Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
Talents shown in Rock Falls PHOTOS, A3
WARRIORS ROLL INTO DIXON GIRLS BOWLING, B3
dailyGAZETTE Monday, February 2, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
DIXON | STUPOR BOWL
Event has a growing fan base Contest evolves, raises $11K for schools BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
DIXON – The verdict is in: The law firm of Miller, Lancaster and Walker are the 2015 Stupor Bowl champions. The law firm’s team outlasted the Harrison family Saturday in 7 grueling hours of trivia competition, taking the finals round by a score of 265-
THOMSON PRISON
195. Questions were fielded in the categories of history, geography, sports, entertainment, literature, math, technology, current events, and local history. The Stupor Bowl, planned to coincide with Super Bowl weekend, is an annual fundraiser for the Dixon Public Schools Foundation.
Final Four Playoffs KSB 1 vs. Harrison Family
Knights of Columbus vs. Miller, Lancaster and Walker Championship match
Harrison Family vs. Miller, Lancaster and Walker
STUPOR BOWL CONTINUED ON A8
Champion
Miller, Lancaster and Walker
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
LOCAL WEATHER | MOTHER NATURE’S WRATH
OGLE COUNTY
Inmates could arrive in March
Tow fund money won’t be moved Decision made in October rescinded
Most first-round hires transfers from other sites
BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @MattMencarini
BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
THOMSON – The activation of the Thomson Correctional Center is moving ahead, and officials say prisoners could be arriving in mid-March. “Recruiting and hiring is going well,” said Michelle Gonyea, a prison spokeswoman in Thomson. “More than 100 people are working, and we’re still on track to start receiving minimum-security prisoners by the middle of this spring.” Most of the first-round hires are transferees from other Bureau Donald of Prisons sites, Hudson Thomson prison who can then warden allowed train staff with to bring in up to less experience. About 200 300 employees in first round of minimum-security inmates will hiring be brought in to play a key role in some of the work that must be done on the grounds and indoors. Hiring is being done in phases, and Donald Hudson, who was named warden in August, is authorized to bring in up to 300 in the first round. Hudson came to Thomson from the Federal Correctional Institute in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania. Two associate wardens are among the staff now on-site that includes workers in information technology, food service, accounting, human resources, maintenance, and locksmithing.
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
More than a foot of snowfall that began Saturday night and persisted into the night Sunday turned Lawrence Park in Sterling into a picturesque winter scene. Heavy snowfall Sunday morning weighed down power lines and tree limbs – like this one on West Second Street in Rock Falls – to the point that they brought down some lines and caused outages. See more photos of the beautifully brutal storm on A10.
GALE FORCE Sterling resident Jacob Gale is offering to shovel residents’ sidewalks and driveways for free. Call him at 779-245-7111 if you need a hand. All he asks is that you provide him with a shovel.
OREGON – Ogle County won’t transfer money from its administrative tow fund to the general fund, as it had planned to do in October. During its board meeting last week, the County Board decided to rescind a motion to transfer the remaining funds to the general fund and then collect the $350 tow fees until $61,713 had been reached. That’s the amount a forensic audit discovered should have gone into the general fund when former Sheriff Michael Harn was in office. The county had intended for the transMichael fer to restrict Harn Harn’s ability Former sheriff’s to use the fund handling of in the closing administrative days of his term. tow fund led Harn lost a close board to restrict primary elec- his ability to use the fund. tion to Brian VanVickle, who took over as sheriff on Dec. 1. “I didn’t want, in that last month of his administration, that anything be spent that wasn’t going to be appropriate,” County Chairman Kim Gouker said this week. “It was more of a pre-emptive action.” Gouker didn’t rule out the county revisiting the transfer later, after the new sheriff has a better grip on departmental records. “The basic reason for rescinding it was to allow the sheriff to use the fund properly, for a change, and to the benefit of his [administration] and the entire budget,” Gouker said.
INMATES CONTINUED ON A5
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 38
Stupor Bowl organizer Tom Wadsworth (left) hands the first-place trophy to Mike Lancaster (center) after his team’s 225-155 victory over the Harrison family Saturday afternoon at Reagan Middle School in Dixon.
TOW FUND CONTINUED ON A4
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 COMICS ............... A9 CROSSWORD......B9
LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4
OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2 SPORTS ...............B1
Today’s weather High 15. Low 7. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600 OR 800-798-4085