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Two drug busts, one home invasion arrest
SVM ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
POLICE, A2-3
SPORTS, B3
dailyGAZETTE
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
CELLPHONE BAN
Agencies slow to ticket drivers With grace periods ending, citations will pick up speed BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 521
STERLING – It’s been a month now that Illinoisans have been barred from talking on their cellphones while driving. So far, police
agencies have been taking it easy on the ticketing, but that’s set to change. The Illinois State Police, as Lt. John Biffany promised a month ago, has been the most strict with phone policing efforts. District 1
officers so far have given out 21 citations, and 45 written warnings, since the law took effect on Jan. 1. The district covers Whiteside, Lee, Carroll and Ogle counties. Both the Sterling and Dixon
police departments handed out only warnings for the month of January, doling out 15 and 16, respectively. Neither agency has issued a ticket. TICKET CONTINUED ON A4
Mike Kuelper
STERLING
STERLING
Rue 21 coming to Northland Fashion retailer aims for youth, summer opening BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 535
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
A car drives around a pothole near the intersection of East Fourth Street and Seventeenth Avenue in Sterling on Monday afternoon. An official with the state Department of Transportation said the problem might be addressed this month, despite the fact that the same crews that would take care of it have been inundated with snow removal.
Fourth Street pothole pocked Repairs could be made this month, if snowfall slows BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
STERLING – Winter has taken a toll on local roads. One of the more notable examples is Fourth Street in Sterling. A portion of that street – just west of East Lincolnway – is riddled with pot-
holes, causing drivers to occasionally swerve and avoid them. When will the problems get taken care of? “When the temperature gets above 32 and the pavement isn’t frozen, we’ll fill the potholes,” said John Wegmeyer, a project implementation engineer with the state
Department of Transportation. The DOT maintains East Lincolnway and Third and Fourth streets, which make up state Route 2. The state, Wegmeyer said, might get to the pothole-pocked part of Fourth Street this month. POTHOLE CONTINUED ON A4
BAY VALLEY FOODS STRIKE
STERLING – A national fashion retailer for the young – and young at heart – will open in Northland Mall this summer. Rue 21 will arrive in July or August, spokeswoman Kelly Evanovich confirmed Monday. Typically, about 15 full- and part-time employees are hired, she said. Rue’s target audience is 11- to 17-year-olds, although customers of all ages shop their stores, which offer “guys and girls clothing [and accessories] ... to anyone with a flair for fashion,” Evanovich said. The company, based in Warrendale, Pa., operates more than 1,000 stores in 47 states; its expansion plan calls for opening 120 new sites each year, she said. Four other stores are in malls within a 50-mile radius of Sterling: in Peru Mall in Peru, South Park Mall in Moline, CherryVale Mall in Rockford, and NorthPark Mall in Davenport, Iowa. Go to www.rue21.com to learn more about the store. Rue’s arrival might take a bit of the sting out of the mall’s loss of Kirlin’s Hallmark, which will close Sunday after four decades at Northland. It has 13 employees.
BULLDOGS ON PARADE
‘Disappointed’ but hopeful for a deal Union president: ‘Very little progress’ made thus far; sides meet today BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 529
DIXON – Negotiations between Bay Valley Foods and Teamsters Local 722 are expected to continue this morning. Workers went on strike at 11 p.m. Thursday after they had worked without a contract since Dec. 28, said Steve Mongan, the
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union’s president. The two sides met for 3 hours on Friday and Sunday with a federal mediator, which was called for by Bay Valley Foods, Mongan said, but “very little progress” had been made. M o n g a n said he was “disappointed” with the position the company w a s t a k i n g , b u t was hopeful a deal could be
INDEX
BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ............... A9 CROSSWORD....B11
reached today. Mongan filed an unfair labor practice charge Thursday, he said, because Bay Valley Foods wouldn’t discuss a collective bargaining agreement without a policy in which a doctor’s note would no longer be sufficient for authorized time off. DEAL CONTINUED ON A4
DEAR ABBY ......... A8 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
Submitted by Connie Pankhurst
A shot to compete for Best in Show was at stake for Dixon’s very own Sheldon the English bulldog on Monday in New York. See how he fared on A5.
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
Today’s weather High 12. Low 2. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
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