Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
Fore! Score at the Lincoln Highway
GREEN ARROWS IN COLETA
MEN’S GOLF, B1
dailyGAZETTE PHOTOS, A3
Monday, July 20, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
STERLING MURALS
Where there’s a wall, there’s a way Organizers, artists find a way to bring Lincoln to Sterling in time for key fundraiser BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – The Sterling Mural Society’s “Lincoln in Sterling” painting will be finished in time for unveiling at a key fundraiser for the Lincoln Learning Center. The Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society will formally launch its $300,000 fundraising campaign for the project next to the Lincoln-Manahan Home Museum the day after its Ice Cream
Social. The fundraiser, the organization’s biggest, will be from noon to 2 p.m. July 26 at 607 E. Third St. The learning center will be home to the Junior Historian Program, historical society events, and traveling exhibits. The mural hasn’t been started yet, so organizers weren’t sure if it would be ready for a big weekend in Sterling that also includes the debut of Sterling Fest, which will make its run from July 19 through July 26.
Sterling Main Street Executive Director Janna Groharing said the mural plans finally came together Thursday. “We got everything ordered, and the artists hope to start framing over the weekend,” Groharing said. “We should have it ready late Saturday or early Sunday morning.” The mural site is the south wall of the building at the corner of East Third Street and Seventh Avenue. It was chosen to tie in with the Manahan Home and
Lincoln Learning Center. Groharing said plans were slowed by the amount of prep work that needed to be done. She and artist John Gragert finally decided to paint the mural on wood panels, and then install it on the building. Gragert’s sons will help him with the painting. The historical society hopes the learning center’s basic framework can be up before the end of the year, so interior work could continue during the winter. MURAL CONTINUED ON A4
Inside
History beneath a headstone ... Grave believed to belong to first black male slave freed by Lincoln. Page A4
ILLINOIS POLITICS
ROCK FALLS
Labels aren’t his cup of tea 16th District candidate doesn’t want message to get lost in party politics BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Nan Shepard and granddaughter, Kendal Poff, 2, take a picture of the pink fire truck Saturday at the Pink Heals stop over in Rock Falls.
Wheel men wear pink Volunteers bring some fire power to the battle against disease BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
ROCK FALLS – When that pink fire truck wheeled into Rock Falls on Saturday, there were more than one million signatures on it. Love notes, notes of strength, notes of heartbreak – notes written and signed by people battling disease, and the people who love them. When it left Rock Falls, there were quite a few more. I signed it, for my grandmother who died right when I was just getting old enough to truly know her. Another woman signed it while I was there, too, standing outside in the blistering heat of the afternoon sun. She was a survivor, she said. PINK HEALS CONTINUED ON A5
Visitors to the Pink Heals’ Rock Falls stopover check out the thousands of names and messages written on a pink fire truck.
ROCKFORD – Colin McGroarty says he isn’t a tea party candidate, but he does sound like one. McGroarty, 43, of Rockford, on Thursday declared his intention to run in the 16th Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Adam Kinzinger is expected to seek a fourth term. McGroarty said he isn’t hung up on party labels, and he considered running as an independent, but thought he’d have a better chance declaring as a Republican. “I want to get people to think about issues instead of parties,” the technology consultant said, “and logistically, the system is stacked against independent candidates.” Kinzinger, 37, from Colin Channahon, is an Air McGroarty Force pilot who was first elected to Congress from the 11th District in 2010. He defeated incumbent Democrat Deborah Halvorson that year during the tea party wave that saw Republicans take control of the U.S. House. Two years later, after redistricting combined parts of the 11th and 16th districts, Kinzinger ousted longtime incumbent Don Manzullo in the Republican primary election. He easily won election that year and re-election in 2014, when he faced a tea party challenger in the primary. McGroarty made his announcement at a meeting of the Northern Illinois Tea Party in Rockton, his core beliefs are textbook tea party, and he admires former Texas Congressman Ron Paul. But he maintains that he doesn’t identify as a tea party candidate. “I consider myself more of a Jeffersonian Democrat in that I believe in the country that the Founding Fathers envisioned,” McGroarty said. MCGROARTY CONTINUED ON A5
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 157
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 COMICS ............... A8 CROSSWORD......B9
LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2 NATION ................ A9
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 84. Low 59. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600 OR 800-798-4085