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ROCKETS STICK WITH Recipes: Do THE PLAN FOR A WIN more with less GIRLS BASKETBALL, B1
FOOD, A9 & A11
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, January 25, 2017 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING | BIOMASS & BROADBAND
A green vision for Rock Falls Dixon-based company wants to start a business venture that can turn waste into profit BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – City leaders gathered Tuesday to learn more about two possible business ventures – one that would be run by the city, and the other by a private company. The Committee of the Whole heard
presentations by Magellan, the city’s broadband consultant, and Green Vision International. The meetings give council members an opportunity to discuss particular issues at length, but no action is taken. Green Vision International has been working with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois on a biomass recycling project that could be launched commercially in
Rock Falls. Don McFarland, vice president and chief operating officer at Dixon-based Green Vision, told the council that the technology would use human and animal manure to produce biocrude oil and algae. “The back end of the biomass conversion process is used to produce various strains of algae that have a variety of business uses,” McFarland said. “We
ILLINOIS BUDGET
EDUCATION
A NEW AGE Agriculture classes in Prophetstown have grown beyond just the ABC’s of farming, reaching a new generation and reaping rewards for both the high school and the students BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
PROPHETSTOWN – Burgeoning agriculture educator Hailey Michelson once thought buffalo wings came from actual buffaloes. My, how far she and the Prophetstown High School ag program have come over the past few years. Hailey, a junior, is a walking, welding, construction-savvy embodiment
Prophetstown sophmore Willie Cochran uses an angle grinder to smooth off a cut edge on a piece of metal Tuesday afternoon in one of the two ag workshops at the school.
of the new-age ag student, and those ag students make up more than half of the school’s student body. She’s gone from a budding ag student to aspiring to teach ag to middle school or high school kids. “Some people don’t know the difference between the combine and a tractor,” Hailey said. “I’d like to take care of that sort of thing for students before they leave high school.”
Online extra Read this story at saukvalley.com to watch Prophetstown High senior and FFA council President Alex Wetzell show off one of the 10 brand-new engines John Deere donated to the school.
AGRICULTURE continued on A114
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INDEX
ABBY.................... A8 BUSINESS.......... A12 COMICS.............. A10
SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A plan to increase the income tax was adjusted upward slightly and a tax on services such as car repair and laundry surfaced Tuesday even as other parts of a monstrous Illinois Senate plan to end the nation’s longest budget standoff ran into stiff opposition and skepticism grew about its success in a floor vote. The Senate’s buzz saw approach – promised bipartisan action by month’s end – to breeching a nearly 2-yearlong budget stalemate with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner sputtered immediately on the day the 13-measure package of legislation was vetted in public hearings. Democrats who control the Senate announced there would be no committee votes – endorsements to send legislation to the floor – but that they’d take testimony and take a different tack to a full chamber vote anyway. “The goal is to pass the bill,” Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago said. “This is a tough sell.” BUDGET continued on A54
DIXON PHONE OUTAGE
Workers fixing a weakened link BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
Photos by Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
TODAY’S EDITION:
Tough sell gets tougher Common ground becomes scarce real estate as Senate plan to end stalemate sputters
Prophetstown High School junior Hailey Michelson staples a wooden American flag Tuesday in the agriculture education shop at the high school. Michelson is one of about 150 of the 285 high school students who take an ag class. Michelson, who’d never had any interest in ag before she got involved in it last year, now plans to major in ag education.
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would start with three algae models, but there are many types. Users of the algae, which is difficult to produce in large quantities, include the food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics industries. McFarland said the company made the decision in October to go commercial with the technology. VISION continued on A54
CROSSWORD.....B10 LIFESTYLE............ A8 LOTTERY.............. A2
DIXON – Customers without CenturyLink service for more than a week could start hearing dial tones return within the next few days. CenturyLink crews, working to repair a broken cable in the 800 block of Dement Avenue, began splicing and reconnecting wires Tuesday. About 190 units were affected in the outage, and repairs should be completed by Friday, said Nick Breidel, a regional marketing development manager for CenturyLink. “It was less than we anticipated,” he said, adding that initial estimates put the number of outages at 300 units. Those affected by the outage who want a refund for days without service must contact CenturyLink’s customer service department at centurylink. com or 800-423-8994 or 877-837-5738 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Dixon School District, Kreider Services, Countryside Manor Apartments and Borg Warner were among those that have been without service since Jan. 16. The School District is using an alternative phone number, 815-285-4205, until the outage is resolved.
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 41. Low 30. More on A3.
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