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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

Marijuana Sales

Legal marijuana sales may spark Midwest interstate tension By Kathleen Foody and David Eggert Reporter

CHICAGO (AP) – Retailers legally selling marijuana for the past month in Michigan say they have drawn customers from surrounding Midwestern states where the drug remains illegal and, as Illinois prepares to joins the recreational market on Wednesday, officials are renewing warnings to consumers against carrying such products over state lines. The dynamic is familiar for states on the West and East coasts where the sale and use of marijuana has been broadly allowed since Colorado’s market opened in 2014, despite a federal ban that created a patchwork of legal and cultural snares. Nebraska and Oklahoma went so far as to file an unsuccessful lawsuit against Colorado, arguing that its marijuana law would have ill effects for surrounding states. In the years since, the industry has wrestled with questions over companies’ obligation to pay federal income taxes or follow laws on employee safety. Other thorny issues confronted state regulators, who were forced to determine suitable pesticides for growing cannabis plants, and which ingredients were safe to include in products meant to be eaten or burned. That terrain is usually reserved for federal agencies. The tensest point, though, remains the illegal market that has survived in states with legal cannabis markets. Some of that product comes from outside the legal systems tracked closely by states’ regulators, while other states have struggled to keep “diverted” legal marijuana from bleeding into the illegal market at home or in far-flung states. Data also suggests that some customers will cross state lines in search of state-licensed marijuana retailers, despite warnings that it’s illegal to bring the product back home. The start of legal sales in Michigan on Dec. 1 and in Illinois on Jan. 1 brings that same climate to the Midwest, where some neighboring states allow limited marijuana use for medical purposes. But none other has moved to permit recreational use. States often differ in the regulation of contentious issues, including guns, speed

limits and the drinking age. But Sam Kamin, a professor of marijuana law and policy at the University of Denver, said interstate accusations about the effect of marijuana sales on legal states’ neighbors are likely to linger unless federal law changes. “Supply and demand tells us it’s going to be a constant thing,” Kamin said. “Regulations can only do so much and once product leaves a state, it ceases to be a regulatory problem and becomes a criminal one.” Illinois is the 11th state to broadly allow marijuana’s use and sale, shrinking early states’ market advantage and ability to draw tourists. Industry analysts expect “canna-tourism” will remain popular in some places, such as Las Vegas, but that most companies trying to survive in an expensive, challenging industry must build a local customer base. “Nonresident demand is not going to be the primary driver of revenue in these Midwestern states,” said John Kagia, chief knowledge officer at the industry analytics firm New Frontier Data. “Local consumers will be that primary driver.” Kagia said available data on nonresident buyers suggests the percentage of traveling shoppers varies dramatically between states. One Colorado study found that about 9% of total cannabis product demand came from visitors to the state, while New Frontier Data estimates that the share of purchases by visitors in Nevada is about 25%. In Michigan, where $4.7 million of recreational marijuana was sold in the first three weeks of December, regulators do not know how much was bought by out-of-state customers. But shops say business has been brisk, particularly from neighboring Ohio and Indiana and nearby Illinois. “There’s been people from all over,” said Bart Kupczyk, co-owner and director of retail at Ann Arbor-based Greenstone Provisions, one of 23 Michigan retailers licensed for adult-use recreational sales. “Ann Arbor is close to Ohio. It’s a destination city in its own right as a fairly well-known college town.” Some 45 miles (70 kilometers) to the south in Morenci, a town of 2,100 people

along the Ohio border, a dispensary has reported that a majority of its customers hail from Ohio, where only medical marijuana is legal. Another retailer in Morenci secured its state license last week. “It is important for residents of Ohio and non-residents traveling through the state to understand possession of marijuana remains a criminal violation in Ohio, even if it is purchased legally in another state which permits recreational use,” said Staff Lt. Craig Cvetan, public affairs commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Illinois marijuana companies said they have trained employees to remind non-residents that their products cannot legally be transported across state lines and can only be consumed in private residences or hotels that permit it. Cities can decide to allow marijuana consumption at tobacco shops or dispensaries, but none will have rules in place by January, said Pamela Althoff, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois. “If you want to enter into Illinois and participate in consuming cannabis, you need to be responsible and you need to know the law,” she said. “Just like alcohol, this should not be something you plan to consume and then get back in the car.” Nonresidents can purchase less marijuana than Illinois residents under the state’s new law, and law enforcement in surrounding states have announced plans to strictly enforce their standing restriction on marijuana. Michigan’s single-transaction limit is the same for residents and nonresidents. At Green Thumb Industries’ five “Rise” dispensaries licensed to sell recreational products in Illinois, employees have been trained to remind nonresidents customers that they can’t bring marijuana products home and to warn them not to drive after consuming, said Dina Rollman, the company’s senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs. “We’re most focused on serving the people of Illinois, but we recognize that we’re surrounded by states that have not legalized cannabis for recreational use,” Rollman said. “Our focus is just on education for those consumers, so that we can be compliant.”

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

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Hate crimes charges against man accused in Hanukkah stabbing BY RYAN TARINELLI, JIM MUSTIAN AND LARRY NEUMEISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONSEY, N.Y. (AP) – Handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references were found in the home of the man charged with federal hate crimes Monday in the stabbing and slashing of ﬁve people celebrating Hanukkah at a rabbi’s house north of New York City, authorities said. Grafton E. Thomas, 37, was held without bail after appearing in federal court in White Plains on ﬁve counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon and causing injuries in the Saturday attack. Authorities said a blood-stained 18-inch (45-centimeter) machete was recovered from his car. The bearded Thomas, his ankles shackled, shu�ed into the courtroom in a prison jumpsuit, telling a judge who asked him if his head was clear that he was “not clear at all” and needed sleep. But he added: “I am coherent.” His court-appointed attorney, Susanne Brody, said Thomas has issues with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The stabbings on the seventh night of Hanukkah come amid a series of violent attacks targeting Jews in the region that have led to increased security, particularly around religious gatherings. A criminal complaint said journals recovered from Thomas’ home in Greenwood Lake included comments questioning “why ppl mourned for anti-Semitism when there is Semitic genocide” and a page with drawings of a Star of David and a swastika. A phone recovered from his car included repeated internet searches for “Why did Hitler hate the Jews” as well as “German Jewish Temples near me” and “Prominent companies founded by Jews in America,” the complaint said. On the day of the stabbings, the phone’s browser was used to access an article titled: “New York City Increases Police Presence in Jewish Neighborhoods After Possible Anti-Semitic Attacks. Here’s What To Know,” the complaint said. Defense attorney Michael Sussman told reporters he visited Thomas’ home and found stacks of notes he described as “the ramblings of a disturbed individual” but nothing to point to an “anti-Semitic motive” or suggest Thomas “intentionally targeted” the rabbi’s home. “My impression from speaking with him is that he needs serious psychiatric evaluation,” Sussman said. “His explanations were not terribly coherent.” Thomas’ family said he was raised to embrace tolerance but has a long history of mental illness, including multiple

hospitalizations. “He has no history of like violent acts and no convictions for any crime,” his family said in a statement. “He has no known history of anti-Semitism and was raised in a home which embraced and respected all religions and races. He is not a member of any hate groups.” In a release, U.S. Attorney Geo�rey S. Berman said Thomas “targeted his victims in the midst of a religious ceremony, transforming a joyous Hanukkah celebration into a scene of carnage and pain.” William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York’s FBI o�ce, said the possible life prison sentence that the federal charges carry “for this type of attack are severe and justified.” Thomas served in the Marines and was president of his class at a high school in Queens, Sussman said. He attended William Paterson University between 2005 and 2007, the university confirmed, where he played football as a walk-on running back. Thomas’ family said his mental health deteriorated over the years. He would hear voices and have trouble completing sentences at times, Paige and Sussman said. In court papers filed in a 2013 eviction case in Utah, Thomas said he su�ered from schizophrenia, depression and anxiety and his “conditions are spontaneous and untamed.” Thomas was arrested within two hours of the Saturday night attack in Monsey. When police pulled his car over in Manhattan, he had blood all over his clothing and smelled of bleach but said “almost nothing” to the arresting o�cers, o�cials said. The criminal complaint said authorities recovered a machete under the front passenger seat that appeared to have traces of dried blood on it; a knife recovered from the rear of the seat appeared to have dried blood and hair on it. Thomas’ aunt told The Associated Press that he had a “germ phobia” and would obsessively wash his hands and feet with bleach. She said Thomas grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and “lived peacefully” among Jewish neighbors. She said Thomas had not been taking his medication and recently went missing for a week. The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear she would lose her government job for speaking publicly. “They’re making him look like this monster,” she said in a telephone interview. “My nephew is not a monster. He’s just sick. He just needs help.” According to the complaint, Thomas, a scarf covering his face, entered the rabbi’s home next door to a synagogue and said “no one is leaving.” He then took out a

machete and started stabbing and slashing people in the home packed with dozens of congregants, the complaint said. The five victims su�ered serious injuries – including a severed finger, slash wounds and deep lacerations – and at least one was in critical condition with a skull fracture, the complaint said. The rabbi’s son was also injured. On Sunday, Thomas pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. He was detained on $5 million bail and refused to answer questions as he was escorted to a vehicle. Thomas’ criminal history includes an arrest for assaulting a police horse, according to an o�cial briefed on the investigation who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. A lawyer representing Thomas at the arraignment said he had no convictions. The attack was the latest in a string of violence targeting Jews in the region, including a Dec. 10 massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey. Last month in Monsey, a man was stabbed while walking to a synagogue. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Saturday’s savagery was the 13th anti-Semitic attack in New York since Dec. 8. According to the o�cial briefed on the investigation, authorities do not believe Thomas is connected to recent anti-Semitic incidents in New York City. Monsey, near the New Jersey state line about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of New York City, is one of several Hudson Valley communities that has seen a rising population of Hasidic Jews in recent years. At a Sunday celebration that was planned before the attack, several members of the community stood guard armed with assault-style rifles. “The Jewish community is utterly terrified,” Evan Bernstein, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement. “No one should have to live like this.” President Donald Trump condemned the “horrific” attack, saying in a tweet Sunday that “We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.” In New York City, the Rev. Al Sharpton appeared with Jewish and other faith leaders at his Harlem headquarters and said he was disturbed and upset that several of the suspects in recent attacks on Jews have been black. “We cannot remain silent as we see a consistent pattern of attacks on people based on their faith and who they are,” Sharpton said. “You can’t fight hate against you if you aren’t willing to fight hate against everybody else.”

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

Texas Church Shooting

Firearms instructor took out gunman at Texas church service By Jake Bleiberg Associated Press

WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (AP) – A man who trained others in his Texas church to use guns to protect the congregation fatally shot a gunman seconds after he opened fire during a service, the Texas attorney general said Monday. Jack Wilson fired a single shot, quickly ending the attack that killed two people at the West Freeway Church of Christ in the Fort Worth-area town of White Settlement. More than 240 congregants were in the church at the time. Wilson’s bio on Facebook listed him as a former Hood County reserve deputy and a firearms instructor. He posted about the attack a few hours after it happened, saying the event “put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in. But evil exists, and I had to take out an active shooter in church. I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church.” Speaking outside the church, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said authorities “can’t prevent mental illness from occurring, and we can’t prevent every crazy person from pulling a gun. But we can be prepared like this church was.” The Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday identified the attacker as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43. His motive is under investigation. Investigators searched Kinnunen’s home in River Oaks, a small nearby city where police said his department’s only contact with the suspected gunman was a couple traffic citations. “He didn’t exist until yesterday,” Deputy Police Chief Charles Stewart said. But Kinnunen appeared to have more serious brushes in other jurisdictions. He was arrested in 2009 on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Fort Worth and in 2013 for theft, according to Tarrant County court records. He was arrested in 2016 in New Jersey after police found him with 12-gauge shotgun and rounds wrapped in plastic in the area of an oil refinery, according to a the Herald News Tribune in East Brunswick. It was not immediately clear how those charges were resolved. Paxton joined other Texas officials in hailing the state’s gun laws, which allow weapons in places of worship. He said the church’s security team was formally organized after a measure was enacted this year that affirmed the right of licensed handgun holders to carry a weapon in places of worship, unless the facility bans them.

“The big emphasis came after they realized they are able to protect themselves,” Paxton said. That law was passed in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history, which was also at a church. In the 2017 massacre at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, a man who opened fire on a Sunday morning congregation killed more than two dozen people. He later killed himself. In a livestream of Sunday’s church service in White Settlement, the gunman can be seen getting up from a pew and approaching someone at the back of the church before pulling out a gun and opening fire. Congregants can be heard screaming and seen ducking under pews or running as papers fly to the floor. “I think you can see by the video, that that guy was surrounded rather quickly by more than just a few people,” Paxton said. Isabel Arreola told the Star-Telegram that she sat near the gunman and that she had never seen him before the service. She said he appeared to be wearing a disguise, perhaps a fake beard, and that he made her uncomfortable. She said the man stood up, pulled a shotgun from his clothing, opened fire and was quickly shot. “I was so surprised because I did not know that so many in the church were armed,” she said. Sunday’s shooting was the second attack on a religious gathering in the U.S. in less than 24 hours. On Saturday night, a man stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City. Prior to the shooting, the gunman had drawn the attention of the church’s security team because he was “acting suspiciously,” minister Jack Cummings told The New York Times. He said the team is composed of congregants who are licensed to carry guns and practice shooting regularly. Cummings said the church added the team because of “the fact that people go into schools and shoot people.” The Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday identified the dead as Anton Wallace, 64, of Fort Worth and Richard White, 67, of suburban River Oaks. Wallace’s daughter, Tiffany Wallace, told Dallas TV station KXAS that her father was a deacon at the church and had just handed out communion when the gunman approached him. “I ran toward my dad, and the last thing I remember is him asking for oxygen. And I was just holding him, telling him I loved him and that he was going to make it,”

Wallace said. Her father was rushed to a hospital but did not survive, she said. “You just wonder why? How can someone so evil, the devil, step into the church and do this,” she said. White’s daughter-in-law, Misty York White, called him a hero on Facebook: “You stood up against evil and sacrificed your life. Many lives were saved because of your actions. You have always been a hero to us but the whole world is seeing you as a hero now. We love you, we miss you, we are heartbroken.” An elder at the church told the Times that one of those killed was a security guard who responded to the shooter. “He was trying to do what he needed to do to protect the rest of us,” said the elder, Mike Tinius. The gunman was killed within six seconds of opening fire, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. The quick reaction saved an “untold number of lives.” Britt Farmer, senior minister of the church, said, “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse.”

