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A SECOND TITLE IN 2 DAYS FOR NEWMAN
Student of the month
BOYS BASKETBALL, B1
STERLING, A3
dailyGAZETTE
Monday, December 2, 2013
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
CITY GOVERNMENT | BOARDS, COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES
Some seats remain unfilled Members don’t always have to be city residents
vital city government positions. All three cities have at least one vacany on a board, commission or committee. Dixon has four vacancies – one each on a different board, commission, or committee, said Mayor Jim Burke, and one alternate position for the plan commission. “These things happen,” Burke said of the vacancies. “People will be on a board for a couple
BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 529
Sterling, Dixon and Rock Falls are looking for residents to fill what their mayors have called
years or so, some longer than that, and then they move on. Some just don’t want to be reappointed.” Dixon’s airport, library, tourism development and zoning board of appeals each has a vacancy, Burke said, in addition to the plan commission alternate. Rock Falls’ lone vacancy is on its planning and zoning commission, Mayor Bill Wescott said, adding that
board members are appointed by the mayor with the consent and approval of the City Council. When Rock Falls has had vacancies, the city has been able to fill them relatively quickly, Wescott said. “We’ve not had a problem here,” he said. “We’ve fortunately had people that wanted to get involved.” SEATS CONTINUED ON A4
More information For more information or to contact any of the cities about their vacancies, contact the respective city hall. Sterling: www.Sterlingil.gov or 815-632-6621 Dixon: www.DiscoverDixon.org or 815-2881485 Rock Falls: www.RockFalls61071.com or 815622-1100.
MORRISON
LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT IN PROPHETSTOWN
Should city reimburse residents? Man blames officials for water line break BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
Phillip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
The Advent Community Choir and Strive Choir sing as the Love Light Tree is lighted Saturday evening at Eclipse Square in Prophetstown. The lighting was part of Prophetstown Main Street’s 28th annual lighted Christmas parade. More photos from Saturday’s event are on Page A11.
DIXON | HEALTH CARE
KSB physician is tops in the state Dr. Welty named Family Physician of the Year BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 529
DIXON – Dr. Joseph Welty has spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices, and not just his own at KSB Hospital’s Town Square Centre Clinic. His father died while his mother was pregnant with him. She was a nurse for a family physician when he was growing up, he said, so he would often go to the doctor’s office after school. “The sights and the sounds of the whole place got very interesting to me,” he said.
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“[I] did some menial jobs there, washing windows, emptying garbarge cans, that kind of thing when I was a kid.” By the time he was in high school, Welty, an Amboy native, knew he wanted to become a doctor and later decided to focus on family practice. He was recently named the Family Physician of the Year by the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians. “I think I had that interest in kind of a wider range of disease states and caring for people in that setting,” he said. “I always envisioned coming back to a more rural area like Dixon, and I felt that that would be the best skill set for me in doing that.”
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 159 ISSUE 250
PHYSICIAN CONTINUED ON A4
INDEX
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Dr. Joseph Welty talks during an interview in his office at KSB Hospital’s Town Square Centre Clinic. Welty, who has practiced medicine in Dixon for 28 years, recently was named the Family Physician of the Year by the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians.
COMICS ............... A9 CROSSWORD....B12 DEAR ABBY ......... A7
LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2 NATION/WORLD A12
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 STATE .................. A8
MORRISON – During the summer and fall, the city dealt with breaks in water lines in at least 70 places. Those breaks were caused by changes in pressure related to the city’s refurbishing of its water tower, which started in Everett Pannier June and ended a few weeks ago. At least one resident, Tom Luther, is blaming the city for a $1,650 plumber’s bill he incurred as a result of the situation. His break occurred between the shutoff valve for his water service and his home, which the city says is the resident’s responsibility. “There was no notice to the residents of the city about changes in pressure, potential problems or effects it could have on the system,” Luther said in a letter to the editor last weekend. Ninety percent of the breaks occurred on the city’s part of the system, while only seven or eight happened on the residents’ side, Mayor Everett Pannier said. Before the project, the city met with representatives from two engineering firms to prepare for changes in water pressure that would result from taking the tower out of commission, the mayor said. As a result of those meetings, he said, the city put regulators on fire hydrants to sense pressure, so when the pressure was too high, the water would go into storm drains. The city also placed a buffer tank near one of the well sites. “It was intended to be there to buffer things and not slam water through the system,” Pannier explained. The number of breaks around town, which had public works employees logging overtime, surprised officials, the mayor said. REIMBURSE CONTINUED ON A4
Today’s weather High 39. Low 34. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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