Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS May 19, 2016 Volume 49, Number 12 - $1.00
Hawks Bow Out
Baby Bison
Yard Sale
The Hawks baseball team ends it season with a 7-2 loss at the regional. B2
The bison herd is growing and thriving at Nachusa Grasslands. A6
The 14th annual Breast Yard Sale in Town offers all kinds of great stuff May 28-June 19. A4
Man to sue Ogle board over zoning decision By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The attorney for a Forreston man told the Ogle County Board Tuesday evening that his client will appeal a zoning decision made a few minutes earlier. “We will appeal the decision to the circuit court,” said Freeport attorney Dan Fishburn. He said he will file a lawsuit in the near future on behalf of Walter Paul, who owns a farm just across
Ill. 72 from the property that has been the subject of the controversial zoning request for the last several weeks. After tabling the issue April 19, the board voted 15-8 with one abstention Tuesday to approve a request from Mike Stukenberg, Forreston, and Steve and Kevin Moring, also of Forreston, for a special use permit to allow a Class 2 Motor Carrier Facility on property zoned for agricultural use. The Zoning Board of Appeals
(ZBA) recommended approval of the request March 28. The property, at 11123 W. Ill. 72 just east of Forreston, is owned by Stukenberg and being purchased by STKE LLC, a company owned by the Morings. STKE LLC plans to store and wash semis and dumpsters on the property, which is less than a mile east of Forreston. Paul and other nearby property owners have objected because of environmental issues.
Most were concerned about contamination from the garbage trucks and dumpsters stored on the property. The groundwater is just below the surface in that area and a creek is nearby. The creek feeds into the Leaf River, a tributary of the Rock River. Paul and several other neighbors voiced concern that wells and aquifers, as well as the streams, could be contaminated by garbage as well as motor oil.
Music, art, and history were all part of the Meet & Greet May 13 that kicked off the celebration of the 175th anniversary of Mt. Morris and fundraising efforts for two projects. The Mt. Morris Work Group hosted the event at Pinecrest Grove with that started with dinner catered by the McKendrie Street Café and music by Aireloom Music Studio. An art exhibit featuring Lavonne Anderson’s collection of paintings by 19th century Mt. Morris artists was on display. Proceeds from the evening will go toward the renovation of the 112-year-old Campus Fountain on the southeast corner of the campus and for the Friday Night Concerts. One of highlights was a
visit from Mt. Morris native Robert Hitt, portrayed by Jeff Bold. Hitt was educated at Rock River Seminary in Mt. Morris, and became a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives and held various government posts under several Presidents. Those who attended were updated about the activities and plans of the Work Group, the Tourism Committee, the Economic Development Group, and the recently formed Rural Community Pavilion. Mt. Morris native Carol (Crowell) Deemer, DeKalb, explained the purpose of the Rural Community Pavilion. With its major focus on education, she said the group brings resources to the community that are otherwise unavailable. An example of that, she said, is the two grant writing
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Carol Deemer, from the Rural Community Pavilion talked about the organization May 13 at the Meet & Greet held at Pinecrest Grove. Photo by Vinde Wells
workshops held recently. They also help with job searches, showing individuals how to write a resume, prepare for a job interview, and recognize
their own abilities and strengths. “We are dedicated to the community,” Deemer said. “We’re trying to bring resources to the community.”
OESPA mediation session cancelled By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A fourth session with a federal mediator was cancelled last week in ongoing contract negotiations between the Oregon School Board and the Oregon Education Support Personnel Association (OESPA).
Superintendent Tom Mahoney said the May 11 session was postponed. “No future date has been set,” he said in an email. The first mediation session was held on Jan. 28 with others held on March 3 and April 4. The OESPA’s three-year contract with the school district expired last June 30, and contract negotiations
began almost a year ago on May 27. Members of the OESPA did informational picketing Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 in front of the district office and at the intersection of Washington and 10th Streets in Oregon, holding signs, some of which read “fair wages & insurance.” The OESPA has more than 100 members and represents
technical department support staff, cooks and the assistant head cook, instructional aides and other aides, bus drivers and aides, nurses and aides, custodians and maintenance, and secretaries. Mahoney said in December that the two sides have agreed not to comment publicly about the issues and negotiations except in joint statements.
Tractor Jamboree AJ Hinrichs, 11, plows a furrow with his own garden tractor May 14 at the 7th annual AJ’s Garden Tractor Jamboree, which he hosts with his parents Andy and Lisa Hinrichs, rural Oregon. Photo by Vinde Wells
In This Week’s Edition...
Turn to A8
Maybe next year for Black Hawk statue?
Event kicks off two fundraisers By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
County board member Pat Saunders, Polo, said she would vote no because of the dumpsters being stored on the property. She said she is concerned that rainwater will wash contamination from the dumpsters into the nearby stream. “If they took the dumpsters off the property I would vote yes,” she said. Board member Lee Meyers,
Church Bells, A5 College News, A4 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
A state official said late last week that work to repair the world-renowned Black Hawk statue may be completed in 2017. “Once the services of the new conservator are secured, the IDNR expects the restoration work on the Eternal Indian statue to proceed in hopes of completing the project next year,” Tim Schweizer, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), said in an email sent May 13. According to some reports, sculptor Lorado Taft called his 50-foot concrete statue The Eternal Indian. However, it is better known as Black Hawk after the Sauk medicine man whose people hunted and fished throughout the Rock River Valley before the arrival of settlers from the East Coast. Created by Taft in 1910 as a tribute to all Native Americans, the statue stands on a 125-foot bluff overlooking the Rock River at Lowden State Park near Oregon and draws thousands of visitors each year. It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911. The IDNR did not renew its contract this year with project conservator Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. Dajnowski said last week he did not sign the new contract because he did not agree with the methods it stipulated for restoring the statue’s crumbling exterior. He said the new contract also gave him no compensation for the scaffolding which surrounds and protects the statue. Most of the scaffolding, which completely surrounds Black Hawk, belongs to Dajnowski, but he rents some portions of it. Green plastic mesh is wrapped around it to protect the statue from the elements, particularly winter weather,
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B5
and prevent further damage. The scaffolding has been in place since December of 2014 when Dajnowski and his crew built it around the 105-year-old statue, put a roof over it, and then enclosed it in the mesh. Dajnowski said he charges $75 per day for the scaffolding, and that cost has been paid so far by the Dillon Foundation, Sterling. Schweizer declined to specify in his email the reasons the contract was not renewed, saying only, “The IDNR opted to seek the services of a new conservator.” Schweizer said the state’s budget impasse has affected funding for the project. “The funds from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are still earmarked for the project; however, due to the budget impasse, there is no spending authority at this time,” he said. The IDNR secured a $350,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the project. The budget impasse means Dajnowski has not been paid for his services since last June. “Payments for services billed prior to June 30, 2015 would have been paid, but the budget impasse means the IDNR has not had spending authority for the current state fiscal year. The scaffolding is still in place and is being paid for with private foundation funds,” Schweizer said in his email. The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. A not-for-profit organization, the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue, raised most of the estimated $900,000 needed for the statue’s repair through fundraisers and securing donations over the last seven years. However, Frank Rausa, Sterling, who heads the organization, said last week that much of the money has been spent while waiting for the state to release funds for the repairs.
Deaths, B3 Raymond G. Appler, Charles W. Hayes, Dorothy A. Henry, Russell E. Scholl
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com