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HAWKS, ROCKETS Think outside the cookie-cutter PLAY TO WIRE FOOD, A9-10
BOYS HOOPS, B1
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, December 10, 2014
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
TONIGHT IN STERLING
DIXON | NICHOLS GREENHOUSE CLOSING
On to greener pastures Do you hear what I hear? Newman concert at Sterling High will also feature an art show. Photos of rehearsal on PAGE A3
POLICE PROTESTS
Marching knows no age, color Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Terry Nichol, owner of Nichols Greenhouse in Dixon, has operated the business for more than 40 years, during which the greenhouse has supplied the city with petunias.
Retiring owners plan to travel after 41 years in business BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5695
DIXON – Just below a small hill in southwest Dixon sits a storefront-style sign at the top of Nichols Greenhouse, where a favorite local flower source has stood for more than 40 years. Soon, though, customers will have to find someplace else: Owners Terry and Bonnie are on the verge of retirement. At the end of this month, Terry, 72, will put the finishing touches on a 41-year career in the flower business, a stint that has included being the official provider of Dixon’s signature pink petunias. He has weathered changes within the industry, but one thing has remained the same: the clients. “We appreciate our faithful and loyal customers,” Bonnie said as she sat
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at a table in the front section of the greenhouse, red poinsettias glowing in rows less than 20 feet behind her. “They’ve helped to make us successful because they keep coming back. Those are the people that we’ll really, really miss.” Even though they might see some customers only in the spring, they’re like family, she said. After studying architectural drafting at a school in Rockford, Terry did graphic arts in the Navy for 4 years. He was 21 when he joined. After he separated from the military, he stayed in the Washington, D.C., area for a few years and
worked in landscaping. Through that work, he planted trees and laid all the sod at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including ivy that at one point stretched across its roof, he said. He bought the greenhouse at 1228 W. Fourth St. in 1973. GREENER CONTINUED ON A3
We appreciate our faithful and loyal customers. They’ve helped to make us successful, because they keep coming back. Those are the people that we’ll really, really miss.
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Bonnie Nichol, co-owner of Nichols Greenhouse, which will close at the end of this month.
‘Is this a moment, or a movement?’ lecturer wonders BY ADAM GELLER AP National Writer
The mostly white crowd that gathered outside Salt Lake City’s federal building hoisted signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” and chanted for justice before wading into downtown traffic. In the historic Boston suburb of Lexington, Massachusetts, protesters with children in tow stood alongside others in their 80s. Across the country, protesters angered at the killing of unarmed black men by white police officers have turned out in recent days, many in cities far removed from where the most highly publicized cases have played out. They are students and grandmothers, experienced protesters as well as novices, often as many white as black. But while marchers speak emotionally about being galvanizing by this cause, both they and experts on the fiery history of U.S. social protest are hard-pressed to figure where the demands for change will lead. PROTESTS CONTINUED ON A5
OREGON | JACKASS BBQ AUCTION
Rain dampens needed profits Owner hoped to use them to pay off overdue taxes BY VINDE WELLS Shaw Media vwells@shawmedia.com
OREGON – A steady, chilly drizzle dampened the profits Monday afternoon for Jackass BBQ’s going-out-of-business auction. Worse yet, those profits were supposed to help the owner settle up on the property’s outstanding real estate taxes. Andy Riegel, owner of the restaurant, 501 W. Washington St., called the monetary
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results of the auction “pretty bad” and blamed it on the rainy weather. He said the kitchen equipment brought especially low prices. Last month, Riegel announced his plans to close for economic reasons. He said he hopes to find a bar interested in having him provide food for its patrons. Plans will be updated on his Facebook page, he said.
INDEX
AUCTION CONTINUED ON A2
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ........... A7 COMICS ...............B6
Earleen Hinton/ehinton@shawmedia.com
Potential bidders check out some of the items for sale at the Jackass BBQ auction Monday in Oregon. The restaurant’s owner, Andy Riegel, hoped profits would be enough to pay off real estate taxes that were due Sept. 5.
CROSSWORD....B11 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 35. Low 20. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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