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Governor signs lead-testing bill
SVM ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
EASTLAND & FULTON B3
ILLINOIS, A5
dailyGAZETTE
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
DINING
Ranch-style food getting closer Franchisees nail down opening date of Feb. 13 for new restaurant BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – Sauk Valley residents soon will have a new casual dining option. Pizza Ranch, a franchise known for a buffet that features pizza, chicken, and
a variety of sides, salad, and desserts, will open Feb. 13 at 3900 E. Lincolnway. The restaurant will have a pick-up window, and it makes deliveries. The Sterling site is the third Pizza Ranch for brothers Matt and Mike Middendorp of Clinton, Iowa; their others are in Clinton and Bettendorf, Iowa. They are leasing the building from local
businessman Pete Harkness. City inspectors signed off on the restaurant Monday, not quite a year after construction began. The deal was finalized March 7, and work began on the building that most recently was home to Ryan’s Family Steakhouse. RESTAURANT continued on A54
STERLING
UP-AND-COMERS | MORGAN LEWIS
Eyesores continue to come down City taps into power of partnerships to get grants that help make a dent in its list of blighted properties BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Morgan Lewis, 15, might only be a freshman at Rock Falls High School, but she’s already quite the budding shutter bug.
Giving it her
best shot A Rock Falls teen who’s developed an interest in photography is building a portfolio that’s already worth a thousand words, and then some
Morgan has amassed quite the collection of photos of her dogs and other animals, and plans to pursue photography as a career.
BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
ROCKS FALLS – It started for 15-year-old Morgan Lewis the same way it started for many of us, with pictures of her dogs. The difference in her case, though, is those snapshots of Sparky the dachshund and Dexter the dachshund-Yorkie mix unleashed a passion and a talent. Not to mention that, if you can take crisp-focused photos of dogs with their hyper dispositions, using an entry-level camera to boot, well, you’ve got something. The Rock Falls High School freshman already knows she wants to be a photographer when she grows up, and her grandma and grandpa, Doreen and Ron Bontz, spurred her with an upgrade to a Canon 70D for Christmas. “That was her love, to take pictures, so we decided this would be her special gift this Christmas … and maybe the next few Christmases,” Doreen joked. The Canon boasts four times the zoom of the Nikon she used to capture some genuinely breathtaking art.
Submitted
Do you know of any young people in the area who are doing something fun or unusual with their lives? Who are plotting a course to an interesting future? Who might be on track to save the world, or at least better a piece of it? Let us know. Post a tip on our Facebook page, send us an email at news@saukvalley.com or give News Editor Kathleen Schultz a call at 815-625-3600, ext. 5535.
TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 26
INDEX
ABBY.................... A7 CALENDARS......... A7 COMICS................ A8
EYESORES continued on A54
PHOTOGRAPHY continued on A34
Up-and-comers wanted
$1.00
STERLING – The city continues to make progress on its blighted properties list, with the help of a federal grant program and a nonprofit partner. The City Council Monday approved the transfer of the property deed to 208 W. Seventh St. to Rock Island Economic Growth Corp., setting the stage for the house to be demolished. The city gained the title Dec. 1 through abandonment proceedings. The demolition will be paid for with funds from the federal Blight Reduction Program. The grant is administered through the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Grant provisions require that the city transfer the deed before demolition, and when grant requirements are met, it will be given back to the city for $1. The city has up to 3 years to complete the process. Another program perk is that the city doesn’t have to care for the property until it is returned. The grant program, started in 2014, has allowed the city to address 13 blighted properties. “We’ve done eight demos, we’re just waiting for the weather to break on three others, and two more are coming – this one on Seventh Street and another at 603 Fourth Ave.,” Building and Zoning Administrator Amanda Schmidt said.
CROSSWORD.......B9 LIFESTYLE............ A7 LOTTERY.............. A2
Sterling officials continue to make progress on the city’s blighted properties list. On Monday, the City Council approved the transfer of the property deed to 208 W. Seventh St. to Rock Island Economic Growth Corp., setting the stage for the house to be demolished. The city gained the title Dec. 1 through abandonment proceedings.
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 40. Low 28. More on A3.
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