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RIVALRY WEEK IN STERLING BEARS IN MARKET PREP FOOTBALL, B1 FOR ANOTHER ‘W’ CHICAGO FOOTBALL WEEKLY, INSIDE
dailyGAZETTE Thursday, October 8, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
TWIN CITIES
Bucket brigades meet resistance Township’s Thanksgiving collection a casualty of ordinance change BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – Residents have become accustomed to seeing volunteers flag down motorists for donations on Saturdays in the downtown. Using such bucket brigades, charities can come away with up to $3,000 for a few hours of collecting in the streets. Many towns, however, have banned the practice for various reasons, including concerns about inter-
rupting traffic flow, safety of the volunteers, and fairness in choosing applicants. In response to an increasing number of requests, and questions about the process, Sterling passed an ordinance in March to better regulate the solicitation of funds in the city limits. A casualty of those tighter regulations is a bucket brigade for an annual Thanksgiving baskets program. For years, Sterling Township had taken to downtown streets
to raise money for the program, which provides Thanksgiving meal baskets for residents in need. This year, Sterling Township planned to team up with Coloma Township in Rock Falls, and hold a bucket brigade Saturday. But the Sterling City Council voted 4-1 Monday to deny the township’s application, largely on concerns that the township is a government taxing body, not a nonprofit organization.
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The bucket brigades are all for worthy causes, but traffic flow and safety are valid issues. We also get complaints from people who say it’s a reason to avoid the downtown on weekends.
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Skip Lee, Sterling mayor
I would rather approve it this year, and tell them they can’t do this in the future. They probably have this fundraiser in their budget, and it’s awfully late to make different plans.
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Retha Elston, alderwoman, on Thanksgiving collection
ILLINOIS | BUDGET IMPASSE
EDUCATION | OUTDOOR STEWARDSHIP DAYS
Hands-on learning soon to be hands off?
Rauner to lawmakers: ‘Time’s up’
Kids get up close, personal with rare breeds; budget impasse puts event on endangered list
He tells Dems to OK his reforms, or hike taxes without support BY SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
OAK LAWN – Gov. Bruce Rauner sought Wednesday to ramp up pressure on majority Democrats over Illinois’ unprecedented budget stalemate. The Republican again called for lawmakers to work with him to pass legislation he says would save businesses and taxpayers money, or approve a tax hike without Bruce Rauner his support. Republican “Time’s up,” the Republican governor made some of his said during a speech before most high-profile a b u s i n e s s remarks since his election durgroup in sub- ing Wednesday’s urban Chicago. stop in suburban “The longer Chicago. the Legislature takes, the more people will suffer, the bigger the deficit will grow.”
Rick O’Neill, an officer with Illinois Department of Natural Resources, shows off a 35-pound flathead catfish Wednesday, drawing an assortment of reactions from third-graders (top) attending the Outdoor Stewardship Days at Lowell Park in Dixon. BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
DIXON – For the 18th consecutive year, about 1,000 third-graders from Lee and Ogle counties came to Lowell Park on Tuesday and Wednesday for some hands-on education during Outdoor Stewardship Days. Whether there will be a 19th year remains to be seen, said Lindsay Daniels, administrative coordinator for the Lee County Soil and Water Conservation District, which sponsors the 2-day event. “The way [state] funding is for soil and water conservation districts, we will be lucky if we can be here next year,” Daniels said. “We are really struggling.”
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Thanks to the budget stalemate, SWCD funding has been suspended for fiscal year 2016. If the suspension remains in effect, districts statewide will have to lay off workers, she said. “We didn’t receive funds for fiscal year 2014, and nothing for fiscal year 2015,” Daniels said. “Since 2008, our funding has been cut by about 70 percent.” At Stewardship Days, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, University of Illinois Extension Service, and other volunteers joined soil and water conservation district representatives to give presentations to the youngsters.
Click on this story at saukvalley.com to see videos of slippery, slimy creatures like this bullfrog.
TIME’S UP CONTINUED ON A4
Can you take the heat? You can satisfy your craving for homemade chili while donating to a good cause this Saturday in Sterling. Read more about the cook-off on A10, and check out all of our local entertainment listings on A9-11.
HANDS-ON CONTINUED ON A5
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ...............B4
CROSSWORD....B13 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 79. Low 53. More on A3.
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Check out keys to car care, A13-14.
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