Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
GUARD IS READY TO FILL MISSILE GAPS FOOTBALL PREVIEW, B1
Building a better burger FOOD, A9-11
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, August 17, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS CITY COUNCIL
WHITESIDE COUNTY FAIR
City grant gets the green light Officials get word that state will finally release $400,000 grant BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – A $400,000 green space grant, frozen during the state’s budget battle, will be released, the city learned Tuesday. Mayor Bill Wescott received the final word from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, after state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Rock Island, told the city late last week of its probable inclusion on a list of unfrozen grant programs. “The IDNR said we’d get a 50 percent advance payment, and the other half later, but there was no exact time frame for either payment,” Wescott told council members at Tuesday’s meeting. The Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant is part of $50 million appropriated for the program in the stopgap budget. GRANT continued on A54
Limestone Building’s days are numbered
Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Fair week kicks off ABOVE: J.T. Moore gets flipped off of Earl Tuesday evening during the Horizon Series Whiteside County Bull Bash at the Whiteside County Fair in Morrison.
$300,000 EPA revolving loan funds coming through for demolition
RIGHT: Isaiah Tolivar gets bucked off Burrito on Tuesday night at the Bull Bash.
ROCK FALLS – The good news delivered on riverfront redevelopment Tuesday wasn’t reserved for the east side of Second Street. In addition to being able to count on a $400,000 state grant promised last year for the RB&W green space project, the city soon will be able to get rid of the last impediment to riverfront development on the west side of Second. The city announced it will receive money from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Revolving Loan Program to demolish the Limestone Building. LIMESTONE continued on A54
BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
INSIDE: Turn to Page A3 to see more Bull Bash photos and what’s in store for fair-goers today.
LEE COUNTY | WIND FARMS
The winds of major change In what’s being hailed as the first-of-its-kind project, 63 turbines could be decommissioned on the Mendota Hills wind farm (shown here).
Company wants to decommission 63 wind turbines and replace them with fewer, more efficient models
BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
DIXON – The Mendota Hills wind farm could be the first in the nation to decommission its entire fleet of turbines and replace a portion of them with upgraded models. Dallas-based Leeward Renewable Energy, which
owns the wind farm, has requested a special-use permit from the Lee County Board to remove its 63 turbines in the southeast region of the county and build between 33 and 35 new structures. The board received the proposal Tuesday and referred it to the county zoning board to make a recommendation. TURBINES continued on A44
‘‘
This will be the first complete decommissioning on a wind farm in the United States.
’’
John Nicholson, acting Lee County Board chairman
Submitted
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 177
INDEX
ABBY.................... A8 COMICS................B6 CROSSWORD.....B12
FOOD...............A9-11 LIFESTYLE............ A8 LOTTERY.............. A2
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 84. Low 65. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B8.