Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal March 24, 2016 Volume 153, Number 48 - $1.00
Season Begins
Special Insert
Sculpture Installed
The Polo-Forreston Lady Marcos track team is gearing up for the spring season. B1
New businesses open while others mark milestones. C1-C20
The tenth and final Community Arts Legacy sculpture was installed in Oregon. B2
Zoning change request raised several concerns By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
Ham Sales Forreston Lions Club members Dave Vinnedge and Missy Clark were manning the club’s annual Easter ham sales March 18 at R&S Builders Supply. Photo by Vinde Wells
Several rural Forreston residents asked questions Monday night about a zoning change a local business is proposing. “I am concerned about Moring,” said Wendy Heuber. She asked the Forreston Village Board why they did not object to the zoning request by Moring Disposal. “We received a letter and as a village we had no objections,” said village president Michael Harn. “We did not have to vote on the letter.” “We have nothing to do
with the project,” said trustee Jeff Freeze. Steve Moring and Kevin Moring have applied for a special use permit to allow a Class II Motor Carrier Facility in the AG-1 Agricultural District at 11123 West Ill. 72. The property is in Maryland Township and is less than a mile and a half to the east of the village limits. Currently the property is owned by Mike Stukenberg and the sale to the Morings is contingent on having the county change the zoning on the property. Harn said the village board had the right to file an objection over the project due to the proximity to the village.
No members of the village board had any complaints during the March 7 board meeting. Walter Paul, had concerns due to the village, his land, and the Stukenberg property being on the same aquifer. “I think it is a dumb place to put it,” Paul said about the motor carrier facility. “It started out as parking trucks then it went to washing the stuff and hauling it out.” “We have not had any issues with Moring in town,” said trustee Gary Buss as he explained why he did not have an objection to the zoning request. “I have been here about 12 years and the Morings have Turn to A3
Huntley oversees her final election before retiring By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com After the polls closed there was a small calm before the storm, and it was not the heavy rain passing through Ogle County March 15. Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley was overseeing her final election and her staff was in the courthouse basement waiting for ballot boxes to be returned. Once the first box arrived, there would be no breaks for
election workers because this would be the busiest two hours. At 7:48 p.m, the first box arrived. “Lafayette Township,” Beth Lancaste, an election judge from Ashton said as she carried the box into the courthouse. “Seventy-five voters turned out. That is 65 percent.” “That’s awesome,” Huntley said. “You must have been running out of ballots.” With the first percent reporting were 51 more to
Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley, left, talks with Mt. Morris resident Anna Hatzipanagiotis March 16 during Huntley’s retirement party in the county board room. Photo by Chris Johnson
arrive before the night was through. The precincts are in 34 buildings throughout the county. Huntley said she thinks having fewer voting locations throughout the county is a trend for the future. Voting centers are the way to go because it is hard to get election judges,” she said. “I plan on being an election judge.” Each voting machine needs to be calibrated to ensure the accuracy with counting the paper ballots. Huntley said each machine has a stack of ballots that needs to be run through it and the results are verified. At that point the machine can be sent to the precincts. This process is time consuming but needs to be completed with every election. Once the candidates are approved for the ballot no changes are made, not even for candidates that drop out of the race, which is why presidential candidates remained on the ballot during the primary. What made the election night more stressful than Turn to A3
Cook sworn in as clerk By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Congratulations and hugs were abundant last Friday afternoon when Laura Cook was sworn in as Ogle County Clerk & Recorder. About 30 county officials, family members, and friends crowded into Memorial Hall on the third floor of the Ogle County Courthouse March 18 to watch Cook take the oath of office from Judge John B. (Ben) Roe. One of those attending the brief ceremony was retiring county clerk Rebecca Huntley. Last Friday was her last day on the job.
“Thanks, Becky, for being such a great role model,” Cook said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I’ve got big shoes to fill.” “You’re going to do a great job,” Huntley replied. Cook, 50, who has served as chief deputy clerk since 1998, won the Republican Party nomination in the March 15 primary election for to fill the remaining two years of Huntley’s four-year term. She received 5,341 votes to defeat deputy clerk Tiffany O’Brien who earned 4,600 votes and Jeff Hallock, a retired banker, who gained 699 votes. In the wake of her victory,
In This Week’s Edition...
Election judge Heather Mowry, Chana, Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley, and Lafyette Township precinct judges Beth Lancaste, Ashton, and Dorris Kennay, Ashton, deliver the first box of ballots to the Ogle County Courthouse March 15. Photo by on March 16 the Ogle County Chris Johnson
Board appointed Cook to fill Huntley’s post until after the Nov. 8 general election. So far, Cook is running unopposed for the post in the fall election. Huntley, 55, who has served in the post for 18 years, announced her resignation last August. The county board also recognized Huntley March 16 for her decades of service to the county. She began her career in public service by serving on the county board for five years, and then was the first victim witness advocate for Turn to A3
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Former banker pleads guilty By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A Polo woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to embezzling $59,560.88 from First State Bank Shannon-Polo. Kayla C. Bergstrom, 46, entered her plea before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala in federal court in Rockford. Sentencing is set for June 28 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Philip G.
Forreston Police, A2 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Property Transfers, B4
Reinhard. Bergstrom faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of up to five years following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1 million. According to the plea agreement, Bergstrom, who was first vice-president of First State Bank, had the highest security level assigned in the bank’s software program which controlled all customer bank accounts, the bank’s
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1 State’s Attorney, B3
general ledger accounts, adding new accounts, and the maintenance of all bank accounts. According to a press release from Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Bergstrom’s responsibilities included reconciling all of the bank’s correspondent accounts including the bank’s correspondent account with US Bank. Turn to A3
Deaths No obituaries were reported this week
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com