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SPECIAL SECTION, INSIDE
EARLY SEASON TEST FOR WARRIORS WRESTLING, B1
dailyGAZETTE Thursday, December 4, 2014
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
TWIN CITIES
TIME TO PLAN!T
Focus Services relocating Move from Rock Falls to Sterling will see addition of 100 jobs BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521
STERLING – Focus Services, a Rock Falls mainstay since 1994, is moving to Sterling at the end of the month, and with that move is coming 100 new jobs. Focus Services provides telemarketing for CenturyLink, but not cold-calling; its employees offer plan upgrades, dis-
counts, and the like to current CenturyLink customers. The Rock Falls location, at 1100B First Ave., was in need of upgrades, director Danica Campos said. In addition, its growing staff (126 currently) is outpacing the number of chairs available in the building, she said. Focus will move into the vacant space between Goodwill and Aaron’s at 2214
ROCK FALLS
E. Fourth St. It will provide ample space for the company to bring on additional staff. If all goes according to plan, Campos said, Focus will start to train new hires Dec. 17 at the Sterling location. People interested can apply at focus.iapplicants.com, or pick up applications at the Rock Falls location for now, or the Sterling building after Dec. 17.
Find out when and where the holliest, jolliest events are going down this year. PAGES A9-12
DIXON
STERLING | LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Next step Fifth-graders rock book taken in broadband project
Welcome Center’s new home on Peoria
Consultant: Utility could generate revenue, spur development
Lease at current spot ends Dec. 31 BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529
BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570
ROCK FALLS – The city is moving ahead with a plan to bring broadband into its fold of utility offerings. A representative from Magellan Advisors, a technology services consulting firm the city has worked with for about a year, presented a strategic plan to the council Tuesday. The plan looked at various aspects of the project, including feasibility, market analysis, and business model options. Dick Simon, director of the city’s electric department, has been working closely with Denver-based Magellan on the plan to develop a broadband utility. The department would be responsible for running the service. Magellan’s Kyle Hollifield told the council that the firm’s findings indicated that the project is feasible for the city. He also outlined three business models, saying that the study findings suggested that the city was best suited to be a business services provider. Services would include Internet, data and voice options. The city’s existing infrastructure was a big plus for feasibility, Hollifield said. BROADBAND CONTINUED ON A4
Cost of project Consulting firm Magellan Advisors estimates that the business services provider buildout would cost $700,000. The firms believe the city could reach a break-even point in 7 years. The broadband services market penetration target would be to provide services for half of the 350 businesses that were used for market analysis purposes. The firm suggests that bonds be used to pay for the buildout.
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TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 160 ISSUE 254
Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Destiny Hodge (left) and Jozlyn Johnson work together on their pages of a book on rocks in Suzi Hesser’s fifth-grade class at Lincoln Elementary School in Sterling. The class is publishing the book through a project called Authentic Writing Through Book Publishing and Sharing. “This is something we will remember when we are 26,” Johnson said of the learning experience.
Pre-teens relish chance to publish findings BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525
STERLING – Out of sight, out of mind? Not for Jozlyn Johnson, whose class at Lincoln Elementary School will publish its own book. “We are nervous because this is not just for our class and people that we know,” the fifth-grader said. “This is for people that we will never really see, and they will be reading our writing.” Students in Suzi Hesser’s class at Lincoln have spent the past few weeks working on a book through a project called Authentic Writing Through Book Publishing and Sharing. As part of the project, students are creating a book about the different types of rock in the world. Each student will author a page in the book. “Every student has a rock that they are researching,” Hesser said. “In order to engage them more deeply, we want to create a book with our findings, publish it, and put it in libraries.” By placing the books in local libraries, Hesser said, students will have an audience for their writing while developing pride in their finished books. She hopes they can eventually become self-motivated readers and writers. BOOK CONTINUED ON A5
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ........... A7 COMICS ...............B7
DIXON – The city’s Welcome Center might be on the move. The tourism board, which operates the center, was told earlier this year that the lease on the current spot at 106 W. River St. would not be renewed, board member Ann Lewis told the City Council Monday night. “This [new] location is very visible to the riverfront,” she said. “And, of course, with our plans in the future to expand the riverfront, it kind of puts it right in the middle of everything.” The board looked at several possible locations in Dixon but settled on 83 S. Peoria Ave., just south of the bridge on the west side of the street, because the rent is less and the configuration allows for more space for exhibits, she said. With utilities, Lewis said, the tourism board was spending about $1,150 a month, $950 going for rent. The 3-year lease for the new location, which is owned by Randall Newcomer, sets the rent at $850 plus utilities. The lease will be on the City Council’s Dec. 15 agenda for a final vote. The Welcome Center must be out by month’s end, so Newcomer will let the board move in before the lease officially starts on Jan. 1. It should be open by the first week in February, Lewis said. WELCOME CONTINUED ON A4
Celeste Lopez (left) and Kaya Strohmayer research their rocks on the internet in Suzi Hesser’s fifth-grade class at Lincoln Elementary School in Sterling. “We may not be able to make a book again,” Strohmayer said.
CROSSWORD....B13 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 PLAN!T ................. A9
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
The Dixon Welcome Center will soon be moving to a new location at 83 S. Peoria Ave.
Today’s weather High 34. Low 29. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B8.
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