Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS September 17, 2015 Volume 48, Number 29 - $1.00
Hawks Win
Garden Colors
Prairie Tours
Oregon controlled the ball to down the Rockets in Rock Falls Friday night. B1
Learn fall planting tips to have a colorful spring garden. A8-A9
Forty tours are scheduled at Nachusa Grasslands during Autumn on the Prairie. A6
Dodgeball fundraiser for Emmalyn exceeds goal By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A dodgeball tournament held Saturday to raise funds for a Mt. Morris 6-year-old has been declared a success. “It went great. Our goal was surpassed,” said organizer Cari Berg, a friend of Emmalyn Freeze and her family. Emmalyn, the daughter of Matt and Stephanie Freeze, suffers from severe chronic neutropenia, a rare blood disorder that leaves its victims susceptible to high fevers, mouth sores, and infections. It’s something she will have to deal with all her life. The first grader has also been diagnosed with Chiari malformation, a congenital condition affecting the brain
and spinal cord. The condition gives her severe leg pain and headaches. Berg said 11 teams turned out to compete in the tournament Sept. 12 at D.L. Rahn Junior High, Mt. Morris, and approximately 100 people came as spectators. The goal was to raise enough money to cover the cost of the full-scan MRI that Emmalyn must undergo later this month in preparation for surgery Nov. 2, Berg said, and that was accomplished. Emmalyn, her parents, and her brother, Colton, 8, will make a Make A Wish trip to Hawaii in October. She was chosen after her doctors at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Turn to A2
Board questions appointments By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Meggan Grennan and Erin Herrmann, representing the Hair Mafia dodgeball team from Red Stone Salon & Spa, compete in the dodgeball tournament/benefit for Emmalyn Freeze at the David L. Rahn Junior High in Mt. Morris on Sept. 12. Pictured at left is team member Doreen O’Brien. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Laundromat may come to town By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Mt. Morris may soon be getting a new laundromat on Ill. 64. Matt Dusing asked the village board Sept. 8 for a break on water and sewer rates for three years while he gets the business up and running. He told the board he is buying the building where a laundromat was formerly
located and plans to reestablish a business there. He said he plans to make improvements inside and out and hopes to be open for business by January. “I see this as a positive,” said trustee Jeff Pennington, who is chairman of the Water & Sewer Committee. Dusing asked for a 100 percent abatement of the fees the first year, 75 percent the second year, and 50 percent the third year. Pennington said Dusing
will have to pay the surcharge on both water and sewer use because the village board cannot abate that due to regulations set by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The village has loans through the IEPA for recent improvements made to both the water and sewer systems. The surcharge was levied to help repay the loans. Trustee Phil Labash, who is Finance Committee chairman, said although the
village would be abating an estimated $300 to $400 per month in fees, the property currently generates no water, sewer, or surcharge fees. He estimated that the surcharge Dusing will pay will bring in more than $24,000 over the three years. Village president Dan Elsasser said he will have the village attorney draw up an agreement with Dusing for the abatements. The board will take action on that in the near future.
River was cleaned by volunteers By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
Two Ogle County Board members raised questions Tuesday evening about committee appointments. Bruce McKinney, Rochelle, and Lee Meyers, Byron, asked for four committee appointments to be voted on separately instead of with the rest of the consent agenda items. McKinney said he believes one person has too much influence on who has been applying for vacancies on the Ogle County Civic Center Authority (OCCCA), which oversees the Hickory Grove Civic Center in Rochelle. He said a tenant of the building encourages people with her point of view to apply for the vacancies. “We need board members who will stand up to her,” McKinney said. The State’s Attorney, Juvenile, & Probation
Committee interviews applicants for various committee vacancies and then recommends who should be appointed to the county board, which makes the appointment. McKinney told the board a different applicant than recommended should be appointed to one of the two vacancies on OCCCA. He amended a motion to appoint Sally Sawicki instead of Lynda Larcom, who was recommended by the State’s Attorney, Juvenile, & Probation Committee. He said Sawicki has more experience. “She has 20 years experience on this board and knows what’s going on,” McKinney said. Board member Bill Welty, Chana, who is on the State’s Attorney, Juvenile, & Probation Committee, said the recommendations were based on interviews done with the applicants. Turn to A6
Group asks for HS girls soccer
Volunteers spread out along the Rock River on a cool Saturday morning to do their part to keep a natural resource clean. The seventh annual Rock River Sweep was held to clean debris from the river and the shore from the Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin through the Mississippi River in Moline. “I want to thank all the volunteers,” said Oregon section coordinator Mark Nehrkorn. “This is what really makes this event. We are always pleasantly surprised with the turnout. It always helps makes the river a better place.” More than 35 volunteers participated in the Oregon Area Sweep this year. They walked the banks of
By Andy Colbert Reporter
There is a grass roots movement afoot to start girls soccer at the high school in Oregon, as numerous testimonies were given during an informational meeting between the district’s administration and 60 parents and students of all ages on Monday night. “I think there is a big passion for soccer,” said Julie Reckamp, a spokesperson for the group and one of many who addressed Volunteers pick up trash on the east bank of the Rock River during the Rock River superintendent Tom Sweep Saturday morning. Photo by Chris Johnson Mahoney, athletic director Turn to A2
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B6 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5
Mike Lawton and board members Stephanie Haugh and Terry Wilken. “I want a good reason why we can’t have soccer for the girls. Soccer is their whole life.” Major concerns presented by the administration were budgetary restraints, a declining enrollment, and how it would impact the other two girls programs in the spring - track and softball. “We have a mechanism in place to raise $8,000 to 10,000 a year to be selffunding,” local soccer organizer Jim Zalzalah said. “It’s a win-win for the Turn to A2
Deaths, B5 Donald L. Boyd, Donald W. Cox, Richard A. Petit Sr.
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com