Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS June 25, 2015 Volume 48, Number 17 - $1.00
Let Freedom Ring
Family Farms
At the Band Shell
Find out what’s happening at this year’s Let Freedom Ring Festival. A10 & A11
Local farms have stayed in the family for more than a century. Inside
The Harmans will perform June 26 and the Kable Concert Band is featured July 1. A6
IDOT to do traffic survey on west side of town By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com Village officials should know in the next few weeks if speed limits will change on Ill. 64 coming into the west side of Mt. Morris. Village trustee Don Sorenson told the village board Tuesday night that he received a letter from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) that the agency plans to do a traffic survey in that area and release their findings in about 40 days.
Police Chief Jason White contacted IDOT a few weeks ago asking for a review because the speed limit goes from 55 mph outside the village limits immediately to 30 mph inside the village. That results in traffic sometimes coming into the village at a fast speed, posing safety issues. Village president Dan Elsasser said officials have asked that the speed be stepped down gradually from 55 mph to 45 mph outside the village, so that vehicles are moving
slower when they enter the 30 mph speed zone. In another matter, the board put limits on the terms of Park & Recreation Board members. To establish the term limits, the village board first removed the present Park & Recreation Board members, Joyce Carr, Mark Lewis, Ed Higley, and Ryan Fletcher. They then appointed Jan Hough and Lewis to four-year terms, and Higley and Fletcher to two-year terms. Carr is retiring from the board.
All terms will be four years in the future. “I want to thank Joyce Carr for her years of service on the park board,” said trustee Shane Pope. In other business, trustee Jeff Pennington asked about the status of clean-up at the Quad Graphics printing plant. Chris Corcoran, who lives next to the shuttered plant, told the board last month that he believes its condition poses safety and environmental hazards, violates building codes and weed
ordinances, exposes citizens to liability, and reduces property values in the community. Quad Graphics closed its doors four years ago on May 13, 2011, and subsequently put the sprawling property up for sale. Elsasser said he has contacted the realtor and the plant’s caretaker about concerns over how the property is being kept up. Trustee Phil Labash said he has also contacted the realtor, who indicated he would let the plant’s owner know about the complaints.
Lindhorst to open ukulele shop in little stone house Old building getting new life along Ill. 64 By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A long abandoned business is about to be bursting out in song. In the very near future, John Lindhorst will open Ukulele Station America in the little stone building at the corner of Washington (Ill. 64) and 10th Streets in Oregon. Lindhorst plans to sell ukuleles and teach ukulele and voice lessons in the
picturesque building that once was a gas station and then a beauty shop. He said Monday that he’s wrapping up final details and hopes to open his shop “in a couple of weeks.” “I plan to sell ukuleles at every price level from beginner through handcrafted one-of-a-kind,” he said. Lindhorst recently retired after teaching music for 40 years in public and private schools from Ogle County to California and Hawaii. He also ran a successful ukulele shop in California and believes the venture will work well here. “It’s kind of a hobby business. I hope to expand
it,” he said. Lindhorst, who has a degree in Music Education with an emphasis in voice and choir, plans to teach group ukulele lessons to adults and youth. The adult lessons will likely be scheduled through the day with youth lessons after school. Lindhorst decided to buy the building last year after he saw online that it was for sale. “I’ve always loved stone buildings,” he said. He ran a coffee shop in Oregon several years ago in a stone building in the 200 block of Washington Street. John Lindhorst, left, chats with Bob Massey June 19 at an open house at Ukulele Lindhorst has spent the Station America at the corner of Washington and 10th Streets in Oregon. Lindhorst is Turn to A8 open a ukulele shop in the building and will offer voice lessons. Photo by Vinde Wells
Volunteer training will focus on emergencies
County receives Caiman By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Lightly used military vehicle with warranty and less than 400 miles with a price tag too good to resist. That was what Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle found when looking for a new vehicle to improve options available during winter storms to keep the public safe. “We were looking at another truck to assist the department during
Meeting will be held Tuesday The French and Roos families look at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department’s Caiman 6x6 truck when it was displayed at Touch a Truck June 13. Photo by Chris Johnson
snowstorms,” said VanVickle. “Stephenson County received one of these trucks and I looked at getting one.” The truck is a BAE Caiman 6x6 MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) from the US Department of Defense and Homeland Security, which provided the vehicle
at no cost to the county. The vehicle was delivered in April and inspected before being declared ready for service. It will serve multiple roles in the county. “Primarily it will be used in snow storms to get stranded people out of the weather,” Turn to A3
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Did you wonder what you could do to help when an EF4 tornado swept through a section of Ogle County on April 9? Well, next Tuesday night is your chance. That’s when the Ogle County Health Department and the Ogle County Emergency Management Agency are holding a
meeting to inform residents about volunteering with those agencies and possible help when the next emergency occurs. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on June 30 in the board room on the third floor of the Ogle County Courthouse, 105 S. Fifth St., Oregon. Information will be presented about volunteering in the area of emergency preparedness and response in an effort to improve response capabilities in times of public emergencies. According to studies by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), fear can be overwhelming when a disaster hits a community, not because enough resources are not available, but because people do not know how to access those resources, . Members of the Ogle County Volunteer Corps will be trained in how and where to access those resources and will help in many different capacities in times of need. Attendees will be encouraged to sign up and fill out a volunteer application while at the meeting. Turn to A3
Classic summer ride on display at Lions Car Show By Earleen Hinton ehinton@oglecounty news.com Beach umbrella and chair, check. VW Beetle, check. Surfboard, check. Sun, check. Surf, umm…well sort of. Four out of five of those essential summer fun elements was enough to bring smiles to the faces of Oregon residents Jimmy and Kris Martinaitis, one of the 106 entries that took part in the Oregon Lion’s Club’s Car,
Truck, and Motorcycle Show on June 21. “It is a nice day,” said Jimmy smiling as he walked around his 1966 VW Beetle. “This is our ‘new’ car. Our ‘old’ car is a ’65 Mustang.” Jimmy and Kris chatted with a steady steam of onlookers who came to Oregon Park East on Father’s Day to check out cars like the Martinaitis’ Beetle which was decked out in full ’66 regalia topped off with a cooler and surfboard on its luggage rack.
In This Week’s Edition...
Directly west of the car show, just across River Road, the swollen Rock River was creating its own Illinoisstyle surf as the river flowed briskly over the Oregon dam. That made the day just about perfect for the little alloriginal stock Beetle. “This was a California car. It even had a California emissions sticker on it, so they were checking that in California way back then,” said Kris. “We just turned 96,000 miles on this. We
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
think its the first time, but we don’t know for sure.” Two rows to the east, nineyear-old Anthony Bauer, also of Oregon, was busy polishing the hood of his dad’s 1973 Dodge Challenger. Anthony carefully ran the polishing cloth across the big brown hood of the muscle car, anticipating the day when his dad Joe, gives him the car. “This is going to be my car someday,” Anthony said with Jim Martinaitis, left, owner of a 1966 VW Beetle, talks to Ron Birr, Oregon, during the Oregon Lions Club Car a grin. Turn to B2 Show at Oregon Park East on June 21. At right, his Jim’s
Honor Roll, A8 Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Property Transfers, B4
wife, Kris. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Public Voice, A8 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A3
Deaths, B5 Rita A. Imel, Thomas W. Patterson, Patricia A. Steffa
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