Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS April 23, 2015 Volume 48, Number 8 - $1.00
Free Trees
Looting Charge
Groundbreaking
A tornado victim took advantage of free trees at the Recycling Fair in Rochelle. B2
A Stillman Valley man is charged with taking tornado donations. A2
The groundbreaking for the 11th Habitat Home will be held in Mt. Morris on Sunday. A7
Biker rides from Pennsylvania to raise funds By Vinde Wells Editor Through rain, snow, cold, and even a tornado, a Pennsylvania man was not deterred from biking from his home to Mooseheart Camp Ross, four miles outside Mt. Morris. Douglas Warabak, 62, peddled into town April 10 after bucking a strong head wind all day. He rode the last 70 miles from Joliet in one day after waiting out the April 9 tornado at Mooseheart. “It was probably the
biggest day of the ride,” he said as he sat down shortly before 7 p.m. at the Mt. Morris Moose Family Center for a rest and a hot meal. A Moose Club member, Warabak has been riding his bike for the last two years to raise money for Mooseheart, a residential childcare facility, and Moosehaven, a retirement community in Florida. “I wanted to raise funds,” he explained. “The two main things we protect are our children and our seniors.” Warabak left his home in Exeter, Pa., on March 9.
“It’s been cold. I had snow one morning, and lots of wind. To top it off a tornado touched down yesterday,” he said, referring to the EF4 tornado that swept a 40-mile path from Ashton through Ogle County into Boone County. The trip to Camp Ross was Warabak’s third long trip. “With this ride it will total 6,000 miles,” he said. Two years ago he rode from his home to Moosehaven at Winter Park, Fla., and last year he road coast to coast to Turn to A2
Tornado displaced two baby great horned owls By Vinde Wells Editor The EF4 tornado that tore through Ogle County two weeks ago displaced and injured not only people, but also animals, both domestic and wild. Two baby great horned owls were rescued from Skare Park west of Rochelle five days after the storm by a crew cutting up downed trees and cleaning up debris. Mark Herman, Superintendent of Education at the Byron Forest Preserve, said a maintenance crew from the forest preserve went to the park to help Rochelle Park District workers with cleanup on April 14. “Skare Park took a direct hit from the tornado April 9,” he said. “Our crew was cutting up an oak tree that had fallen and the baby owls were in a hole in the tree.” The parents could not be
located and were apparently lost in the storm, he said. The babies, too young to fly or find food for themselves, were very weak and lethargic. Herman captured the young owls and called Northern Illinois Raptor Rehab and Education, Loves Park, who sent a representative to pick them up. A little food and water perked the youngsters up, he said. A female great horned owl at Raptor Rehab has taken them under her wing, so to speak, and is even feeding them. “She’s doing beak-to-beak feeding,” he said. “This owl can’t be released because she has a broken wing, but she has fostered several orphaned owls.” He hopes that once the two young owls are old enough and strong enough they can be released back at Skare Park. Since the tornado, Ogle
County Animal Control has been seeking to reunite pets with their families. “We’ve been doing a really good job,” said Karla Christensen, Animal Control Registration Officer. So far, she said a parrot, a dog, and a cat have been returned to their owners, and a stray kitten has been adopted. Owners are still being sought for three dogs — a chihuahua, a dachshund, and a bichon frise. A home is also needed for a stray cat picked up near Grubsteakers Restaurant, which was demolished by the April 9 twister. The parrot may not have been a storm victim, Christensen said. It was rescued April 13 when it flew onto the shoulder of a utility company Turn to A9
Students hit a home run by finding sheriff’s mitt By Vinde Wells Editor Students volunteering to clean up debris last week from the recent EF4 tornado found a valued family keepsake blown into a field. Zach Metzger, one of several students from the Chana Education Center, spotted an old baseball mitt in the middle of the field April 15. The glove, it turned out, belonged to Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle and was thought to be lost forever when the April 9 tornado destroyed his home west of Rochelle. “It was my grandpa’s high school glove, “ VanVickle said. “My grandma gave it to me when he died. We kept it on a shelf in our entry way. I remember as a little kid playing ball with him, and that’s the glove he used. I was glad to get it back.” Turn to A3
Zach Metzger and Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle show a baseball mitt that belonged to VanVickle’s grandfather. Metzger, who was helping clean up debris from an EF4 tornado that swept through Ogle County April 9, found the mitt in a field about six miles northeast of VanVickle’s home, which was demolished in the storm. Photo supplied
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Douglas Warabak gets a hug from Camp Ross manager Jon Call April 10 after arriving at the Mt. Morris Moose Family Center. Photo by Vinde Wells
Board RIFs five teacher’s aides By Vinde Wells Editor In a second round of layoffs in as many months, the Oregon School Board honorably dismissed five teacher’s aides Monday due to budget concerns. Through reduction in force
(RIF), the board dismissed Special Education aides Ginger Greenfield as well as instructional aides Brandi Herbig, Justyn Laxner, Amy Smith, and Penni Welte, all non-certified staff members. Laxner works at D.L. Rahn Junior High, while the others are employed at
Oregon Elementary School. “The reductions are a result of declining revenues and changes in IEP [Individualized Education Program] students needing a one-on-one aide,” said Superintendent Tom Mahoney. Turn to A3
Restaurant owner called a hero By Chris Johnson Reporter The owner of an Ogle County landmark now has a day named after her. Ava Mirtoska, owner of Grubsteakers, learned Tuesday night that May 7 will be Ava Mirtoska Day in Ogle County. During Tuesday’s county board meeting, board chairman Kim Gouker read a proclamation declaring Mirtoska a hero for her actions in getting customers and employees safely into a storm cellar April 9 during the EF4 tornado that destroyed the restaurant. “We lost a landmark this month in Grubsteakers,” said Gouker. “It has been there as far back as I can remember. Ava runs Grubsteakers and Grubsteakers is Ava.” Gouker said he talked to several people who were at the restaurant when the tornado struck around 7 p.m. “They said without Ava we would have had some fatalities,” he said. “She made sure they got into the cellar.” Looking back on that day, Mirtoska said she would do
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B5 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4
Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A3 Zoning, B5
everything the same. “I am glad everybody is safe,” Mirtoska said. “It is good they call me hero, but I feel like I would do it anytime it happens. I hope it never happens again.” She said the restaurant is run for the customers and they were her first thought when the storm hit. “For a minute, I was not believing this was happening,” said Mirtoska.
“I am seeing the craziness out there. Everyone was saying tornado warning. I was going like, it’s just a storm.” But something clicked with Mirtoska when she was looking out the window watching the storm roll in. “I was looking out through the window and seeing something coming really fast and really dark,” she said. “It was still too far to see if Turn to A9
Ava Mirtoska, owner of Grubsteakers, receives a proclamation with Ogle County Board Chairman Kim Gouker Tuesday night. Photo by Chris Johnson
Deaths, B6 Aida Blough, Patricia L. Leopold, Stanley C. Ludwig, Wayne L. Moring, Patricia Unger
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com