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ROCK FALLS | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PETUNIA FESTIVAL
Rolling on the riverfront City leaders aim to ride momentum of key announcements BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570
ROCK FALLS – The economic development process is often likened to a puzzle, but the pieces are falling into place like dominoes in the RB&W District. The riverfront plans gained momentum in May with two key announcements. During a May 6 council meeting, it was announced that the city had nailed down its long-sought anchor project for the dis-
‘‘
... when you have opportunities like this, you can’t slow up.
’’
RFCDC Executive Director Randy Balk on riding momentum of hotel announcement, Limestone grant
trict. The redevelopment agreement calls for the construction of a $6.1 million Holiday Inn Express & Suites at the east end of the riverfront. Construction of the 68-unit hotel is expected to begin soon. City officials say the hotel will generate an estimated $2.3 million over the next 10 years – $1 million in property taxes that go into the TIF District, $700,000 in hotel/motel taxes, and $600,000 in city utilities revenue.
Then on May 28, the city learned it would receive a $200,000 federal grant to start removing the troublesome Limestone Building from the riverfront. The building was long considered to be the last remaining physical barrier to development of the area. The grant money will cover the assessment portion of the $600,000 demolition project that has already started. City leaders realize that when the momentum builds, they have to run with it. “It’s a process, and the hotel set up several other things,” said Randy Balk, executive director of the Rock Falls Community Development Corp. “The Limestone grant certainly helps, and when you have opportunities like this, you can’t slow up.” RIVERFRONT CONTINUED ON A8
ENTERPRISE SERIES | DIXON CORRECTIONAL CENTER
Cuts cause swell in mental health care needs
Alex T. Paschal/ apaschal@saukvalley.com
Darci Dunphy, 10, of Dixon creates her vision of the carnival Friday afternoon during the Brush, Bloom and Boom painting event on the Peoria Avenue Bridge. More photos on A11.
PETUNIA FESTIVAL DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS
Show will be ‘special’ for Dixon graduate Karin Lee will lead the Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps at Sunday event BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Fencing and razor wire reminds one that, despite the almost park-like grounds at the Dixon Correctional Center, it is, in fact, the grounds of a prison. Exercise is a key component to treatment of inmates in need of mental health care.
More than one-third of inmates receive treatment BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521
Seventeen and a half laps around the wooden floor of the indoor gym equals 1 mile. Seventeen and a half laps, so says the sign hung on the wall, clearly visible to anyone who enters this gym on the Dixon Correctional Center grounds – separated from the general population by a well-guarded gate.
Exercise is a prescription for health. One of many therapeutic devices used to treat the ever-expanding number of inmates at the prison who are classified as needing some sort of mental health care. Dixon has more beds devoted to inmates with mental health care needs than any other prison in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Of the 2,400 inmates at Dixon, approximately 900 of them are receiving some type
of mental health care. And of those 900, 300 are allowed to live in general population, while the other 600 are assigned to special housing units: the Special Treatment Center, which is medium-security and used to house inmates with higher-functioning disabilities, and the Dixon Psychiatric Unit, which people on the inside call “The X House.” MENTAL HEALTH CONTINUED ON A11
DIXON – Before Karin Lee leaves for Germany, and before she finishes her time in a drum and bugle corps, she’ll return to Dixon. Lee, a 22-year-old Dixon native who graduated from the University of Illinois this year, is the drum major for the Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps, based in Milwaukee. Karin The corps Lee will perform on the football field at Dixon High School on Sunday during Petunia Festival. It’s the same field where Lee marched in high school, and where she graduated on 4 years ago. “It’s so special to me,” she said of the opportunity to perform in front of her home crowd. “I can’t even tell you how excited I am.” Lee’s career with the Pioneer corps started in 2012. But her love for drum and bugle corps started here in Dixon, when she was young and her father, Doug Lee, took her to drum corps shows. SPECIAL CONTINUED ON A3
Mostly sunny
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 45 44 Pages
Today: 81/64 For the forecast, see Page A10
Good hair days
A newly opened styling salon in Rock Falls is just the thing for “hair junkies.” See Page C1
’90s nostalgia NatGeo’s Jane Root reviews a decade of memories Also inside USA Weekend: Catch up on some faces from the 1990s Grilled pork 401(k) advice
Index Births................ C5 Lottery .............. A2 Business........... C1 Markets .......... A11 Classified .......... D1 Obituaries ......... A4 Comics ............. B6 Opinion............. A6 Community ..... C12 Scoreboard ...... B7 Scrapbook ....... C3 Crossword Saturday ........... D2 Sports .............. B1 Support groups .. C5 Crossword Sunday ............. C8 Travel .............. C10 Dave Ramsey ... C1 Weather.......... A10 Dear Abby ........ C6 Wheels ............. D8