Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal November 3, 2016 Volume 154, Number 28 - $1.00
BIG Win!
Fall Back
318 Jumping Jacks
The Cardinals shut out Luther North 67-0 in the first round of the football playoffs. B1
Turn your clocks back one hour to Standard Time at 2 a.m. Sunday.
Cardinal touchdowns keep FHS cheerleaders jumping... and jumping. A10
Referendums on the ballot
Family loses home
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Fire started in the dryer By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A fire official said the fire which destroyed the home of a Forreston family last week started in the clothes The home of Dylan Joens and Cari Harper and their family, 501 S. Ash St., Forreston, dryer. was destroyed by a dryer fire Oct. 26. Photo by Vinde Wells Forreston Fire Chief Molly Bowen, one of are running a special for Stuart Meyers said the 26 when the fire started but escaped safely, Meyers the owners of Bowen’s Joens and Harper and their home of Dylan Joens and said. Carpet Dry, Forreston, is family through Nov. 13. Cari Harper at 501 S. Ash The Bowens will donate Firefighters from the Mt. spearheading an effort to St. was a total loss. 40 percent of the cost, when Morris, Polo, Leaf River, help the family, who lost “It was fully engulfed their belongings as well as customers mention the Byron, and Shannon Fire when we got there,” he said. their home. special, to the family to help Departments assisted at the The couple and their five Bowen said her business them get back on their feet. scene, he said. children were home Oct.
Heroin took young man to life of crime
While national and state races on the Nov. 8 ballot may be hotly contested, all candidates for Ogle County posts are running unopposed. After voting for President, U.S. Senator, and State Comptroller, voters in the county will just have to decide on various referenda. Residents of the Forreston Fire Protection District have two referenda before them. The fire district board is asking voters to hike the taxes by a maximum of 10 cents, from 30 cents to 40 cents, per $100 of equalized assessed valuation (EAV) in both the fire service and the ambulance service. That means the annual real estate taxes on a $100,000 house would increase by approximately $33 for each levy or a total of $66 if both are approved. This is the first time the fire service has asked for an increase in its 68-year history. When the district was formed on Nov. 7, 1947, the tax rate was set at 30 cents per $100 EAV. The fire district took
of only using it once. Instead taking it orally, like he had done previously, this time is was to be by injection. “Taking it by injection is so much more powerful,” James said. “That is why I only planned to do it once. But, the withdrawal sickness By Andy Colbert of much worse when you acolbert@oglecounty inject.” news.com That one time of injection heroin led to increased usage What does heroin make a and a habit that was out of user do? control. For James (not his real Other heroin users also name), it was robbing a speak of getting hooked on business at gunpoint, albeit the drug after just one use. with a toy gun. By Vinde Wells “I was losing jobs, “I didn’t want to do it, but vwells@oglecounty wrecking vehicles, and had had to,” James said. “By the news.com trouble functioning,” James time I made it back home, I said. “Relationships were had the dry heaves. I couldn’t Ogle County Sheriff Brian being affected. I was a mess.” believe this is what my life VanVickle said Monday that had become. I’m not that Turn to A2 the fire that claimed the lives of a Byron mother and her young son has been ruled suspicious. Margaret “Maggie” Meyer, 31, and her son Amos Meyer, 3, died as a result of the fire which was reported the morning of Oct. 19. “The cause of the fire and their two deaths are being investigated by the Byron Police Department, Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police and Illinois State Fire Marshal,” VanVickle said in a statement released Monday evening. “Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, it is suspicious in nature.” Investigators have determined the fire started on the night of Oct. 18, according to the press release. The fire at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive was reported around 6:40 a.m. on Oct. 19, apparently by Meyer’s ex-husband and the boy’s father, Duane C. Meyer, who was reportedly there to pick up the Shane Farris, Forreston, helps Derrik Harper with his camouflage make-up Monday evening at the Leaf River youngster. Lion’s Club Halloween Costume Contest at the Bertolet Memorial Building. Photo by Vinde Wells When Byron firefighters Editor’s note: This is the second of a four-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.
type of person, but needed money for heroin.” James’ indecision about robbing the business made him easy to catch. There were pace marks in snow in front of the store as he pondered whether or not to commit the crime. Police simply tracked his path from the store to his home and arrested him. On the surface, the goodlooking 27-year-old is polite, intelligent, and hard working. Why the need to sink into the darkness of drug addiction and risk losing it all? That certainly wasn’t his plan when he began dabbling in pot and alcohol in eighth grade. His descent into addiction
continued after his mother had a debilitating accident. It wasn’t the accident that affected him most, but the fact she had a steady supply of powerful pain medications. James did not use heroin is high school, but was well on the path to it, stealing his mom’s pain pills, continuing to drink, and experimenting with cocaine. “Still, I played sports, though I failed a drug test as a sophomore, had friends, was on the homecoming court and graduated,” he said. In 2010, he used heroin for the first time with a few of his friends, but eventually stopped. In 2012, he went back to heroin, but with the intention
In This Week’s Edition...
Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 School Menus, A3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Turn to A2
atal Byron fire F ruled suspicious
Camouflage Make-up
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4
over the ambulance service in March of 1976 and the present tax rate of 30 cents per $100 EAV was set then. Currently the fire service taxes at 25.3 cents per $100 EAV and the ambulance at 24.7 cents. Fire officials say the increases are necessary to pay salaries of EMTs and for future purchases of both fire and ambulance equipment. Polo School District voters are being asked to change how they elect their school board members. A referendum on the ballot will ask if school board members should be elected at large and without restriction as to where they live. Currently no more than three members of the board can reside in the same congressional township. Back in 2007, the same question was on the ballot and was narrowly defeated 241-204. Superintendent Chris Rademacher is hoping for a different outcome this time around, especially since state laws have changed. “Last time it had to pass in every township, now it’s a two-thirds majority overall,”
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B3
arrived, Meyer and a Byron police officer were performing CPR on Amos, who had apparently been in an upstairs bedroom. The child and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where Amos was pronounced dead. Firefighters also could hear smoke alarms going off and encountered heavy smoke when they arrived. Maggie Meyer was found dead on the couch on the first floor. Byron Fire Chief Galen Bennett said at the scene that firefighters encountered very little fire, but a great deal of smoke when they arrived. VanVickle said Tuesday morning that Amos died from smoke inhalation, but the cause of Margaret’s death has not yet been determined, pending test results. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may know something about the fire or saw anything suspicious in the Byron area on the night of Oct. 18, to contact the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-7322136. Callers can also contact Ogle-Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Deaths, B4 Marcelene Taylor Bentley, Neil E. Holland, Maxine Kriebel, Jerry D. Macklin
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com