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STERLING COMES Salt optional, but pepper a must OUT SWINGING FOOD, A9-10
SOFTBALL, B1
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, April 29, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS | HOTEL STERLING
Weather starting to look up
Crews should resume soon But flowers will be excited to see rain today
Construction waiting on main support beam BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – Construction crews should soon be back at the site of a 68-room hotel being built along the riverfront.
Last May, the city announced plans for Rock Falls Hotel Group LLC to build the $6.1 million Holiday Inn Express & Suites to anchor redevelopment in the RB&W District. Construction initially was expected to begin last summer, but was delayed, in part by limited space available between the East Second Street site and the river. HOTEL CONTINUED ON A4
“Fortunately for us, we don’t have a shovel in the ground yet,” City Administrator Robbin Blackert on threat posed by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s spending freeze.
SVM file photo
DIXON | STREET WORK
City’s unsightly sites picked for re-paving Mayor: Project bid about $45K less than estimate
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
A pair of tulips reach for the sky near the Civil War monument Tuesday at Grandon Civic Center in downtown Sterling. The Sauk Valley was once again treated to a warm and sunny spring day.
Ready to plant that garden? The forecast is telling us there will be no more freeze-friendly temperatures in the Sauk Valley, as highs over the next few days will sit above 60, and the furthest the low should dip is 39. Today’s outlook calls for a high of 47, but also for a shower to pass through. Check out A3 for the full 5-day forecast. And if you missed it, check out the Home & Garden special section that was published in Tuesday’s edition for tips on planting your garden this spring.
BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
DIXON – Sixteen streets in Dixon will get a makeover this summer. The Dixon City Council held a brief meeting Tuesday to award a street maintenance contract to Freeport-based Civil Constructors. As part of the maintenance project, 16 of the city’s worst
streets will be re-paved, at a cost of $468,695.75. “It’s good to see the bids come in at about $45,000 below the estimate,” Mayor Jim Burke said. The bulk of the work will take place off Washington and North Jefferson avenues. There are also four projects planned in the Idle Oaks subdivision, located off state Route 2. “We want to improve them,” Commissioner Jeff Kuhn said. “We will grind them down and knock off the old blacktop and lay down whole new blacktop.” UNSIGHTLY CONTINUED ON A2
DIXON | UTILITIES
City switching its electricity provider in July Residents given until May 14 to opt out of aggregation program BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
DIXON – Residents will have a new electricity provider in July, after a new deal was negotiated through the city’s municipal aggregation program.
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The program, which allows the city to collectively negotiate electricity rates for willing residents, was approved by Dixon voters in April 2013. Voters had turned it down twice previously. In May 2013, the city signed a 2-year deal with supplier Verde
INDEX
Energy. With the Verde contract set to expire at the end of June, the city decided to explore options early this year. “With the change in government coming, we decided to start the rebidding process a bit early,” said Amanda Bradshaw, assistant to the city administra-
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tor. “We figured it was just one less thing for them to have to deal with when they came in.” After looking at the bids, MidAmerican Energy emerged the clear-cut winner this time, Bradshaw said. ELECTRICITY CONTINUED ON A4
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More about MidAmerican Energy Headquarters: Des Moines, Iowa Rate: Fixed at 6.62 cents a kilowatt hour Term: July 2015 to July 2018 Contact: 1-800-342-3346 Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday
Today’s weather High 70. Low 39. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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