The FBI was working to determine the shooter’s motive. Matthew DeSarno, the agent in charge of the agency’s Dallas office, said the assailant was “relatively transient” but had roots in the area. Paxton said Monday that the shooter appeared to be “more of a loner.” “I don’t think he had a lot of connections to very many people,” he said. In a 2009 affidavit requesting a court-appointed attorney, Kinnunen listed having a wife and was living with four children, according to court records. He told the court he was self-employed in landscaping and irrigation work. Church officials planned to make a statement Monday evening following a closed meeting and prayer vigil just for church members, Farmer said. White Settlement’s website says it was named by local Native Americans in the 1800s for white families then settling in the area. City leaders who worried that the name detracted from the city’s image proposed renaming it in 2005, but voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea.

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

Crime

The Veronica Blumhorst Case, Part 11: A different someone she knew Editor’s note: The following is the 11th installment in a series about the disappearance of 21-year-old Veronica Blumhorst, who vanished Sept. 20, 1990, after finishing her shift at a Mendota, Illinois, grocery store. Her car was found in her garage less than a mile away and it is believed she had only $10 on her when she vanished.

By Jim Hagerty Reporter

MENDOTA - Those close to Veronica Blumhorst say she likely left the alley behind her home nearly 30 years ago with someone she knew and that that person likely killed her. Volunteers who are now investigating the case say they agree with that theory. But, in an interesting twist, the group says the prime suspect is a different person altogether. According to the most popular theory, Veronica arrived home around 1:15 a.m., parked her car in the garage and got into another vehicle. It is believed she left willingly with the driver, who many believe was her boyfriend. The theory is based on the findings of police dogs that lost her scent a few hundred feet from the garage. To bolster the theory even more, her boyfriend told police he may have picked her up and hurt her during an argument after he discovered she was pregnant. But new developments over the last few months suggest that Veronica’s boyfriend, who suffered from memory loss because of a head injury, was just another in a line

of men questioned by police. And that questioning may not have been tailored to just her known lover. A man who was in Dempsey’s Super Valu about an hour before Veronica closed the store told The Times investigators conducted a familiar line of questioning when he was brought into the Mendota Police Department. He said they suggested that he picked up Veronica after work and hurt her. That led Blumhorst family spokesman Doug Truckenbrod to review the police report, which he says begs the question why her boyfriend would voluntarily make damning statements without some degree of influence. Truckenbrod believes he didn’t. He says it’s more likely that that the statements came from a confused young man with memory problems struggling to cooperate with highly trained interviewers. But what about the statements about Veronica being pregnant? Truckenbrod says the theory may have been floated by police on a mere hunch or part of a control question, often used in interviews to determine if someone is being truthful. For example, an interviewing officer may tell a suspect, “We know the victim’s dress was torn off,” knowing the victim was wearing slacks. And because only a summary of the boyfriend’s interview has been released and not the transcript, how he arrived at the answers isn’t known. Regardless, Truckenbrod says other information he’s uncovered has brought him to a conclusion

about Veronica’s boyfriend. “I think he was manipulated into saying what he did in the police report,” Truckenbrod said. “And once he lawyered up, the person who killed Veronica was free to fumble along and destroy any trails he himself left.” His No. 1 suspect? Truckenbrod wouldn’t reveal that. He said the person won’t be named publicly unless police chose to do so in the future. There’s one thing he’s sure of though: It’s not the boyfriend. “I don’t think he did it, or he’d been charged based on the report,” he said. “I would like to hear the tape of the interview to prove otherwise.”

Illinois, gave to his wife as a gift. Although a strong suspect, Bierbrodt, an ex-con, was never arrested and died of AIDS in 2002. He caught the eyes of police because of the watch and because a witness reported seeing a tractor-trailer parked near Zywicki’s 1985 Pontiac T1000 when it was stalled on the interstate. And although the truck driver fit Bierbrodt’s description, other witnesses said a pickup, not a semi, was parked near the Pontiac, casting doubt on the existence of either. According to the theory that Veronica Blumhorst met her fate at the hands of Zywicki’s killer, the perpetrator, possibly Bierbrodt, struck in Mendota nearly a year earlier. As someone from Peru, which is only 16 miles away, Bierbrodt may have been familiar with Mendota and was lurking in the autumn darkness on Sept. 20, 1990, when he encountered Veronica. Was this man stalking the grocery clerk before he snatched from behind her house? Did he approach Veronica in his semi as police once believed he’d done to Tammy Zywicki? The circumstances of the Mendota disappearance and information gleaned since his team has ratcheted up its investigation lead Truckenbrod away from such questions. “I don’t believe that to be true,” he said. “I’m pretty sure she knew her killer.” Anyone with information about the disappearance of Veronica Blumhorst is urged to contact the Mendota Police Department at 815-539-9331 and mendotapd@mendotapolice.com.

A killer from Peru?

When the body 21-year-old Tammy Zywicki was found in 1992, another theory about what happened to Veronica Blumhorst began to emerge. It was Aug. 23, 1992, the day Zywicki, of Martlton, New Jersey, dropped her brother off at Northwestern University then headed to Grinnell College in Iowa, where she was a senior. She never arrived. Her car was later found broken-down on Interstate 88 near LaSalle. On Sept. 1, her body was found wrapped in a blanket near a highway just east of Joplin, Missouri. Like the case of Veronica Blumhorst, some of Zywicki’s personal items are missing, including a camera and musical wristwatch. Police say the watch is similar to one Lonnie Bierbrodt, trucker from Peru,

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

Concerts On The Creek

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

TUBE TALK

New & Old BY PAULA HENDRICKSON CONTRIBUTOR

While the new year always ushers in new experiences, new opportunities, and new laws, it can also be a great time to reﬂect on and appreciate things we already have. This year is no di�erent: Everything seems new, yet also feels the same. As usual, what applies in life can also apply to television. Need an example? Take Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, ABC’s multi-night primetime event. Jeopardy! has been a top a syndicated game show for decades, but it’s never before aired in primetime. And while there’s an annual Tournament of Champions, this is the ﬁrst time the three winningest competitors have played against each other for the ultimate Jeopardy! bragging rights.

Brad Rutter ﬁrst competed on Jeopardy! in 2000, back when the rules only allowed for 5-day champions who were then retired but allowed to return to compete in tournaments. Despite those limitations, Rutter holds the title of the highest-earning Jeopardy! contestant (and the highest-earning U.S. gameshow contestant). Rutter’s total Jeopardy! winnings to date: $4,688,436. Ken Jennings ﬁrst appeared on Jeopardy! in 2004 – after the rules changed – and he still holds the record for the longest winning streak in the show’s history with 74 consecutive wins. He’s appeared on several tournaments and even played (and lost) against IBM’s computer Watson. Jennings’ total winnings to date: $3,370,700. James Holzhauer gained notoriety in

2019 with a 32-game winning streak. A professional sports gambler, Holzhauer’s quick reflexes, correct answers, and aggressive wagers quickly made him the show’s third-highest earner. Holzhauer’s total winnings to date: $2,712,216. These three super champions will compete for the “Greatest of all Time” title and a $1,000,000 prize; the two runners up will each walk away with $250,000. Clearly, they are all winners. No matter how well these three men play, the show’s real champion is long-time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who hasn’t missed a single taping – including this primetime event – since being diagnosed with and treated for advanced pancreatic cancer in March. One thing remains the same: Trebek is a class act. The thing that’s changed? We

now know he’s a ﬁerce competitor, too.

Programing Notes:

While normal Jeopardy! episodes last thirty minutes, each episode of the primetime event will run an hour. Because the ultimate champion will be the ﬁrst competitor to win three matches, the even could be as short as three nights, or go into a second week. This is the schedule: • Tuesday, Jan. 7 (7-8 CT) • Wednesday, Jan. 8 (7-8 CT) • Thursday, Jan. 9 (7-8 CT) • *Friday, Jan. 10 (7-8 CT) • *Tuesday, Jan. 14 (7-8 CT) • *Wednesday, Jan. 15 (7-8 CT) • *Thursday, Jan. 16 (7-8 CT) • *If necessary

ENTERTAINMENT

Rockabilly Legends concert at Spring Creek UCC FROM RON HOLM TRINADORA

ROCKFORD – Did you know that Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty began their careers as Sun Records Rockabilly singers and even co-wrote a song? That The Big Bopper wrote George Jones’s ﬁrst number 1 seller, “White Lightnin”? That Elvis dated Wanda Jackson early in their careers when they both were rockabilly artists? At 3pm on Sunday, January 12, the Trinadora Rocks band (Janie Nelson, Ron Holm, Tim Austin, and John Bisho�) will include vignettes such as these between energetic, masterful performances of rockabilly hits. Several months ago the band spon-

taneously played a suite of rockabilly songs during a concert, enchanting an appreciative audience and spawning the idea a complete rockabilly concert. The stories of the rockabilly pioneers are rich, and many of the stars who eventually garnered ‘household name’ status in the pop, rock, or country categories began their careers in rockabilly. Bisho�, a gifted lead guitarist who is also a record producer and music history bu�, recently observed that, “In the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, rock and roll had not yet emerged as musical genera. Young cats like Elvis were fusing blues music with the country music that permeated their local airwaves. The critics and promoters

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didn’t know how to label it. Many early rockers toured as part of country shows. The genre eventually came to be called ‘rockabilly.’ It was such an exciting time in musical history, and the energy is palpable even to this day.” Early rockabilly lineups included such greats as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Preston, Bill Haley, Carl Perkins, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Lorrie Collins, Patsy Cline, Elvis, Orbison, Twitty, Jackson, and more; the ‘Rockabilly Legends’ concert will celebrate them all. The Trinadora Rocks band has attracted capacity crowds with their themed concerts, featuring the work and history of Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, Dion Dimucci,

Connie Francis, and other luminaries, with Nelson and Holm channeling the star’s voices with remarkable ﬁdelity and the whole band providing rich harmony backup. They will debut their ‘Rockabilly Legends’ program at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Januar y 12. Spring Creek Church’s ‘Concerts On The Creek’ series at 4500 Spring Creek Road, Rockford, will host the event. Tickets are only $10 and may be purchased at www.trinadora.com/ events (no transaction fee) or 815-9791949. Doors open at 2 p.m., and light refreshments will be available. Seating is limited to 200. Advanced ticket sales are encouraged.

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

Stock Market

Markets in 2019: record stocks, lower rates, so-so IPOs By Alex Veiga

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) – On January 3, the S&P 500 sank 2.5% when Apple warned of sagging demand for the iPhone, an inauspicious start to 2019 following a 14% drubbing in last year’s fourth quarter. O n Ja nu a r y 4, Fe d e r a l Re s e r ve Chairman Jay Powell said the central bank would be “patient” with its interest rate policy following four increases in 2018. The S&P 500 soared 3.4% and by the end of the month was up nearly 8%. January’s swing helped set the tone for a year in which the market responded to every downturn with a more sustained upswing. Along the way, stocks kept setting records – 32 of them for the S&P 500 by Dec. 20, and 19 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. By its final policy meeting in December, the Fed had completely reversed course and cut rates three times in what Powell called a pre-emptive move against any impact a sluggish global economy and the U.S.-China trade war might have on U.S. economic growth. The stock market, and most Fed observers not named Trump, approved of the Fed’s actions. Investors’ uncertainty over trade policy eased by December as Washington and Beijing reached a modest, interim agreement that averted a new round of tariffs on $160 billion worth of Chinese imports and reduced existing import taxes on about $112 billion in other Chinese goods. While the pact left unresolved some of the thorniest issues between the two countries, investors appeared happy to have a de-escalation in trade tensions now and push off lingering concerns until 2020. Through it all, the U.S. economy and consumers’ appetite for spending remained resilient, supporting the market’s record-shattering, year-end rally.

ALMOST EVERYTHING’S A WINNER

Investments around the world were w inners in 2019 as central bank s unleashed more stimulus to bolster the global economy against the damage created by President Donald Trump’s trade war. Not only did U.S. stocks rise, so did high-quality bonds, low-quality bonds and foreign stocks. Among the few losers: junk bonds with the very lowest credit ratings, but a better performance from bonds with bad but not the worst ratings meant high-yield indexes still generally made gains.

KEEPS ON TICKING

The U.S. economy withstood a number of challenges in 2019. President Trump’s trade war with China intensified as both sides increased tariffs. Fears of recession spiked in late summer and fall as exports fell and businesses, facing higher costs on imported goods, cut back spending on new machinery and equipment. Overseas economies also stumbled, with Germany nearly falling into recession and growth in the U.K. slowing amid Brexit uncertainty. Still, the U.S. consumer kept spending as the unemployment rate hit a 50-year low and wage growth picked up for workers outside managerial ranks. Most economists expect modest growth in 2020.

MIXED REVIEWS

For initial public offerings, 2019 was like a year in Hollywood: There were some phenomenal successes and some notable flops. Ride-hailing giant Uber and rival Lyft were huge disappointments. Videoconference company Zoom and workplace messaging company Slack each soared on their first day of trading, but while Zoom kept zooming Slack, well, slacked off after that. For non-tech companies, Beyond Meat and its plant-based burgers hit the spot while SmileDirectClub produced mostly frowns. WeWork’s botched IPO signaled a change in IPO investors’ mindset.

TECH IS CHIPPER

Technology stocks soared in 2019 and far outpaced every other sector in the S&P 500. Chipmakers, including Advanced Micro Devices and Lam Research, made some of the biggest gains, despite a trade war that threatened business in China. Apple and Microsoft had their biggest share gains in a decade and each topped $1 trillion in market value. Energy stocks gained the least amid concerns that oil supply is outpacing demand.

EARNINGS EASE UP

Corporate profits hit the brakes in 2019, a year after a big tax cut helped juice results. On top of no longer getting the benefit of the first year of lower tax rates, a slowing global economy weighed on company revenues. If S&P 500 companies end up reporting four straight quarters of declines for 2019, as analysts expect, it would be the first time that’s happened since 2015-16. Still, analysts tend to set low expectations that most companies are able to beat, so investors aren’t panicked by the slower profit growth.

