Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
Get back to your roots
WARRIORS GET BIG WIN AGAINST ROCKETS
FOOD, A9-10
PREP BASKETBALL, B1
dailyGAZETTE
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
STERLING | CITY COUNCIL
Four candidates emerge in race Both incumbents making another run in April for at-large aldermanic seats BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – The city’s filing period ended Monday, yielding four candidates for the City Council’s two at-large aldermanic seats. Both incumbents, John Stauter
and Chris Schuchard, have filed to recapture their seats in the April 2017 general election. The two council seats will be the city’s only elective offices on the spring ballot. Sterling has six council members, one in each of the city’s four wards, plus the two at-large seats. Voters will have four candi-
dates to choose from when they decide who to send to council chambers. In Sterling, a minimum of nine candidates for the two council seats would have been needed to trigger a primary. Both challengers have previous city government experience. Jim Wise, 56, was city administrator in Morrison from 2011 to
2013. He held the same position in Cherry Valley for a year, and was an alderman for 11 years in Belvidere. Retiree Terry Lynch, 62, was an alderman for 14 years in his hometown of Amboy. Lynch moved to Sterling 9 years ago. CANDIDATES continued on A54
Expiring terms The two at-large aldermanic seats on the Sterling City Council will be the city’s only elective offices on the ballot in the April 4, 2017 general election. Mayor and the other four council seats don’t expire until April 2019.
ENERGY | ROCK ISLAND CLEAN LINE PROJECT
SO LONG TO THE CAREFREE DAYS OF INDIAN SUMMER IN STERLING
State high court will hear appeal Fate of project hinges on public utility designation BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
CHICAGO – The fate of the Rock Island Clean Line project is in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court. The proposed 500-mile highvoltage power transmission line would run through several counties in Illinois, including Whiteside and Bureau, and in Iowa. Rock Island Clean Line’s application to build the power line was unanimously approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in 2014, but an Aug. 10 appellate court ruling reversed the ICC’s decision. APPEAL continued on A44
OGLE COUNTY
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: Emma Kenny-Oles (left), 4, and her brother, J.R., 6, laugh as they bound back and forth on a wobble board Tuesday afternoon at Hoover Park in Sterling. Tuesday just might have marked the warmest day we’ll enjoy during the rest of 2016, with temperatures narrowly eclipsing 50 degrees. The mercury isn’t expected to surpass 45 degrees in the next week, and snow could even be in the mix Sunday.
Longtime sheriff gets seat for life Board honors Brooks for 53 years of service BY VINDE WELLS Shaw Media vwells@shawmedia.com
OREGON – More than 50 years ago, Jerry Brooks was a volunteer deputy in plain clothes. He became the longest-tenured sheriff in Ogle County history, and now holds a seat on the county board no one can take away. Jerry The county Brooks board approved a resolution Nov. 15 naming Brooks, 84, of Oregon, an honorary board member for life.
RIGHT: J.R. runs across a wooden bridge at the park.
SHERIFF continued on A54
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 250
INDEX
ABBY.................... A8 COMICS.............. A12 CROSSWORD.....B12
FOOD...............A9-10 LIFESTYLE............ A8 LOTTERY.............. A2
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 42. Low 35. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B9.