Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS July 21, 2016 Volume 49, Number 21 - $1.00
Hawaii Bound
Alumni Fall
At the Band Shell
OHS graduate Samantha Lambrigtsen will be playing basketball in Hawaii. B2
The Oregon alumni football team loses to Rock Falls 20-12. B1
Archtop Brownie takes the stage Friday; 3 soloists will perform with the Kable Band. A2
Sixth Street is preferred site for new jail By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Ogle County officials have decided where they would like to build a new jail. Long Range Planning Committee Chairman Don Griffin, Oregon, who is also a county board member, told the county board Tuesday that the consensus of the committee is that the jail should be built on South Sixth Street in Oregon across the street from the judicial center. The county already owns the property. Just prior to that announcement, Griffin attended an Oregon Planning Commission meeting to make a formal request that city officials consider vacating a portion of Sixth Street for the new jail. “We presented to the Long Range Committee the comprehensive plan the city adopted,” said Griffin. “We will take it to the county
Gallery Opening Above, Julie Bunt, Mt. Morris, takes a close look July 15 at a painting by Gail Fitzsimmons, Geneva, on display at the newly opened art gallery at Old Sandstone in downtown Mt. Morris. At right, Barbara Ruther, Mt. Morris, and Larry Labash, Cedar Lake, Indiana, look at “Spirit of Atlantis,” a sculpture by Jeff Adams. The opening drew and estimated 200 people. More events and exhibits are planned at the gallery, sponsored by Encore! Mt. Morris. Photos by Vinde Wells
board next month for the location where we will put the jail.” The county board has been discussing options for jail locations, including the highway department property south of Oregon, the Sheriff’s Department property on First Street in Oregon, and the Sixth Street property. “The Long Range consensus is Sixth Street,” said Griffin. “It is only proper to get together with you about the project.” The county is asking to have Sixth Street between Washington and Jefferson vacated. The county has the judicial center on the east side of the street and currently owns all the vacant lots on the west side of the street. “Do you know about the size of the jail?” asked Planning Commission member Rick Ryland. Griffin said the county has Turn to A8
Village board OKs lease for art gallery By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews. com A lease for a downtown art gallery got the nod July 12 from the Mt. Morris Village Board. The board approved a lease between the Mt. Morris
Economic Development Group (EDG) and Timothy Ngo University Book Source for a portion of the first floor of the Old Sandstone building in the downtown. EDG member John Finfrock said the cost of the Turn to A3
Pokemon Go game arrives at Oregon sites By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Walking through Oregon Park West used to include friendly waves and hellos. Now, heading through the park with a cell phone in your hand, the greeting might be “What team are you on?” This greeting is not asking which summer sports team someone is on, but rather which of the three teams being supported in a popular smartphone app craze, Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game that uses a smartphone’s GPS feature to guide players to different locations to grab up animated monsters that are overlaid onto an image of the player’s location. Players build their collection, gather strength and do electronic battle with other gamers. The game has become a fullfledged sensation in recent weeks, attracting droves of
downloaders – and when we say droves, we mean it. The game’s been downloaded an estimated 15 million times and counting. This reporter downloaded the app for a day to see what the fuss was all about. Heading across Oregon Park West, a bicyclist saw a phone in my hand and asked “What level are you?” as he briefly stopped to collect the items from a Pokestop. Being only a level two at that point, the bicyclist said to join team red when reaching level 5. But what was important about level 5? Pokestops are locations in the game that correspond to local landmarks and signs. At park west they include the Joey Kerwin memorial press box, the splash pad, the park sign, the skatepark, and more. Other locations in Oregon that are Pokestops include Iron Mike, the sculptures throughout the city, historic buildings, and locations in parks. Each time a player uses
In This Week’s Edition...
the location in the game they receive free in-game items. The quest was on to gain enough experience to become level 5 and learn more about teams. To gain experience players catch more Pokemon, train their Pokemon, and interact with these Pokestops. It did not take long to reach level 5. The animation for reaching level 5 was not even complete before another player asked, “Are you team blue, I just took over that gym.” Having just reached level 5 the concept of a gym in the game was foreign to me, but I would soon learn what it meant. At level 5 players are given the option to join one of three teams in the game. They all have a back story with attributes the players could choose, but for simplicity, the players I interacted with just referred to the teams as blue, yellow, and red.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Turn to A9
The Pokemon Go mobile phone application has players walking around trying to capture Pokemon, interact with landmarks in the community that are called Pokestops in the game, and train and capture gyms which are also landmarks in the community. On Saturday afternoon, this Pikachu was spotted by the Oregon Park West Splash Canyon. Photo by Chris Johnson
Marriage Licenses, A4 Mt. Morris Police, A3 Library News, A2 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B4 Michael W. Carpenter, Dorothy M. Galor, Karen L. Groves
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com