Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS March 24, 2016 Volume 49, Number 4 - $1.00
Lady Hawks Win
Special Insert
2016 Ikidarod
The Lady Hawks post two wins in softball action. B2
New businesses open while others mark milestones. C1-C20
Oregon fourth graders race while they learn in the annual Ikidarod. B1
Oregon School Board makes certified staff cuts Seven positions won’t be replaced By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The Oregon School Board cut one teacher, and accepted the
resignations of two more along with two principals at Monday night’s board meeting. None of the five will be replaced due to dwindling state funding, Superintendent Tom Mahoney said Tuesday. The contract of fourth grade teacher Lyn Hunter was not
renewed. Elementary principal Ann Tilton and high school assistant principal Mike Boyer both tendered their resignations, as did OHS social studies teacher Jesse Glim and OHS Special Education teacher Katherine Petrusa. Boyer was reassigned as an OHS
social studies teacher. In addition, OHS foods teacher Lynn Kaufman and OHS business teacher Mary Verden will not be replaced when they retire at the end of the current school year. The board hired Jennifer Fox as an elementary Special Eduction teacher.
The board also eliminated 13 classes at the high school. The classes include Basic Keyboarding, Intro to Microsoft, Desktop Publishing, Advanced Microsoft, Accounting 1 and 2, Life Skills, Survival Skills, Orientation FCS, Foods 1 and 2, Food Service Occupation, and Commercial Foods.
Cook is sworn in
Banker pleads guilty
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Congratulations and hugs were abundant last Friday afternoon when Laura Cook was sworn in as Ogle County Clerk & Recorder. About 30 county officials, family members, and friends crowded into Memorial Hall on the third floor of the Ogle County Courthouse March 18 to watch Cook take the oath of office from Judge John B. (Ben) Roe. One of those attending the brief ceremony was retiring county clerk Rebecca Huntley. Last Friday was her last day on the job. “Thanks, Becky, for being such a great role model,” Cook said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I’ve got big shoes to fill.” “You’re going to do a great job,” Huntley replied. Cook, 50, who has served as chief deputy clerk since 1998, won the Republican Party nomination in the March 15 primary election for to fill the remaining two years of Huntley’s four-year term.
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Chief Deputy Clerk Laura Cook became Ogle County Clerk & Recorder March 18 when she took the oath of office from Judge John B. Roe. Photo by Vinde Wells
She received 5,341 votes to defeat deputy clerk Tiffany O’Brien who earned 4,600 votes and Jeff Hallock, a retired banker, who gained 699 votes. In the wake of her victory, on March 16 the Ogle County Board appointed Cook to fill Huntley’s post until after the
Nov. 8 general election. So far, Cook is running unopposed for the post in the fall election. Huntley, 55, who has served in the post for 18 years, announced her resignation last August. The county board also recognized Huntley March 16
for her decades of service to the county. She began her career in public service by serving on the county board for five years, and then was the first victim witness advocate for the Ogle County State’s Attorney’s office for six years.
She was first elected county clerk in November of 1998 and was re-elected four times to four-year terms, most recently in 2014. Prior to serving on the county board, Huntley was the legal advocate for HOPE, a domestic violence shelter in Rochelle.
A Polo woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to embezzling $59,560.88 from First State Bank Shannon-Polo. Kayla C. Bergstrom, 46, entered her plea before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala in federal court in Rockford. Sentencing is set for June 28 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard. Bergstrom faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of up to five years following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1 million. According to the plea agreement, Bergstrom, who was first vice-president of First State Bank, had the highest security level assigned in the bank’s Turn to A3
Huntley oversees final election of 18-year career By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com After the polls closed there was a small calm before the storm, and it was not the heavy rain passing through Ogle County March 15. Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley was overseeing her final election and her staff was in the courthouse basement waiting for ballot boxes to be returned. Once the first box arrived, there would be no breaks for election workers because this would be the busiest two hours. At 7:48 p.m, the first box arrived. “Lafayette Township,” Beth Lancaste, an election judge from Ashton said as she carried the box into the courthouse. “Seventy-five voters turned out. That is 65 percent.” “That’s awesome,” Huntley said. “You must have been running out of ballots.” With the first percent reporting were 51 more to arrive before the night was through.
The precincts are in 34 buildings throughout the county. Huntley said she thinks having fewer voting locations throughout the county is a trend for the future. Voting centers are the way to go because it is hard to get election judges,” she said. “I plan on being an election judge.” Each voting machine needs to be calibrated to ensure the accuracy with counting the paper ballots. Huntley said each machine has a stack of ballots that needs to be run through it and the results are verified. At that point the machine can be sent to the precincts. This process is time consuming but needs to be completed with every election. Once the candidates are approved for the ballot no changes are made, not even for candidates that drop out of the race, which is why presidential candidates remained on the ballot during the primary. What made the election night more stressful than normal was two election workers were unable to
In This Week’s Edition...
work. Deputy Clerks Tiffany O’Brien and Laura Cook were candidates in the election and were legally prevented from assisting last week. “Candidates can not do anything relating to the election at the clerk’s office,” said Huntley. “They both did a tremendous amount of work on election nights in the past.” Overall the election counting went well and by 10 p.m. all the votes were counted and the election was finished. The computer counting makes it easier to report the results, but legally the paper ballots are still important. Following the election, state law requires the paper ballots be saved for two years, Huntley said. The only thing left for Huntley when she left the courthouse March 15 was to certify the election and attend a retirement party. “Yesterday was bittersweet, but we had a great election and everything went well,” she said during the March 16 party. “It feels wonderful to leave on a good
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley, left, talks with Mt. Morris resident Anna Hatzipanagiotis, Mt. Morris, March 16 during Huntley’s retirement party in the county board room. Photo by Chris Johnson
foot. I have no doubt I am leaving it in capable hands.” Cook received the Republican nomination for County Clerk and was appointed by the Ogle County Board to fill the vacancy left with Huntley’s retirement.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Mt. Morris Library, A3 Oregon Police, B3 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
“I decided doing the election this way was the best way to leave the office,” said Huntley. She announced her retirement plans early enough so candidates could file for the primary election and allow the voters the
opportunity to select their next clerk. Huntley reflected back on her final election. “I was looking out the window and thinking about when I would no longer be Turn to A3
Deaths No obituaries were reported this week
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com