Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal September 10, 2015 Volume 153, Number 20 - $1.00
Tenth Place
Remember 9/11
Sesquicentennial
The Lady Cardinals placed 10th during a tough Oregon Varsity Volleyball Tournament. B1
Remember those we lost on Sept. 11, 2001 A10-11
The Forreston Grove Church will celebrate 150 years of services this month. A8
Board was scheduled to talk parking
Building will be torn down Bids being sought to remove the old sheriff’s office
Ordinance was going to be considered Tuesday
By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Plans to demolish the former Ogle County Sheriff’s Office are moving forward. County officials are accepting bids for demolition of old building at the corner of South Second Street and Jefferson Street in Oregon. The scope of work includes demolition and removal of the two-story structure and foundations, demolition and removal of associated items and utilities, permitting and removal of underground fuel oil storage tank, abatement of asbestos containing materials and provide and install engineered backfill. Ogle County used the building as the sheriff’s office for approximately 30 years before opening the new Ogle County Public Safety Complex in April. The former building was originally used
Bids are being accepted for the demolition of the old Ogle County Sheriff Office at Jefferson and Third Street in Oregon. The county opened a new administration building in April at Second and Jefferson. Photo by Chris Johnson
as the offices of E.D. Etnyre before the company donated it to Ogle County after its operations were moved to a new facility on S. Daysville Road. Plans and specifications for the demolition are available through the office of the architect or may be emailed in PDF format upon request. A mandatory pre-bid conference is scheduled at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the Training Room at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 202 S. First Street in Oregon. Sealed Bids are due to the Ogle County
Sheriff’s Office at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17. The public is allowed to attend the bid opening on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 2:15 p.m. The bid opening is in the training room at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office. To obtain bid plans, specs, and bidding documents contact: Saavedra Gehlhausen Architects. 504 North Church Street. Rockford, IL 61103. 815-963-9392 or email architect Guy D. Gehlhausen, guy@ sgadesign.com or architect Michael J. Olson, michael@sgadesign.com.
The Forreston Village Board was scheduled to meet Tuesday night to conduct a regular meeting. Due to the Labor Day Holiday the meeting was moved from Monday to Tuesday night. An ordinance regulating parking of trucks and other vehicles within the village was on the agent for consideration and possible approval. The board has discussed parking restrictions on Oak Avenue north of the Depot. Semi-trailers parking along the road have prompted several complaints to village officials. Truck traffic on Plum Avenue is also being looked at. Another location with a proposed no parking area is by Warnken Park’s baseball field on Avon Street. The board also has an agenda item to consider a request from Jon Ludwig for a reduced water and sewer hookup fee for the two unit duplex being built at Village East Estates. Ludwig approached the board in August to see if there was a way to negotiate a lower rate for the hookup fee. Printing deadlines prevented a reporter from attending the meeting.
Services have been set for victims of Sept. 4 crash By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Two victims of a Sept. 4 crash south of Davis Junction will be laid to rest later this week. A memorial service for Emily Fleming, 17, Stillman Valley, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Stillman Valley High School where she was a senior. Funeral services for Andy Conderman, 64, Amboy are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, Dixon. Both died as a result of a two-vehicle crash that occurred around 5 p.m. at the intersection Ill. 251 and Big Mound Road. According to a press release issued by Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle, Conderman was driving his pick-up truck south on Ill. 251 when it was struck by a car driven by Alison Seiler, 17, Stillman Valley. Seiler was westbound on Big Mound Road and failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Ill. 251, the press release said. Fleming and Carly Koenig, also 17, Stillman Valley, were passengers in Seiler’s car. The vehicles came to rest in a soybean field at the southwest corner of the intersection, where Conderman’s truck burst into flames. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Ogle County Coroner Lou
Finch said an autopsy done on Tuesday indicated he died of blunt force trauma. Fleming was pronounced dead at the Rockford hospital where she was airlifted. Winnebago County Deputy Coroner Bill Hintz said an autopsy showed the preliminary cause of her death to be blunt force trauma. Koenig was airlifted to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, where she remains in serious condition. Seiler was transported by ambulance to a Rockford hospital, and has been released to recuperate at home. Ill. 251 from Holcomb Road to Ill. 72 was closed for several hours after the crash. All three teens are seniors at Stillman Valley High School. They are varsity cheerleaders and were headed to Stillman Valley’s football game versus Richmond Burton when the crash took place. The game was cancelled when school officials were alerted to the crash. Meridian (Stillman Valley) School Superintendent PJ Caposey said Monday that all athletic events in the district have been cancelled until Friday. He said 40 grief counselors from neighboring districts were at the high school Tuesday to meet with students when they returned for classes after the Labor Day weekend. He said Fleming was a leader and well-liked by
Two crosses marking the traffic fatalities of Andy Conderman and Emily Fleming were placed near the scene of the Sept. 4 accident. Photo by Earleen Hinton
LR man made crosses for site Mike Morrison was one of the first on the scene By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A rural Leaf River man was one of the first Good Samaritans who pitched in to help at a crash that claimed two lives Sept. 4 near Davis Turn to A2 Junction.
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5 Marriage Licenses, A4
“Quite a few cars had already stopped when I got there,” Mike Morrison, 48, said. “I was one of the first people who tried to do something to help.” Morrison was on his way home from work when he saw the flames from the pick-up truck that was one of the two vehicles that collided at the intersection of Ill. 251 and Big Mound Road around 5 p.m. The crash claimed the
Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
lives of Emily Fleming, 17, Stillman Valley, and Andy Conderman, 64, Amboy. Conderman was pronounced dead at the scene, and Fleming was pronounced dead at a Rockford hospital where she was airlifted. Conderman was the driver of the pick-up truck, and Fleming was one of three Stillman Valley High School students in the car. They were cheerleaders headed to
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A9
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Stillman Valley’s football game versus Richmond Burton. The truck was fully engulfed in flames when he got there, Morrison said, but he still approached it to try to get the driver out. “The fire was so intense I couldn’t get close,” he said. “At first, I thought the car was on fire, too, so I wanted to help whoever was inside
Deaths, B5 Nora J. Mead, Earl B. Straley
Turn to A2