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CHAMPS TO BE TESTED EARLY
PETUNIA FESTIVAL, A9-10
PREP FOOTBALL, B1
dailyGAZETTE Tuesday, June 30, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ILLINOIS | BUDGET
STERLING-ROCK FALLS YMCA | COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Rauner gears up to avoid shutdown
Food, fun free for all
Budget in limbo as new Fiscal Year 2016 looms BY SARA BURNETT AND JOHN O’CONNOR The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ Republican governor and the state’s largest employee union moved Monday to avoid a partial government shutdown. The union said members will continue to show up for work, even if the state begins operating without a budget. Gov. Bruce Rauner pledged to do what he can to ensure they don’t miss a paycheck. But a new fight appeared to be taking shape between Rauner – typically seen as an enemy of organized labor – and Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who said workers can’t be paid until the governor and Democrats who run the Legislature pass a new budget. SHUTDOWN CONTINUED ON A4 Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Joseph Martinez (left), 7, of Rock Falls listens as Kailee Forbes, 18, of Milledgeville reads a book at the Rock Falls Public Library on Monday afternoon during an outreach program organized by the Sterling-Rock Falls Family YMCA.
All local kids eligible for free meals, activities BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
STERLING – Local elementary and middle school students now have a place where they can get a healthy meal and participate in a structured summer school program. That’s because the Sterling-Rock Falls Family YMCA is running an outreach program this summer. Melissa Ryan, youth development director for the local YMCA, said $55,000 in grants from the Wal-Mart Foundation fund the program.
Summer fun The YMCA Outreach Program takes place every Monday and Friday until Aug. 7. The program is housed in two locations: • Coloma Homes, 401 W. 18th St., Rock Falls; lunch from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.; activities from noon to 1 p.m. • Rock Falls Community Building, 601 W. 10th St, Rock Falls; activities from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; lunch served at 11:15 p.m. To learn more about the program, visit srfymca.org, e-mail Melissa Ryan at mryan@srfymca.org or call 815-535-9622. The program is aimed at providing healthy meals and an activity to area youths when they are not in school. And because more than half of students at Sterling
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We want to help them build relationships, we want to make sure they have role models, and we want to give them a safe and nurturing place to be.
and Rock Falls schools are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, the entire area is considered “at risk,” Ryan said, so the YMCA can provide meals without checking
STERLING
Lagoon returns to homeostasis City lifts conservation order, asks that sump pumps not be connected BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10
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Melissa Ryan, Sterling-Rock Falls YMCA youth development director
income status. The program, which started June 8, will take place every Monday and Friday until Aug. 7.
STERLING – A new backup system is in place, so the city no longer needs residents hooked into the sanitary sewer system to conserve water, City Manager Scott Shumard said in a news release Monday morning. The lagoon at the wastewater treatment plant, slammed by recent heavy rainfalls, has returned to near-normal levels, the release said, and the new system will help to ensure continuous pumping capacity at the plant. LAGOON CONTINUED ON A4
FREE CONTINUED ON A5
STERLING | SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
This truck runs on hot, cold deals Higher Grounds selling coffee, signature spritzers all over town BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
STERLING – Rock Falls resident Roman Sotelo says he has a sweet addiction. He is hooked on the soda spritzers at Higher Grounds Mobile Café. “I used to get the iced latte, but I tried one of the soda spritzers, and I became addicted the first time I tried one,” Sotelo, 41, said Monday. “I’m on lunch break, and I came here to get one.”
$1.00
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More information Higher Grounds Mobile Cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. For locations and upcoming events, find Higher Grounds Mobile Cafe on Facebook. The hand-crafted soda spritzer is one of many beverages Sterling resident Valerie Howes creates at Higher Grounds. “Anything you would find in a coffee house is what I have,” said Howes, 41.
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 BUSINESS ......... A14 COMICS ...............B8
Howes opened her mobile cafe May 1. She can be found all over town, including in the parking lot of County Market and at the Sterling Farmers Market. She can also be found at local festivals and other social gatherings. Howes offerings include café mocha, hot cocoa, herbal tea, iced coffee, sodas, and those homemade spritzers. She serves yayas, made of monkey bread, and she makes mini apple pecan pies. MOBILE CONTINUED ON A4
CROSSWORD....B13 LIFESTYLE .......A7&8 LOTTERY ............. A2
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Valeria Howes, 41, of Sterling opened Higher Grounds Mobile Café on May 1, and can be found all over Sterling – including in the County Market parking lot.
NATION/WORLD .. A8 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
Today’s weather High 80. Low 57. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B9.
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