VOLUME 58 NO. 7 • SERVING WHITESIDE, ROCK ISLAND COUNTIES SINCE 1857
T U E S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 2 2 • $ 1 .0 0
MASKS OPTIONAL
Erie, Illinois
Sarah Ford for Shaw Media
Riverdale Middle School students Olivia Williams (from left), seventh grade, Mercedez Chaney, sixth grade, Kaylee Overton, sixth grade, and Naomi Peschang, seventh grade, gather for a photo after the Riverdale Board of Education emergency meeting on Friday, Feb. 11, at the Betty Plumb Auditorium. The school board voted to make masking optional, effective immediately, after a Sangamon County judge ruled against the state’s school mandates on Friday, Feb. 4.
REGIONAL NEWS
REGIONAL NEWS
Best of Sauk Valley
Climbing Mountains
State Bound
Resthave Care & Rehab awarded gold medals. / 4
Fulton local to share adventures of climbing. / 4
Local wrestlers are heading to state. / 16-18
WHAT’S INSIDE Social News........................................ 3 Glimpses of the Past......................... 8 Property Transfers........................... 10 Published every Tuesday 24 pages • One section
LOCAL NEWS
High School Sports ..................16-18 Church News............................ 19-20 Classified Ads ........................21-23
DEATHS Cynthia R. (Smith) Vanderleest, Richard ‘Ric’ Lee Shaffer, Carl Vander Eide, Arlyn D. Huizenga, Sunee Klairoong, Margaret E. Naftzger, Donald Wayne Brands, Cnythia Dee Mayfield, Larry D. Wilkins, Duane Allan Tichler, Pages 5-7