GAZ_09042015

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Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.

Dogs deserve a little more love AMERICAN PROFILE, INSIDE

SERVING IT UP ON SAME SIDE NOW

SVCC WOMEN’S TENNIS, B1

dailyGAZETTE Friday, September 4, 2015

SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854

LINCOLN HIGHWAY

Road to recognition Petition drive aims to get road designated a national monument BY ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com Shaw Media

DeKALB – John O’Halloran got his kicks on the Lincoln Highway 2 years ago. He left his Twombly Road home with his partner,

Robert Reinhold, and drove a 1948 Hudson to San Francisco along the first hardsurfaced improved transcontinental highway. “It’s a lovely, not-heavily traveled road because most motorists take the inter-

state,” said O’Halloran, who also is a member of the Franklin Grove-based Lincoln Highway Association. “It epitomizes the beauty of America. You’re not pressed by the high speeds. Everybody on the interstate

wants to drive 80 mph.” But for all its history, Lincoln Highway is still not recognized by the federal government as a national monument. ROAD CONTINUED ON A5

Monica Synett/msynett@shawmedia.com

A Lincoln Highway mural decorates the side of a business Thursday at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Seventh Street in DeKalb.

ROCK FALLS

OREGON

SPLASH RAD Siblings beat the heat at park

City OKs payment to group Reimbursement for RFCDC expenses from aborted state office BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier

Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Danny Welty, 6, of Dixon douses himself under a bucket of water Thursday at the splash pad in Oregon West Park. The pad, and anywhere else in the area that offers a cool splash, will likely get a lot of use in the next few days. Temperatures are forecast to rise through Sunday, when they top out at 94. After that, things will start to cool off, with temps starting to fall on Monday, when the high should hit 85. Then, the mercury is predicted to hover in the mid 70s beginning Tuesday. RIGHT: Little sister Natalie Welty, 3, pushes the button Thursday, activating a barrage of water buckets on her older brother’s head. FAR RIGHT: Ryan (left), 7, and Danny cool off in the splash pad.

TOP5 Your Weekend

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First Fridays in Oregon

OREGON – The First Fridays open stage music show will return at 7 p.m. Friday to Oregon VFW Post 8739, 1310 W. Washington St. Each musician or band will perform for 15 minutes. Admission is by donation.

$1.00

TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 191

ROCK FALLS – The council has authorized the city to reimburse the city’s economic development group more than $41,000 for costs incurred in a project that never came to fruition. The city entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Rock Falls Community Development Corp. on Aug. 12, 2012. That agreement stipulated that the city would reimburse the development group for consulting costs from a project that would have brought state agency offices to the riverfront. The city would have been a prototype for the state’s OneStop Shop concept, in which regional offices would be consolidated to save money and improve efficiencies. RFCDC worked on the project with the state’s Department of Central Management Services for several years, but the plans fell through late in the process. “The One-Stop Shop didn’t happen, and there was a dispute over state offices that were in Sterling,” Alderman Glen Kuhlemier said. PAYMENT CONTINUED ON A5

2

Blues, brews, BBQ and bags in Dixon

DIXON – Blues, Brews, BBQs & Bags for the Brave runs from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday in the 100 block of First Street downtown. Admission is $5 for adults and free for veterans and kids 12 and younger. Two-person teams can register for the bags tournament for $30. The tourney will begin after a 1:30 p.m. Honor Flight ceremony. Enjoy a bourbon tasting or one of the craft beers served.

INDEX

Fall into the season in Rock Falls

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4

ROCK FALLS – The first Northern Illinois Autumn Fest will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at First Open Bible Church, 2105 state Route 30 E. There will be bounce houses, vendors, concessions, crafts, face painting and live music. All ages are welcome, and participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

ABBY ................... A9 BUSINESS ......... A11 COMICS ...............B6

CROSSWORD....B11 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2

Hit the Brick Street Days in Mount Carroll

MOUNT CARROLL – The downtown will be busy all day Saturday during Brick Street Days. There will be sidewalk sales, live music, an arts and crafts sale, and local food establishments and organizations offering tasty fare to sample.

OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1

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Relive Melon Days in Thomson

THOMSON – Melon Days might be a thing of the past, but you can relive them from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday during Memories of Melon Days at York Community Church, just north of Heirloom Cafe on state Route 84. Attendees will get free, home-grown McGinnis melons. A Harvest Festival starts at 11 a.m. at the cafe, and there will be a tractor pull at Curley Park at noon.

Today’s weather High 89. Low 67. More on A3.

Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.

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