CAN NEGATIVE BE A POSITIVE?

Would you pay someone to lend money to them? The practice has become more common around the world — $13 trillion in bonds globally had negative yields as of November, according to Deutsche Bank. Much of that total is from Japan, France and Germany, countries that account for nearly a quarter of all the world’s bonds. It’s the result of shock-therapy by the European Central Bank and others to try to jolt their economies and inflation higher.

THE FED’S U-TURN

The Federal Reserve changed course on interest rate policy this year, cutting its benchmark rate three times after more than two years of increases. Chairman Jerome Powell portrayed those cuts as “insurance” against a slowdown resulting from weak global growth. Prior to late 2015, the Fed had been keeping rates at a record low near zero to stimulate the economy. In December, the Fed said it was prepared to keep rates low at least through next year.

“HOME” RUN

A strong labor market and a steady decline in mortgage rates stoked demand among would-be homeowners this year, driving U.S. home sales higher. A persistently limited supply of previously occupied homes for sale at a time when millennials are increasingly seeking

to become homeowners also helped to stoke demand, even though affordability remained a challenge in many markets. The housing trends favored U.S. homebuilders, whose shares surged well above the broader market.

CLICKS AGAIN OUTSHINE BRICKS

Retailers had a mixed year as they continued beefing up their online sales strategies amid declining foot traffic. Department stores, and Macy’s in particular, fell sharply. Specialty retailers did much better, with electronics retailer Best Buy, car dealership chain CarMax and home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s among those making sharp gains. As the year wound down, retailers were hoping that low unemployment, higher wages and the record-setting stock market would translate into a robust holiday shopping season.

PROTEIN PUSH

Plant-based meat has gone mainstream. Beyond Meat, which makes burgers and sausages from pea protein, had one of the most successful IPOs of the year. Burger King’s soy-based Impossible Whopper was a big hit. Tyson Foods, Nestle and Kellogg all introduced plant-based meats. Health and animal welfare concerns are driving the trend. U.S. plant-based meat sales jumped 10% this year, to nearly $1 billion; traditional meat sales rose 2% to $95 billion in that same time, Nielsen says.

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

MR. GREEN CAR

Energy Perils Part 5 BY ALLEN PENTICOFF COLUMNIST

Wind turbines, love ‘em or hate ‘em. Many folks think that their number one disadvantage beyond not being able to produce energy all the time is that they industrialize the skyscape. The United States has virtually no o�shore wind farms due to this very objection. Go down to the area between Sterling and Peoria, IL if you want to see what the future would look like with hundreds of wind turbines everywhere. While they can sort of be acceptable to look at them during the day - it is at night when they are really objectionable - for most of these towers have a blinking red light on them. This is true wherever industrial scale turbines are located. Rural-living folks generally don’t like their night sky full of blinking red lights. People who get paid for turbines to site on their land love them. Their neighbors not so much. Sunlight passing through the slow turning turbine blades can cause “shadow flicker.” That is the sunlight flashes on homes and businesses. Your only defense is thick shades - when you’d perhaps rather be getting sunshine through your windows. Some folks claim mental illness from blade flicker. Some can hear them and are bothered by that too. Birds and bats collide with the blades and are killed - but recent improvements in blade design and siting have eliminated much of that. Worldwide - the amount of energy produced by wind turbines is a tiny fraction of the electricity we all consume. If not for government subsidies and huge tax credits there would be virtually no industrial scale wind turbine farms. The money is in making them and putting them up, not in the electricity they produce. In the United States these wind turbines come about with the Production Tax Credit (a subsidy through the tax code). It expires every two years and must be reauthorized by Congress. When the tax credit ends -

so does the installation of new turbines. This makes the wind turbine labor market volatile. While over the 20-25 year life span of an industrial wind turbine, although it does produce much more energy than it took to make and set it up - they require much maintenance to keep them going. Wind turbine maintenance involves a technician (always young) to climb a very tall ladder, straight up inside a dark tube taking tools along. When they get to the top - they are inside a noisy transmission/generator that is swaying in the wind. Sound like fun? Do that several times a day. It destroys knees. The generators may also catch on ﬁre. They have been known to throw a blade and vibrate to death. The blades need inspection and cleaning. Very few people can go to the top of a wind turbine then rope down the face of a blade - inspecting and cleaning it. It is a job only for the most fearless of rock climbers. Drive through a wind farm on a light wind day. You’ll see the turbine blades are not spinning. Most require a fair breeze to generate energy worth spinning the transmission and generator. Why wear it out if it can’t make power. They also stop them to avoid bird strikes in these conditions. Why kill creatures when there is nothing to gain. On windier days you will almost always see some turbines not turning due to maintenance or breakdown. While some economic analysis factor in “decommissioning,” I have to wonder how many of these monsters will be abandoned by the last owner in the chain of owners. Will these hundreds - thousands of landscape covering turbines be taken down and rebuilt? Hard to say. Who will pay for that? I have serious doubts unless some regulation is in place to force removal or repair. The ﬁberglass in the blades is not presently recyclable. The metals? And that’s going to be every 20 years or so. Forever? Wind and solar power are nice in that their fuel is free and they don’t cause much

carbon dioxide release in their manufacture or operation, but without storage of energy they have serious drawbacks. In both cases, one must greatly overbuild capacity in order to get long term output at a useful level. While there is some hope that batteries of one sort or another can be economically deployed to save power for another time, I can’t see where they will be big enough to go for days of cloudy skies with no wind. Presently the best storage system is called “pumped hydro.” This is a fairly simple set up. You build a big reservoir - a lake high above a series of pump/power turbines. When you have excess power - say on a bright windy day - you turn on the pumps and pump water up into the reservoir. When you need to boost your power output - you drain the water back down through the pumps which are now generators. Pumped hydro is the number one system of utility scale power storage in the world. It is popular in Spain and Portugal and other places. I know of one site in the American Midwest and that is on the east shore of Lake Michigan just a few miles south of the pretty little lakeside city of Ludington (you can easily ﬁnd it in Google Maps). What you can’t see in satellite view is how tall this “lake” is or that it is a thermal powerplant providing the excess power. How practical is it to build these reservoirs all over the country? The actual siting possibilities are rather limited. Canyons and valleys are obvious places to install pumped hydro, but just as with damming a river to create a power generating reservoir you will destroy something in the process. My favorite alternative energy is solar. You have very little impact on the environment as long as siting is not covering arable farmland. Solar can be on rooftops, parking lots and otherwise unusable land. They can be installed in roadways and new styles of solar are coming along all the time. Like wind turbines - their lifespan is 20-25 years. This is mostly due to their

delicate internal structure - tiny metal connections - breaking. A friend of mine has had a 2000-watt solar system for 11 years now. He says it has lost 25 percent of its capacity. During summer solstice 2019 (the best day of the year for solar) his system produced only 1350 watts of power. His recent October output was only 52,000 watts for the entire month. The average U.S. home uses 909,000 watts per month. You are charged by the “kilowatt hour” so this is calculated by dividing the usage by the total number of hours in a billing period. It was a cold dark month. While prices for installed solar have dropped dramatically over the last few years, mostly due to the panels being made in China, one has to watch for purchasing the inexpensive sort. There is a big di�erence in construction (and price) between sturdy industrial grade solar panels and those that are found at discount retailers. Solar has the best potential for distributed energy generation. There are forecasts that our electric cars will provide storage capacity as well as transportation from our homes. But what if you have driven o� with your car at night - and you don’t otherwise have a battery storage system - well, you are back on the grid, perhaps getting power from your neighbor’s car - or from that coal-ﬁred powerplant. Until this distributed power scheme is implemented on a massive scale (everyone has it) I don’t see it as helping the carbon emissions problem all that much. And going to an all-electric future would indeed exacerbate the problem. Yes, I’ve focused here in this Mr. Green Car on the downsides of the two most popular and reasonably practical forms of “renewable” energy. But this leads us to the next segment in this series wherein a radical rethinking of atomic energy is analyzed and perhaps shown to be our salvation. Stay tuned for Part 6 of Energy Perils.

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

RACVB View

RACVB Releases Stroll on State By the Numbers Rockford Area CVB

Stroll on State, presented by Illinois Bank & Trust, welcomed residents and visitors to downtown Rockford for the seventh year on Saturday, Nov. 30 to ring in the holiday season. The Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (RACVB) produces the annual event with the support, services and donations of many community partners, volunteers and sponsors. Thanks to the efforts of a community network that invested 5,406 pre- and event-day volunteer hours, RACVB is pleased to announce that Stroll on State attracted an estimated 21,875 guests to downtown Rockford despite gloomy, cold and rainy weather throughout the day and ending the event two hours earlier than scheduled due to weather. “When Stroll was first imagined, we hoped it could become an event that families and friends would look forward to as a way to kick off their holiday season. While the weather certainly impacted attendance, we were pleased that despite the weather so many families still showed up. Their willingness to come out in gloomy weather tells our team that Stroll has become part of their family traditions,” said John Groh, RACVB president/CEO.

Organizers evaluate aerial photography, feedback from crowd spotters, shuttle bus ridership, occupied parking stalls, sales/ participation numbers for local businesses and participation counts at event attractions throughout the duration of the event to help determine the attendance figure. “When analyzing these elements, consistently the numbers were about 25 percent of last year’s totals and thus our estimate for this year’s attendance is 25 percent of the 2018 attendance estimate,” said Groh. The event spans more than 15 blocks in downtown Rockford, showcasing locally owned retail shops and eateries. It also features an abundance of family-friendly activities including the Stroll on State parade, visits with Santa, horse and wagon rides, live performances and entertainment, hot chocolate stations, and the magical lighting of the City of Rockford Christmas Tree followed by the Sky Lights Fireworks display. In addition to attendance figures, RACVB tracks other festive metrics that tell the Stroll on State story. Some of this year’s Stroll fun facts include: • 11,800 multi-colored lights decorated Rockford’s Christmas tree • 7,000 pieces of candy were given out by

Stroll on State 2019 Mrs. Claus during the parade • 102 balloon handlers, 62 floats, 51 Jeeps and 8 large balloons highlighted the Stroll on State parade, presented by IBEW/NECA • 5,406 hours of work were put in by volunteers • 4,000 children visited Santa Claus • 2,819 guests utilized at least one of four park and ride shuttles to and from the event • 1,219 people signed up to run/ walk in the Dasher Dash 5K • 452 letters written to Santa noting their wishes for Christmas • 350 people watched “Newsies” at the Nordlof Center “Stroll on State instills a great sense of pride in our community and each year continues to remind us of the goodness it brings to so many people. The Illinois Bank & Trust team is so grateful to be a part of this on-going tradition each year,” said Jeff Hultman, Illinois Bank & Trust president/CEO. In a post-event survey, 85 percent of Stroll on State attendees reported a positive experience at the event. Some highlights of the Stroll survey feedback include: • “This was my first year! It was the best experience truly! It made me more excited for the holidays.” • “Stroll on State is such a fun, holiday event for the whole family. We attend

Stroll on State 2019

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every year. Thank you to all the organizers that work all year to make this such a great event for our city.” • “I don’t really think it could be much better than it already is! It is a fun, safe, friendly environment.” • “People were very friendly and the city really looked nice with the decorations. I also enjoyed going into a few of the stores downtown that I normally don’t have the opportunity to go to.” • “The event keeps getting better each year!” A few other key takeaways from the survey include: • 93 percent said they are more likely to come back downtown after experiencing Stroll on State. • 88 percent of people said they would recommend Stroll on State to a family member, friend and/or colleague. • 80 percent of people said that this was not their first time attending Stroll on State. • 68 percent of people said there were local businesses they visited that they plan to return to again. • 45 percent of people said that Stroll on State positively changed their perception of downtown. For more information about Stroll on State and to see a complete list of sponsors and partners, visit www.strollonstate.com.

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Energy and environmental challenges

Microgreens BY GRANT MCCARTY CONTRIBUTOR

In the cold winter, you might think that your gardening has ended. In fact, you could still be gardening indoors by growing microgreens. Seen commonly at many restaurants in the Rockford region, microgreens are the “barely” grown plants of the adult vegetables and harvested 14-21 days after sowing seeds once they have reached a height of 1-2 inches. Use them as garnish on soups, salads, smoothies, and other foods. Microgreens are popular due to their short growing “season” but also that they are nutrient dense. Another advantage to microgreens is that they can be grown with limited light and in many di�erent shallow growing vessels. The disadvantage though is that the popularity of microgreens has caused for the price of seed to be very expensive and as you will be planting your microgreen seeds at a high density, you do need quite a bit of seed. Not all vegetables will be good microgreens. The best seeds for microgreens that are fast and easy to grow are arugula, kale, radish, broccoli, mustard, bok choy, and others. More challenging ones are basil, dill, carrots, beet, and amaranth. You will ﬁnd premixed microgreen seed packets at most seed company catalogues and websites. If this was your ﬁrst time growing microgreens, see if you could use some older seeds.

BY DRS. ROBERT & SONIA VOGL

Most microgreens on a commercial level are grown in plastic black ﬂats, the ones you see at home and garden centers with vegetable transplants in them. You could use any shallow vessel with some growers reporting that a tin pie pan can work well. Whatever vessel you decide on, know that you will be sowing microgreen seeds at a high seeding rate. A standard pie pan may require 1-2 teaspoons of seed to plant. Microgreens will be grown in a soil-less seed starting media. You will add about 1-2 inches of the moist potting soil/mix into the vessel. Scatter your seeds densely on top of the soil and cover with a thin layer of moist soil. You want to add a plastic lid or wrap to mimic greenhouse like conditions. Every day, gently mist the microgreen seed bed and within 3-7 days, the microgreens will have germinated. The plastic covering can be removed and continue misting. Microgreens need at least 4 hours of light. This might be from a grow light you were using to grow your spring seeds. A window sill could potentially work but you would need to rotate the planter every other day. You’ll harvest microgreens with scissors once they have reached 1-2 inches. Grant McCarty is the Local Food and Smalls Farms Educator of the University of Illinois Extension. His tips and tricks for local eating and your at-home garden appear every week in The Rock River Times.

