Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS June 9, 2016 Volume 49, Number 15 - $1.00
Tough Run
Jury Duty
Leaf River Daze
The fifth annual KB Tough Run will be held at the White Pines Ranch June 25. A6
Jury information postcards have been mailed to Ogle residents. A9
Leaf River Daze kicked off the 2016 summer festival schedule. B1
Statue’s protective wrap was removed Tuesday By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com By the end of this week, the view of the iconic Black Hawk statue will no longer be obstructed by the scaffold and green mesh that have protected it for the last year and a half. Workers from Diversified Construction Services (DCS), Chicago, were at Lowden State Park near Oregon Tuesday unwrapping the mesh and dismantling the scaffolding from the top down. By noon, the head and arms of the 105-year-old concrete monument were uncovered, revealing the cracks and crumbling areas in its surface. DCS construction foreman Bob Kalis said he was hired to remove the
The scaffolding and protective wrap that has surrounded the Black Hawk Statue for the past 18 months was removed Tuesday. Photo by Earleen Hinton
scaffolding and covering by former project conservator
Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. With a crew of six, Kalis said he expects to have the scaffold down and the tall chain link fence around the work area removed by the end of the week. Dajnowski owns most of the scaffold, protective mesh, and fence and rents the rest. Because it is situated in a state park, the statue is under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The uncovering of the 50-foot tribute to Native Americans is not good news. Experts and friends of the statue alike are concerned that without the protective covering the statue will sustain even more damage Vendor Joyce Howlett, Oregon, looks over the birdhouses created by Gary Scott, from the elements.
Farmer’s Market
Mt. Morris, and his grandson Jaden Scott, Oregon, at the first Mt. Morris Community
Turn to B1 Farmer Market June 3. Photo by Vinde Wells
Former Oregon businessman remembered By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Ken Duncan, Mt. Morris, looks over a 1937 Chevy at the Leaf River Summer Daze Car Show June 4. Photo by Vinde Wells
A former Oregon businessman, murdered last week in Loves Park, was remembered by his family and friends June 6. Funeral services for Byron native Joseph Pendergrass, 59, former owner of Jay’s Drive-In, were held Monday afternoon at Heartland Community Church, Rockford. Pendergrass was stabbed in the Advanced Medical Rehabilitation parking lot
on Windsor Road in Loves Park around 6:30 p.m. May 31, and later pronounced dead at Rockford Memorial Hospital. Roland Romeo Breault, 52, Rockford, an acquaintance of Pendergrass, was arrested a short time later and is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to Winnebago County Court records. He is being held in the Winnebago County Jail on $1 million bond, and a hearing is set for June 30.
Pendergrass purchased Jay’s Drive-In, 107 W. Washington St., Oregon, when he was 26 years old and owned it for more than 20 years. He sold it to his niece, Vicky Wilken, and her husband Terry in 2006. “Joe had a really dynamic personality and everyone liked him,” Terry Wilken said. “Whenever you are at a large gathering, it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to Joe. You only had a few minutes, but you seemed to want more time.” After the Wilkens
took over the drive-in, Pendergrass financed it for a year so they could get the business going, he said. “Those are the things about Joe that people don’t know. He always went above and beyond for the people he loved.” Pendergrass was raised in Byron and graduated from Byron High School in 1975. He currently owned Dusty Boots Saloon & Eatery, Rockford. Jermaine Pigee at Sauk Valley Media contributed to this story.
Governor Rauner stops in at Woods Equipment Company Tour was part of “I Make America” campaign By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecountynews.com Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner stopped at an Oregon factory Monday afternoon to talk about the importance of manufacturing in Illinois – and to roundly criticize his Democratic opponents for the lack of a balanced state budget. The state has been without a budget since July 1, the longest lapse in Illinois history, and legislators ended their session June 3 without passing one. “Go, Woods. Go, manufacturing,” Rauner said to Woods Equipment Co. workers. “America is a great nation because we make stuff. We are here to celebrate made in America.” The Republican governor began his visit with a tour of the factory, where 300 workers make Batwing rotary cutters, dirt-moving and landscaping equipment, and, more recently, log splitters. It has been in Oregon more than 60 years. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers invited Rauner to tour Woods as part of the trade group’s I Make America campaign, a grassroots, bipartisan effort to
In This Week’s Edition...
create more manufacturing jobs nationwide. Jerry Johnson is president of Woods parent company Blount International’s farm, ranch and ag division, and also is on the association’s board. “Having the governor at Woods is exceptionally important,” said Johnson, who led the tour. “It means a lot to the company, but it means more to our team members. They get a chance to meet the governor.” In fact, when forklift operator Rick VanDrew, Polo, pulled over to let the governor’s tour pass, Rauner walked over to shake his hand and thank him for working in manufacturing. He was one of several individual workers with whom the governor talked. “Manufacturing is the key to our prosperity in Illinois,’” Rauner said after the tour. “We are going to take on the special interests in Springfield that keep driving taxes through the roof and push companies out of the state. “We are keeping our great companies here in Illinois. When we take these rascals on, I will travel and work for you to bring more companies to Illinois to make things with you. That is what this is about.” Illinois has a proud history that has gone the wrong way for decades, thanks to House Speaker Michael Madigan and other Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, left, and Blount International President of Farm Ranch & Ag Jerry Johnson shake hands Monday afternoon during Rauner’s visit to the Democrats in Springfield, he said. Turn to A10 Oregon facility. Photo by Chris Johnson
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B5 Michael R. Armstrong, Everett W. Cassens, Bill C. Driver, Davy L. Duhigg, Julie M. Lehne
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com