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Enjoy breakfast’s WARRIORS TURN THE grain attraction TABLES ON OTTAWA BASEBALL, B1
FOOD, A9-10
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, April 20, 2016
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS | CITY COUNCIL
City wants to see what develops Firm will market ‘rock star’ property off of interstate, and sing the praises of riverfront land, too BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – The city hired an economic development firm Tuesday to market its available land, placing the
highest priority on its newly acquired interstate properties and the riverfront. Tim Reddock of Retail Attractions, a consulting firm from Owasso, Oklahoma, made his pitch at a Committee of the Whole session held an hour before the Rock Falls City Council meeting.
The city has been doing its own development work since terminating the financial agreement it had for 14 years with the Rock Falls Community Development Corp. Officials had said consultants would likely be called in for help when needed.
EDUCATION
The
DEVELOPS CONTINUED ON A5
ROCK FALLS
WACC’s tech class helps kids learn whether they want to get with the program
key to their future
The city had solicited proposals from several economic development consultants, but opted for Retail Attractions. The council voted unanimously to approve the agreement with Retail Attractions, contingent on the city attorney’s review.
4th Ward gets a new alderman Mayor appoints former VP of school board to fill vacant seat BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Amboy senior James Blackburn (left), 17, and Newman Central Catholic High School senior Matthew Johnson, 18, work on Linux programing Tuesday during the computer technology class at the Whiteside Area Career Center in Sterling. BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – If it weren’t for compatibility issues because of a recent Windows 10 upgrade, Erie High School junior Austin Sullivan would have happily shown off the virtual machine he built to hack a system’s security. That nicely sums up the crux of computer technology at Whiteside Area Career Center. Technology is constantly changing, and at the core of the syllabus is ethics. Sullivan, 17, started his first year at WACC already boasting a wealth of knowledge, a not uncommon challenge for ninth-year instructor Dana Fellows.
“This goes for most of our programs at WACC: It’s not like history or math, where they’ve been doing it before they get here,” Fellows said Tuesday afternoon. “Some kids are very tech-savvy – sometimes they scare me – but typically, they come in and they don’t know a lot about tech. It’s like the way a baby learns: a lot in a couple of years.” Many of the students – including Sullivan – are interested in being network administrators or network security analysts, and the key to beating the hacker is to be a bit faster, a bit sharper than the hacker. That’s why Sullivan has been tinkering with Kali Linux, a system used for penetration testing. LEARNING CONTINUED ON A11
Online extra Click on this story at saukvalley.com to hear how Whiteside Area Career Center student Austin Sullivan honed his computer skills.
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 94
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ...............B6 CROSSWORD....B12
LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2 FOOD ..............A9-10
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
ROCK FALLS – Troy Ebenezer will fill the 4th Ward aldermanic seat left empty by the resignation of John Watts. The Rock Falls City Council on Tuesday approved Mayor Bill Wescott’s recommendation to appoint Ebenezer. “Three people had contacted me about the vacancy, but Troy was the only one I met with,” Wescott said. “The other two didn’t turn in the questionnaires or return my phone calls.” Watts announced Next meeting his resignation at The Rock Falls the March 1 counCity Council next cil meeting. He had meets at 6:30 p.m. been appointed to May 3, at City Hall, fill a vacancy in 2012, 603 W. 10th St. and was elected to The agendas will the seat in 2013. be posted at rockEbenezer has falls61071.com and served as vice presiat City Hall. Call dent of the Rock Falls 815-622-1100 for Elementary School more information. District 13 board, The council meetand was a presiing also airs live on dent of the Junior Channel 5. Tackle youth football league. The unexpired term is up in April 2017, and Ebenezer will have to be elected if he wants to serve the new 4-year term. In other action, the council passed a resolution setting up a public hearing for the city’s planned annexation of the Wayne Schmitt property. The hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. May 17 in council chambers at 603 W. 10th St. in Rock Falls. The city recently closed on the 30-acre Schmitt property that is adjacent to and west of state Route 40 near Interstate 88. The land deal also gave the city a 7-year option to buy an additional 25 acres. The annexation agreement includes all of the land, thus triggering the need for a public hearing. “The city must annex additional land to be contiguous to the city,” City Attorney Jim Reese said. “It’s not just property the city owns, it’s some the Schmitts still own, and the land we have an option to buy later.” The property will also have to go back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for zoning work. The intent is for the land to be zoned for mixed use, keeping its agriculture designation so it can be farmed while development is pursued.
Today’s weather High 69. Low 52. More on A3.
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