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With the arrival of 2020, we continue to experience the ongoing saga of the challenges related to energy consumption and its adverse environmental impacts. Our current economic and political life remains intensively dependent on fossil fuels. They determine our way of life from what we eat and drink, how we move about, the homes we live in, and the consumption of goods and services. From an environmental perspective our current ways of living are seen as unsustainable as the number of crises we face are likely to alter existing patterns of living. One factor is that new discoveries of conventional sources of oil are not occurring at a rapid enough rate to keep up with the rate at which they are consumed. Conventional sources of oil and gas are less abundant and more di�cult and costly to extract and process. At some point the amount of energy needed to extract and process them will exceed the energy available in the fuel. The arrival of fracking for oil and gas has provided a glut in the supplies of oil and gas, but the majority of firms involved in the industry have failed to produce a profit even though substantial amounts of low interest investment funds have been available to them. They have also benefitted from their exemption from air and water pollution regulations which would have made them even more costly to produce. At some point an increase in their prices or additional subsidies will have to occur to cover their costs. Scientists have long warned that the combustion of fossil fuels would increase carbon emissions to the atmosphere leading to changing the climate in ways that would prove detrimental to human society and planetary healh. As far back as 1965, a report by the U.S. presidential advisory committee warned of the potential harmful impacts of continuing to burn fossil fuels. Ongoing scientific studies continue to document the risks and damages associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. The studies have stimulated pressures on governments to take corrective actions which have been resisted by fossil fuel interests and remain far below what scientists have called for. The proposed solutions to climate change have stimulated an increase in

the presence of solar, wind and e�ciency installations and electrified transportation. The rate of their implementation is seen as too slow, and questions have been raised as to their capacity to power a modern global economy along with concerns over the environmental impacts of renewable energy sources. However, renewables remain a preferred clean energy source. A more fundamental concern has been raised regarding the goal of perpetual economic growth. Theoretically it is an impossible goal on a finite planet. Since the 1980s the emphasis on economic growth has increased the disparity in wealth between those on top of the economic system and those who labor within it. The increasing disparity contributes to the questions being raised regarding whether the focus on economic growth with its many adverse environmental and social impacts remains a viable goal for the economy. The prevailing call for economic growth and jobs is likely to accelerate environmental deterioration if based on fossil fuels and accelerated consumption of nonessential, short lived goods and services. The existing economic model has included an austerity component that calls for reductions in social services adversely impacting the standard of living for the majority of citizens leading to protests and their subsequent suppression. If austerity prevails, the question becomes one of learning to live well with less consumption. There is a large amount of wasted energy in our existing lives; we can still live well while using less energy. How these tensions are resolved remain to be seen. Rather than merely wait for conditions to force changes upon us it is possible for citizens to engage in more selective and environmentally sensitive behaviors while still enjoying our lives on this marvelous planet. One new opportunity to embrace clean energy sources is that being sponsored by Sustain Rockford. They are o�ering workshops explaining the opportunities to secure solar installations under the Illinois Solar For All program. It is designed to increase access to solar electricity for low-income communities and nonprofits and public facilities that serve them. For details contact SustainRockford.

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

A&E Happenings Music & Arts

Ongoing Open Stage at Mandalay Lounge - Monday-Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. 200 North Church Street. Mary’s Place - 602 N. Madison St. Open Stage, Tues. & Thurs. 9:30 p.m.-close; Karaoke, Wed. 9:30 p.m.-close. Bruce L. Warden - For listening & dining every Friday and Saturday 5-9 p.m. at Hoffman House, 7550 E. State St. Ongoing Bold Abstrations - Rockford Art Museum’s (RAM) new art exhibition, Bold Abstractions: Paintings from the Thoma Collection, will be on display at RAM, located inside the Riverfront Museum Park at 711 North Main Street through January 26, 2020, with free daily admission provided by support from the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation. This major exhibition explores new forms of abstract painting from the 1960s, following the heyday of Abstract Expressionism. Highlighting color-based, geometric, and perceptual experiments, this selection of works from the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation Collection includes an international group of 33 artists associated with some of the key painting movements of the mid-20th century: Color Field, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Hard-Edge, and Op Art. Bold Abstractions at RAM marks the first time the Thoma’s significant post-war painting collection has been shown at a public institution. This exhibition is organized by Carrie Johnson. Friday, January 3 Doghouse Roses - Performing from 5-7:30 p.m. at Stockholm Inn, 2420 Charles St. Free admission. Saturday, January 4 Rockford Community Sing - Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 920 Third Avenue, will host Rockford’s fourth community sing at 7:30 pm. The event will support Emmanuel Lutheran’s Center for Arts & Spirituality. Suggested donation is $10. There will also be a free harmony singing workshop at 5 p.m. Rockford area musician and performer Ron Holm will be joined by the Old Town School of Folk Music’s Mark Dvorak in a program of familiar folk songs, sing along favorites and a few other surprises too. Holm and Dvorak will offer a free harmony singing workshop at 5:00 pm the day of the concert. The first fifteen who attend the workshop and make an advance donation will be

invited to join the cast on stage for the second half of the concert. The workshop will cover harmony singing basics, other vocal topics and serve as a loose rehearsal. For more information and to make a reservation phone 815 979 1949 or 815 963 4815. Visit the Emmanuel Lutheran home page at www.elcrockford.org. Saturday, January 11 Kevin Gordon - Indie swamp, singer/songwriter, Americana, and blues. Gordon is a Louisiana native, now 20-year East Nashville resident. His latest release, Tilt & Shine, was ranked #2 in Paste’s Best Roots & Blues Albums of 2018. His songs have been recorded by Keith Richards, Levon Helm, Hard Working Americans, Ronnie Hawkins, and more. Rolling Stone says of Gordon, “Dude’s a juke-joint professor emeritus.” Performance will take place at 1 p.m. at Severson Dells Nature Center, 8786 Montague Rd., in Rockford. Call Severson Dells Nature Center 815-335-2915 or order tickets online at www. seversondells.com/music-at-the-dells Sunday, January 12 ‘Rockabilly Legends’ - Concert featuring the music of such greats as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many more. Tickets are $10 and available at trinadora.com or by calling 815-979-1949. Some tickets will be available at the door. Concert takes place at Spring Creek UCC, 4500 Spring Creek Rd. Doors open at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 25 Wintersong - Rockford’s Camerata Emanon Singers, led by Tim Anderson, presents “Wintersong,” a musical celebration of all that is winter, featuring “A Winter Day” by Canadian composer Sara Quartel. Works by Rutter, Hindemith, Thompson, and Worthington set the mood, while a ﬂurry of popular favorites including “Let it Snow,” and “Sleigh Ride” takes the edge off the chill. Begins at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church, 4848 Turner St. Tickets: $10, cash or check only at the door. For more information visit CamerataEmanon.com.

Community

by January 3, 2020. For more information call 815/964-6666. To register online visit: www. naturalland.org. Participants will learn how to identify native and non-native trees and shrubs by buds, twigs, and bark. The workshop will start with an indoor classroom session in the morning, a break for lunch (on own), followed by the afternoon session with a hands-on learning walk in the woods. The workshop will be led by Zach Grycan (Natural Land Institute) and Melissa Grycan (The Land Conservancy of McHenry County). Tuesday, January 7 NIAS Meeting - At Northwest Illinois Audubon Society’s January meeting Hannah Badgett will present wildlife photographs and commentary about her summer as a research assistant in northwest Greenland. While there, she banded several species of birds including pufﬁns, peregrines and ptarmigans. The meeting which begins at 7 p.m., held at St. John United Church of Christ, 1010 Park Blvd. in Freeport, is open to everyone. For more information, visit the Northwest Illinois Audubon Society website at nwilaudubon.org or contact Teresa at 815-238-3963. Saturday, January 11 Book signing at Barnes & Nobles - Six-time Award Winning Children’s Book Author, Sheri Poe-Pape, will be at Barnes and Noble at Cherryvale Mall for a book signing from 1-3 p.m. Event will include an author reading, sales and book signing. For boys and girls ages 3-8. Sunday, January 12 Macktown Living History’s Winter Sunday - 2-4 p.m. at Macktown Living History, 2221 Freeport Rd., in Rockton. Learn what travel, work and fun was like in winter in the early 1800s. Learn about skiing, skating, snowshoeing and ice cutting. History buildings and the settlement grounds will be open – everyone is welcome. Free admission. To learn more about Macktown and their events visit their Facebook page or call 815-624-4200. Saturday, January 18 Winterfest 2020 - University of Illinois Extension

Saturday, January 4 Winter Tree & Shrub Identiﬁcation Workshop - 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Nature at the Conﬂuence, 306 Dickop St., South Beloit. Cost is $20 and includes printed material to keep. Registration is required

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and DeKalb County Forest Preserve collaborate each year to offer a day for families to get outside, have fun, and explore an enjoyable destination. Winterfest is from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and is held at the Natural Resource Education Center in Russell Woods Forest Preserve, 11750 IL-72, located 1 mile west of Genoa on state route 72. University of Illinois Extension staff and volunteers offer a variety of educational and recreational activities for the whole family. The morning will start indoors at 9 a.m. at the Center’s bird viewing window where Peggy Doty will share some tips and tricks for feeding and identifying our local winter birds. The winter joy and fun will continue through-out the day. The Genoa Prairie Gems 4-H Club will be offering their annual fund raising lunch and snack sale. You can buy food for a reasonable price and help the 4-H club at the same time. The rest of the day is free but we do graciously except donations to cover materials. For questions, please call the Natural Resource Education Center at 815-784-2000. Thursday, February 6 Wander at the Wetland - The public is invited to help NLI kick off the 20th Anniversary celebration of Nygren Wetland Preserve, 3190 W. Rockton Rd., in Rockton, by attending Wander at the Wetland: Full Moon Snowshoe & Hike. Come anytime between 4:30-8 p.m. NLI will hold this FREE outdoor winter event for all ages with or without snow. Experience the winter landscape of the prairie and wetland when you take a hike, snowshoe or ski the trail lit by hundreds of luminaries. You can head out on the trail on your own or follow a tour guide who will tell you about Natural Land Institute and Nygren Wetland. Places to warm up include the winter themed greenhouse with hot cocoa and snacks and two bonﬁres. Snowshoes will be available to rent for a $10 donation to NLI and are sponsored by Rocktown Adventures. You may also bring your own snowshoes or skis. Please register for this free event by Wed., Feb. 5 online at: https://www.naturalland.org/event/ wander-at-the-wetland-full-moon-snowshoehike-2/?instance_id=2659 or call 815-964-6666 for more information and to register.

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

January 1 - 7

First Fridays Art, Music, Food and Shopping in Downtown Rockford WHEN Friday, January 3 (5 p.m. - Midnight) WHERE Downtown Rockford Each month, downtown art galleries, shops, music and theater venues work together to stay open late providing great new art, music and goods.

Nature Sprouts WHEN Saturday, January 4 (9:30 - 11:30 a.m.) WHERE Severson Dells Nature Center Snowflakes surround us this time of year. We will learn about how the cold weather transforms forests by reading “Best in Snow,” use our creativity and gross motor skills to paint and shape snow, inspect snow on a smaller scale with magnifying tools, and practice fine motor skills by making paper snowflakes. This program is intended for children aged 3-6 years and a guardian to accompany them.

GoRockford.com/Events

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WHEN Tuesday, January 7 (1 - 3 p.m.)

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The IceHogs are members of the American Hockey League and are proud to be affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The IceHogs take on the Chicago Wolves on Sunday, January 5.

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Find out more about these events and more at gorockford.com. To sign up for GoRockford’s What’s Happening weekly eblast, email info@gorockford.com with subject line “What’s Happening.”

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

Entertainment

Pop culture in 2010s marked gains in diversity, inclusion By Jocelyn Noveck Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) – When the family-friendly Hallmark Channel recently pulled, under pressure from a conservative group, a set of ads featuring a kiss between two happy brides at the altar, backlash was swift – to say the least. Within hours, stars like Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner were tweeting in protest to their many followers, and LGBT advocates were mobilizing a boycott via social media. This was on Saturday; by Sunday evening, Hallmark had reversed its decision, and apologized for what it acknowledged as a mistake. Whatever it says about corporate missteps, the episode also says something about how our popular culture has changed in a decade, with diversity and inclusion concerns taking center stage, says Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, which advocates for LGBT people in Hollywood and played a key role in Hallmark’s reversal. “This decade has been about diversity and inclusion – at least the starting of the conversation,” says Ellis. “Communities who have been left out of the seats at the table for decades and decades are finally starting to find their voice, and their footing.” And a major element, obviously, is the power of social media: “It enables us to connect with each other, find each other and organize,” Ellis says. Speaking of viral protests, this was also the decade of #OscarsSoWhite, the hashtag launched by activist April Reign in 2015 when none of the 20 acting nominees were actors of color. Incredibly, the same thing happened in 2016, forcing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to launch a major membership overhaul aimed at diversifying its overwhelmingly white, male, older ranks. The following year, “Moonlight,” about the coming-of-age of a gay black man, won best picture (after “La La Land” was ... oh, never mind) and the winner list was more diverse. But true racial diversity in entertainment remains an elusive goal, despite slow progress. “Things have certainly improved,” says Gil Robertson, president of the African American Film Critics Association. “Ten years ago, you didn’t have an Ava DuVernay, a Jordan Peele, a Shonda Rhimes, a Kerry Washington,” he says. “And my God, you couldn’t have even imagined ‘Pose,’” he says, referring to the Ryan Murphy TV series set in the ‘80s ballroom culture with the biggest LGBTQ cast ever assembled for a scripted show. “The door has opened,” he says, adding

that inroads have also been made for Asian American actors and stories, but less so for Latinos. “Has the industry reached the place that we want it to be? No, but things have gotten better.” In her speech at the 2018 Oscars, soon after the Harvey Weinstein scandal launched the #MeToo era, Frances McDormand urged women to demand an “inclusion rider” in contracts to help achieve gender parity. Almost two years later, evidence of progress for women in front of and behind the camera is slow but steady. The entry of streaming giants like Netflix has accelerated the pace of change, says Stacy L. Smith, director of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California. An example: last year, 39 of the top 100 Hollywood films were led or co-led by a female character, Smith says; in 2007 the number was 20, so it has essentially doubled in a decade. And there is progress behind the camera, too. “We’re really seeing changes, slow but real significant movement in some of these institutions,” she says. Progress has also been seen in the music business, in diversity of film critics, and in scripted TV, she says. And yet there are areas sorely lacking: representation of female characters over 40 in films, for example, and women of color. And trans women characters are rarely seen in major films. “Every group should be able to see themselves onscreen,” Smith says.

