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ROCKETS’ RELAY STATE-BOUND AFTER ALL
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dailyGAZETTE Monday, May 19, 2014
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
LEE COUNTY COURT | MATTHEW WELLING TRIAL
‘He helped everybody in town’ Brother remembers murder victim Leroy Daniels BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5535
AMBOY – Delmar “Leroy” Daniels was a longtime, well-loved fixture in his native Amboy. You might say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he
died, but that would be so wrong. Sound asleep in his own home in the middle of the night, caring for his disabled wife, he was right where he belonged. Death came unbidden to his door. Beaten and stabbed with a broken flower vase, Leroy bled to death on
July 17, 2012. Closing arguments will be heard this morning in the Lee County Court trial of 33-yearold Matthew Welling, charged with first-degree murder and home invasion. The jury will begin deliberations today, and is not expected to take
long to reach a verdict. Among other evidence presented, Welling’s fingerprints, DNA and a vial of his dead brother’s ashes were found at the bloody crime scene, and Leroy’s DNA was found in the blood still on Welling’s body at the time of his arrest the next day. Prosecutors say Welling went to the Daniels home around 2 a.m. HELPED CONTINUED ON A4
Delmar “Leroy” Daniels
HEALTH CARE | KSB HOSPITAL
TWIN CITIES CELEBRATE THE ARMED FORCES
Medical billing system ‘costly’ But it’s the ‘best model we have,’ KSB chief says BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: Featured speaker Maj. Michelle Williams speaks to the crowd at Grandon Civic Center in Sterling on Sunday afternoon during Day 2 of the Sterling-Rock Falls Joint Armed Forces Day Celebration. RIGHT: The Civil Air Patrol Cadets present the colors to begin the seconds day of the Armed Forces Day Celebration. The inaugural Rock Falls-Sterling Joint Armed Forces Day Celebration featured bounce houses, fire truck rides, and other activities Saturday at Sinnissippi Park in Sterling. There also was a nondenominational church service Sunday at Hinders Memorial Park in Rock Falls. The military awards and recognition ceremony was held at Grandon Civic Center.
ECONOMY| GOVERNMENT BENEFITS
Food stamp use rises in Sauk Valley Statistics: Rate in Lee far less than in other local counties BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525
Like much of the country, counties in northwestern Illinois have seen a spike in the number of food stamp recipients since 2000. In 2000, 3.6 percent of Whiteside County’s population received help from the federal government’s food stamp pro-
$1.00
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gram, now officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In 2007, just as the recession was starting, the number had risen to 7.9 percent. By 2011, it was 12.8 percent. County-by-county information nationally was compiled by Robert Gallardo, an associate professor with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
INDEX
COMICS ............... A8 CROSSWORD......B9 DEAR ABBY ......... A7
Whiteside County’s numbers are similar to those in Carroll, Ogle and Bureau counties. But not Lee County, where the number rose from 3.2 percent to 4.5 percent from 2000 to 2007. By 2011, it was 6.2 percent, less than half of Whiteside County’s number. STAMP CONTINUED ON A10
LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2 NATION/WORLD A10
More on A10 s 3EE THE progression of food stamp use in local counties s #OMPARE it to other notable counties around the state
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
DIXON – David Schreiner, CEO and president of KSB Hospital, predicts that the United States is headed toward a single-payer health care system, which is what Canada and much of Europe have. “I’m not saying that I like that model,” he said, but added that it’s been successful in other countries. He said his job is to maximize the financial health of the nonprofit KSB Hospital KSB, “so that we CEO/president David can take care of Schreiner our patients.” So would a single-payer system help achieve that goal? It would work for KSB, Schreiner said, if it covered the costs of providing care, which Medicare and Medicaid do not. As with CGH Medical Center and other hospitals, privately insured patients subsidize just about everyone else at KSB, including Medicare and Medicaid recipients. KSB does have an edge over CGH in one regard, though. It gets higher reimbursement levels, because it is considered part of the metropolitan Chicago wage classification index. “It makes a difference. It is an advantage of us being 11 miles closer to Chicago,” Schreiner said in an interview in his office. “It’s like for other things. Sterling goes toward the Quad Cities more, while we go more toward the suburbs.” SYSTEM CONTINUED ON A4
Today’s weather High 71. Low 59. More on A3.
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