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AMERICAN PROFILE, INSIDE
dailyGAZETTE
Friday, November 22, 2013
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
DIXON SCHOOLS | LINCOLN SCHOOL FUTURE
‘They’re all going to hurt’ Balanced budget options for district include elementary school closure BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 529
DIXON – If steps are taken, the Dixon school district could have a balanced budget by 2017, according to the superintendent. But those steps include closing Lincoln Elementary, cuts to various school
funds, and layoffs, which Superintendent Michael Juenger said he hopes could be done through attrition. Juenger presented the school board with five options, labeled A through E, during its regular meeting Wednesday night. Each of the five options includes closing Lincoln. The options were meant as a start-
ing point for a discussion with the board, teachers and staff about the best way to get the school district to a balanced budget. “They’re all going to hurt,” Juenger said Thursday. “We want to find the one that’s best for the school district.” The school district is facing a $1.5 million budget deficit in its current
fiscal year. If Lincoln were to close, its second- and third-grade students would move to Jefferson Elementary School. The fourth- and fifthgrade students at Jefferson would be housed at Reagan Middle School, according to Juenger’s proposal. OPTIONS CONTINUED ON A4
Michael Juenger Dixon school district superintendent
DIXON | SEXUAL ABUSE CASE
REMEMBERING JFK IN THE SAUK VALLEY
School’s leader charged Chief disappointed with VIVA! attorney response BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 521
AP/James W. (Ike) Altgens
In this Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, file photo, seen through the foreground convertible’s windshield, President John F. Kennedy’s hand reaches toward his head within seconds of being fatally shot as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy holds his forearm while the motorcade proceeds along Elm Street past the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. Gov. John Connally also was shot.
None of the ‘usual excited talk’ 50 years ago, Sauk Valley mourned JFK’s death BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
On Nov. 25, 1963, residents in Rock Falls and Sterling went about their business, according to an account in the Daily Gazette. That day, John F. Kennedy was laid to rest. “[I]t didn’t seem the usual loud sounds of a busy community could be heard,” reporter John Manion wrote in the Gazette. “Car horns didn’t seem to be used as loudly as usual during the early morning traffic rush. “The loud conversations
of men on their way to work were not as evident as usual. In restaurants this morning, there wasn’t the usual excited talk of Monday morning quarterbacks arguing the pros and cons of a Saturday or Sunday football game.” Most local businesses shut down during the funeral. “It seems to me to be such a personal loss that I just don’t want to eat,” an elderly woman told Manion in a local hotel dining room, though she said she was not a political supporter of Kennedy. MOURNED CONTINUED ON A4
INSIDE: In their own words, SVM readers remember that awful day. Pages A10-11
DIXON – An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for the president of a performing arts school on a charge of failing to report sexual abuse allegations against an instructor, police said. Curt Schmitt, president of DixDanny on’s VIVA! Per- Langloss forming A r t s Dixon police chief School, is charged with failure to report abuse or neglect, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a fine of $2,500. Schmitt also is president of the Chicago-based Canterbury Foundation, which is a donor to VIVA! Canterbury and had $4.5 million in its coffers in 2012. Dixon Police Chief Danny Langloss said police have statements from more than one person indicating that Schmitt knew about abuse allegations made by a former student against VIVA! vocal instructor Robert Campbell. In response to questions about why charges didn’t come sooner, Langloss said in a statement: “We were trying to give Mr. Schmitt every opportunity to cooperate and share his side, but he chose not to do so. Our detectives met with State’s Attorney [Anna] Sacco-Miller, presented the evidence, and she decided to file charges against him.” In an interview Tuesday, Schmitt’s attorney, Barbara Sullivan, told Sauk Valley Media that she had instructed Schmitt and others at VIVA! not to comment on the allegations of sexual abuse. She also called a statement made by Langloss about Schmitt “ridiculous.” In response, Langloss said: “I am disappointed with the response from the VIVA! attorney. CHARGED CONTINUED ON A5
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 159 ISSUE 245
INDEX
BUSINESS ......... A11 CHURCH.............. A9 COMICS ...............B6
CROSSWORD....B12 DEAR ABBY ......... A8 LIFESTYLE ........... A7
LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
Today’s weather High 39. Low 22. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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