyn does have access to Metra and the Blue Line, our goal is to increase public transportation, walking and biking because these forms of transportation are healthier and less expensive,” he said.

Goals for the Berwyn chapter of Chicagoland’s Active Transport Alliance, plans to talk to Berwyn city officials and methods for making Berwyn better for bikers and pedestrians will likely stem from the meeting Tuesday, according to Wier.

The Active Transport Alliance’s mission, according to its website, is “to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel.”

For more information on the meeting, check out Wier’s post at http://www.berwyntalk.com/smf/index.php?topic=11610.0. The Berwyn Active Transport Plan also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BerwynActiveTransPlan. Active Transport Alliance’s website is http://www.activetrans.org/.

Board of Education denies debt increase

Berwyn’s Board of Education denied a resolution that would have increased the district’s debt by $14 million the evening of Sept. 28 at Heritage Middle School, in the presence of several Berwyn community members.

Berwyn residents, both those with children in the Berwyn school system and those without, came together, some to simply witness the proceedings and others to attempt to persuade the Board either direction for the vote.

The debate over whether to increase the debt in the hopes of creating a mandatory preschool program, among other projects, became quite heated as various people expressed different opinions on the matters.

David Avala, a former teacher in Berwyn, stated that universal preschool is a “game changer.” “It could really change people’s lives,” he said, stating it would reduce costs in mental health and crime. “Although it won’t directly benefit a lot of people, it will have enormous indirect benefits,” he said.

Right before the vote, for example, school board member Joanne Zendol spoke, trying to convince other board members to vote against the resolution. “We can’t keep borrowing money…and we need space for already established programs,” she said. Zendol suggested looking at alternative measures instead of going further into debt.

Zendol has been a board member for 23 years. She said after the meeting that one of the most important issues facing the education system is preparing a child for a full, global education. “I worry about creative thinking. It’s not just about test scores even though we have to teach to the test. A full education is essential,” Zendol said.

Ted Korbos, a Berwyner who had spoken against the resolution said he was pleased with the decision.

“I think Joann’s speech was the right thing. I actually support early childhood education, but not by increasing debt by 70 percent,” he said.

The Board of Education plans to have its next meeting Oct. 26 at Irving school. Approved board meetings can be viewed at bsd100.org.

Oktoberfest 2011

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Berwyn had its 11th annual Oktoberfest Sept. 16 and 17 on Windsor Avenue and Stanley Avenue between Oak Park Avenue and Home Avenue. Hundreds of people joined the festivities, which included several bands, many vendors, a few roller coasters and camel rides.

Route 66 Car Show

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Berwyn Development Corp., with help from the City of Berwyn, held its 21st annual Route 66 Car Show Sept. 10 on Route 66 (also known as Ogden Avenue) between Ridgeland Avenue and Oak Park Avenue. Here are some pictures from the event. For more information, please visit http://berwynrt66.com/.

Hey, we’re back!

Look to this site for regular news, photos and features about Berwyn. Journalism student Mary Stroka will be covering your town for the rest of the year.

SBEF Fundraisers Benefit Businesses and Schools

 

The South Berwyn Education Foundation (SBEF) has been partnering up with a slew of local businesses to raise money for South School District 100. The most recent being with Evoluzion Massage, a health center on 6340 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Oak Park. Anyone that goes into Evoluzion with the fundraiser flyer will donate some of their cost to SBEF. $10 of a $30 massage and $15 of a $60 massage will go to straight to SBEF which goes straight back to the schools.

Police Department’s Spanish program ready for 2011

The Berwyn Police Department’s partnership with Fenwick High School’s Spanish Club has found its focus. Over the last few months it was decided that it isn’t enough for officers to just learn the basics of a language, they must also understand how to use those words effectively.  What does a police officer need to know in Spanish and how would a person who only speaks Spanish like to be addressed?