Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal October 17, 2013 Volume 151, Number 25 - $1.00
Solid Victory
Pumpkin 5K
Wellness Fair
After a close loss last week, the Cardinals rebounded with a win over Dakota. B1
Participants in a 5K run will receive a pumpkin Oct. 26. A6
A Wellness and Resource Fair will be held Friday, Oct. 25 at the Rock River Center. A7
Engineers examine Black Hawk to collect data Restoration will be completed in the next year By Vinde Wells Editor It will likely be a month before the results of testing on Ogle County’s best-known landmark are available. Structural engineer Aldo De La Haza said Oct. 11 that it will take some time to make three dimensional drawings of the Black Hawk Statue and to analyze the data collected during four days of testing. The iconic statue, which is under the authority of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), sits on a high bluff at Lowden State Park northeast of Oregon. De La Haza, who works for the Dynasty Group, Chicago, and other experts spent most of last week examining the 102-year-old concrete statue and doing non-destructive testing to determine what needs to be done to repair and preserve the statue, which has been damaged by the ravages of time and weather. “It would be a shame not to
preserve this statue,� De La Haza said. He and fellow engineer Daniel Schultz used high-tech scanners which allowed them to see inside the concrete to assess its condition and to determine the amount and location of steel reinforcing. The locations of the steel were then marked on tape placed on the statue’s hollow interior. Another crew scanned the statue with rotating lasers Friday to create an exact 3-D model of the statue. The testing, which also included ground-penetrating radar work and ultrasonic tomography, was finished Oct. 11. The statue has developed cracks, and large pieces of its concrete surface have dislodged. The folded arms of the 50-foot monolith have been especially affected. The cost for the assessment and repairs has been estimated at $625,000. More than half the money for the project came from a $350,000 grant the IDNR received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The rest came from donations, as well as funds
An engineer uses a laser to scan Black Hawk’s head to make a 3-D drawing of the statue. Photo by Vinde Wells
raised during the annual Oregon Trail Days festival held at Lowden Park since 2010. A large contributor was the Jeffris Family Foundation, Janesville, Wis., which gave a $150,000 matching grant. Created by sculptor Lorado
Taft in 1911 as a tribute to all Native Americans and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the statue is located on a 125-foot bluff overlooking the Rock River. It draws thousands of visitors each year.
Veterans enjoyed Honor Flight
County will now require receipts for employees Change is for the cost of meals By Vinde Wells Editor
By Chris Johnson Reporter A pair of Korean War veterans smiled and laughed while talking about a recent trip to Washington D.C. The memories from a Oct. 3 Honor Flight were still sinking in Oct. 9 for Neil Holland, 82, and Gene Medlar, 82, both from Oregon. “The tip organizers announced that ‘you guys will never forget this,’� said Medlar. Never forgetting began with a mail call. “Unbeknown to us, they contacted our families and letters were written to us,� he said. “As we waited at the airport we had the mail call.� Medlar had letters from his two children and his grandchildren. “It was amazing,� he said. “There were a lot of tearyeyed veterans.� The tears continued when they returned to the Quad Cities at 11:30 p.m. “We walked around the corner and were greeted by 500 people when we got off the flight,� said Holland. “It was amazing,� Medlar said. “There were even little kids greeting us.� “If you did not have tears in your eyes there is something wrong with you,� Holland said. At the airport Medlar said good-bye to his guardian on the trip. “We were both crying,� he said. “I told her this is where we separate and she said
Gene Medlar and Neil Holland pose for a photo after talking about their Honor Flight. Photo by Chris Johnson
‘don’t make me cry.’� The volunteer guardians assist the veterans with stairs, help walking, or pushing a wheelchair. They ensure any request or need the veterans have is taken care of. While in Washington the veterans were constantly thanked for their service. “When I arrived home I was thinking about everyone who was thanking me for my service,� Holland said. “Even the active military members were thanking me.� The late flight meant a visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall had to be scrubbed. And the federal government shutdown prevented the veterans from going to the Udvar-Hazy Center Air & Space Museum.
In This Week’s Edition...
But this Honor Flight was the first from the area to tour the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon “We saw a lot of veterans and active military when we visited the Pentagon,� said Medlar. A hijacked airplane crashed into the pentagon Sept. 11, 2001. A lighted memorial honors those killed in the Pentagon and those who died on the flight. “I had a son-in-law who worked in the Pentagon in the same area the flight crashed,� Medlar said as he recalled the visit to the memorial. “He was in Texas on that day.� Holland said the workers at the Pentagon came up to thank the veterans for their service. Memories of friends and
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B12 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
family were constantly going through their minds as they visited Washington. Due to the morning’s delay, only about 15 minutes could be spent at the Korean War Memorial, if the veterans were going to have time to see the 4 p.m. “changing of the guard� at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. “I was in Arlington years ago and you could see it all,� said Medlar. “Now it seems like several miles.� The unfortunate part of this observation is it means a lot of soldiers have passed away. Holland was impressed with how organized the whole cemetery was.
Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B5
Turn to B3
Receipts will now be required for Ogle County employees to be reimbursed for meals they eat while traveling on county business. The county board approved changes in its policy Tuesday that increase the amount allowed for meals, but tighten the requirements for reimbursement. Board member Marty Typer, Stillman Valley, chairman of the Finance, Insurance, and Personnel Committee, said the change was being made to ensure that employees are repaid for the actual cost of meals when they travel on county business. The amounts were increased by $1 each meal to a maximum of $8 for breakfast, $10 for lunch, and $16 for dinner. Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley said that currently employees are reimbursed for meals even if they did not eat them and receive the full amount allowed even if the meal costs less. Under the new requirements, reimbursement will cover only what was actually spent on the meal, up to the maximum amount. Before approving the changes, the board amended the measure to include all county employees. The original resolution said it would apply to “all county employees not governed by union agreements.� The amendment struck
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A2
the words “not governed by union agreements.� More than half of the county employees belong to labor unions, while the others do not. Employees in the sheriff’s department, probation department, circuit clerk’s office, and health department are union members. In another matter, the board denied a zoning variance for a house located along the Rock River near Grand Detour. At the recommendation of the Assessment, Planning & Zoning Committee, the board turned down a request from Wade Winekauf, 5193 W. Murray Drive, to allow the lowest floor of his house to be located 3.6 feet below the level required by the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. Board member Lyle Hopkins, Polo, said he favored approving the variance. “I feel this [denial] is going to put a terrible hardship on the owner,� he said. While acknowledging that Winekauf failed to get the required permits for construction he did on the house, Hopkins said that even with flooding at an all-time high this spring, very little water came into the home. However, board member Bill Welty, Chana, who chairs the Assessment, Planning & Zoning Committee, disagreed. He said Winekauf was aware when he bought the house in 2009 that it was too low. Welty said that neither Winekauf or his contractor Turn to A3
Deaths, B3 Susan L. Andreas, Mayron J. Cockrel, Tressa L. Willstead-Sheely, David A. Yates
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