A LONG WAY SINCE ‘’ELLEN”

It’s hard to imagine that back in 1997 when DeGeneres came out on her TV show, the words “I’m gay” were so groundbreaking. “We were all but non-existent in popular culture a few decades ago, and now we’re very much grounded in popular culture,” says Ellis, of GLAAD. While no milestone this past decade matches the import of that “Ellen” moment, the decade began with the launch – actually in 2009 – of both “Glee,” which put a spotlight on LGBT youth, and “Modern Family,” which introduced the couple of Mitchell and Cam, two dads who adopt a Vietnamese daughter. “These were really big moments,” Ellis says. Another was last year’s best-actor Emmy for Billy Porter for “Pose,” the first openly gay black man to win the award. Inroads also were made in children’s programming. “Doc McStuffins,” the Disney Junior children’s cartoon, featured a family led by an interracial, lesbian couple, and the Disney Channel kids’ show “Andi Mack” introduced a key gay character.

And it was only a quick glance between male characters, but “Beauty and the Beast” took the plunge and actually showed a gay moment. “It’s a step in the right direction,” says Ellis. Can Elsa’s (hopedfor) coming-out in the “Frozen” franchise be far behind? Caitlyn Jenner’s revelation in 2015 that she was transgender helped shine a light on that community, and popular shows like “Orange is the New Black,” “Transparent” and “Pose” featured transgender characters. TV, though, has been far ahead of film. “The top Hollywood studios have always been a decade behind,” says Ellis. The reasons, she says: a years-long development pipeline for movies, the huge budgets of big films, and Hollywood’s fear of breaking its own comfortable formulas. But things are slowly moving.

BEYOND #OSCARSSOWHITE

America is increasingly diverse. Movie audiences are increasingly diverse. And diverse movies make money, because people like to see stories and characters that reflect their own lives. Despite all this, says Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences at UCLA and an author of the annual Hollywood Diversity Repor t, progress toward racial diversity in the industry has been frustratingly slow, and lagging behind TV. In their most recent report, issued in early 2019, the authors write that in Hollywood, “people of color remained underrepresented on every industry employment front in 2016-17.” Looking at the decade as a whole, Hunt notes in an interview that while TV has registered some “notable progress” both in front of and, to a lesser extent, behind the camera, there hasn’t been much progress in terms of people of color in executive suites, which are still dominated by white men. And in movies, the situation is worse. “As the country becomes more diverse, the under-representation becomes more severe,” he says. And while his research has found there has been progress over the decade for female directors in the top 200 films, there’s been “zero progress” in the percentage of directors of color for the same years (they’re both around 12 percent.) And so, he says, a film like “Black Panther,” with a star-packed black cast and a black director (Ryan Coogler), is more of an outlier than an example of real change. The main issue, Hunt says, is representation at the level where big-money decisions in Hollywood are made. “Looking at dollars, why are they not pursuing a

strategy aimed at telling the types of stories that are likely to connect with where the audience is today and where it’s clearly headed,” he asks, “meaning opening up executive suites to include more women and people of color to tell the stories?”

THE NEXT BIGELOW?

For women in Hollywood, one statistic remains particularly shocking: In the entire history of the Oscars, only one woman has won the best-director Oscar. It happened at the dawn of this decade with Kathryn Bigelow’s 2010 trophy for “The Hurt Locker.” There is, though, reason for some measured optimism, on that score and for women as a whole, says USC’s Smith. She says that 2019 has emerged as the strongest year for female directors of top 100 films, with 12-14 percent of them featuring a woman behind the camera. That compares to 4 percent pretty much every year from 2007-2018, she says. The change reflects better hiring practices on the part of studios. “The hiring is what is so important,” Smith says. Particularly cheering, she adds, is the slate of superhero movies planned for 2020. The year “is going to be huge,” Smith says. “Five superhero movies will be directed by women. Not one, but five.” Across all categories, Smith says, “the decade can be characterized as one of accelerated awareness and some steps toward change.” With TV leading the way, storytelling is getting more diverse. There is also some change afoot in the music industry, with a new female president of the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, named in May. But, Smith adds, there are some definite negatives. Her most recent report, issued in September and analyzing 1,200 popular films, marked NO progress in the number of female speaking characters. Among female characters, women over 40 were among the least represented, “so we are not seeing women at their height of power and influence in storytelling – the strong political figures, the women in the C-suites, trailblazers in the STEM arena,” she says. And women of color remain marginalized. Of the top 100 films last year, 33 did not feature a single black woman or girl in a speaking role; 54 did not feature an Asian or Asian American, and 70 did not feature a Latina. (The lack of Latino representation in general is particularly troubling, she says.) “So when Hollywood says ‘female,’ they’re often talking about a Caucasian female,’” Smith says.

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

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WEEK OF DECEMBER 29, 2019 TO JANUARY 4, 2020

The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

Death Notices Robert Gustafson 71 Rockford 12/20/2019 Karen Blascoe 70 Rockford 12/21/2019 James Nijoka 69 Rockford 12/21/2019 Liberato Sostre 70 Rockford 12/21/2019 Sheryl Catterall 72 Loves Park 12/21/2019 Sureshkumar Patel 69 Rockford 12/21/2019 Linda Kobischka 72 Roscoe 12/21/2019 Dihl Wecker 79 South Beloit 12/22/2019 Angelo Bonacquisti 89 Rockford 12/22/2019 Maxine Jones 91 Loves Park 12/22/2019 Timothy Stearns 31 Rockford 12/23/2019 Frank O’keefe III 66 Rockford 12/23/2019 Bonita Mund 79 Rockford 12/23/2019 Richard Mohaupt 71 Rockford 12/23/2019 Sharon Wolfe 78 Rockford 12/23/2019 Barbara Block 87 Rockford 12/24/2019 Tyler Thorn 81 Rockford 12/24/2019 Marylu Zuhn 80 Rockford 12/24/2019 Carlson Gipson 77 Rockford 12/24/2019 Craig Zies 60 Rockford 12/24/2019 Denise Drummer 57 Rockford 12/24/2019 Felix Quintero 48 Rockford 12/24/2019 Marilyn Sandstrom 92 Loves Park 12/24/2019 Jenifer Baylander 83 Rockford 12/25/2019 Donald Huberd 89 Rockford 12/25/2019 John Milliren 75 Rockford 12/25/2019 Joanne Oliphant 54 Rockford 12/25/2019 Jill Wrase 53 Rockford 12/25/2019 Maurice Ter-Hark 92 Rockford 12/25/2019 Michael Pastuska 62 Rockford 12/26/2019 Christopher Hedding 34 Rockford 12/26/2019 Danuta Zuk 39 Rockford 12/26/2019 Penny Baker 62 Rockford 12/26/2019 Mary Mays 90 Rockford 12/26/2019 Kathleen Ayers 76 Rockford 12/26/2019 George Woods 75 Rockford 12/26/2019 Jon Matthies 73 Rockford 12/26/2019 Michael LaMonica 92 Rockford 12/26/2019 Anna Hare 54 Rockford 12/26/2019 Beverly Gade 62 Rockford 12/26/2019 Arden Carlson 88 Rockford 12/26/2019 Rhona Carlon 46 Rockford 12/27/2019 Robert Laing 77 Rockton 12/27/2019 Randolph Sladek 64 Rockford 12/27/2019 Mary Doyle 69 Rockford 12/27/2019 Rita Prunuske 89 Rockford 12/27/2019 Lowell Sebeck 83 Rockford 12/27/2019 Arlan McLaughlin 81 Rockford 12/27/2019 Judith Dennis 80 Roscoe 12/27/2019 Mary Ames 89 Loves Park 12/27/2019 Loretta Birch 91 Rockford 12/28/2019 Gary Blomquist 65 Rockford 12/28/2019 Matthew Arduino 34 Rockford 12/28/2019 Wilma Porter 89 Rockford 12/28/2019 Dawn Braman 82 Rockford 12/28/2019 Carol Howard 76 Rockford 12/28/2019 Octavio Martinez 68 Rockford 12/28/2019 Timothy Urban 34 Rockford 12/28/2019 Rudolph Voneyser 83 Rockford 12/29/2019 Beverly Farr 85 Rockford 12/29/2019 Bruce Anderson 80 Rockford 12/29/2019 Biagio DiPasquale 88 Rockford 12/29/2019 Dolores O’Connell 79 Rockford 12/29/2019 Louis McNair 69 Durand 12/29/2019 Arthur Turner 87 Rockford 12/30/2019 Ernest Vanscoy 87 Rockford 12/30/2019 Grace Henley 93 Rockford 12/30/2019 Hilda Woelfel 101 Rockford 12/30/2019 William Rader 87 Rockford 12/30/2019 Shane Pentkowskisellegren 30 Rockford 12/30/2019

Death notices are provided by the Winnebago County Coroner’s office.

Obituary

Horoscope TAURUS, GEMINI AND CANCER

THE LUCKIEST SIGNS THIS WEEK:

Lee Mendelson dies; brought “Charlie Brown Christmas” to TV By Andrew Dalton Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Lee Mendelson, the producer who changed the face of the holidays when he brought “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to television in 1965 and wrote the lyrics to its signature song, “Christmas Time Is Here,” died on Christmas day, his son said. Mendelson, who won a dozen Emmys in his long career, died at his home in Hillsborough, California, of congestive heart failure at age 86 after a long struggle with lung cancer, son Jason Mendelson told The Associated Press. Lee Mendelson headed a team that included “Peanuts” author Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez, and pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, whose music for the show, including the opening “Christmas Time Is Here,” has become as much a Christmas staple as the show itself. Mendelson told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 2000 that he was short on time in finding a lyricist for the song, so he sketched out the six verses himself in “about 15 minutes on the backside of an envelope.” He found a choir from a church in his native Northern California to sing the song that sets the show’s unforgettable tone, beginning with Mendelson’s words: “Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer, fun for all that children call, their favorite time of year.” The show won an Emmy and a Peabody Award and has aired on TV annually ever since. The team that made it would go on to create more than 50 network specials, four feature films and many other “Peanuts” projects. Mendelson also took other comic strips from newspapers to animated TV, including “Garfield,” for which he produced a dozen television specials. His death was first reported by The Daily Post of Palo Alto. Born in San Francisco in 1933, Mendelson’s family moved to nearby San Mateo when he was a boy, and later to nearby Hillsborough, where he went to high school. He graduated from Stanford in 1954, served in the Air Force and worked for his father’s fruit-and-vegetable company

before going into TV for the Bay Area’s KPIX-TV. In 1963 he started his own production company and made a documentary on San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays, “A Man Named Mays,” that became a hit television special on NBC. Mendelson liked to say that he decided to turn from the world’s greatest baseball player to the world’s worst: Charlie Brown. He and Schulz originally worked on a “Peanuts” documentary that proved a hard sell for TV, but midway through 1965 a sponsor asked them if they could create the first comic strip’s first animated special in time for Christmas. Schulz wrote the now-familiar story of a depressed Charlie Brown seeking the meaning of Christmas, a school Christmas play with intractable actors including his dog Snoopy, a limp and unappreciated Christmas tree, and a recitation of the nativity story from his best friend Linus. Mendelson hired Guaraldi to provide the music after hearing the jazz artist’s song “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. Mendelson said the team showed the special to executives at CBS a week before it was slated to air, and they hated it, with its hyper-simplicity, dour tone, biblical themes, lack of laugh track and actual children’s voices instead of adults mimicking them, as was common. “I really believed, if it hadn’t been scheduled for the following week, there’s no way they were gonna broadcast that show,” Mendelson said on a 2004 documentary for the DVD of the special. Instead, it went on to become perhaps the biggest holiday classic in television. “It became part of everybody’s Christmas holidays,” Mendelson told The Los Angeles Times in 2015. “It was just passed on from generation to generation. ... We got this huge initial audience and never lost them.” Mendelson is survived by his wife, Ploenta, his children Lynda, Glenn, Jason and Sean, his stepson Ken and eight grandchildren. Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ andyjamesdalton.

ARIES A little reflection is required this week. Spend some time assessing the best and worst parts of the past year before making your New Year’s resolutions. You’ll also be drawn to a new form of spirituality. TAURUS You’ll be responsible for an event that brings together many of your closest friends and family members. You’ll also accomplish something that will be remembered for many years. If you’re single, a quiet office will make you see a colleague in a new light. GEMINI It’s time to clean up after a season of parties. You’re a great host and organized a memorable event for your whole family. Don’t be late for the countdown on New Year’s Eve! CANCER If you buy a lottery ticket with family, don’t be surprised if you find yourselves with the means to finish off the year with a group vacation. At the very least, lots of fun will be had, and you’ll be on the receiving end of an immense generosity. LEO Someone divulges a family secret to you this week. You’ll be particularly sensitive and may make a speech that will move more than one person. You’ll need to deal with an emergency at work, even if you’re at a party. VIRGO It may be a good idea to distance yourself from conflicts in the family, especially if they don’t concern you. Or, you could save a situation by convincing two family members to bury the hatchet. LIBRA You’re not one to sit idly by so whether you’re the host or not, you’ll be involved in serving guests and making them feel welcome. In your love life, the magic of the holidays will help rekindle the spark. SCORPIO You’ll find yourself in the spotlight this week. You’ll talk to everyone and make them laugh with your biting sarcasm. You may even be applauded, which would be great for your self-esteem. SAGITTARIUS You’ll spend the week with your family and devote much of your time to your children or elderly parents. You’ll also find a way to take a moment for yourself. A little alone time is great for the imagination. CAPRICORN You won’t keep your opinions to yourself this week. You put yourself in charge so that things go perfectly. Even if you step on some toes, the important thing is that you see tangible results. AQUARIUS You’ll have energy to spare this week. Despite a tight budget, the events that you organize are sure to be spectacular, thanks to your remarkable ideas and determination. Also, you can expect lots of affection in your relationship over the next few days. PISCES There’s lots going on this week, and your numerous initiatives will surprise even you. People will blindly follow you, even if your ideas seem a bit crazy. You’ll organize a spontaneous party.

