Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal March 23, 2017 Volume 154, Number 48 - $1.00
Season Previews
Helping Hands
Job Fair
The boys and girls track teams are lacing up their shoes and are ready to compete. B1
Ogle County residents spend hours of their lives volunteering. Inside
Brush up the resumes and prepare to attend an April 6 job fair at the Oregon Coliseum. A6
Busy night for village board By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
Ogle County Board members Lyle Hopkins, Polo; Richard Gronewold, Forreston; and Skip Kenney, Rochelle; (center three) listen at the March 9 public meeting about the proposed Ogle County Jail. Photo by Earleen Hinton
County Bd. approves property appraisals By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Board approved spending up to $6,000 Tuesday for appraisals of property surrounding the 100 block of South Sixth Street, where it plans to build a new county
jail. The properties were designated as part of the 50 year Property Acquisition Plan adopted by the board in 2014 for long range planning. The resolution to get the appraisals authorizes county officials to contact the affected property owners for
their permission to proceed with the appraisals. “This provides property value protection for people near the [new] jail,” said county board member Ron Colson, Mt. Morris. “That’s been a big concern.” The properties listed for the appraisals are five residences and four businesses - the four
houses and law office on the east side of the 100 block of South Seventh Street, a house on Jefferson Street next to one already owned by the county, and the three business properties on Washington Street north of the judicial center. Turn to A3
Oregon Library shows off renovations By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Oregon residents gave rave reviews March 17 of the renovations to their centuryold public library. “I think its fabulous, absolutely fabulous,” said Marine Kuethe. Pat Farraday agreed. “I think they’ve done a wonderful job,” she said. “It’s so light downstairs.” Cliff Knapp made it unanimous. He said he especially approved of the decision to preserve and restore the library, which was built in 1908. An estimated 150 people turned out to see the transformed building at the corner of Jefferson and Third Streets. The library board and staff rolled out the red carpet, offering refreshments and information during the open house.
Library Director Andy Dettman said the event went “very well.” “It was a good turnout. We had a lot of kids in and we had older people who hadn’t seen the elevator yet.” The recently published “The Art of Oregon” was featured at the open house with a book-signing by author Beth Simeone. Renovations were made to all three floors of the Carnegie library, which was built with money donated by Pittsburg businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the main goals of the renovations was to make the building handicapped accessible and meet Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) requirements. That was accomplished with a small addition for an elevator that runs from the
Byron man dies in car crash after stabbing his wife By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Cliff Knapp, Pat Farraday, and Marine Kuethe visit over refreshments March 17 at the Oregon Public Library’s open house. Photo by Vinde Wells
basement to the second floor art gallery. Spacious handicapped accessible restrooms completed the project. The basement has been converted into space for programs and materials for children and youth. That freed up space on the first and second floors. Book stacks on the first
floor were moved, allowing room for a large computer room and a room to relax and read in front of the restored fireplace. The stacks were also lowered and situated farther apart, another part of meeting ADA standards. With children’s programs no longer on the second Turn to A8
Antique show returns to Oregon More than 50 vendors from across the Midwest will be featured at the Oregon Woman’s Club 67th annual antique show on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26 at the Blackhawk Center in Oregon. The popular show is one of the premier antiques shows in northern Illinois. Show times are Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. The Oregon Woman’s Club, a member of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs, sponsors this show as a major fund raising event and uses the proceeds to help fund various community projects and charities. “The facility offers ample parking, handicapped accessibility, and a huge area for our 52 Midwest
In This Week’s Edition...
The Forreston Village Board passed a resolution to aggregate with the surrounding communities electrical agreement, approved moving forward with the creation of both a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District and Business Development District (BDD), and agreed to a proposal to reimplement municipal software. Monday evening’s meeting saw the board handling a lot of business items, including opting to aggregate into an electrical supply agreement with German Valley, Lanark, Milledgeville, and Shannon. Forreston’s electrical aggregation agreement ends in July, at which point they will join the other communities for the best pricing available. The board also voted to begin establishing both a TIF District and a BDD, with the TIF being contingent upon whether or not the 17 acres of land owned by Dave and Shirley Vietmeier and annexed into the village qualify to be included. The TIF District freezes the Equalized Assessed Values of properties included within
the district for 23 years, and taxing bodies draw taxes from that frozen value. Revenue gained through increases in EAV will be put into a TIF fund that can only be spent within the TIF district. A BDD establishes an additional sales tax within the BDD boundaries. The board is currently looking at a one percent increase. “Both initiatives will help us try to bring in business development,” said president Mark Metzger. “We’ve got a good situation with the property the Vietmeiers annexed to us, businesses are interested in coming in, so we want to make a move.” An agreement was also reached with Hometown Tech Solutions to reimplement their Village Books software for $16,000. The village currently uses Data Technologies, which clerk Courtney Warren says is built for larger municipalities. The board also approved a $1,200 donation to the Hometown Days Committee to be used towards a live band and beer garden, as well as agreed to allow them to connect to the village’s electric, help set up tables and chairs, and assign police officers for security.
antique dealers from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa to display their merchandise for sale,” said show manager Ron Bry. “Quality antiques from the early 1800s through midcentury 1950s, including all areas of collecting – furniture, glass, china, pottery, toys, primitives, textiles, jewelry, dolls, silver, decorator items and more.” “There will be items for
Birth, A4 Business Briefs, B6 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 Entertainment, A6
all collecting tastes and budgets, for both the new and advanced collector. We like to think of it as ‘comfort food for the eyes’,” he said. Entry to the show is $6 per person, which is good for both days. Door prizes will be awarded throughout both days of the show. The food concession will
Fines, B4 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B2 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Turn to A3
A Byron man who police say stabbed his wife died March 16 in a car accident while fleeing the scene. Michael J. Gorman, 48, a public service administrator at the Dixon Correctional Center, was pronounced dead at Rockford Memorial Hospital. According to a press release from Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle, Gorman stabbed his wife Jodi, 45, during a domestic dispute at their home at 8438 Winnebago Lane, rural Byron. Jodi Gorman remains in a Rockford hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. The press release said Ogle County deputies were called to a domestic dispute involving a stabbing victim at 5:15 p.m., and when they arrived Michael Gorman had already fled in his car. The car he was driving struck a tree on Ill. 26 in Stephenson County just before 6 p.m. Gorman was ejected from the vehicle. According to a crash report
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B2
from the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department, Gorman was southbound on Ill. 26 approximately about a mile and a half north of the OgleStephenson county line when his vehicle left the roadway on the west side, went up an embankment, and hit the tree. The car spun around and came to rest partially in the southbound lane. Gorman was transported to FHN Hospital, Freeport, and then flown to Rockford. The preliminary report from the autopsy, completed by the Winnebago Coroner’s Office, indicates he died from blunt force trauma as a result of the traffic crash. VanVickle said Monday that police were not pursuing Gorman at the time of the crash. According to Ogle County Court records, Michael Gorman filed for a divorce in 2014, but the couple both remained living in the home on Winnebago Lane. They have two children. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Byron Police Department, Byron Fire Department, Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department, and Illinois State Police.
Deaths, B4 Virginia G. Borneman, Tera S. Frano, Kelli R. Huneke, Marvin L. Ludwig, Francis C. Michael
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com