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ROCK FALLS
City hopes it can tip the scales Officials want to do everything they can to bring a new fish business to old Rock River Provision BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
About the company
ROCK FALLS – A regional fish processor with a global reach has resurfaced, again factoring into development plans on the city’s west side. Three years ago, Thomson-based Schafer Fisheries had plans to expand operations at the Rock River Provision building on U.S. Route 30. Schafer’s signed a 15-year lease agreement with
Schafer Fisheries, started in 1955, is the Midwest’s largest processor and wholesale/retail distributor of fresh fish and frozen seafood. Schafer’s has a processing plant at 2112 Sandridge Road in Thomson, and a retail store at 21985 Waller Road in Fulton. The company also has fish collection facilities in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. Customers also can shop for Schafer products at schaferssmokedfish.com. Ronald Hoffman, whose family ran a meat processing business there for nearly 50 years. In December 2009, the Hoffmans said
they were closing the business with 20 employees, citing the recession. The building sat empty for 3 years before Schafer’s entered the picture.
Schafer’s original plan was to produce a variety of fish products, including kosher, in Rock Falls, after it was deboned and ground at its Thomson processing plant. Trucks were to bring product to Rock Falls daily. The fishery was to hire an estimated 15 workers initially, and 30 in 3 years. The kosher plans, however, were abandoned, and Schafer’s never did the retrofitting work at the building.
THE PEOPLE’S VOICE| MAXWELL DEFOREST, DIXON
Little boy blue no more
A Dixon boy battled back from illness and isolation, and found some kindred spirits to help him toot his own horn
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Trumpet prodigy Maxwell DeForest, 10, of Dixon, not only plays with the big boys in the Rockford Symphony Youth Orchestra, but the St. Anne School fifth-grader also composes music. He’s been blowing his horn since the age of 7.
M
axwell DeForest’s world used to be a lonely place. A 10-year-old prodigy trumpeter from Dixon, his unique talents didn’t always lend to a lot of social interaction. While most of his classmates at St. Anne School in Dixon clutch basketballs and footballs, there isn’t another brass buff in sight. His parents had a hard time finding him a local teacher when he started playing at age 7. And even when he earned a spot on the Rockford Symphony Youth Orchestra at age 9, about 7 years shy of the ensemble’s
christopher HEIMERMAN Heimerman is the Enterprise Projects Editor at Sauk Valley Media. He can be reached at cheimerman@ saukvalley. com or 815-625-3600, ext. 5523.
median age? “It was very lonely,” the soft-spoken savant said. “But then I realized it’s kind of fun, being the only one my age.” In his first rehearsal with the group, he dived into “Swan Lake,” and ventured into “Academic Festival,” both as challenging as they are gorgeous. Maxwell, who’d never followed a director’s baton, let alone been part of an ensemble, experienced the sound of 68 musicians, including him, and the camaraderie that can emanate from beautiful music. DEFOREST CONTINUED ON A5
SCALES CONTINUED ON A10
AGRICULTURE
Mixed reactions Local farmers see good news and bad in new biofuel quotas BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
More than 2 years after the EPA proposed cuts to how much ethanol and other biofuels must be mixed into the nation’s fuel supplies, the agency finally made its decision – and while local farmers weren’t exactly happy with the decision, they weren’t surprised by it either. The EPA on Monday announced renewable fuel standards that exceeded earlier proposed targets, but fell short of the original quotas set up by Congress in a 2005 energy bill that instituted the program. The agency decided that fuel companies must blend 18.11 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into gasoline in 2016. That number is higher than the EPA’s previous proposal of 17.4 billion gallons. Because the agency’s decision is so late in coming, it retroactively cut the 2014 and 2015 targets. In making its decision, the EPA cited declining fuel demand that makes it difficult for ethanol suppliers to meet the original biofuels quotas. Lower fuel prices are also making it harder for ethanol to compete with oil. The reaction to the decision among Illinois farmers, agriculture organizations, and biofuels-friendly politicians was mixed – any reduction was a disappointment, but it was tempered by the knowledge that it could have been worse. Lanark farmer Lou Lamoreaux is a member and past chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, and a former director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association. He said the organizations’ membership was disappointed but not surprised by the EPA’s decision. BIOFUELS CONTINUED ON A4
Sunny
VOLUME 8 ISSUE 14 40 Pages
Today: 49/31 For the forecast, see Page A10
Business
The folks at Oliver’s Corner Market have certainly cornered their market. See Page C1
Community It’s the most wonderful time of the year, as people attending Christmas activities in Amboy, Prophetstown and White Pines discovered. See Page C12
Index Births................ C5
Lottery .............. A2
Business........... C1
Markets ............ A9
Classified .......... B8
Obituaries ......... A4
Comics ........... A12
Opinion............. A6
Community ..... C12
Scoreboard ...... B3
Crossword Saturday ......... B13
Scrapbook ....... C3
Crossword Sunday ............. C8
Support groups .. C5
Dave Ramsey ... C1
Weather............ A9
Dear Abby ........ C6
Wheels ........... B14
Sports .............. B1 Travel .............. C10