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

CROSSWORD & SUDOKU Across 1. ____ roe 5. Bugle song 9. Mariner’s yes 12. Mountain cat 13. Heroic story 14. Busy buzzer 15. Like some cheese 16. Colleague 17. Building shape 18. Upper House 20. In a funny way 22. Secondhand 25. Jittery 29. Mound’s peak 33. Basis 34. Thanksgiving vegetable 35. Sightsee 36. Ivy, e.g. 38. Run-down 39. Thoroughfare 41. Responded to an alarm, maybe 44. Antenna 49. “Gunga ____” 50. Stick 53. Loaﬁng 54. Devoid of water 55. Skin coloration 56. Animal skin 57. Male or female 58. Cravings 59. Declares

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times. Government Notices n n n Committee Report Passed: December 16, 2019 ORDINANCE NO. 2019-247-O WHEREAS, The City of Rockford is the owner of and possessed of the real estate hereinafter particularly described; and WHEREAS, the said real estate is no longer necessary, appropriate or required for the use of, nor profitable to, the City of Rockford; and WHEREAS, retention of the property is not for the best interest of said City of Rockford. THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, THAT: Section 1: The City Council offer for sale of City owned property at of 728 South 6th Street, PIN #11-26-426-006 at a minimum bid of $22,325, which includes advertising, and with preference to the adjacent property owners. The city reserves the right to reject all bids. The subject property is legally described as follows: THE WEST ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR AND FIFTY- EIGHT HUNDREDTHS (134.58) FEET OF LOTS FOUR (4) AND FIVE (5) IN BLOCK TWENTY-FOUR (24) AS DESIGNATED UPON THE PLAT OF GREGORY AND GIDDINGS SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 24 AND 25 AND ADDITION TO THE CITY OFROCKFORD, THE PLAT OF WHICH IS RECORDED IN BOOK 46 OF DEEDS ON PAGE 388 IN THE RECORDER’S OFFICE OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, ILLINOIS Section 2: The Notice of said sale and the fact that said City of Rockford will receive bids for the purchase of said real estate shall be advertised in the Rock River Times, a weekly newspaper published in said City of Rockford, for three (3) consecutive weeks, the first publication to be not less than thirty (30) days before the day provided in said Notice for the opening bids for the real estate. Section 3: The said Notice shall set forth the fact that said bids will be received until 11:00 A.M., local Rockford time on February 3, 2020, at the office of the City of Rockford Purchasing Manager and shall be accompanied by a bank cashier’s or certified check payable to the City of Rockford for at least ten (10) percent of the amount of the bid, the balance to be paid in cash by the successful bidder within not more than fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the City Council’s acceptance of his bid. The City of Rockford reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids. Section 4: The provisions and sections of this Ordinance shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity of any portion of this Ordinance shall not affect the validity of the remainder. Section 5: All orders, resolutions, or ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed insofar as such conflict exists and this Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage, approval, and publication, as required by law. Section 6: A full, true, and complete copy of this Ordinance shall be published within ten (10) days after passage in pamphlet form by and under authority of the Corporate Authorities. 11114R TRRT 1/8

Public Notices n n n IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

WINNEBAGO COUNTY ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS MTGLQ INVESTORS LP; Plaintiff, vs. DANIEL R. BUCKMAN AKA DANIEL BUCKMAN; TIFFANY S. CADY AKA TIFFANY CADY; STATE OF ILLINOIS; Defendants, 18 CH 656 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at the hour of 1:00 p.m. Intercounty’s Winnebago County office, 7210 East State Street, Rockford, Illinois 61108, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: The East Thirty-Three and Thirty-Two Hundredths (33.32) feet in width of Lot Seven (7) and the West Thirty-Three and Thirty-Four Hundredths (33.34) feet in width of Lot Eight (8) in Block Two (2) as designated upon the replat of John V. Petritz Subdivision, being a replat of a part of Glen Eyre Subdivision, lying in a part of the North Half (1/2) of Section 1, Township 44 North, Range 1 East of the Third Principal Meridian, the replat of which is recorded in Book 14 of Plats on Page 180 in the Recorder’s Office of Winnebago County, Illinois, as said lots were laid out and designated on said plat prior to its vacation by instrument filed for record March 12, 1935 and recorded in Book 20 of Plats on Page 114 in said Recorder’s Office; situated in the County of Winnebago and State of Illinois. P.I.N. 11-01-251-030. Commonly known as 114 Pennsylvania Avenue, Loves Park, IL 61111. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 18-017499 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3139961 P11099R TRRT 1/1 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO PROBATE DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE OF: DIANNA LYNN AYLWARD, Deceased. CASE NO. 2019 P 541 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of DIANNA LYNN AYLWARD. Letters of Office were issued on November 27, 2019 to Ivory M. Bergeron, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is Tyler M. Crosby, Crosby Law Firm, P.C., 475 Executive Parkway, Rockford, Illinois 61107. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before June 18, 2020 that

date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by 755 ILCS 5/18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date as stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk-Probate Division at the Winnebago County Courthouse, Rockford, Illinois or with the estate legal representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office-Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his/her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. /s/ Tyler M. Crosby Tyler M. Crosby Attorney for Administrator Crosby Law Firm, P.C. Tyler M. Crosby 475 Executive Parkway Rockford, Illinois 61107 815/397-2006 815/394-1955 Fax 11106R TRRT 1/1 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO PROBATE DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE OF: HOWARD W. LYON, JR., Deceased. CASE NO. 2019 P 515 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of HOWARD W. LYON, JR. Letters of Office were issued on December 3, 2019 to Pamela Lyon, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is Tyler M. Crosby, Crosby Law Firm, P.C., 475 Executive Parkway, Rockford, Illinois 61107. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before June 18, 2020 that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by 755 ILCS 5/18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date as stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk-Probate Division at the Winnebago County Courthouse, Rockford, Illinois or with the estate legal representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office-Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his/her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. /s/ Tyler M. Crosby Tyler M. Crosby Attorney for Administrator Crosby Law Firm, P.C. Tyler M. Crosby 475 Executive Parkway Rockford, Illinois 61107 815/397-2006 815/394-1955 Fax 11107R TRRT 1/1 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO PROBATE DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE OF: MARYLEE A. HAAG, Deceased. CASE NO. 2019 P 543 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of MARYLEE A. HAAG. Letters of Office were issued on December 3, 2019 to Jeffrey D. Brooks, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is Tyler M. Crosby, Crosby Law Firm, P.C., 475 Executive Parkway, Rockford, Illinois 61107. Claims

against the estate may be filed on or before June 18, 2020 that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by 755 ILCS 5/18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date as stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk-Probate Division at the Winnebago County Courthouse, Rockford, Illinois or with the estate legal representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office-Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his/her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. /s/ Tyler M. Crosby Tyler M. Crosby Attorney for Administrator Crosby Law Firm, P.C. Tyler M. Crosby 475 Executive Parkway Rockford, Illinois 61107 815/397-2006 815/394-1955 Fax 11108R TRRT 1/1 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Sales Contracting business in said County and State under the name of Jesse J Sales Services at the following post office addresses: 10450 Metalmark Ln., Unit 1, Roscoe, IL 61073; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Jesse John Linczmaier SIGNED: Jesse John Linczmaier 12/13/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 13th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Pamela Johnson, DEPUTY 11109R TRRT 1/1 n n n IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY, ILLINOIS IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF SHARON L. FURGASON, No. 2019-P-546 Deceased. CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of SHARON L. FURGASON. Letters of Office were issued on December 9, 2019 to ROBERT FURGASON, who is the legal representative of the Estate. The attorney for the estate is Gary L. Ecklund, 4023 Charles Street, Rockford, IL 61108. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before June 25, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by Section 18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975, as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the Office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk-Probate Division at the Winnebago County Courthouse, Rockford, IL 61101, or with the estate legal representative, or both. Copies of the claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office--Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his attorney within ten days after it has been filed. DATED: December 17, 2019 Gary L. Ecklund Name: Gary L. Ecklund Attorney for Estate

Address: 4023 Charles Street City: Rockford, IL 61108 Telephone: (815) 229-5333 11118R TRRT 1/8 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT WINNEBAGO COUNTY PUBLICATION NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE (ADULT) Request of: JAMES MILO GRAHAM Current Name Case Number 19-MR-1063 There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: James Milo Graham to the new name of: Ember Miro Vetro. The court date will be held: on February 20, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., at 400 W. State St., Rockford, IL, Winnebago County, in Courtroom #426. /s/ James Graham James Graham Current Name 11119R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Barbershop business in said County and State under the name of Signature Fadez at the following post office addresses: 401 S. Independence Ave., Rockford, IL 61102; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Carlos R. Brown SIGNED: Carlos R. Brown 12/18/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 18th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11123R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Serving barbecue, ribs, fries and much more business in said County and State under the name of JC’s Barbecue and More at the following post office addresses: 4333 W. State St., Rockford, IL 61102; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Latosha Tate SIGNED: Latosha Tate 12/19/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 19th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Angela Reina, DEPUTY 11124R TRRT 1/8 n n n NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE: The following self-storage Cube contents containing household and other goods will be sold for cash by CubeSmart to satisfy a lien on JANUARY 9, 2020 at www. storagetreasures.com. Online Bids END Approx. 11:00AM at CubeSmart #6146, 7511 Vandiver Road, Cherry Valley, Illinois 61112 (815) 277-4051: CUBE B10, JILES AARON; CUBE DD12, COLTON SABO; CUBE J25, WLLIAM YANEZ; CUBE N48, ANNETTE KNITTER; CUBE P9, LAURIE THOMPSON. Online Bids END Approx. 11:30AM at CubeSmart #6150, 4548 American Road, Rockford, Illinois 61109 (815) 277-4049: CUBE B12, MICHAEL MASHAW; CUBE 715, JASON LABEAU; CUBE 1166, PASSION BRITTON; CUBE 1423, RAYMOND BELL; CUBE 2440, MERCEDES PEYTON; CUBE 2452, PHELLANESICE MALLARD; CUBE 2619, DIANE DYE; CUBE 2809, COLLYN CAFFREY;

CUBE 3610, TIFFANY BROWN; CUBE 4238, JESSICA STEGMEYER; CUBE 5106, MAGDALENA ORTIZ; CUBE 5723, RICHARD MCQUITTER; CUBE 5927, STEVEN E MENOR; CUBE 6608, TERRY CAZY. Online Bids END Approx. 11:30AM at CubeSmart #6153, 4560 Stenstrom Road, Rockford, Illinois 61109 (815) 277-4049: CUBE S89, TINA LAW; CUBE S125 JERRY WHITFIELD; CUBE S144 JEROME EGILSKE. Online Bids END Approx. 12:00PM at CubeSmart #6152, 3015 North Main Street, Rockford, Illinois 61103 (815) 2774054: CUBE A51, NATASHA GRIGSBY; CUBE A88, MORRIS D FLANNIGAN; CUBE A127, KENDRA SMITH; CUBE A188, KENNETH JOHNSON; CUBE B7, MELISSA KING; CUBE B10, JAMES REPPEN; CUBE B94, SHAMEKA WATSON; CUBE B135, CASETTA TUCKER; CUBE B136, ADAM STEINER; CUBE B139, MALIK JONES; CUBE B156, SHARIAH HIBBETT; CUBE B315, LORI MEDINA. Online Bids END Approx. 12:30PM at CubeSmart #6151, 6210 Forest Hills Road, Loves Park, Illinois 61111 (815) 2774052: CUBE 49, DON AIELLO; CUBE 206, TAMI WOOLDRIDGE; CUBE 405, RACHEL LIVESAY; CUBE 408D, MAQUEATA CLARK; CUBE 415, LORI SCHNORR; CUBE 604, WILLIE MOORE JR.; CUBE 605, MELIK D BERRYHILL. Online Bids END Approx. 1:00PM at Cubesmart #6148, 4300 Interstate Boulevard, Loves Park, Illinois 61111 (815) 2774053: CUBE 42, JENNIFER BUNJAN; CUBE 162, BEN KNITTEL; CUBE 246, COLLIN MALESKI. 11117R TRRT 1/1 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Clothing Boutique business in said County and State under the name of Fashion Slayy at the following post office addresses: 607 N. 2nd St., Apt. 1, Rockford, IL 61107; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Atira Lashley; Markiez Lacy SIGNED: Atira Lashley 12/16/19 SIGNED: Markiez Lacy 12/16/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 16th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Ashley Try, DEPUTY 11110R TRRT 1/1 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO IN CHANCERY IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: STEVEN SCHWARTZ, Plaintiff, vs. SHERRY SCHWARTZ, Defendant. CASE NO. 2019 D 978 PUBLICATION NOTICE The Affidavit for Publication having been filed and notice is hereby given to SHERRY SCHWARTZ, that on the 23rd day of December, 2019, STEVEN SCHWARTZ filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County, Illinois. Unless you, the Defendant,

file your Answer or otherwise make your appearance, in said cause, held in the Courthouse in Winnebago County, Illinois, on or before the 5th day of February, 2020, default may be entered against you thereafter and a default entered against you in accordance with the prayer of the Complaint. CLERK OF THE COURT, Winnebago County, State of Illinois KARL C. KOONMEN #6187646 Attorneys at Law 535 Loves Park Drive Loves Park, IL 61111 815-654-3060 11122R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Bakery business in said County and State under the name of B Sweet! at the following post office addresses: 6399 Nimtz Rd., Loves Park, IL 61111; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Carleysha Quince; Michael Quince Jr. SIGNED: Carleysha Quince 12/16/19 SIGNED: Michael Quince Jr. 12/16/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 16th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11112R TRRT 1/1 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Juice & Smoothie Bar business in said County and State under the name of Liquid 4 Life! at the following post office addresses: 6399 Nimtz Rd., Loves Park, IL 61111; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Carleysha Quince; Michael Quince Jr. SIGNED: Carleysha Quince 12/16/19 SIGNED: Michael Quince Jr. 12/16/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 16th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11113R TRRT 1/1 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Trampoline Park business in said County and State under the name of Flow Supreme Air Sports at the following post office addresses: 5505 East State Street, Rockford, IL 61108; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Brock Campbell SIGNED: Brock Campbell 12/23/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 23rd day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Kayla Hilliard, DEPUTY 11130R TRRT 1/8 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY IN PROBATE IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF: CARL H. SCHROEDER, DECEASED. Case No. 2019 P 553 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of

