Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal April 26, 2018 Volume 155, Number xx - $1.00
Track Victory
Spring is Here!
Byron Bar Destroyed
Forreston-Polo boys track team wins Friday at Rock Falls Invite. B1
Check out our Spring Home & Garden pages A9, 10
The Cave, a bar & grill in downtown Byron, is destroyed by a fire. B3
Forreston gas station opens back up for business By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com After a five-year hiatus, the pumps are flowing again at a Forreston gas station. Forreston Gas & Food, 209 N. Walnut Ave., officially started pumping gas in midMarch, the first time since Smitty’s Pantry closed in December of 2012. “I think it was basically just finding the right person who was willing to take the time and the money to get this going again, and eventually they found that right person,” said Jeannie Merriman, store manager. That person in question is Hemendra Shah, who owns gas stations around Illinois in Elgin and Beach Park, and out of state in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Merriman became his manager when she approached Shah inside the building while it was being worked on.
“I came right in because I saw action going on, and I told them I has experience running a storefront,” said Merriman. “It worked out perfectly, and I started immediately.” It took a couple more weeks, and Shah shipping in goods from his other stores to expedite the process, but by the beginning of April, the store opened up. Getting the building ready was not without work; Merriman said the building’s water system was in disarray. “The water was huge; the meter was completely broken, and we had 12 leaks we had to repair throughout the building,” said Merriman. “It definitely took its toll from sitting for five years, but we fixed it, and it’s going well.” Above the register, “Smitty’s Pantry” is still fully visible, but Merriman said BP is having the interior and exterior of the store painted int he coming weeks to match the new “Forreston Gas & Food” name.
Forreston Gas & Food, 209 N. Walnut Ave., opened back up for business in mid-March after half a decade of vacancy. Photo by Zach Arbogast.
Police still investigating arson and double homicide By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Ogle County detectives are continuing to investigate an arson and double homicide that occurred in Byron a year and a half ago, but no arrests have been made. Lt. Brian Ketter, investigations commander for the Ogle County Sheriff ’s Department, said Tuesday that he and his team are still following leads into the deaths of Margaret “Maggie” Meyer, 31, and her three-yearold son, Amos, on Oct. 19, 2016. The second annual Infinity Run event, held in memory of the two by the Maggie &
Amos Foundation, will be Saturday, April 28 at Chana Education Center in Chana with activities starting at 3 p.m. Meyer was a teacher at the Chana Education Center, and the goals of the foundation include helping to support educational grants for local teachers for classroom projects and libraries, and scholarships to support undergraduate and graduate students going into the field of special education. Meyer was found dead on a couch on the first floor of her burning home at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive, and her son Amos was pronounced dead a short time later at Rockford Memorial Hospital.
“Officially it’s still an active investigation,” Ketter said. He said detectives are determined to solve the case, but declined to give further details. The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m. by Meyer’s ex-husband, Duane C. Meyer, 35, of Stillman Valley, who told officials he was there to pick up his son. The couple had been divorced about a month earlier. When firefighters arrived, smoke alarms were sounding, the house was filled with heavy smoke, and Duane Meyer and a Byron police officer were on the lawn performing CPR on Amos, who had been in an upstairs
bedroom. Amos and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where the little boy was pronounced dead. An autopsy at the Winnebago County Coroner’s office showed he died of smoke inhalation. Police have not released the cause of Meyer’s death or the fire started. A representative from the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was an arson while he was at the scene. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Ogle County Sheriff ’s Office at 815-732-2136 or Ogle Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488.
Maggie and Amos Meyer
Marc Mongan takes plea deal in boating death By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com An Oregon man accepted a plea offer March 19 and pleaded guilty to the least serious of the several felonies he was charged with in the death of a Rockford woman in a boating accident two years ago. Marc Mongan, 47, pleaded guilty in Ogle County Court to reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony. He had been charged with seven felonies, including drunk driving, in the death of Megan Wells, 31, on June 24, 2016. The accident occurred on the Rock River three miles north of Oregon when the johnboat he was operating struck Wells
as it went over the back of the pontoon boat she was riding in, throwing her overboard, investigators said. Special prosecutor David Neal, from the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s office, read the charge which said Mongan was operating his boat “at a faster than reasonable speed” when the crash occurred and failed to “give way” to the pontoon boat. Defense attorney David Tess, Rochelle, said Mongan was pleading guilty to the one count and all others would be dismissed. The charges against Mongan included one count of aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony; three counts
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of reckless homicide, all class 3 felonies; and three counts of reckless conduct, all Class 4 felonies. Judge John Redington set Mongan’s sentencing for June 19. Jury selection for the trial had been set to begin on April 23. Prior to the announcing the plea deal, Tess filed a motion for a continuance of a 402 conference held on March 17. Attorneys for both sides then met with Redington in his chambers for 45 minutes, and then the attorneys and Mongan conferred for another 25 minutes outside the courtroom before announcing that the plea offer had been accepted.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
Turn To A3
Marc Mongan, shown here in court Thursday, accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to one of the least serious felonies with which he was charged in the death of a Rockford woman killed in a boating accident almost two years ago. Photo by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@ saukvalley.com
Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 School Menu, A3
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1. B2 State’s Attorney, B3
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B5 June L. Andrew Brian R. Horton