Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
ROCKETS’ RUNNER RACES TO A WIN IN WALNUT CROSS COUNTRY INVITE, B1
Visitors roam the prairie LEE COUNTY, A3
dailyGAZETTE Monday, September 19, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
OPIOID CRISIS | THE POLITICS OF PAIN
Sugar-coating the pill Prescription painkiller makers spend a lot of capital in our nation’s capitals, and that has some critics accusing them of being addicted to the status quo
By The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity
The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the drugs at the heart of a crisis that has cost 165,000 Americans their lives and pushed countless more to crippling addiction.
The drugmakers vow they’re combating the addiction epidemic, but The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that they often employ a statehouse playbook of delay and defend that includes funding advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on their drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl, the narcotic linked to Prince’s death. PAIN continued on A104
In Illinois
Candidates for state and federal office have received nearly $3 million in contributions from the makers of prescription painkillers since 2006. Turn to Page A10 to read more.
STERLING: NEW BUSINESS
MORRISON
Caught red-handed having fun
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
John French and Michelle Francque-Burns will open Smoked on 3rd BBQ Bistro & Catering in the former Martin’s Steak and Spirits building in downtown Sterling.
Where there’s smoke, there’s opportunity Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
TOP: Jack Noble, 4, of New Lenox did his part to paint the town red Saturday in Morrison. Noble, who worked on a painting with grandfather Terry Noble of Morrison, was one of many who signed up to paint a 5-foot-by-5 foot square on the street in downtown Morrison during the annual Paint the Town. Entertainment accompanied the event, and the town also hosted the Harvest Hammer 5K, duathlon and color fun run Saturday. For the first time, the colorful weekend was capped off Sunday with breakfast, cooked up by the Morrison High School wrestling team, and more entertainment.
BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – Life has a way of coming full circle – just ask the owners of Smoked on 3rd BBQ Bistro & Catering. John French and Michelle Francque-Burns grew up in the Sauk Valley. They got to know each other when both were working at The Underground. Both would both continue to work in the food industry, but their lives would take different paths. SMOKE continued on A54
VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK
They hope people will lend a hand to salute veterans
CENTER: There were street artists, and then there were feet artists. When asked what influenced Emma Skinner, 10, of Rock Falls to paint her legs, she said, “’Cause I needed socks!” Emma was one of the artists who took part in Paint the Town. Artists, windows and Main Street alike all were privy to a coat of color during the annual event.
BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
BOTTOM: Paint the Town? How about paint yourself? That’s what Niko Duarte, 1, of Whiting, Indiana, did during Paint the Town. Duarte took a break from using himself as a canvas to enjoy an ice cream cone.
DIXON – From dressing mannequins with real service uniforms to picking the right color of paint from a list of more than 300 military shades, no detail is too small at the Veterans Memorial Park. The park commission has brought in and maintained more than a dozen military artifacts at the park during the past 15 years, and the group is soldiering on to raise funds for general upkeep and future expansion. SALUTE continued on A54
Read this story at saukvalley.com to see more photos of Saturday’s event
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 199
INDEX
Couple moves in where former restaurant owners pulled up steaks
ABBY.................... A7 COMICS................ A8 CROSSWORD.....B10
LIFESTYLE............ A7 LOTTERY.............. A2 MORRISON........... A3
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 86. Low 62. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.