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RICOTTA: TWICE COOKED, TWICE THE GOODNESS
An All-Star night for baseball fans SPORTS, B1
dailyGAZETTE FOOD, A9-10
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS | TOURISM
It’s a rocky road map for now City finds itself in uncharted waters as it navigates its way through tourism transition BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – It’s been 7 years since the city last handled its tourism duties, and the transition period to handling them again has been bumpy. The Rock Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau has disbanded and the
city filed a lawsuit against the group in December to recoup $584,000 in tourism reserves. The city will also get future monthly hotel/motel tax revenue of an estimated $150,000 to $160,000 a year. Now that the CVB has disbanded, tourism is a new city department, complete with a committee and a designated enterprise fund for budgetary purposes. Given the bad blood between the city
and CVB, there was no concerted effort to make the transition easier. In many respects, the city is starting from square one. Advertising was on the agenda for the Tourism Committee’s meeting Tuesday, but the most important order of business was the hiring of a full-time director for the department. Until that happens, the committee
STERLING
is hesitant to set up a new procedural template. “It’s too soon to tell if we’ll be making any dramatic changes,” Chairman George Logan Jr. said. “We need to get the director in first, and we’re hoping it will be someone with knowledge and experience who can hit the ground running.” ROCK FALLS CONTINUED ON A5
DIXON
They’re ready to unleash more of Granny’s potential
Smiling all the way to the Bank
Work on Enrichment Center for dogs will begin next week BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: Sterling firefighter Clark Liedberg lets Adrain Pineda hold the hose nozzle Tuesday afternoon as the Sterling Fire Department entertained kids at the Hawkins-Cassens Insurance cookout. The insurance agency held the cookout to raise donations for the Sauk Valley Food Bank. The fundraiser also featured a bouncy house, kids fingerprinting by Sterling Police, and kids activities by the Sterling-Rock Falls YMCA. The Met Life blimp also hovered overhead, making a return appearance after cruising over the area last week. RIGHT: Kids jump for joy Tuesday in the bounce house outside Hawkins-Cassens Insurance.
DIXON – Granny Rose Animal Shelter board members have long considered the next phase of development for the Dixon facility. In 1996, the shelter set up shop on River Lane, and since then, board president Mark Knie said, there’s been a lot thought about the possibility of a full-service dog training facility located on the Granny Rose property. Those visions are on the verge of becoming reality. Knie said that thanks to a six-figure private pledge, construction on a 13,500 square-foot K-9 Enrichment Center could begin by the end of this year. Projected to cost more than $1 million, the facilThis is the next ity would hold obedistep in the evoluence, agility training and pet therapy classes tion of Granny year-round, and maybe Rose. There’s really someday have the no place [in the chops to host Ameriarea] of this scope can Kennel Club [AKC]or magnitude. sanctioned events. “We’ve talked about Mark Knie it for the last 3 to 4 Granny Rose Animal years, thinking that this Shelter board president is the next step in the evolution of Granny Rose,” Knie said. “We kept seeing a need for a space to do obedience training. There’s really no place [in the area] of this scope or magnitude.” Last week, Knie signed a contract with Brown Construction to begin the project, after a donor – who wishes to remain anonymous – committed to matching every dollar Granny Rose raises through its latest funding initiative, up to $100,000. The group has already accounted for $800,000 from previous donations. Preliminary digging will begin next week, and construction is expected to be finished “in the first part of December,” Knie said.
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GRANNY ROSE CONTINUED ON A5
STERLING-ROCK FALLS
Knox, knox. Who’s there? Firefighters The key to getting into a home more quickly lies in a lockbox BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – Welcome mats and flower pots always have been popular hiding places for spare house keys, but burglars are more likely than emergency
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TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 154
responders to find them there. Commercial buildings have used a heavy-duty key safe, called a KnoxBox, since the mid-1970s. The Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments are making a public appeal for residents to consider using the home version of the key safe. The company, Phoenix-based
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ...............B4 CROSSWORD......B9
Knox, works with local fire departments nationwide to provide easy access to businesses and homes in emergencies. The fire departments register a community with Knox, and building owners can order the box online. KNOX-BOX
FOOD ..............A9-10 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
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A3
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Each fire engine has a lockbox that can be accessed with a code to retrieve a master key that opens all Knox-Boxes in a community.
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 78. Low 57. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B5.
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