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ENTERTAINMENT, A9-12
DIXON BOWLER FINISHES NEAR TOP
SUMMER ACTIVITIES HEATING UP IN AREA
U.S. SENIOR OPEN, B1
dailyGAZETTE Thursday, June 11, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
STATE BUDGET
DIXON
Glimmer of hope appears Forced It looks like lawmakers might spare cities cuts in funding BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Recent state budget developments have lawmakers and city officials more hopeful that state-collected tax money that helps fund local governments could be spared. A 50 percent cut to the Local Government Distributive Fund was proposed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in January, setting into motion an organized effort by
city officials statewide to preserve its funding. The revenue, based on population, is the municipalities’ Liandro share of state income tax. Arellano Jr. The money goes into local general funds for basic services including police, fire, streets, admin-
istration, and building departments. On May 26, House Democrats pushed through a budget with a more than $3 Scott billion deficit. Shumard That version received no support from Republicans, but it was worth noting that no cuts to the LGDF were included.
State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, said his party listened to local officials who had great concerns about the governor’s proposed cuts of up to 50 percent in state funding. “There are no LGDF reductions in the Democratic version,” Smiddy said. “I have spent a great deal of time talking to local officials about possible cuts, and they are very concerned.” HOPE CONTINUED ON A4
GIVING THE NEW Y A TRY IN STERLING
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Visitors try out the equipment in the new cardio room on Wednesday at the Sterling-Rock Falls YMCA. The renovated Y – with an additional 2,800 square feet of wellness space – features a new strength and conditioning center, expanded cardio center, a dedicated Wee Care space for early childhood programs, and other improvements. The Y will host a ribbon cutting and open house to celebrate its recent renovations at 7:30 a.m. June 18 at the facility, 2505 YMCA Way, Sterling. YMCA members will be joined by donors, volunteers, business and government leaders and community partners. The public is invited.
festival freeze? Dry cleaner in heart of city’s annual event doesn’t want to close BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
DIXON – A Dixon business owner is all for the Petunia Festival. She just doesn’t want business to dry up while it’s going on. So now, as the city gears up for the 51st annual festival, organizers are hoping to resolve an issue with a downtown dry cleaner. Sauk Valley Cleaners Inc. is located in the heart of the festival – on the corner of Hennepin Avenue and River Street – and the proposed layout this year will set a stage on the eastward parking lot next to the dry cleaning shop. Kathy Smith, owner of Sauk Valley Cleaners, said she had to close her business for 6 days last summer because of downtown festivities, and this year, the Petunia Festival could cause her to close for 2 days. “Dixon is a small town. We’re trying to run a small-town business,” Smith said. “It’s a hardship on us when we have to totally close down.” Smith said she thinks the Petunia Festival is “great” for the city, drawing thousands of outsiders to the community, and she credited the “excellent volunteers” who devote their time organizing the event. But she also feels her shop’s proximity to the festivities makes her situation unique. The business has a 15-foot easement into the east parking lot so customers can have FESTIVAL CONTINUED ON A5
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Graduate: Program more than just ‘a way out’ Lee County Drug Court graduates 15th class in 10 years BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
DIXON – People were dressed up. There were speeches and a receiving line. There were smiles, tears, hugs, and cake. It was 4 p.m. Wednesday in Lee County Court – Judge Jacquelyn Ackert’s courtroom, to be specific, and it was packed. Everyone in the courtroom – family, friends, supporters – was there to celebrate the accomplishments of the five people sitting in the front of the courtroom: the June 2015 graduates of Lee County’s drug court. Three women and two men, all
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there for different addictions, made up the class of 2015. Smiling, proud, changed. This is the 10th year for Lee County’s drug court, and its accomAnna plishments have Sacco-Miller been extraordinary, Lee County State’s Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller has said. Thirty-eight people have successfully graduated, and the program has grown from just five participants in 2005 to 21 in 2014. Just 18 percent of those graduates have recidivated, which
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ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ...............B6 CROSSWORD....B12
means that 82 percent haven’t. Some wanted to use their names for this story, and some didn’t. One of the women, Jenna, a 26-year-old Dixon woman and mother to a son, brought tears to the eyes of a number of audience members as she read a speech about what drug court, and finding sobriety after years of alcohol abuse, has meant for her. “I am now someone,” she said. She’s clean now. A 25-year-old woman from Dixon was there, arrested on a DUI charge in September 2013. She’s clean now. James Jameson, 21, also graduated Wednesday. He used to live LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Staci Stewart of the Lee County Probation Department talks with alumni of the drug court Wednesday after the program’s 15th graduation at the Lee County Courthouse in Dixon. Three women and two men, all there for different addictions, made up this year’s class.
OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2 SPORTS ...............B1
Today’s weather High 82. Low 69. More on A3.
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