It’s not every day a public school board meeting includes an update on the work of a dog, but that’s just what Dooley, a German Shorthaired Pointer who works as a therapy dog in the district, and his Sycamore Police Department partners did this week.

When the state grocery tax lifts on Illinoisans in January, DeKalb purchases will continue to be taxed locally, the DeKalb City Council voted this week. Officials argued the tax is needed to maintain public services.

DeKalb Fire Chief Mike Thomas gave an emotional farewell to the City Council on Monday, saying he feels grateful to everyone who made it possible for him to serve the DeKalb Fire Department the past 30 years.

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The DeKalb City Council had a busy agenda Monday night including approving a city grocery tax, voting to prohibit the sale of unregulated hemp-derived THC products and saying farewell to DeKalb Fire Chief Mike Thomas.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, is seeking federal funding for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to build a government office on tribal land, according to a news release from her office.

Residents who live in the Illinois General Assembly’s 70th District are invited to office hours hosted by Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, at various locations across DeKalb, Kane and McHenry counties this summer.

A nearly yearlong search for the next DeKalb County administrator concluded this week as the next government leader was named, hailing from a downstate small city.

DeKalb County Board member Savannah Ilenikhena plans to resign at the end of June, she announced this week.

A century-old grade school that taught generations of families in Sycamore will open to the public for a final time Saturday. Sycamore District 427 will host a farewell celebration for Central School, 245 W. Exchange St., before its administrative offices move to Bethany Road.