Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal April 17, 2014 Volume 151, Number 51 - $1.00
Softball Action
Performing
Garage Sales
The Forreston-Polo Lady Cardinals are 6-3 on the season after 4 games last week. B1
Members of PACT are preparing for their spring show. A10
The Annual Forreston All-Town Garage Sales are scheduled for May 1-3. A2
Trial date set for former minister in sex-abuse case By Chris Johnson Reporter A jury trial has been scheduled in a case against a former minister accused of sexually molesting an 11-year-old child. Charles Babler, 65, Mt. Morris, appeared in court Monday morning with his attorney David Tess. Babler, formerly the campus pastor at Crossroads Community Church, Polo, was arrested June 21, 2013, on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony. The arrest stemmed from an investigation into a single incident that took place in early 2011. “We have come to an impasse to negotiations,� said Tess. “We have talked.� Ogle County Judge Robert
Hanson asked how long the trial would take. “Two days,� said Assistant State’s Attorney Joshua Versluys. Hanson set the two day trial for June 17 at 9 a.m. A final pretrial conference was set for June 5 at 1:30 p.m. “All motions should be on file at that time,� said Hanson. Tess asked for his client to be excused from the June 5 pretrial for his granddaughter’s wedding. Versluys had concerns that during the wedding Babler would have contact with persons under age 18 which his bond does not allow. “He needs to be supervised,� said Versluys. Hanson was prepared to grant a motion to allow Babler to attend the wedding but Versluys asked for a
Charles Babler
hearing on the matter. “Okay, we will set this for a hearing,� said Hanson. A hearing on the motion to amend the bond conditions was set for April 28 at 10 a.m. The maximum penalty for conviction of a Class 2 felony is 3 to 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Chairman asks for audit By Vinde Wells Editor
Fun Fair
In an apparent reversal of its stand three months ago, the Ogle County Board authorized Chairman Kim Gouker Tuesday to proceed with getting a forensic audit of the sheriff’s Tow Fund. “I would like to see a full audit of the Tow Fund from beginning to end,� Gouker said. He said the audit will determine whether or not Sheriff Michael Harn has misused money from the Tow Fund, and lay to rest the questions brought up over the last several months. Gouker said Harn is also eager to have the matter resolved. “I spoke to the sheriff on my way here and told him
Above, Evan Becker, left, and Cody Snyder blow their fish toward the finish line in one of the games April 11 at the Forreston Grade School Fun Fair. Evan was the winner. At right, Sabrina Belmonte takes a swing at the golf ball as she plays a game at the Fun Fair. Photos by Vinde Wells
what I was going to propose,� Gouker said. “He thinks it’s a great idea. He’s fully cooperative.� Harn has come under fire in the last few months over expenditures from the Tow Fund, which included purchasing a new vehicle, flowers for Secretaries Day, a tent at the county fair, and $4,000 for the department’s Facebook page to be managed. Gouker said he has an estimate for the forensic audit of $7,500 from Sikich, the firm that does the county’s regular annual audits. Because it was not on the agenda, the board will have to wait until its May meeting to vote to hire Sikich for the forensic audit. Board member Richard Petrizzo, Davis Junction,
made a motion for a forensic audit of the Tow Fund as well as the sheriff’s credit card expenditures at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting. However, Gouker said the matter could not be voted on then because it was not on the agenda. Petrizzo’s subsequent efforts to have the matter placed on the agenda were unsuccessful. In February, the board diminished the sheriff’s control over the Tow Fund by limiting how monies could be spent and requiring the approval of expenditures by the county committee that oversees the sheriff’s budget. At Tuesday’s meeting the board approved a resolution establishing the Tow Fund. Turn to A3
Grass fire burned 130 acres near Stillman Valley By Vinde Wells Editor Well over a dozen fire departments turned out Friday afternoon to fight a grass fire that burned 130 acres east of the intersection of Ill. 72 and Meridian Road just outside of Stillman Valley. Wind gusts of more than 40 miles per hour drove the flames almost faster than firefighters could put them out, Stillman Valley Fire Chief Chad Hoefle said. “It was difficult to catch up to because of the wind,� he said. The very smoky fire made conditions dangerous for firefighters. When chasing a fire in the poor visibility, Hoefle said, it can be very easy for a grass rig to end up in the flames without the driver even realizing it. The fire swept though areas of timber, as well as brush piles, Hoefle said.
Despite less than ideal conditions, the fire crews, who remained on the job for four hours, were able to save the buildings of an old farmstead from the flames. “The main thing is we all went home safely and no homes were damaged,� Hoefle said. “We had a lot of help and they stayed to the end.� The fire was reported at 1:45 p.m., he said, and started from a homeowner who was burning off a prairie plot. The wind-driven flames jumped Ill. 72 and began burning corn stubble between the highway and railroad tracks. “We had to shut off traffic completely because of the wind and the intensity of the heat,� Hoefle said. That meant also rerouting school buses delivering students home from classes for the day. Firefighters contained the
In This Week’s Edition...
flames before they spread across the railroad tracks into a large field on the other side. Although it was the biggest, it was hardly the only grass or brush fire April 11. Hoefle said several of the departments called for mutual aid could not respond because they were already on other calls. At least five other grass or brush fires were reported in Ogle County before the Stillman Valley fire. The Oregon Fire Department was called to a grass fire west of town shortly after noon and had barely returned when they were called to a corncrib fire, started by grass burning, east of town. Polo was called to a shed fire on Ill. 26, quickly followed by a call to Forreston for a field fire and few miles away on Freeport Road. A Stillman Valley fire truck sits in the eastbound lane of Ill. 72 Friday afternoon. Turn to A3 The state highway was closed while departments from several area communities
Business Briefs, B6 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
responded to a large field fire. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Fines, B2 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B3
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1 State’s Attorney, B7
Deaths, B2 Iris Cashman Anderson, Virginia R. Masters, Kathleen R. Mongan, Marvin K. Terviel
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