Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal May 15, 2014 Volume 152, Number 3 - $1.00
Postseason
Graduation
Forensic Audit
Spring sports teams are ready to head to the postseason. View the schedules. A10, B1
Photos of the graduating classes of 2014 are in a special section.
The Ogle County Board is expected to hire a firm to complete a forensic audit. A9
Braker finishes
with a final song By Chris Johnson Reporter
Cell phones and music performances are like oil and water, they never mix. Well, during the annual Forreston High School Spring Band Concert last week they did mix. Senior band member Travis Cunningham and his accomplices worked out a plan to include a cell phone during the May 9 concert. Between songs, students were reading program notes about the selections the band was performing. It was during one of these that senior Travis Cunningham unleashed a cell phone. “I’m sure Mr. Braker will understand,� said Cunningham as he talked on the phone and paced in front
of the band. Cunningham said he was in the middle of a band concert but could talk for five minutes. While this was going on band director Chip Braker was fighting back laughter. A phone may go off in the audience during any concert, but a band members phone going off is never allowed. However, since this was Braker’s final concert of a 30year career at Forreston High School, he knew the students had something planned and shook his head during the phone interruption. Forreston High School band director Chip Braker thanks the audience for their applause Friday night and signals Braker even used the them to have a seat so the band could perform an encore. Photo by Chris Johnson concert as a platform to show he has a sense of humor. He read a letter to the new band director at Forreston Turn to A3
District looks to select a leader Special school board meeting set for May 14 By Vinde Wells Editor The Forrestville Valley School District may be one step closer to having a new leader this week. School board president Robert Ebbesmeyer said Tuesday that the board
would hold a special meeting Wednesday evening to consider hiring Sheri Smith, Freeport, as the district’s full-time superintendent for the 2014-15 school year. The board planned to meet in closed session Wednesday and then possibly make an announcement on their intention of hiring Smith for the top spot, he said. Smith resides in the Forrestville Valley School
District and is currently the assistant superintendent for the Belvidere School District. The school board has been seeking a new superintendent since Superintendent Lowell A. Taylor tendered his resignation Feb. 4. The resignation is effective June 15. Taylor, who had been the superintendent since 2001, stepped down after an extended medical leave.
Taylor went on sick leave in early August last year, and the board granted him medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on Aug. 26, the same day it hired Jane Eichman, Rock Falls, as interim superintendent for the current school year. The board suspended Taylor without pay in January and later rescinded that action to accept his resignation, along with a lengthy agreement.
Virus caused significant losses By Vinde Wells Editor
Travis Cunningham passes a cell phone to another band member during the high school concert May 9. Cunningham was using the cell phone during a skit. Photo by Chris Johnson
Property owners receive tax bills By Vinde Wells Editor By now most property owners in Ogle County have already received their real estate tax bill. Ogle County Treasurer & Collector John Coffman said the more than 29,300 tax bills were mailed from Oregon on May 6. Taxes collected this year will total $119,336,000, approximately $900,000 more than last year, he said. The total reflects the amount due to all the governing bodies that draw real estate tax revenue from property in the county. The increase is likely due to several factors, Coffman said.
“I haven’t fully analyzed it yet,� he said Monday. “Farmland is up 10 percent, and some levies are up.� Part of the overall increase is due to industrial growth at Rochelle and some can be attributed to a higher assessment at Exelon’s Byron Generating Station, Coffman said. However, he said, the assessments of many residential properties decreased this year. The Ogle County Board of Review set the assessment of the nuclear plant at $509 million for 2013, $10 million more than the previous year. This year’s tax bills are based on the 2013 assessments. Turn to A3
In This Week’s Edition...
A fast-moving virus that attacks pigs dealt a Polo farmer significant losses earlier this year. Brian Duncan, who raises hogs northwest of Polo, estimates he lost 1,000 to 1,200 baby pigs in March after they contracted porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). “We went about a month without weaning any little pigs,� he said. “Usually we wean about 300 a week.� While any hog can catch the virus, it’s especially deadly for very young piglets. “It kills all of them under 14 days old,� Duncan said. “It’s a very aggressive virus. Once it hits, it moves very quickly.� Older pigs fare better if they contract the virus. “When it hits anything over 14 days old, it’s more like a mild flu,� he said. “It’s absolutely devastating to a little pig.� The sows on the farm also contracted the virus. They were “off feed� for a couple of days, Duncan said, and then returned to normal. It takes a little time to ride out the effects of the virus, he said, but currently even his youngest pigs are thriving. “It takes some time for the sows to build up immunity to
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
“It’s a very aggressive virus. Once it hits, it moves very quickly,� — Brian Duncan, Polo pass on to the pigs,� Duncan said. “We know it’s still present on the farm, but the sows have enough immunity now to protect the pigs.� He is, however, taking extra precautions to keep PEDV at bay. “We do a lot of cleaning anyway, but now we’re doing extra steam-cleaning and disinfecting,� he said. Across the county, Kim Huntley, Chana, who finishes 27,000 hogs annually for market is also taking precautions against PEDV. His hogs have not contracted the virus and are past the age when it’s the most dangerous. “I don’t have baby pigs. They come in here at 50 pounds. They aren’t as susceptible. They can get it but they don’t die from it,� he said. None the less, Huntley is being careful. Clothing and boots are removed before leaving either of the two sites where he raises pigs. “Our clothes and boots are site specific,� he said. “They don’t go from one place to the other. And we wear plastic gloves.�
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B6 Sheriff’s Arrests, B5
The tires on trucks delivering feed are sprayed with disinfectant, and truck drivers wear plastic, disposable boots. “It is a serious deal, no question about it,� Huntley said. PEDV is a coronavirus that infects the cells that line the small intestine of a pig, causing severe diarrhea and dehydration. The virus usually kills young piglets within five days of contracting it. PEDV was first discovered in Europe, but soon traveled to Asian countries. It was discovered in the U.S. in the spring of 2013 and in Canada earlier this year. Duncan said he has not determined how it got to his operation. The virus is not a danger to humans. It is not passed from pigs to humans or other animals. The meat of affected hogs is safe to eat. “It poses no danger whatsoever to humans,� Duncan said. In fact, the only effect is likely a hike in pork prices. Duncan said the recent
Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Zoning, B3
Baby pigs are once again thriving on Brian Duncan’s hog operation near Polo. Earlier this spring, Duncan lost more than 1,000 piglets to porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Photo supplied
episode reminded him of a similar virus that affected hogs when he was a youngster. “It’s similar to TGE (transmissible gastroenteritis). They’re both coronaviruses. Our pigs got TGE when I was a kid,� he said. “But this is like TGE on steroids.� No vaccines are currently available to combat PEDV, he said, although animal pharmaceutical companies are working on developing one. “Most vaccines don’t work very well on viruses,� Duncan said.
Deaths, B4
Rosalie K. Anderson, Mary J. Galloway, Brett D. Holaday, Shirley L. Powell, Duane H. Rubendall, Howard L. Stouffer
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