Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal November 19, 2015 Volume 153, Number 30 - $1.00
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Recycle Nov. 20
SA Charged
The Lady Cardinals basketball team is preparing to take on the NUIC. B1
Don’t forget to recycle your electronic items this Friday. A6
The Lee County State’s Attorney is charged with driving while under the influence. B3
County finalizes Rochelle real estate purchase Board approves $190,000 cost By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Board finalized a real estate deal Tuesday to purchase property in downtown Rochelle. The board unanimously approved a contract to buy the Rochelle Clinic at 510
Lincoln Highway from the Rochelle Community Hospital Foundation for $190,000. The board agreed last month to offer that amount for the building, and the hospital foundation accepted. Board chairman Kim Gouker said the closing on the property is scheduled for Nov. 30. The county currently rents the basement of the building to use as its
is that we will allow them to use the building until April,” Gouker said. “They will probably move out in February or March.” The hospital foundation has not charged the county rent to use the basement as its EOC, but the county did make some repairs, he said. Once the clinic relocates, the county is considering moving the health department’s Rochelle
“Part of the agreement is that we will allow them to use the building until April,” — Kim Gouker Board Chairman Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Rochelle Clinic is in the upstairs but will likely move out in the spring when a new building is completed, Gouker said. The hospital put the building up for sale because
of the large addition that is under construction. Once the real estate transaction is completed, Gouker said, the county will terminate its lease for the building, and lease it back to the clinic at no charge. “Part of the agreement
Insurance renewal approved Monday By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com The Forreston Village Board unanimously approved an insurance contract Monday night. Julie Herron, Dimond Brothers Insurance, Forreston, was at the meeting to give an overview of the plan. “We made a couple of changes this year,” she said. “It increases slightly due to payroll and liability.” The policy for the police car was reworked to ensure the vehicle only had one deductible instead of the two deductibles it currently has. The payroll insurance might change next year due to the insurance year being January through December and the villages budget year being May through April.
Veterans Honored
clinic into the building. Probation offices already located in Rochelle may also move in, Gouker said. The health department currently pays $43,000 annually to rent space in Rochelle, and the probation department pays $7,500 in annual rent. Both have leases that will need to be discussed with the respective property owners, he said.
Village Clerk Carol Gagliardi said an audit will let village officials know if additional money is needed for payroll insurance. “We might need to raise the tax levy for it next year,” she said. In other insurance matters, the board renewed health insurance for village employees and their dependents. The increase is $916 per month for the overall cost of insurance. The village will pay approximately $6,800 per month for the health insurance with the remainder of the premium paid by the five employees. Gagliardi said this is about a 14 percent increase from the previous year. This was also approved unanimously.
No decision on new gun range
Above, former members of the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy attended the veteran’s breakfast hosted Nov. 11 by Forreston Junior & Senior High School. At right, eighth graders Kolten Dorty, left, and Seth Nelson were two of the junior high student council members who served as hosts. They were greeting Kolten’s grandfather Ken Pope, who served in the Army. Photos by Kathie Conerton
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com An Ogle County committee postponed making a decision last week on a special use permit for a handgun caliber range at the Byron Sportsman’s & Conservation Club. The Supervisor of Assessments and Planning & Zoning Committee decided to put off its decision until Dec. 8 to allow members more time to review the information presented.
The committee will make a recommendation on the request to the county board, which is the final authority on the issue. Sportsman’s club president O.K. Welty filed the special use request on behalf on the club, and it was considered by the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals at a lengthy hearing on Sept. 24 Several neighbors voiced their opposition to the gun range due to safety concerns at the hearing. Turn to A2
Fallen Soldiers Memorial dedicated on Veterans Day By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com From the opening flyover by a Huey helicopter to the closing strains of “Taps,” Ogle County gave a fitting dedication on Veterans Day to its newest tribute to military men and women killed in battle. A large crowd of veterans, school students, officials, and residents ringed the Ogle County Fallen Soldiers Memorial on the courthouse lawn Nov. 11 for the
dedication ceremony. “I’d like to thank the community of Oregon for dedicating this monument — it’s the right thing to do,” said keynote speaker Ret. Brig. Gen. Steve Huber, Byron. The focal point of the memorial is a bronze statue depicting a young soldier kneeling before the grave of a comrade on a black granite base flanked by two black granite tablets on bearing the names of soldiers who gave their lives in conflicts from World War I to the present.
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It was created and cast by sculptor Jeff Adams at his studio inBronze Foundry, Mt. Morris. “Our veterans have taken the idea of a free nation and turned it into the reality of a free nation,” Huber said. “Veterans Day is not a celebration of war. In fact it started as a celebration of peace. Today it is a celebration of gratitude.” Huber said things have changed in the military over the years — many buttons on Retired Brigadier General Bruce VanderKolk, chairman for the Ogle County Fallen
Byron Police, B5 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Turn to A3
Soldiers Memorial, speaks during the dedication ceremony on Veterans Day. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Forreston Police, A2 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, A7
Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A2 Zoning Permits, B5
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B4 Dennis E. Bennett, Lloyd E. Bolen