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Two incumbents will not run for re-election
SVM ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
EASTLAND AND FULTON, B3
DIXON CITY COUNCIL, A5
dailyGAZETTE
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
EDUCATION
Ag is coming back to Sauk Starting next fall, students can earn ag degrees BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – In bringing agriculture education back next fall, Sauk Valley Community
College is trying to make sure another Nik Jakobs doesn’t get away. The 31-year-old is a sort of modern prodigal son, back home and helping run the family business, Jakobs Brothers Farms.
Back when the Polo High School graduate was taking classes at Sauk, there wasn’t an ag education program. It was phased out in the mid-1990s. So he got his finance degree from the University of Illinois,
worked as a management consultant in Chicago for a few years before deciding to come home, settle down and raise his family. “The more I learn, and I’ve learned a lot more since I’ve been back ... farming and manufacturing have long been the foundation of the Sauk Valley,” he said.
In August, that reality became glaring for Sauk Vice President Jon Mandrell, who met with an advisory committee made up of all the area’s stakeholders, from primary educators and farmers to folks in the banking and insurance industries. AG continued on A44
ROCK FALLS
ROCK FALLS
Honor a reflection of city’s efforts City one of only three Groundwater Guardian communities in the state BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Rebecca Feldthouse sits with her three children, Austyn (left), 7, Paizley, 3 months, and Lyberti, 5, on Monday at a temporary home in Rock Falls that belongs to the cousins of Mike Feldthouse. Mike was killed in a car accident while the family was moving from California back to Illinois.
Wife, kids feeling the love Accident takes away dad, belongings, but not family’s fighting spirit BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
Online extra Click on this story at saukvalley.com to watch video of Austyn and Lyberti playing with their kid sister, Paizley.
ROCK FALLS – Watching 7-year-old Austyn Feldthouse run the show offers an assurance: His family is going to be OK. Austyn was in the Penske moving truck with his dad when it crashed into a semitractor-trailer that stopped sud-
denly, on Nov. 18, about half an hour shy of Barstow, California, where the Feldthouses planned to rest up for the night. He ended up with four broken bones
in his back, bruised lungs and a broken collarbone. His dad, Mike, didn’t make it. LOVE continued on A34
ROCK FALLS – The city has been named a Groundwater Guardian for its efforts to educate students to be stewards of its water resources. The city’s work is done through The Groundwater Foundation, a national nonprofit organization started in 1985. The foundation, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, started the Groundwater Guardian program in 1994, with eight pilot cities. Rock Falls is one of only three Groundwater Guardian communities in Illinois; the others are Loves Park and McDonough County. REFLECTION continued on A44
To learn more
Go to groundwater.org for more information about the Groundwater Foundation and its Groundwater Guardian program.
STERLING
The fight against blight continues Four more abandoned structures set for demolition through program BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – The city will demolish four more structures through the Blight Reduction Program. The properties targeted for demolition are 312 Wallace St., 603 Fourth Ave., 1306 Second Ave., and 405 W. Seventh St. The city gained the titles to the properties through judicial abandonment proceedings.
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The city will turn over the deeds to Rock Island Growth Corp., the city’s nonprofit partner that is administering the grant through the Illinois Housing Development Authority. “The grant requires that the city must take ownership of the properties, then deed them to a nonprofit before abatement,” Building and Zoning Administrator Amanda Schmidt said. “Deeding the properties to Rock Island Growth is the first step before demolition.”
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The deeds will be given back to the city when all grant requirements are met. “There is a 3-year period where we won’t have to take care of the properties, and then it will be deeded back to the city,” Schmidt said. Rock Island Growth holds onto the properties with the goal that they will be used again and returned to the city’s tax rolls.
ABBY.................... A7 BUSINESS.......... A10 COMICS................ A9
Submitted
This house at 312 Wallace St. is one of four abandoned properties set for demolition by the city through the Blight Reduction Program. Last week, the city finalized turning over the property BLIGHT continued on A24 deeds to its nonprofit partner, Rock Island Growth Corporation.
CROSSWORD.....B11 LIFESTYLE............ A7 LOTTERY.............. A2
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 55. Low 32. More on A3.
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