Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
Rotarians team up to take on polio
SVM ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
STERLING, MORRISON, B3
TWIN CITIES, A3
dailyGAZETTE Tuesday, October 18, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS | OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING
Officer cleared in shooting State says he was justified in using deadly force against man accused of ramming him with SUV BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10
ROCK FALLS – The police officer who shot at an SUV as the driver careened backward toward him, hitting his squad car, “was justified in using deadly force” and has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Rock Falls Police officer Nicholas Neblung was “in reasonable apprehension of great bodily harm” and so was justified for shooting at the SUV being driven by Corey Poff Jr., Carroll County State’s Attorney Scott Brinkmeier said after reviewing documents, audio and video recordings and photographs related to the Sept. 1 incident. Brinkmeier also visited the scene of
the shooting with Illinois State Police investigator Nate Macklin. “Even Corey Poff Jr.’s statement to the police corroborated that he heard gunshots as he was operating the Ford Excursion in a rearward manner after striking the police vehicle of officer Neblung,” Brinkmeier wrote in a letter to Whiteside County State’s Attorney Trish Joyce dated Oct. 13.
EDUCATION
Slice
of
Joyce, who works closely with Rock Falls police, asked Brinkmeier to investigate the incident and make a determination, to avoid a possible conflict of interest. Neblung was on paid administrative leave for 3 days after the shooting, Rock Falls Police Chief Tammy Nelson said. SHOOTING continued on A44
STERLING
life skills
Students will bring their talents to the table to help raise money for community service projects ROCK FALLS – How about a large pizza and a side order of life skills, all washed down with the satisfaction of helping some youngsters get a leg up as members of their community? It’ll all be on the menu Oct. 25 at Pizza Hut in Rock Falls. Karen Beggs’ Bi-County Life Skills Class will be seating and serving customers, and busing tables from 5 to 8 p.m., and 20 percent of all the sales will help the 15 special education students do community service projects such as carnivals for preschoolers. “It really gives them exposure to people in the community, to know how to talk to them, and how to make small talk – things they’d need in a job that they get to practice,” said Beggs, a longtime Bi-County Special Education Cooperative teacher. “I feel very strongly about them getting into the community, working and doing things for others,” she said. SKILLS continued on A54
Marneesha Glover shows off a birdhouse she painted in the Bi-County classroom Monday afternoon. Glover is among the special education students in Karen Beggs’ BiCounty Life Skills Class who will seat and serve customers, and bus tables at Pizza Hut in Rock Falls from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 25. The restaurant will donate 20 percent of the sales during that time to help the class do community service projects.
A lot of money down the drain The cost will be high to fix the city’s drainage issues, but the cost of waiting could be even higher BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – City officials seem to agree that stormwater management problems must be dealt with now, but there isn’t as much consensus about how to pay for it – but it will likely involve a tax increase. City Manager Scott Shumard presented an overview of the city’s stormwater drainage system situation to the City Council on Monday, but the remedy for frequent flooding in many areas of town is complex and expensive. The problems aren’t new – a comprehensive stormwater plan was drawn up in 2004, and revised in 2011. The city is again looking at the plans, and just addressing the top-end priorities would cost about $5 million. DRAINAGE continued on A44
DIXON
Rust eats away at bridge budget Repair estimate quadruples; parts of project might have to be re-evaluated BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
DIXON – The city is going to need to reach a bit deeper in its pockets to repair the rusted railings on the Galena Avenue Bridge. The City Council approved a $300,636 project to remove, repaint and repair the corroded railings on Sept. 6, but repair costs estimated at $55,000 have since jumped to more than $200,000. City Manager Cole O’Donnell said the city thought the original estimate would encompass the inner and outer railings on the east and west sides of the bridge, but it was only for the inner east railing, which is most in need of repair. “The inside east rail absolutely needs to have repair work done,” O’Donnell said. BRIDGE continued on A54
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 220
INDEX
ABBY.................... A7 BUSINESS............ A9 COMICS................ A8
CROSSWORD.......B8 LIFESTYLE............ A7 LOTTERY.............. A2
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 72. Low 47. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B5.