Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS November 19, 2015 Volume 48, Number 38 $1.00
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Recycle Nov. 20
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The Lady Hawks basketball team opens the season with a tourney this week. B1
Don’t forget to recycle your electronic items this Friday. A6
The Lee County State’s Attorney is charged with driving while under the influence. B3
Resident speaks out against plan for downtown building By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Larry Wisnosky, a Vietnam veteran, snaps a photo of the Ogle County Fallen Soldiers Memorial after a dedication ceremony on Veterans Day. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Turn to A3
County finalizes real estate deal
Soldiers memorial dedicated
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com From the opening flyover by a Huey helicopter to the closing strains of “Taps,” Ogle County gave a fitting dedication on Veterans Day to its newest tribute to military men and women killed in battle. A large crowd of veterans, school students, officials, and residents ringed the Ogle County Fallen Soldiers Memorial on the courthouse lawn Nov. 11 for the dedication ceremony. “I’d like to thank the community of Oregon for dedicating this monument — it’s the right thing to do,” said keynote speaker Ret. Brig. Gen. Steve Huber, Byron. The focal point of the memorial is a bronze statue depicting a young soldier kneeling before the grave of a comrade on a black granite base flanked by two black granite tablets on bearing the names of soldiers who gave their lives in conflicts from World War I to the present. It was created and cast by sculptor Jeff Adams at his studio inBronze Foundry, Mt. Morris.
A Mt. Morris resident voiced his strong opposition last week to plans underway for downtown building. “It goes against everything economic development is trying to do. It goes against what the Planning Commission is trying to do,” said Jerry Stauffer, a member of both the Planning Commission and the Economic Development Group (EDG), at the Nov. 10 village board meeting. Stauffer said the renter of the former Do it Best Hardware building on Main Street has installed a large
overhead garage door in the west side of the building. He said the plan is to move a motor home into the space, take the wheels off, and live in it. The rest of the building will be used for storage, Staufffer said. The building is owned by Richard Haan and rented by Richard Fielder. Stauffer said the board has previously denied requests to put residences on the ground floor of downtown buildings in an effort to leave that space open for retail businesses. “It violates everything we’re trying to do downtown,” he said. “We’re
Retired Brigadier General Steve Huber was the main speaker.
“Our veterans have taken the idea of a free nation and turned it into the reality of a free nation,” Huber said. “Veterans Day is not a celebration of war. In fact it started as a celebration of peace. Today it is a celebration of gratitude.” Huber said things have changed in the military over the years — many buttons on uniforms have been
replaced by Velcro and soldiers now carry computers along with their weapons. “One thing remains the same — the heart of the American soldier, sailor, airman or airwoman….,” he said. Ogle County Board Chairman Kim Gouker thanked the Oregon VFW and Turn to A9
The Ogle County Board finalized a real estate deal Tuesday to purchase property in downtown Rochelle. The board unanimously approved a contract to buy the Rochelle Clinic at 510 Lincoln Highway from the Rochelle Community Hospital Foundation for $190,000. The board agreed last month to offer that amount for the building, and the hospital foundation accepted. Board chairman Kim Gouker said the closing on the property is scheduled for Nov. 30. The county currently rents the basement of the building to use as its Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Rochelle Clinic is in the upstairs but will likely move out in the spring when a new building is completed, Gouker said. The hospital put the building up for sale because of the large addition that is under construction.
Once the real estate transaction is completed, Gouker said, the county will terminate its lease for the building, and lease it back to the clinic at no charge. “Part of the agreement is that we will allow them to use the building until April,” Gouker said. “They will probably move out in February or March.” The hospital foundation has not charged the county rent to use the basement as its EOC, but the county did make some repairs, he said. Once the clinic relocates, the county is considering moving the health department’s Rochelle clinic into the building. Probation offices already located in Rochelle may also move in, Gouker said. The health department currently pays $43,000 annually to rent space in Rochelle, and the probation department pays $7,500 in annual rent. Both have leases that will need to be discussed with the respective property owners, he said.
Last CAL statue finished next spring By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The last of the Community Arts Legacy’s 10 statues will be put in place next spring. A crew from Moore Monument & Granite Company, Sterling, was in Oregon Nov. 10 installing the base of the sculpture at a new park, created especially for it, east of the Coliseum. Oregon City Commissioner Terry Schuster said the base is made of Indiana limestone, the same as the trim on the nearby Ogle County Courthouse. “It’s one of the hardest limestones,” he said. CAL member Chris Martin said walkways and landscaping will also be added to the site in the
spring. The statue, created by artist Steven Carpenter and cast at inBronze Foundry, Mt. Morris, depicts Phelps and his French guide as they canoed south down the Rock River and first stepped foot on the shore where Oregon is now. Phelps was a soldier in both the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War 20 years later. He founded Oregon and claimed 40 acres between Oregon and Mt. Morris in 1834. The statue will complete CAL’s goal of 10 in 10 — 10 pieces of sculpture in 10 years, a vision of the late Dick Adams, Jeff’s father. The first CAL sculpture, “From the Waters Comes My Bounty” by Ray Kobald, was placed at Kiwanis Park in 2005 and later moved to
In This Week’s Edition...
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5 Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Park East. Other CAL sculptures are 2006 “Agriculture, Mother of Civilization” by David Seagraves at the Ogle County Judicial Center, 2007 “Cornball” by Howard Russo at the Oregon Coliseum, 2008 “The Bountiful Bench” by Christina Murphy at the Oregon Public Library, 2009 “Solar Reef” by Andrew Langoussis at Oregon Park West, and 2010 “Making Hay” by Daniel Ingebrightson at Stillman Bank, Oregon, 2011 Harvest Hunter by Matthew Donovan at Nash Recreation Center, 2012 “Working the Land” by Robert Pulley at the Oregon Park District’s Community Garden, and 2013 “Soypod” by Pamela Lee on the library’s property next to the Oregon Post Office.
Library News, A3 Oregon Police, B2 Pine Creek News, A3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Joe Shearer and Mike Hernandez of Moore Monument & Granite Co., Sterling, line up the top of the new John Phelps monument that is being installed west of the Oregon Coliseum as Otto Dick, Terry Schuster, and Chris Martin watch. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Sheriff’s Arrests, A7 Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Zoning Permits, B5
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B4 Dennis E. Bennett, Lloyd E. Bolen