Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal
March 1, 2018 Volume 155, Number 45 - $1.00
Fyock For Three!
Farm Visit
Farm Toy Show
Braedon Fyock advances in Three-Point Showdown at Sectional. B1
Congressman Adam Kinzinger visits Poole Farms’ swine operation. A8
The FFA Alumni Farm Toy & Craft Fair celebrates 30 years March 10. A2
Investigation continues into threat at SVHS Threat was made on a wall in a student restroom By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
New Floor An endloader moves gravel into the building at the corner of Ill. 72 and 26 in downtown Forreston Monday morning. The building, owned by Dennis and Noreen Sweetwood, is getting a new floor. Photo by Vinde Wells
Polo’s Rebekah Zeigler wins regional spelling bee for fourth year in a row! By Cody Cutter ccutter@saukvalley.com At the Lee-Ogle-Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee, winner is spelled Z-E-I-GL-E-R. For a record-breaking fourth year in a row, Polo’s Rebekah Zeigler earned a trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 29-31 in National Harbor, Maryland. The 12-year-old Aplington Middle School seventh-grader beat 37 other participants from three counties – including her little brother, Gage – to win the bee in 37 rounds Feb. 22 at Dixon High School’s Wiltz Auditorium. She and Gage, 11, a Centennial Elementary fifth-grader, studied separately, alternating practice sessions between their mother and the computer. It paid off: Gage finished in third place. “It was a lot more difficult this year, knowing Gage was in it,” Rebekah said. The Zeigler siblings and Byron Middle School eighth-grader Rebekah Starwalt made it through 32 rounds before the event’s master list of 300 words was exhausted. Rebekah Zeigler breezed through “schadenfreude,” Gage had little trouble with “witloof,” and Starwalt survived “barukhzy.” Words got a little easier after that with a new list, but Gage couldn’t quite ward off “parry” in the 34th round. “I had never heard of it before,” said Gage, who used a single ‘R’. “I just couldn’t sound it out.” It was “really, really” hard to compete with his sister around, he said. Rebekah S. eliminated Gage by successfully spelling “arrears” to narrow
Rebekah Zeigler, Polo, spells a word near the end of the spelling bee while Rebekah Starwalt, Byron, sits behind Zeigler during the Lee Ogle Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee Feb. 22 at Dixon High School. Photo by Michael Krabbenhoeft, Sauk Valley Media
the field to two. The two Rebekahs traded off “quiddity” and “polenta,” but “hepatitis” was a bit of a challenge for Rebekah Z., who tried not to toss in an extra ’T.’ After that, Rebekah S. found difficulty with “colonnade” and threw in an extra ‘L’. When all was said and done, she came in second.
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
“Some of the tougher words were actually the ones in the beginning, because I forgot what they were. I kind of had to guess,” she said. “Vamplate” was the reigning champ’s winning word. “I knew it was probably going to go
Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3 School Menus, A3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Turn to A3
Stillman Valley High School was almost back to normal Monday after a threatening message was discovered on the wall in a student restroom Friday morning. “We had a normal day of school as far as the schedule is concerned,” Superintendent PJ Caposey said Monday afternoon. An arrest has not yet been made in the case, Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Tuesday morning. “It’s an active investigation,” he said. “I think there will come to a resolution in this case.” During a press conference late Friday afternoon, VanVickle said that four detectives, patrol deputies, and department administrators had immediately responded to the incident. They went through the school building looking for “anything that’s out of place and doesn’t look right,” he said. “We had eight deputies inside the school, and the kids were safe.” He also called for help from the state police, who provided security outside all four buildings in the school district. Extra counselors were available Monday, Caposey said, to talk to students about their concerns, and sheriff’s deputies remained on duty at the school. “Overall the day went very well. I think they [the students] were scared and rattled. I think the news of the week scared them,” he said, referring to the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, when a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 14 students and three faculty members. VanVickle said Friday that they received information about the incident at around 11:30 a.m. after a student reported the threat to high school administrators. School officials immediately called 911, and Ogle County Sheriff’s Police and the Illinois State Police responded to the scene. According to a statement released by Caposey on Friday, police and school administrators determined that an immediate lockdown was not necessary and classes and after-school activities proceeded as usual, except for an increased police presence. “Once that decision was
Social News, A4 Sports,B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Meridian School District Superintendent PJ Caposey (above) and Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle (below) speak to members of the media late Friday regarding the threat made at Stillman Valley High School earlier in the day. Photos by Earleen Hinton
made, police presence was increased at the school, and both the police and district began following emergency protocols,” a statement from Caposey read. “At the request of administration, police partners worked to have a presence at all district buildings despite there being no threat made to those schools. Administration and police agreed that increased monitoring was wise and would provide reassurance to the community.” Although an emailed statement was sent to the parents of high school students “within minutes” of the threat being discovered, some parents were already showing up at the school to pick up their children. “By the time the school was able to issue a statement, a photo of the threat went ‘viral’ on social media,” Caposey posted on the district website. “This caused a great deal of alarm and led to a large number of students being removed from school by their parents. Once the situation calmed, administration attempted to speak to every building to discuss concerns and questions of students.” VanVickle advised parents to rely on school officials to inform them what to do rather than come to the school immediately in such a situation. Turn to A3
Deaths, B4 Shirley A. Bradley, Nancy J. Hagemann, James J. Lewison