CARL H. SCHROEDER. Letters of Office were issued on September 11, 2019 to Cody Cramer, Executor, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is BRIAN K. LARKIN, ONE COURT PLACE, SUITE 301, ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS 61101. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before July 1, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or Delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by Section 18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk--Probate Division at the Winnebago County Courthouse, 400 W. State Street, Rockford, Illinois, or with the legal representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office--Probate Division must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his/her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. DATED: December 23, 2019 /s/ Cody Cramer CODY CRAMER Brian K. Larkin Attorney at Law One Court Place, Suite 301 Rockford, IL 61101 815-964-4601 Brian@blarkinlaw.com 11121R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact an Apparel business in said County and State under the name of CRUCIAL at the following post office addresses: 7144 Sue Lane, Loves Park, IL 61111; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Tamishia Moore SIGNED: Tamishia Moore 12/23/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 23rd day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11129R TRRT 1/8 n n n SUPPLEMENTARY CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP OF BUSINESS (ADDITION OF NAME) STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO ss. Certificate No. 034161 On the 3rd day of May, A.D. 2018, the original certificate of ownership was filed in the office of County Clerk, in the County of Winnebago, Illinois for: Serrano’s Construction & Remodeling at the following address(es): 5792 Dover Rd., Rockford, IL 61109. On the 26th day of December, A.D. 2019, the following person or persons were added to said organization and now have a financial interest in the business carried on under such assumed name: Miguel Serrano SIGNED: Miguel Serrano 12/26/19 STATE OF ILLINOIS, County of Winnebago ss. The above being duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says that the foregoing is a true and correct supplementary report of the person or persons who have been added to the above-named firm together with their post-office addresses. Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed) to before me, this 26th day of December A.D. 2019. Maria Pinedo, Deputy Clerk 11140R TRRT 1/1

The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a All Season Home Care Snow Removal, Landscaping etc. business in said County and State under the name of Right-A-Way All Season Exterior Home Care at the following post office addresses: 2113 Jamestown Dr., Rockford, IL 61109; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Cory Colquett SIGNED: Cory Colquett 12/19/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 19th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Thalia Gallardo, DEPUTY 11125R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a forestry consulting business in said County and State under the name of Greenwood Consulting at the following post office addresses: 815 Greenlee Ave., Winnebago, IL 61088; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Michael Woolery SIGNED: Michael Woolery 12/20/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 20th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11126R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Construction, General Construction business in said County and State under the name of 1st Brothers Construction at the following post office addresses: 608 Daisyfield Rd., Rockford, IL 61102; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Juan A. Nava; Luis Nava SIGNED: Juan A. Nava 12/20/19 SIGNED: Luis Nava 12/20/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 20th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Thalia Gallardo, DEPUTY 11127R TRRT 1/8 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact an Embroidery and promotions business in said County and State under the name of Thread Impressions at the following post office addresses: 120

Fairview Blvd., Rockford, IL 61107; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Andrea Ellison SIGNED: Andrea Ellison 12/19/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 19th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Maria Pinedo, DEPUTY 11128R TRRT 1/8 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY NORTHWEST BANK OF ROCKFORD, Plaintiff, VS. CHACE GALLAGHER, MADISON HOGLUND, UNKNOWN OTHERS, NONRECORD CLAIMANTS and UNKNOWN TENANTS, Defendants. CASE NO. 2019 CH 719 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE THE REQUISITE Affidavit for Publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to the Unknown Others, Non Record Claimants and Unknown Others, the Defendants in the above-entitled suit, that the said suit has been commenced in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County, Illinois, against you praying for a foreclosure of a mortgage upon the following property: Lots Four (4) and Five (5) in Block Fifteen (15) as designated upon the Plat of the Town of Winnebago, being a part of the Northeast Quarter (1/4) of the Southeast Quarter (1/4) of Section 8 and the Southwest Quarter (1/4) of the Southwest Quarter (1/4) of Section 9, in Township 26 North, Range 11 East of the Fourth Principal Meridian, the Plat of which is recorded in Book 30 of Deeds on Page 1 in the Recorder’s Office of Winnebago County, Illinois, EXCEPTING the West Forty-Six (46) feet of said Lot Four (4), the East line of said excepted tract being parallel with the West line of said Lot Four (4); situated in the County of Winnebago and State of Illinois. Commonly known as: 207 E. Bluff Street Winnebago, Illinois 61088 Property Code: 512D 370 P.I.N. Number: 14-09-304-009 And for other relief, that the action was filed on or about November 25, 2019. That Summons was duly issued out of said Court against you as provided by law, and that the said suit is still pending. The record titleholder of the real estate is Chace Gallagher and Madison Hoglund.. An identification of the mortgage sought to be foreclosed is as follows: Mortgagor – Chace Gallagher and Madison Hoglund Mortgagee – Northwest Bank of Rockford Date of Mortgage – February

n n n REAL ESTATE NOTICE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY - ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS MTGLQ INVESTORS LP; Plaintiff, vs. DANIEL R. BUCKMAN AKA DANIEL BUCKMAN; TIFFANY S. CADY AKA TIFFANY CADY; STATE OF ILLINOIS; Defendants, 18 CH 656 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of

28, 2019 Date of Recording – March 7, 2019 County of Recording – Winnebago Recording Document – 20191005437 NOW THEREFORE, unless you the Unknown Others, Nonrecord Claimants and Unknown Tenants, the said Defendants, file your Answer to the Complaint in said suit or otherwise make your appearance therein in the said Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County, 400 W. State Street in the City of Rockford, State of Illinois on or before February 1, 2020, default may be entered against you at any time after that date and a judgment may be entered in accordance with the prayer of the Complaint. Dated at Rockford, IL on the 26th day of December 2019. Thomas A. Klein, Clerk of the Circuit Court Winnebago County, Illinois Plaintiff’s Attorney Timothy F. Horning #973 MEYER & HORNING, P.C. 3400 N. Rockton Avenue Rockford, IL 61103 815/636-9300 11131R TRRT 1/15 n n n IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY PROBATE DIVISION In the Matter of the Estate of: CHRISTINA RODRIGUEZ, Deceased, CASE NO. 2019 P 530 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of CHRISTINA RODRIGUEZ. Letters of Office of Administrator issued on December 3, 2019 to MARIA RODRIGUEZ, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is Darlene D. Soderberg, 1 Court Place, Suite 402, Rockford, IL 61101. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before July 1, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to Creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by Section 18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Clerk’s Office-Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. DATED: December 24, 2019 Attorney Darlene D. Soderberg 1 Court Pl Ste 402 Rockford IL 61101 815-987-1990 11132R TRRT 1/15 n n n IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY PROBATE DIVISION In the Matter of the Estate of: GARY NEWMAN, Deceased, CASE NO. 2019 P 560 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of

GARY NEWMAN. Letters of Office of Executor issued on December 23, 2019 to THERESA MERSHON, who is the legal representative of the estate, with publication notice to Crystal Henshaw. The attorney for the estate is Darlene D. Soderberg, 1 Court Place, Suite 402, Rockford, IL 61101. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before July 1, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to Creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by Section 18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975 as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Clerk’s Office-Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. DATED: December 24, 2019 Attorney Darlene D. Soderberg 1 Court Pl Ste 402 Rockford IL 61101 815-987-1990 11133R TRRT 1/15 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a Snow Plowing and Yard business in said County and State under the name of Roger Millsap at the following post office addresses: 8026 Amber Dr., Machesney Park, IL 61115; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Roger Millsap SIGNED: Roger Millsap 12/26/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 26th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Ashley Try, DEPUTY 11139R TRRT 1/15 n n n IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WINNEBAGO COUNTY, ILLINOIS IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF: CONSTANCE M. LUX, Deceased. CASE NO. 2019 P 563 CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE is given of the death of CONSTANCE M. LUX. Letters of Office were issued on December 17, 2019 to KELLY L. LUX, who is the legal representative of the estate. The attorney for the estate is ANTHONY A. SAVAIANO, 535 Loves Park Dr., Loves Park, IL 61111. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before July 8, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to Creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by Section 18-3 of the Illinois Probate Act, 1975, as amended, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite

Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at the hour of 1:00 p.m. Intercounty’s Winnebago County office, 7210 East State Street, Rockford, Illinois 61108, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 11-01-251-030. Commonly known as 114 Pennsylvania Avenue, Loves Park, IL 61111.

date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Winnebago County Circuit Clerk-Probate Div. at the Winnebago County Courthouse, 400 W. State St., Rockford, IL 61101, or with the estate legal representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s OfficeProbate Div., must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to his/her attorney within ten (10) days after it has been filed. DATED: 12/26/19 KELLY L. LUX, ADMINISTRATOR ANTHONY A. SAVAIANO #87 Attorney for Estate 535 Loves Park Drive Loves Park, IL 61111 815/654-3060 11134R TRRT 1/15 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: CLARISSA L. RALLO, Petitioner, vs. TIMOTHY A. PRUITT, Respondent. Case No. 19-D-911 NOTICE BY PUBLICATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to Respondent Timothy A. Pruitt that Petitioner Clarissa L. Rallo has caused to be filed a PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE and other relief in the above-captioned cause of action. You are further notified that if you fail to file an answer or otherwise appear on or before February 3, 2020, a judgment by default may be entered against you at any time thereafter for the relief requested in the petition. /s/ Clarissa L. Rallo, Petitioner 11135R TRRT 1/15 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO In the Matter of the Estate of TROY R. NELSON, deceased No. 2019-P-0000561 CLAIMS NOTICE Notice is given of the death of TROY R. NELSON. Letters of office were issued on December 16, 2019, to LASHELL M. DAVIS, whose address is 1913 Lafayette Drive, Belvidere, IL 61008, as administrator, whose attorney is TOBIN & RAMON, 530 South State Street; Suite 200, Belvidere, Illinois 61008-3711. Claims against the estate may be filed on or before July 1, 2020, that date being at least six (6) months from the date of first publication, or within three (3) months from the date of mailing or delivery of Notice to creditors, if mailing or delivery is required by 755 ILCS 5/18-3, whichever date is later. Any claim not filed by the requisite date stated above shall be barred. Claims against the state may be filed in the Office of the WINNEBAGO County Circuit Clerk -- Probate Division at the WINNEBAGO County Courthouse, 400 W. State St., Rockford, Illinois 61101, or with the estate legal

representative, or both. Copies of claims filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office -- Probate Division, must be mailed or delivered to the estate legal representative and to her attorney within ten days after it has been filed. DATED: December 23, 2019. LASHELL M. DAVIS, Administrator TOBIN & RAMON Attorneys for Estate 530 South State Street; Suite 200 Belvidere, Illinois 61008-3711 (815) 544-0316 11136R TRRT 1/15 n n n ASSUMED NAME CERTIFICATE OF INTENTION STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO This is to certify that the undersigned intend to conduct and transact a tax preparation business in said County and State under the name of MD Accounting at the following post office addresses: 6285 Tudor Ln., Loves Park, IL 61111; that the true and real full names of all persons owning, conducting or transacting such business are as follows: Michael B. Decman SIGNED: Michael B. Decman 12/30/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed to) before me, this 30th day of December, A.D. 2019. Lori Gummow, COUNTY CLERK Thalia Gallardo, DEPUTY 11142R TRRT 1/15 n n n Declaration of Nationality Notice of Special Appearance : I am: kaltved, joshua aaron© in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: KALTVED, JOSHUA AARON©, corp.sole Dba.: JOSHUA AARON KALTVED©, having reached the age of majority, being aboriginal to the northwestern and southwestern shores of Africa, the Atlantic Islands, the continental Americas, being duly sworn, hereby affirms to declare my intention to be as my pedigree subscribes, as an: shabtau moorish american moslem national , but not a citizen of the United States. I declare permanent, and inalienable, allegiance to the Moorish Empire, Societas Republicae Ea Al Maurikanuus Estados / United States Republic, The Constitution for the united States of America, Article III Section 2, The Barbary Treaties, International Law, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and all Natural laws governing moors and hereby Declare and Proclaim my nationality as an: shabtau moorish american moslem national. I am: kaltved, joshua aaron©, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality / Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “bey, joshua aaron©”. Notice of Merging of Legal Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: KALTVED, JOSHUA AARON©, corp.sole Dba.: JOSHUA AARON KALTVED©, to the depositor: bey, joshua aaron©, nom deguerre: kaltved, joshua aaron©. All property , of the same

issue and amount, in like kind and specie, is to be returned fully intact , as a Special Deposit order of the Depositor / Beneficiary / Bailor / Donor / Principal / Creditor: bey, joshua aaron©, nom deguerre: kaltved, joshua aaron©, as a special deposit order in lawful money. This special deposit is to be used exclusively for the benefit of : COSMOLOGY OF JOSHUA BEY TRUST, a private foreign islamism ecclesiastical trust. This deposit is not to be commingled with general assets of any bank , nor depositary / trustee / agent / bailee / donee / debtor. This deposit is not limited to, but including: discharge and set off, of any and all outstanding liabilities as accord and satisfaction. All Rights Reserved. 11137R TRRT 1/22 n n n Declaration of Nationality Notice of Special Appearance : I am: sheridan, tristan michael© in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: SHERIDAN, TRISTAN MICHAEL©, corp.sole Dba.: TRISTAN MICHAEL SHERIDAN©, having reached the age of majority, being aboriginal to the northwestern and southwestern shores of Africa, the Atlantic Islands, the continental Americas, being duly sworn, hereby affirms to declare my intention to be as my pedigree subscribes, as an: shabtau moorish american moslem national , but not a citizen of the United States. I declare permanent, and inalienable, allegiance to the Moorish Empire, Societas Republicae Ea Al Maurikanuus Estados / United States Republic, The Constitution for the united States of America, Article III Section 2, The Barbary Treaties, International Law, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and all Natural laws governing moors and hereby Declare and Proclaim my nationality as an: shabtau moorish american moslem national. Any and all facts contained in this publication, are fully applicable to any and all private tribal issue offspring of: sheridan, tristan michael©, & my wives, Nunc pro tunc, not limited to but including : 1. sheridan, aaliyah marie©, the beneficiary and heir of: SHERIDAN, AALIYAH MARIE©, corp sole, Dba: AALIYAH MARIE SHERIDAN©. I am: sheridan, tristan michael© from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality / Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “sheridan-bey, tristan michael©”. Notice of Merging of Legal Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: SHERIDAN, TRISTAN MICHAEL©, corp.sole Dba.: TRISTAN MICHAEL SHERIDAN©, & Re: SHERIDAN, AALIYAH MARIE©, corp sole, Dba: AALIYAH MARIE SHERIDAN©, etc., to the depositor, and or in the capacity as Guardian/Chairman of the Board of Trustees: sheridan-bey, tristan michael©, nom deguerre: sheridan, tristan michael©. All property , of the same issue and amount, in like kind and specie, is to be returned fully intact , as a

