Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal October 27, 2016 Volume 154, Number 27 - $1.00
Playoff Bound The Forreston Cardinals will host Chicago (Luther North) on Friday at 7 p.m. B1
Pumpkin Crop
Comprehensive Plan
Halloween will be filled with pumpkins in Illinois. A9
The Oregon Park District is working to update its comprehensive master plan. A7
Heroin abuse is on the rise in Ogle County
Several honored during banquet 47th annual VOP Banquet was held at St. Mary’s Oct. 19 By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com Awards for distinguished service, recognition of efforts, great food, and cookies fresh from the soonto-open bakery highlighted the 47th annual Village of Progress banquet last week. More than 300 people attended the event, emceed by Tom Wadsworth for the 17th year in a row, on Oct. 19 at St. Mary’s Community Center, Oregon.. For a sweet dessert treat, every place at the tables included a shortbread cookie decorated with The Village Bakery’s logo and slogan “Baking a difference.” The bakery, at the corner of Third and Washington in downtown Oregon, is VOP’s most recent enterprise and is slated to open before the end of this year. Before awards were given
Editor’s note: This is the first of a 4-part series on the growing use of heroin in Ogle County and how it is affecting governmental agencies, addicts, family members and the political process.
out, Jackie Fransen was recognized as the manager for the new Village Bakery. Fransen has 20 years of experience in food service and has served for 10 years as head of food service at Oregon Living and Rehabilitation Center. She’s also ran her own bakery. The first award given was the John Herrmann Personal Achievement Award, named for Herrmann’s 30 years of service - 24 as village board member, and a foundation board member until his death, which went to consumer Sharon Good. Good spent nine years working at VOP. In 1999, she moved on to work at a local grocery store washing dishes until 2011. She then moved to Springfield to do janitorial Stillman Valley’s Will Glendenning wins the $1,000 duties for a local Hardee’s. In June 2015, she returned Peter Cacciatore Memorial Scholarship Award at the Village of Progress 47th Annual Banquet Oct. 19.
Turn to A6 Sauk Valley Media photos by Philip Marruffo
County bd. discusses 2017 budget By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Ogle County’s preliminary budget for 2017 shows appropriations of $2.5 million less than budgeted for this year. Finance Committee Chairman Greg Sparrow, Rochelle, told the board at a budget hearing Monday evening that the estimated expenses for next year total
$34.7 million, compared to the current year’s $37.2 million. The fiscal year begins Dec. 1. The biggest changes are in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and Solid Waste Fund, both of which show appropriations of $1.9 million less than for the current year. Overall revenue is projected to be up, Sparrow said, partly due to an increase in the assessment of Exelon’s Byron
Generating Station. This fall’s assessment of the plant is more than $546 million, compared to last year when it was set by the Ogle County Board of Review at $482 million. Exelon’s appeal of last year’s assessment and those of previous years are pending before the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. Another reason for increased revenues, Sparrow said, is a payment of $509,000
from ComEd for permits to run a transmission line from Byron Station to Wayne. The line will be built in 2017. Board member Bill Welty, Chana, cautioned the board that without those permitting fees, “You would have a shortfall.” Without budget adjustments, he said, the situation could be reversed in a year. Turn to A3
Cause of fatal fire still undetermined By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The fire that claimed the lives of a Byron mother and her preschool son last week remains under investigation. Byron Fire Chief Galen Bennett said that he has not yet been notified of the cause of the Oct. 19 fire in the house at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive, where Maggie Meyer, 31, and her 3-year-old son Amos lived. “As far as I know they’re still investigating,” he said Tuesday morning. Bennett said the investigation is being handled by the Illinois State
By Andy Colbert acolbert@oglecounty news.com
Sandra Braddock grasps the Robert Moehle Personal Achievement Award Oct. 19 at the Village of Progress 47th Annual Banquet.
Fire Marshal’s Office and the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department. The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m., apparently by Meyer’s ex-husband and the boy’s father, Duane C. Meyer, who was there to pick up the youngster. When firefighters arrived, Meyer and a Byron police officer were performing CPR on Amos, who was reportedly in an upstairs bedroom when the fire broke out. The child and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where Amos was pronounced dead. Firefighters also could hear smoke alarms going off Turn to A3
In This Week’s Edition...
Maggie Meyer and Amos. Photo supplied
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
The perception of a heroin junkie has changed. The image of society castoffs with needles sticking out of an arm in a back alley is gone. In its place are everyday citizens trying to support an insidious habit. “The stigma of heroin usage has changed,” Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said. “It’s every walk of life and has become a much more serious issue in this county. Besides the crime aspect, it is tearing families apart.” Brooke Plachno has noticed the same thing from her position as Adult Probation Supervisor for the Ogle County Drug Court. Three overdoses resulting in death have occurred since March. “It has grabbed people from all ages, sexes and socioeconomics,” Plachno said. Why has heroin usage transitioned from big cities to rural areas? “It’s become less expensive than prescription drugs and more accessible,” VanVickle said. Heroin is also more powerful than other drugs. It is 2-4 times more potent than morphine and much faster. “It’s frightening how easy it is to get,” Plachno said. “When people can’t get their prescription refills or pills on the street, they go to heroin. We’re not seeing meth or cocaine like we used to.” “Most of the heroin is coming from Rockford,” Chief Deputy Danny White said. Ogle County is a part of the Stateline Area Narcotic Task Force, along with several other area counties and municipalities. “In January of 2015, we put an officer on the task force full time to combat drug usage, taking a regional approach to the problem,” VanVickle said. “That’s how big of a problem it is here.” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a record high 47,000 people died from drug overdose in 2014, an increase attributed to heroin and opioid painkillers. It is the number one cause of accidental death in the country and its usage had doubled in the last 10 years. In Ogle County, there have
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
been 11 deaths from heroin overdoses in past five years, besides nine other drug deaths. “Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish because of synthetic drugs,” Ogle County Coroner Lou Finch said. “It’s a bigger problem than it used to be.” Sheriff Brian Earlier VanVickle this year, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act was signed in to law by President Barack Obama. Its purpose is to bolster prevention, treatment and recovery for drug users, but is still waiting for funding. One of the key components of the bill was a provision for naxolone, a drug that first responders can administer in overdose situations. Ogle County is not a part of the network where naxolone is used. At least not yet. “It can be controversial, because the thought is that if we provide it, continued usage is encouraged,” Ogle Health Department Administrator Kyle Auman said. “Data says otherwise. Absolutely, it is a positive. Anything to save a live is a positive.” Auman admits that his department is limited in addressing concerns with heroin and other drugs. “It’s relatively complex, with the need for health care and mental health,” Auman said. “Currently, we have no program for it and lack of funding also hurts. The health department is more focused on day-to-day issues like food inspections, the flu, rabies and chronic diseases.” In Whiteside and Lee Counties, the Safe Passage Initiative allows drug users to surrender dope and be admitted to treatment center instead of jail. A major problem is vast majority do not have insurance, creating financial burdens. However, more than 100 addicts, including some from Ogle County, which does not have the program, have taken advantage of the program over the past year and have a better chance at recovery. “In Ogle County, cannabis and heroin are the two biggest drug problems,” VanVickle said. “Cannabis is a gateway drug to heroin.” Whereas cannabis is more of a recreational drug, heroin is the real down-and-dirty stuff. Turn to A3
Deaths, B4 Rev. William D. Brooks, David W. Churney, Avis Hays, Amos Patrick Meyer, Margaret A. Meyer
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com