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Man arrested for taking tractor on a late-night spin
SVM ATHLETES OFSPORTS, THE WEEK B3
AMBOY, A2
dailyGAZETTE Tuesday, February 2, 2016
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
STERLING
Business is right up city’s alley New banquet venue brings more to Light Street BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – Champs Bar & Grill owner Denny Strader has been in the bar business for a long time, and along the way,
he’s learned to roll with the changes. Strader has owned Champs at 216 Locust for 24 years, and the upper level of the building for 10 years. In that time, a lot has changed in the downtown’s business landscape. “When I first opened, the mill, Law-
rence Brothers, and Stanley were going strong, but the bar business isn’t like it used to be,” Strader said. In addition to economic factors, Strader said tougher DUI laws, and a trend toward people spending more time at home have challenged local bars. Downtown revitalization is gaining traction, but in the meantime, Strader has strived to be creative.
“The city is trying to clean it up, and bring more interest downtown, but with all of the changes in the bar business, you have to do some different things,” Strader said. His latest venture, with help from girlfriend Jessica Rippy, is the Champs Banquet Venue at 9 E. Third St., in the bar’s upper level. BANQUET CONTINUED ON A10
CARROLL COUNTY
LETTING THE FUN FLY IN ROCK FALLS
Schools hope fifth time is charm for tax increase BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: First- and second-graders at St. Andrew Catholic Grade School in Rock Falls twist, turn and toss during a dodgeball game Monday afternoon. Students get to have some fun this week, in celebration of Catholic Schools Week. On Monday, they showed off their fashion nonsense during Mismatch Day, and had fun playing dodgeball. The game pitted students from different grades against each other. The activities will conclude Friday with an all-schools Mass at Newman High School. RIGHT: Students dodge their opponents’ best efforts to get them out of the game.
Carroll County school superintendents are taking a fifth crack at passing a 1 percent sales tax increase this spring. The County School Facility Operation Tax measure will be on the March 15 ballot. The closest it has come to passing was March 18, 2014, when it fell short by 101 votes, 1,462 to 1,361. The state wrote the local option into law in 2007 to shift the burden of school funding from property taxes. If approved, it would bump the county tax rate from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent. The funds it generates can be used only for building maintenance, renovations and upgrades, and paying off bonds sold for such projects. The tax is not assessed on groceries, medication, services, farm equipment, cars, trucks, ATVs, boats, RVs and mobile homes. The benefit of the local option tax is that residents don’t shoulder the whole increase themselves. “It can be used to pay for a good chunk of what the taxpayers are currently paying,” said Tim Schurman, superintendent of the ChadwickMilledgeville district. “Visitors to our county – people who go out to eat at Poopy’s – they could be paying for improvements in the district.” He noted that Carroll County residents are supporting multimilliondollar projects in Clinton, Iowa, and in Whiteside County, where the referendum passed in November 2014. TAX INCREASE CONTINUED ON A4
TAMPICO
He was every member of the team Beloved teacher was a coach, cheerleader – and to friends and family, their MVP
BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
TAMPICO – In every picture, Daryl Smiley lives up to his name – his infectious smile is strung from ear to ear. And if you think that changed as he began to lose his bout with two lung diseases, guess again. One of the last images his wife, Judy, has of him is that of a nurse
entering his room Friday at Unity Point Health in Rock Island – the day before he died at age 76. “She came in to give him a steroid, and he said, ‘I guess I just lost my NCAA eligibility,’” she said. “He was a wart to the end.” He and Judy were married June 1, 1968, in Bloomington. He was a coach and educator in the Sauk Valley for 50 years. TEACHER CONTINUED ON A5
Coaching was a pleasure and a pastime Daryl Smiley loved. And more than just a coach, he was also “everyone’s biggest cheerleader,” said his friend, Tampico Mayor Kris Hill.
More on Daryl Service times – Visitation for Daryl Smiley will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Tampico Elementary School, 304 E. Kimball St. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Tampico United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Leanne Keates, pastor, officiating. See Smiley’s complete obituary on Page A4. Online extra – Read this story at saukvalley. com for a student’s fond remembrance of Daryl Smiley.
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TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 38
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 BUSINESS ......... A10 COMICS ............... A8
CROSSWORD......B9 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 42. Low 33. More on A3.
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