Special Deposit order of the Depositor / Beneficiary / Bailor / Donor / Principal / Creditor: sheridan-bey, tristan michael©, nom deguerre: sheridan, tristan michael©, as a special deposit order in lawful money. This special deposit is to be used exclusively for the benefit of : TRISTAN MICHAEL BEY TRUST, a private foreign islamism ecclesiastical trust. SHERIDAN, AALIYAH MARIE©, corp sole, Dba: AALIYAH MARIE SHERIDAN© is hereby conveyed to AALIYAH MARIE BEY TRUST when the beneficiary reaches the age of majority. This deposit is not to be commingled with general assets of any bank , nor depositary / trustee / agent / bailee / donee / debtor. This deposit is not limited to, but including: discharge and set off, of any and all outstanding liabilities as accord and satisfaction. All Rights Reserved. 11138R TRRT 1/22 n n n STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF JESSE JAMES TYLER JOHNSON JR. Minor’s Current Name NAYELI L. BALTAZAR Name of Parent/Guardian filing on behalf of the Minor Case No. 19 MR 882 NOTICE OF FILING PETITION FOR NAME CHANGE Notice is hereby given, that on February 20, 2020, at 10 a.m., I will present a Petition requesting that the Court change his/her present name of Jesse James Tyler Johnson Jr., a minor, to the name of Jesse James Baltazar. The hearing will take place at Winnebago County Courthouse, 400 West State St. in Rockford, Illinois. Jesse James Tyler Johnson Jr., a minor, by, Nayeli L. Baltazar, Parent/Guardian Date: 12/18/19 11120R TRRT 1/8 n n n SUPPLEMENTARY CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP OF BUSINESS WITHDRAWAL OF NAME(S) STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO ss. Certificate No. 034161 On the 3rd day of May, A.D. 2018, the original certificate of ownership was filed in the office of County Clerk, in the County of Winnebago, Illinois for Serrano’s Construction & Remodeling at the following address(es): 5792 Dover Rd., Rockford, IL 61109. On the 26th day of December, A.D. 2019, the following person or persons ceased doing business under the above assumed name and have no further connection with or financial interest in the business carried on under such assumed name: Sergio Serrano SIGNED: Sergio Serrano 12/26/19 Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed) to before me, this 26th day of December A.D. 2019. Maria Pinedo, Deputy Clerk 11141R TRRT 1/1

The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family resFor information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley idence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section (614) 220-5611. 18-017499 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for I3139961 inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. P11099R TRRT 1/1

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

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January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

ALPINE CHALET APARTMENTS E. STATE & ALPINE Building Lives, Building Futures

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

Crossword

Theme: BEST-SELLING AUTHORS

Hockey

‘Hogs drop pair, remain in third place By Jim Hagerty Reporter

Across 1. Fresh talk 5. Jet follower 8. Sherlock Holmes’ assignment 12. U in I.C.U. 13. Tiny river 14. Fires 15. Weather ____ 16. *”How to Make an American Quilt” author 1 7. D i s t i n g u i s h i n g feature 18. *Master of legal thriller 20. “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” singer 21. Keyboard key 22. G, in solfa 23. *Master of Western fiction 26. Flavorful rice dish, pl. 30. Former name of Tokyo 31. Broadcasting devices 34. Whiskey without water 35. Dried fruit and spices, in a pie 3 7. M e m b e r o f

Shoshonean people 38. Discombobulate 39. Drawn to light 40. Young traveler’s inn 42. “____ it or lose it!” 43. Hindu spiritual retreat, pl. 45. Chase away 4 7. P h i l o s o p h i c a l system 48. Single-cell protozoan 50. Home on a limb 52. *James Bond creator 54. Cafe option 55. Site of Taj Mahal 56. Fir s t queen of Carthage 59. Goes up or down 60. Jiffs 61. What accomplices do 62. 2 aspirin, e.g. 63. Old college one 64. Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday Down 1. Blazer or Explorer 2. Baptist leader? 3. *”I ____ The Body Electric” by Whitman or Bradbury

4. Sound setup 5. Like a ballerina 6. “I do” spot 7. Thieve 8. *Master of romance and particularly prolific 9. Palm tree berry 10. Sleigh runners 11. Is, in Paris 13. Podium 14. Counter seat 19. Habituate 22. Female sib 23. Helping theorem 24. Bye, in Castile 25. Calendar unit of time 26. *William Shakespeare or Dr. Seuss 27. Sick and tired 2 8 . Wr o n g an s w e r adjective 29. *Her ever y novel was a best-seller 32. Abbott and Costello, Rocky and Bullwinkle, etc. 33. “____ all fun and games...” 36. *Ma s ter of

detective novel 38. “My wife can vouch for me,” e.g. 40. Expression of doubt 41. Swellings 44. Daisy-like bloom 46. Summer shoe 48. *Master of the dime novel 49. Bryan Stevenson’s “Just ____” 50. Brussels’ org. 51. JFK or ORD postings 52. Like Usain Bolt 53. Hurtful remark 54. Dropped drug 57. Bear’s hibernation place 5 8 . Pro ba s eball’s “Master Melvin”

ROCKFORD - The Rockford IceHogs are adjusting to a roster shakeup that saw five key players shipped to the Blackhawks in December. And unlike typical recall situations, some of those players may be with Chicago for an extended time. As a result, coach Derek King’s group of young talent is now tasked with filling those holes. They responded well after early call-ups but dropped a pair games last week, including a not-so-pretty 6-2 affair with the Iowa Wild Friday. In Friday’s action, Iowa dominated from the opening faceoff, scoring twice in the first 50 seconds. The ‘Hogs then gave the dense BMO Harris Bank Center crowd hope with two minutes left in the first when Brandon Hagel made it 2-1, a respectable score going into the first intermission. But Iowa’s Dmitry Sokolov spoiled that plan, making a two-goal deficit at the break. Rockford skated with Iowa in the second but failed to generate quality scoring chances. Managing only four shots on goal, the IceHogs played most of the second frame in the neutral and defensive zones. Iowa didn’t deliver a polished period either and only registered five shots on Kevin Lankinen. The Wild’s third period was a notable 20 minutes though. Brandon Duhaime and Gerald Mayhew found the back of the net before former IceHogs forward Luke Johnson made it 6-1 and fans start heading for the exits. Anton Wedin scored late in the third for Rockford, but it was too late to mount a comeback. The IceHogs traveled Saturday and prepared for Sunday’s tilt against the sixth-place Manitoba Moose, a team they defeated Dec. 3 at home. It would be home team again this time--the other home team--as goals by Tyler Sikura and Philip Holm weren’t enough for Rockford. Sikura opened the scoring midway through the first period and gave the ‘Hogs a 1-0 edge, a lead that would last until the final 67 seconds. That’s when Jonathan Kovacevic added a power-play strike to spark Manitoba’s offense. Kristian Reichel and Michael Spacek added Moose goals in the second period to give Manitoba a 3-1 advantage. It looked as though the IceHogs would claw back into

Crossword & Sudoku

This week’s solutions, from Page 19.

it midway through the period when Holm scored their second goal. But it was not to be. Rockford’s Collin Delia and Manitoba’s Mikhail Berdin weren’t solved in the third period; Berdin had 30 saves to Delia’s 21. “I thought over three periods we competed hard,” King said. “It was a good hockey game. Both goalies played well. We had opportunities, and I was happy with the way we performed. We were good today. We didn’t score when we had the chances but at least we’re getting them.” The third-place IceHogs have now dropped their last three games, dating back to their Dec. 21 loss to the Cleveland Monsters. They practiced Monday ahead of their New Year’s Eve rematch with the Moose. “Obviously, three games here now, we don’t want to extend this (losing streak) any longer,” King said. “We’ll work on a few things and get the guys up and down the ice.” Results of Tuesday’s game can be found at rockrivertimes.com and on TRRT social media. As for how he sees things without Matthew Highmore, Dylan Sikura, Dennis Gilbert, John Quenneville and Adam Boqvist in his lineup, King stands by earlier sentiments that whoever is left must take the reins and keep the system rolling. “The five guys that are up, if they are in our lineup, obviously we are a better hockey team,” he said. “But we shouldn’t have to change our game. We should stick with our structure--stick with our game plan and just play our kind of hockey. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. We should be able to execute.”

Tomkins loaned

IceHogs goaltender Matt Tomkins has been loaned Team Canada for the 2019 Spengler Cup. The 25-year-old has has appeared in six games with the IceHogs this season, posting a 4-2-0 record with a 2.66 GAA and .912 save percentage. He Team Canada roster which features former IceHogs captain, Kris Versteeg, and the ‘Hogs’ leading point scorer from their 2018 postseason run, forward Chris DiDomenico. Versteeg has been skating with his brother, Mitch, in Slovakia prior to the tournament, while DiDomenico, who led Rockford with 18 points (7g, 11a) in 13 Calder Cup Playoff games in 2018, joins Canada from the SCL Tigers in Switzerland.

January 1, 2020 The Rock River Times.

FOOTBALL

A needle in the Bears’ depressing stack: Allen Robinson BY ROBERT ZEGLINSKI CONTRIBUTOR

Professionalism is difficult in dire straits. When everyone and everything around you is preoccupied with falling apart, when desolation has had its say, having the temerity to maintain a smile, to thrive, is the rarest of gifts. The human instinct in such situations is to enter the side cellar, curl up into a ball, go into fetal position, and wait the calamity of a tornado outside out. It’s better to acknowledge the problem and act as if it has no e�ect save for how it’s forcing you to uproot your entire existence. But those with courage and talent in one are di�erent. They’re wired in such a fashion that adversity can’t phase them if it pulled out all the stops. If adversity played every trick in the book, Allen Robinson was prepared for every surprise. The Bears did not meet expectations in 2019. An 8-8 finish marked by consternation over the future and wasted opportunity has cast a cloud of significant doubt over an organization that was beaming only six months ago. It’s veterans, professionals, such as Robinson, who proved the Bears could count on him in a pinch, that maintain an optimistic vision of something transcendent. Of something worth playing for and sacrificing your body for. Even in the midst of one of the more agonizing slow burn tailspins in franchise history, the 26-year-old Robinson never lost sight of what mattered and what he could control. He plugged and played, and plugged in plays

as the only verifiable threat on a listless Chicago o�ense. He gave the Bears something to look forward to. In a comeback season for the ages (relatively speaking), Robinson shined in a fashion that would’ve stood out had the Bears lived up to their billing. He enjoyed the best season of his young career. “It’s been a tough year for us, but I think the biggest thing is that we kept fighting,” said Robinson in a somber post-season locker room at Halas Hall. A fitting assessment considering it was Robinson who led the pack of never electing to wave the white flag. A man who never stopped fighting and never backed down. If you ask Robinson, the Bears were never in a tailspin. As long as he was healthy and contributing, they always had a chance at relevancy. They always had a prayer of making something of themselves, of their team, of the last calendar year of a decade meaning more. To Robinson, as long as he was playing like the franchise player he was purported to be, he exercised every ounce of his power in assistance of that lost vision. It was only two years ago that Robinson limped o� the field at NRG Stadium in Houston. An ACL tear that threw his outlook and playing days into doubt was the least of his concern. He was unaware of the struggles to come. The strength needed to work past mental and physical demons that come as part of a anxious package deal with ACL injuries. But the focus and determination to prove detractors wrong

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drove a young receiver mad, in a good way. To prove to himself that he was capable of rebounding and making something of himself yet. Two years later, after settling into a role of comfort as one of the NFL’s most underrated No. 1 targets, the proof is in the orange and blue pudding. Robinson alone is responsible for enacting the tasty mixing and matching of sugars, starches, ﬂavors, and oils. He’s made a delectable rice pudding to be proud of. The ledger of accomplishments over the past four months for Robinson isn’t gaudy. But it doesn’t have to be. He made the most of what was given to him, of the 154 targets (many airmailed, many at his feet) toward his lengthy direction. 98 receptions, the ﬁfth-most in single-season Bears history. 1,147 yards, the eighthmost in single-season Bears history. The humiliation of any cornerback who dared line up across from him, even when they knew the ball was absolutely coming in his direction. A vaunted security blanket even a wet blanket of a quarterback like Mitchell Trubisky couldn’t miss on his worst day. This was the Robinson the Bears thought they were paying for when they acquired him in free agency two o�-seasons ago. A game-changer regardless of the tumultuous circumstances surrounding his exploits. A real No. 1 receiver, not merely a No. 1 target in an o�ense by default. This is the Robinson the Bears can continue to build around, to assuage and feed. This is the Robinson the Bears can work to perhaps

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ﬁnd a quarterback that actually maximizes his fabulous skill-set. Trubisky won’t do it, as neither did Blake Bortles, as neither has any passer Robinson has worked with since high school. But maybe someone eventually will. That’s the moment Robinson is appreciated by more than the carcass of an o�ense he was forced to drag around his ankles for the duration of a season. That’s the deserved day where Robinson lives in the conversation of the game’s very best. That’s the moment he leaves the hush of the periphery and is paraded around and celebrated. The Bears might be close to a rebound come the start of next decade. Barring a few tweaks here and there, it’s not a hearty, bold position of contention. If Robinson has any say, the best player on an otherwise hapless team, believes that sentiment as such, then they are indeed very close. If Robinson has any say, another leaping reception or two over a whelming defender is enough of a statement of his belief in what’s to come in itself. Adversity will strike the Bears again, and soon. At the head of the pack to confront its misery and madness will stand Robinson. As he always has. “Looking back at the year, seeing how everything went, for us to go 8-8, I don’t think we’re far at all,” said Robinson. “I think we’re pretty close.” Robert is a writer, editor, and producer. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.

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The Rock River Times. January 1, 2020

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